Frustrated with leaks!!!

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wijames2002

wijames2002

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 28, 2017
Posts
168
Location
Tavares, FL
I had a leak just after I purchased my MH but was able to find it after a lot of searching and got it fixed. I then had the roof re-coated by a RV dealer as the membrane was looking bad. Now after a hard rain, the leak is back!!! I went back up to the place I had found the previous leak and all looks good. I have no idea where to go from here. I can't keep putting money into this so I guess I just need to chuck it up as a bad purchase. At this point I would like to sell it but wouldn't think of not telling the purchaser about the leak so I doubt if anybody would buy it. It's a shame as the coach looks and runs great. Luckily, its not a bad leak and I cant find any real damage except some discolored carpet on the ceiling. Sorry for the rant but I do feel better now. Any suggestions?
 
Leaks can be a nightmare since water may show up inside far from where the leak is. I had a fifth wheel I chased the same problem. I used a garden hose on the roof and worked my way around. I was able to remove vent and skylight trim from inside and see inside roof area. I have even used an inspection scope before. If you can see in the area it might help.
 
wijames2002 said:
I had a leak just after I purchased my MH but was able to find it after a lot of searching and got it fixed. I then had the roof re-coated by a RV dealer as the membrane was looking bad. Now after a hard rain, the leak is back!!! I went back up to the place I had found the previous leak and all looks good. I have no idea where to go from here. I can't keep putting money into this so I guess I just need to chuck it up as a bad purchase. At this point I would like to sell it but wouldn't think of not telling the purchaser about the leak so I doubt if anybody would buy it. It's a shame as the coach looks and runs great. Luckily, its not a bad leak and I cant find any real damage except some discolored carpet on the ceiling. Sorry for the rant but I do feel better now. Any suggestions?

Ghostman has the right idea.  It is a long tedious means of locating the leak.  As he stated, the entry point for the leak and exist point, could be far between.  You haven't stated how quickly the leak shows up and under what circumstances it appears.  I would do as Ghostman stated with the garden hose idea, STARTING AT THE OPPOSITE END WHERE YOU SEE THE LEAK.  If you feel that the leak is slow, I would only water test 1/4 of the roof at a time, waiting an hour or so before proceeding to the next 1/4 and so on.
Click to expand...
 
Using water to find a leak can introduce more damage, especially if the source of the leak is distant from the actual area where the dampness is visible.
Most RV repair places use a method to pressurize the inside of the coach and then spray a soap mixture using a portable sprayer, like one used to spray for bugs or weeds, and look for air bubbles.
I used this method to find a leak on my travel trailer.  Since I didn't have access to the professional equipment, I made a box out of lightweight 1/4" luan plywood that would fit and enclose the outside of one of the windows and adapted a fan to the box to blow air into the open window, making sure the fan and box was sealed good to the window opening using good ole duct tape.  I opened the window to allow the fan to blow into the window.  It's important to close all vents, doors and other areas where air can escape out of the coach so you can pressurize the RV. This includes sealing compartment openings that may allow air to escape outside, range vents, etc. .  Yes, it took some time to seal up everything, but I wanted to find out where the water was coming in. I used the range vent to determine if I was getting a good positive air flow out of the trailer once the fan was running, then sealed it up.

I actually found 2 places... one was where the window was sealed into the frame and a gap was left in the sealant. The window frame was sealed to the trailer with butyl putty and had no leaks.  The other source was a missing screw that attached the top trim/gutter to the trailer. The missing screw (hole) was hidden by the white flexible trim covering.
I'm sure others will offer some suggestions...  Good Luck
 
Some RV dealers offer "Sealtec #####" (i forget the number may be 2000) here is what they do.

The open a roof vent, seal all other openings, and blow air into the roof vent, just a PSI or two (don't wanna pop the windows out).  then they wash the RV with soapy water.

Bubbles = Leak, just like testing a tire.
 
I expect the pressure is a lot lower than a "PSI or two". A couple inches of water would be more than enough!  Two PSI would, for example, push the windshield out with something like 3, 600 lb. force. (About 90 inches by 40 inches times 2 PSI)

Ernie
 
I would not expect a dealer to do a totally competent job.  I would go around the entire roof with a few tubes of lap sealant and hit every sealed edge.  Be generous with the sealant. 
 
wijames2002 said:
I had a leak just after I purchased my MH but was able to find it after a lot of searching and got it fixed. I then had the roof re-coated by a RV dealer as the membrane was looking bad. Now after a hard rain, the leak is back!!!
Click to expand...

How long ago did the dealer re-coat the roof?  Any warranty, written or implied?  Personally, I'd be in his face about this, unless it happened too long ago.  If I got no satisfaction from him, I'd be bitching to the Better Business Bureau, the Attorney General's Consumer Fraud people, and anyone else I could think of.
 
I'm having same problem. Previous owner had the MH resealed back in Jan 17'.  I bought it in Dec '17 and discovered a leak. PO and I brought it back to the shop in Jan 18 but they couldn't find a leak.  I asked if they pressure tested it, their looked dumbfounded and asked how that's done?  WHAT!!?? t\

Wife and I went camping since then and it rained...leaked again.
So tomorrow I'm driving 70 miles to a shop that does the pressure leak test.  Hopefully they'll find and seal it.
 
Optimistic Paranoid said:
How long ago did the dealer re-coat the roof?  Any warranty, written or implied?  Personally, I'd be in his face about this, unless it happened too long ago.  If I got no satisfaction from him, I'd be bitching to the Better Business Bureau, the Attorney General's Consumer Fraud people, and anyone else I could think of.
Click to expand...

I took it back to the shop yesterday and we pressure tested it together. we found that it was a couple of rivets along the gutter and a window seal. So it wasn't covered by the warranty but at least I found the leak. Thanks to everyone for your suggestions. We are supposed to have heavy rains this weekend here in Florida so I'll see if we got it.
 
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