Slide out 'roof' awning.

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Suziq99

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Joined
Nov 9, 2020
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Location
Alicante..Spain
We are in the process of revamping & re sealing our little slide out, now I'm torn between replacing the awning with Acrylic, that would breath & dry faster or a plastic/vinyl that may sweat but definitly be 100% waterproof.
As the slide out is our primary bed I guess the vinyl would be the way to go, any thought's on this.
This is a DIY job, but I do marine canvas work so have some ideas  ;D
 
The awning over the slide (called a slide "topper" has nothing to do with keeping water out - it's strictly a debris shield. The topper catches leaves and branches that could jam in the slide seals or get pulled inside as the slide retracts. Acrylic, vinyl or even canvas works fine. Take your pick.
 
Gary RV_Wizard said:
The awning over the slide (called a slide "topper" has nothing to do with keeping water out - it's strictly a debris shield. The topper catches leaves and branches that could jam in the slide seals or get pulled inside as the slide retracts. Acrylic, vinyl or even canvas works fine. Take your pick.


Listen to Gary +1
 
Gary RV_Wizard said:
The awning over the slide (called a slide "topper" has nothing to do with keeping water out - it's strictly a debris shield. The topper catches leaves and branches that could jam in the slide seals or get pulled inside as the slide retracts. Acrylic, vinyl or even canvas works fine. Take your pick.

:))

Thanks.
 
Technically Gary is right and wrong.  Slide toppere serve 2 purposes.  Well actually 3
1, debris off the slide roof.
2. Help keep the slide room cooler
3. They actually do help keep water off the slide room roof.
All of thes things usually get into the RV as you close the slide room.
 
Water gets onto the slide roof whether it has a topper or not.  Slanting or wind-driven rain readily reaches the slide roof thru the open ends, and it does not rely on the topper for waterproofing.  Many lower-priced RVs don't come with toppers at all.
 
Be careful  with categoric statements. While the topper is not primarily to prevent leaks, in the case of my Journey a failure of the topper can flood the motor home. It happened to me! The reason is that both of the large slides in the living area have an approximately 10 inch square cutout in the center of the slide roof with a raised lip (about two inches high) to provide clearance for the slide lock. Remove the topper and it rains in.  :(

Ernie
 
Ernie n Tara said:
Be careful  with categoric statements. While the topper is not primarily to prevent leaks, in the case of my Journey a failure of the topper can flood the motor home. It happened to me! The reason is that both of the large slides in the living area have an approximately 10 inch square cutout in the center of the slide roof with a raised lip (about two inches high) to provide clearance for the slide lock. Remove the topper and it rains in.  :(

Ernie

Yea. Contrary to what Gary says I have been in some really bad storms over the years.  13 years with 3 slide rooms and narry a drop of water inside or on the slide room roofs.  The only times I regretted having them is in high winds.  They can flap around a lot, or get completely torn off.
 
Ernie n Tara said:
Be careful  with categoric statements. While the topper is not primarily to prevent leaks, in the case of my Journey a failure of the topper can flood the motor home. It happened to me! The reason is that both of the large slides in the living area have an approximately 10 inch square cutout in the center of the slide roof with a raised lip (about two inches high) to provide clearance for the slide lock. Remove the topper and it rains in.  :(

Ernie

Yep. A windstorm last spring pulled the topper on our large slide out of rhe rail. We got a lot of water in. Fortunately,  we were in the coach with lots of towels.
 
We have a Carefree slide topper and it is a good product about both sides of the price and the material. Easy to install and clean even when my son drew on it.
 
So....light or dark? We are putting a Solera topper on our 22RBHL next month and can't decide on white or black. White has the fabric matching the roof and maybe a little cooler (white reflects?) but black has the hardware matching the camper's trim as well as the roller on the front awning. Any thoughts on that?
 
Yikes. Measured and priced it out. Lippert is cheapest for the price of the 10’6” topper at $379.95, but they want $189 for shipping. Might give it a few months and then consider it again. Just finished our taxes, paid what we owed, and are taking delivery of our new TV this week. No need to go crazy when it’s only March!
 
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You shouldn't need a whole new topper assembly - just replacement fabric. It's not hard to change fabric. Try a fabric supplier such as Tough TOPs (toughtopawnings.com). A 10 foot vinyl topper fabric is probably about $200.

 
For the OP that may be the case, but for me I do not have an existing topper. The slide came from the factory with the brackets on the slide but not the long bracket on the side of the trailer. So I’ll need to purchase the whole thing. I’m going with Solera purely because the brackets on the slide are Solera - probably a pairing done at the factory level.
 
I see RV's without slide toppers.

When it rains, I didn't think it leaked in UNTIL you pull the slide in if it's wet.

Is that true? Does all the water on a wet slide leak on the floor of the RV when you pull the slide in?

I see people sweep the top of the slide off.

I don't have slides, so naturally, I'm curious about that.
 
There are typically 3 seals that “sweep” the water clear of the sides and top. These seals are a single rubber strip and are connected to camper and point inward towards the outer surfaces of the slide - think of them like a squeegee that lightly brushes against the slide as it moves both inward or outward.

And then there are typically 3 compression seals that create a somewhat tight seal between the outer flange on the slide and the outer surface of the camper. They are generally a tube that just becomes sandwiched when the slide is fully retracted. Their shape allows for a good seal due to being squeezed between the two surfaces as it squeezes flush. Think of them like the seals around your car door that keep the rain/wind from getting into your car once the door is shut.

Of the two types of seals, the first seal (the sweeping seal) is the one that will keep a majority of water/bugs/dust from entering into the cabin of your trailer when the slide is out. It is by no means an airtight seal...but it does a decent job. But since they aren’t a perfect seal they don’t swipe the surface spotless as the slide comes in. They aren’t a windshield wiper. The slide itself typically has a grade to the roof that slants downward as it goes outward. So if your camper is level and the slide is all the way extended then the water will generally flow away from your camper’s sweeping seal as it rains.

Up until now I’ve been using my blower to clear the top of my slide before retracting when we leave. But this is mainly for leaves/twigs/etc. Not normally for water.

Hope that helps.
 
Toppers are not required and have NOTHING to do with keeping water out. The slide seals keep water out (see quadna71 reply). Toppers are debris shields, intended to keep leaves, tree limbs, etc from jamming into the opening or damaging seals when you retract the slide. The topper also helps divert water, but rain still gets underneath and collects on the top of the slide itself. And of course on the ends as well.

It's possible but not an everyday thing for water to get dragged in as the slide retracts. One obvious condition would be when the RV is tilted so that water flows toward the side rather than away. If you xpect there may be water collected there, it's a good idea to raise or lower one end of the RV so water runs off before retracting.
 

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