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Old 08-17-2016, 09:34 AM   #1
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Exclamation Potential leak point - part 2

If you haven't read my other thread about leaks in my Zinger, please check this out:

http://www.crossroadsowners.com/foru...ints-8689.html


In my everlasting search for leaks on my 2012 Zinger, I’ve spotted another potentially serious leak location that everyone should check.

With your slideroom closed, step up either on the dinette seat or a small step and look over the slideout roof. You are looking at the driver's side wall at this point. What you are looking for are rusted staples in the wall board.



As you can see on my trailer there is a row of staples that are all nice and rusty. This indicates to me that there is moisture in that wall causing them to rust. It isn’t humidity as the staples going down either side of the slide are clean.

Right below the line of staples is a white piece of folded aluminum. Somehow this is holding water when it rains allowing the wallboard to soak it up and rust the staples.

I politely asked Crossroads customer service for drawings of how the wall was constructed so I could more easily understand how water is coming above that piece of aluminum. Their response ‘That’s proprietary info and not available to customers’. Thanks Crossroads.

So I had to reverse engineer their build to see what was going on.



This is an EK slideout seal system which consists of a slide sweep and a rubber D seal. The white D seal looks a bit ratty as I tried to spray paint it with vinyl paint to cover the mold (that plan didn’t work as it’s all flaking off). My main question was how does this white piece of folded aluminum come into play on the outside of the trailer.

Pulling off the end section of the D seal from the sweep made it all clear.



That white piece of folder aluminum sits outside of the siding of the camper. As the caulking ages and shrinks, it opens that area totally up to the elements. Rain will simply run down the side of the camper, get picked up by this scoop, and flow right in soaking the wall board.

Here’s a quick diagram of how it’s built:



Why Crossroads didn’t put the siding over this is beyond me. Just a poor, poor design.

I plan on pulling off the top D seal from the sweep and scrape off all the old sealant. Then to fix it right, butyl tape in the ¼” gap and new sealant on top of that.

Hopefully this info is helpful to others. Water intrusion is a big issue on campers that few people take time to check for.
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Old 08-17-2016, 05:20 PM   #2
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Would a slide topper help shed the water that is getting in that gap?
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Old 08-17-2016, 05:23 PM   #3
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Acting like an umbrella, yes to a point. It would need to be fixed regardless though.
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Old 08-17-2016, 05:37 PM   #4
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Great write up and pics
Thanks for posting this I'm sure it will help others
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Old 08-17-2016, 08:24 PM   #5
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Great info but I have 2 thoughts for you to consider. 1) While inspecting and re caulking my unit, I found that the caulk is more cosmetic, that behind it CR used gray butyl tape as the real water proof seal, then used caulk for a smooth clean look. I had water under the failed caulk that could not penetrate the butyl tape. 2) The staples might be rusty from a different reason. Moisture condenses on cold areas of the camper and that aluminum channel is a great thermal conduit from outside to inside, just like the window frames. Then since the staples are neither painted or galvanized, they will rust quickly and the surface will be worse than the legs. By comparison, water inside the wall will rust the legs worse than the head and also delaminate the wall board.
Also, that trim covers the cut edge of the aluminum siding and keeps it securely in place so the siding couldn't be installed over the top of the trim or another piece of trim would need to be added with screws to hold it and more potential leaks.
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Old 08-18-2016, 05:42 AM   #6
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At first I did think it was just condensation forming and rusting the staples, but upon further inspection I was able to press water out of the bottom of that wall board where the staples are. Also pulling down on that trim revealed water so it truly was leaking.

I do agree that caulk is just a secondary defense against water intrusion and butyl tape is the main seal. From what I can see (so far), there isn't any tape in this joint.
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Old 08-18-2016, 07:03 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by daystrom View Post
I do agree that caulk is just a secondary defense against water intrusion and butyl tape is the main seal. From what I can see (so far), there isn't any tape in this joint.
No tape seems strange, with the irregular surface of aluminum siding that stuff is important for proper sealing.
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