Camper windows leak

[flagmanruss]

OK, the ToyHauler Camper has a Salvage title... signs of repair in the front bedroom/nose. A couple of weeks ago, I discovered after a rain that the track of a sliding window was full of water & just beginning to overflow onto the ledge. I moped it up... then found the drain slots had a spongy material in them... clogged with dirt. I pushed in in with a thin putty knife and then those windows drain decently. I went around the outside & did al of the sliding windows.The front bedroom has a fixed panel window / emergency exit at the head of the bed... top hinged to pop up when unlatched. This unit has 4 small holes, no slot. Today, my dear wife goes out to remove the blackout shade (a solid piece of fabric stapled up covering the front windows). No curtains hung today! The trough is full, overflowed in the heavy rains yesterday & last night. The queen mattress is wet on the bottom & water in the storage compartment under the bed (opens out). The drains are angled & do not seem to connect directly to the weap holes in the inside. There must be a cavity in there for the water but the holes don't line up. We fished wires through from the inside & from the outside & got traces of dirt out when we poured water from a cup into the channel which we eventually got to drain. I have no confidence in this. I'd like to drill straight through into the channel but don't know why the manufactorer did not.So we have the mattress on edge drying, the bedding in the dryer, 2 big fans running like a windtunnel... "Not a Happy Camper"...

[Mopar1973Man]

Dang Russ... When it rains it pours... (Pun intended) I really wonder if the water is coming in higher than the window... Seam in the roof, corner trim or otherwise?

[flagmanruss]

Well the front to roof seam has been rinforced & fiberglassed. The corner seam is a mess with lots of dumdum but we push it in every time we move the trailer. There isn't enough overlap to rescrew it. Since the roof slopes to the nose... water is going to pour over the front in storms. The fact that the trough inside the glass was full of water... and the drains were plugged... on this window AND the sliding windows... makes me think it's the drains. Opening the drains on the sliding windows solved that problem. This is the only window of it's type in the trailer, so it might be throwing us a curve. Unlike the sliders, where water hitting the moveable portion ends up in the trough & needs to be drained, this window is actually outside the trailer & you wouldn't think it would let water into the trough. Still the trough must be there for a reason & such as they are, there are drains. I just wish the drains were direct, straight through. Don't know why they are not or why I can't make them go straight through. (Have Drill, Will Travel!)

[flagmanruss]

I spent some time on a step ladder studying the (open) window. It is apparent that this window "gutter" inside is not expected to get water into it. It did however. The corners of the gasket are deformed and nothing to do except to replace it... If I could find one. The drains on the outside only seem to go into the gasket channel. The risk of a leak, however makes it imperitive that leakage not soak the bed. So I ran a 5/32 drill all the way through into the interior gutter... any leagage now has a way out.My next opportunity, I'll stop by the local RV place & see if this gasket can be replaced. I think the best solution is to add a RV drip rail above the window to divert run off. Kind of a belt AND suspenders solution...

[Mopar1973Man]

Hmmm... Interesting idea...

[flagmanruss]

Rained hard here overnight. Remnants of the storms that caused so much heartbreak & damage further West... I had used "black sticky" electrical tape on the top of this E. Exit window & over the corners to try to bridge the hinge & joint as I've not been able (in the midst of packing for camp) to hunt down a drip rail. Any water that got in now has a clear exit drain.

Sheila went out this morning, fingers crossed that the bed we just dried would still be. It was!! No sign of ANY water infultration in the gutter... even better. Only a temp fix, but at least we are up & running.

[Mopar1973Man]

Good deal at least your "belt and suspenders" idea worked...