Tsunami Over Our Heads

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tstumpf

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Feb 28, 2010
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Posted the RV for sale on Craigslist, took the RV out of storage and as we drove it to an RV Park where it'd be easy to show, we heard gallons of water sloshing in the ceiling above our heads.

Had a roof guy out to take a look. Thought it was an easy fix, water in the trim where the slide topper attaches. Tilted the RV to and fro and water came out! The guy told Trevor to keep tipping the RV so it all drains out. The guy leaves, Trevor does as told, but when he takes it for a spin around the RV Park, he hears the same amount of water sloshing in the ceiling. The sound is loudest above his head, but in the process of trying to locate the area to drill a hole, we began to hear it everywhere. In the end though, mostly above his head.

We drilled a bunch of holes everywhere around there, snaked a hanger with a q-tip attached through all of them. Everything is dry as a bone. The AC has been checked several times, the roof guy says the rubber roof is in great shape.

The thing Trevor is wondering: is it's possible for water to get in the metal tubular structure of the RV house (for lack of a better word). He doesn't like asking because it seems so ridiculous but seriously don't know where else to look.

Here are 3 places we looked. Did a few others just out of desperation. Any ideas? It's a Class A 2005 Damon Astoria if that helps any.

 

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  I don?t know anything about your particular motor home....but, I?m assuming that you have ducted ac. Is it possible that water got into the ductwork. We got a small amount into our ductwork, when we got water past the ac ?hold down bolts?. The ac gasket was fine, but when spraying the front of the ac.....simulating driving in a hard rain, we could pass water past the bolts, and into the blower part of the ac. Not likely your problem....but it?s a shot in the dark!
 
Maybe just advertise it as the "Cool Ocean Breeze" limited edition.  They only made a few like this and they are sure to be collector items!
 
The chances of water getting into the metal framework is vanishingly small. The duct work is a possibility, though rarely enough there to "slosh".

Are you sure it is water?  I've heard dry stuff, e.g. acorns, do a marvelous imitation of water flowing. The ceiling muffles the rattle enough to sound just like a slosh.  We once had a red squirrel move into the area between ceiling and roof on a previous RV.  It was almost entertaining...
 
Yeah, but that sounded like it was just the slide topper.  They also said the sound was the same after doing that, so that water was probably not related to the sloshing.
 
Gary RV_Wizard said:
The chances of water getting into the metal framework is vanishingly small. The duct work is a possibility, though rarely enough there to "slosh".

Are you sure it is water?  I've heard dry stuff, e.g. acorns, do a marvelous imitation of water flowing. The ceiling muffles the rattle enough to sound just like a slosh.  We once had a red squirrel move into the area between ceiling and roof on a previous RV.  It was almost entertaining...

Especially if it is stored in a lot with other RV's.  We had a purple nest in our RV and the funny thing was we own NOTHING this color purple.  Mice must have literally taken it out of another RV and brought it to our's.  How flattering!
 
Gary RV_Wizard said:
Yeah, but that sounded like it was just the slide topper.  They also said the sound was the same after doing that, so that water was probably not related to the sloshing.
Ahh, I see what you mean, Gary. I guess I didn't think it through as carefully as you did.
 
Sometimes I find it hard to nail down the direction of a sound in a moving car.  Many times I would have sworn a noise was coming form say the driver's side front wheel...but i fact it was the other side....  audible illusion I suppose...
Maybe that....along with some coincidence about water coming out at the slide...
just thinking out loud
 
What a crazy weekend. Thanks so much for all your replies. The AC end of it was well looked at. Nothing there.

KandT loved the cool ocean breeze idea, don't think that didn't cross our minds for a second  :)

Looked into sound coming from other places, but when I went to each promising area, it always came back to the main sound being overhead.

As far as other objects, how could you possibly find them? Acorns, etc., without tearing off the rubber roof (which is in excellent condition) or taking the walls  apart?

Trevor wonders if we're hearing sloshing from the water tanks or the diesel tank. But you'd think we would have heard it at least once in the six years we lived in it full-time.

We are completely at a loss. We could go with the acorns in the attic idea, but sounds like water, so don't think we'll get any buyers.. :'(

Either the problem is really nothing...(not water) or it won't be long before a new clue to a serious problem will rear it's ugly head. At least we'll know what we're dealing then.

In the meantime, it's going on a trip to the desert. Maybe it'll dry-out there...  8)

Thanks again, guys.
 
Has anyone removed a few vents (air conditioner) and returns and inspected the ducts? They are pretty well water proof and certainly prone to low spots.

Ernie
 
Yes. Dry as a bone. It's a complete mystery.  ???

After looking everything over again last night, I wonder if the roof guy was correct, and it's just the channel where the slide topper is located. When the RV was tipped, water did come out, but is it possible it just can't be tipped far enough to get it all out?

But then again, it sounds like much more water than you'd think that area could hold.
 
"Tipping" even a few inches should be plenty to get water off the slide roof. And the topper should fully empty when the slide comes in.

I still think it is possible that it's something other than water, in between the ceiling and the roof. That area is accessible to anything that can crawl up behind the rear cap and the factory doesn't always seal it well.
 
How would you investigate that without tearing the roof off or tearing the ceiling apart?  Or do you just ignore it and assume the best?

As I was typing this, it just occured to me that we could get one of those cameras that are on the end of a tube that you can purcahes at Lowes. I don't know how long they are, but if critters can gain access to that area would we be able to as well without causing thousands of dollars worth of damage to the place?

If we can't prove it's not water, I don't know how we'd ever be able to sell it. I'm not against keeping it. I love that RV. But we were hoping to use the money to pay down on our new vehicle and eliminate storage fees and insurance.

All we know is, if we were the buyers, we wouldn't be buying anything that sounds like it's loaded with water.


 
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