Strange Water Leak

[Larry Nordby]

Well, here goes. We have a 2002 26 RB Casual Elegance rear entry, with a curb side sofa. The storage area below, as you know, is accessible from the outside. I discovered that the carpet on the floor and the wood end panel that supports the couch (immediately behind the passenger seat) show substantial water stains, and after traveling in the rain is quite wet. Is it possible that water is migrating UP from the floor of the coach at the point where the sofa end panel is attached to the floor. I CANNOT find drip stains coming down from anywhere. The support bracket (on the undercarriage) for the propane tank is in the vicinity of the leak.

Have any of you experienced anything like this? If so, I'd sure appreciate your thoughts.

By the way, we've finished a number of trips since January (approximately 5000 miles) and are delighted with our choice of the Born Free. Our occasional camp visitors are astounded at the fit and finish and overall quality of the Coach.

[Roger H]

Hi Larry. Having just dealt with a leak (successfully, I hope) in my 23RK, from your description, I'd suggest you check all of the caulk at the seams in that area where the cab joins the Born Free body, and then the Born Free body seams that all meet right in that area. You might also check the passenger side door seal. It's not likely that water will move up into the body from the underside if it's not under pressure or has some absorbent material that will allow it to "wick" up. The street side hatch seal may also be suspect, but it's doubtful that the water would run "forward" while the coach is moving and level. I've not crawled under mine to see how the body is sealed at the floor, but that might be something to check as well.

If all of the caulk in the seems looks OK near where the water is pooling, it is also possible that it could be coming from higher up and running down inside the wall to pool at the bottom. The cabover sliding window, drip rail, and seams in that location could also be suspect. That's the same area mine was pooling it, but I had stains on the walls in mine to indicate it was coming from higher up.

Good luck!

Roger

[Randy Wilson]

Larry, we just went through the same thing and had it repaired during a recent visit to the factory in Humboldt. I had one of our two sofas replaced with a single bed on that same side, and found stain and wetness as you described. The leak was in the outside access door gasket. The gasket was replaced and the door frame resealed. Subsequent tests in the Born Free leak test facility confirmed the repair, and it remains dry after several hard rain storms. It's a repair you could easily do yourself by ordering a new gasket from Born Free, but I was already there, and they were able to pinpoint the source of the problem. As stated so many times before on this site, the folks at Humboldt really are great at providing TLC to our coaches.

[jobrien]

Check the carpet under the sofa. Mine was wet there and spread it's way out to the living room area.

It too was fixed at the factory by resealing the outside access door. No leaks since then.

John

[jhillis625]

Larry, you are describing the problem we had with our 1998 RB after the hurricanes of 2004. We found that the carpet and pad was soaked, couldn't tell for sure where the water was coming in at. The fabric was wet up to the top of the outside door that access under the couch. I removed the couch, it's wood frame, the 2 captian chairs, the pull up table and the oak frame around the curbside window.
I removed the carpet and pad. Then I found I had to clean the rust from the steel 'U" bolts that hold the coach floor to the truck frame and paint them with "rust-oleum".
The captain chairs mount also needed to be cleaned and repainted.
We has a local carpet place to install new pad and carpet. I rebuilt the wood frame that the couch is mounted on. I then reinstalled everything and waited for the next rain and guess what more water. I went to the hardware store and bought a product called "Damprid" to wick up the moisture.
I checked the curbside window again for evidence of leeks looked good next I checked curbside opening seal, although it looked good at a glance it was the problem.
To fix it I removed the door, the frame and cleaned the old caulk from the frame and coach side. I then went back to hardware and found some caulk material that come in a roll and is applied by removing a protective strip from one side and applying the material to the frame and then reinstalling the frame but not tightening the screw all the way.
I used the caulking gun to apply "GE silicone II" into the gap before tightening the screws. This seems to have cured that leak problem.
I don't know if this is your problem but it is worth checking out.

Here is my theory about how these leaks happen, the opening are made oversize for the frame for window or door that is to fit in and it is easier to fit into a hole that is over sized than one that is to small. I found this to be the case of the window on the street side of our coach. About 18 months ago that window was broken (probably vandals) after getting it replaced we left on a trip and 2nd day out went through a rain storm, the window leaked. I saw that the new window was not pulled up tight against the side of the coach. When we reached our destination I caulked around the window to stop the leaking until we could finish our trip.
When I returned i took it back to the shop and they found that because the opening was oversize and the screws would not go into the wood in some places. The shop used a product I believe he said was "polyurethane" and he said he hoped we wouldn't need to have the window replaced since I would not come out.
Our coach has the top window over the cab that has leaked ever since 1999 when we went to Alaska at first I thought it was condensation but we had Bornfree to checked it when we returned, their fix was to re-caulked the window, no change. We had them check it again in 2003. At first we could clean it up with a towel but now I have a long tray that I leave under it and go out and empty it after each rain. I plan to have the glass shop to remove it and replace it with that Polyurethane product.

Larry I hope this has been some help to you and others also.
Jim Hillis

[bill crommett]

Jim :
If the polyurethane that the shop used to stop your leak is the same polyurethane glue that I use in my woodworking projects, it is indeed waterproof, but it does not have much resistance to vibration and may shatter. So monitor it carefully.

Bill

[Larry Nordby]

Thanks to all who have taken time to respond to my problem. I'll contact BF tomorrow and have the gasket/seal sent.

As I look in the storage area I just can't find water by the access door but, having had a sailboat for years, I know that "where water comes out has nothing to do with where water comes in".

Thanks again, I'll post with results of the fix.

Larry

[Trisha]

and then the Born Free body seams that all meet right in that area. You might also check the passenger side door seal. It's not likely that water will move up into the body from the underside if it's not under pressure or has some absorbent material that will allow it to "wick" up.

Roger

I had a leak in the seal on the dually wheel cover (which is under the cabinet area under the stove.)

Is your water clean or dirty? Does it only happen when it BOTH rains, AND you drive? Chances are it's a wheel well leak.

Water was getting thrown up from the highway by the wheels, and seeping into the coach. It damaged (significantly) all the woodwork which was perpendicular to the floor, the carpet, from the wheel well forward all the way to just behind the driver's seat.

It is a tough one to diagnose because the seam only opens with movement of the coach, which MUST coincide with enough water on the road to throw it up into the wheel well. The water was dirty, brackish. Some times it was enough water to literally run down into the carpet (I had a huge stain) and fill up to the bottom cupboard cutouts, then spill over. We're talking upwards to a few gallons at a time.

Since it happened to me (even though a few people said it couldn't), and it was NOT visible to the eye, it did not show itself by traditional testing methods because the rig has to be moving to find it. You can't shine light and look at it when moving...nor does the factory water bay help.

While it may seem unlikely that it could be underneath without being under pressure, or having something to 'wick it up', I suppose having water spun off the wheels at highway speed could amount to 'pressure' and it didn't wait around to be wicked up. I had a huge mess on my hands, and a lot of ruined oak (which the factory replaced, along with carpeting)... all from a very small leak where the wheel well cover fits to the floor. It's covered by carpet so you can't see it from above. It looks sealed from below. But if that calking separates from the body, you might not be able to tell by visual inspection.

Good luck to you... I have photos of the wet marked wood if they would be helpful in some way? But the leak itself, it was a bear to find (although I did suggest that spot when I brought it in...it's just so unlikely, that nobody wanted to believe it. Finally, they had their own proof when they drove it in a significant amount of slushy snow and it leaked.)

The service manager at Born Free in Iowa probably remembers the rig...and the search... in case you need to find it. I wonder if they recently changed the kind of material they used to seal those with...nobody had ever heard of a leak like mine until it happened to me.

Trish

[Nancy P. Simpson]

We have a water leak on the door side of table beginning at base. Has grown to a height of 12-14" on our new 26' coach. Caulked the outside storage door that seemed to have been "all but missed" by the factory. Didn't check around windows but drip holes not clogged. Not sure if it's "fixed" as we've had little rain. Anyone else have this problem?

[purdum]

If all the above does not fix your leak, try this. I have had both sides leak and the first was exactly like yours except I have a 2004 26 RSB. The camper body has three pieces that come together just behind the front overhead window. A vertical moulding is joined by a horizontal strip that goes to the rear and joins the top and the side fibreglass. Also, a horizontal moulding goes foward and joins the top and the curved fibreglass where the front roll bar is located. You will probably find that if you take off the vertical moulding and lift the rear horizontal moulding, you will find a dime sized hole that the factory just covered up with the moulding and then caulked the moulding.I took the vertical moulding off, peeled back both foward and rear horizontal mouldings and using the best silicone caulking, gently pried the fibreglass apart and caulked about an inch down into the seams and the hole itself. Then replaced the moulding and put caulking in all screw holes. My leak ran down the wall between the roll bar and the outside fibreglass wall and was the devil to find. The following year. the other side was found to be leaking soaking the carpet etc and was found to be exactly the same problem. I hope this makes sense. I see that BF is now gluing the seams and has different mouldingh. But, I have not had a drop of water since. Hope this helps all who have leaks on either side!!!!

[Larry Nordby]

I want to thank all of you for your thoughful suggestions concerning the leak in my unit. As you know, water problems left unattended will grow into major issues resulting in costly repairs.

After reading the post from Ron and Toni Purdum, I felt their experience most closely aligned with my problem. I did not go as far as they did (removing the strips-recaulking each screw hole etc.), but discovered the caulking on the verticle strip, the area where the awning is attached, AND the the length of the awning where it joins the coach was in need of attention. In fact, this area (the top of the awning) was in the poorest condition. After 3+ hours of scraping old caulk and thoroughly cleaning the areas mentioned, I recaulked (I used almost two tubes) everything. We have had an inch and a half of rain, I've soaked the coach and left it under a sprinkler for an hour and it's remained dry. I'm knocking on wood until I actually drive in wet conditions.


Once again, THANK YOU ALL for you interest and efforts on my behalf.

Happy Trails!