New Windows

[ScottyGS]

4 hours ago, Geronimo John said:

 

We laid out the gutter in HOT Florida sun

I said "Summer Day".... not Nuclear Winter in FL!   :-) 

[routlaw]

We've had rain off and on since last night and a sizable downpour mid morning, so with new weather stripping gaskets installed on the windows thought it would be a good time to see how well they have performed. Initially no leaks a good thing given the amount of rain. Brought out my portable wet/dry vac and vacuumed all the weep holes and ended up with around 6 oz of water collected from the windows. IOW's the new gaskets did little to nothing to stop infiltration. Photo posted below to illustrate the amount of water collected. Water was poured into a measuring cup to verify amount.

Until this point there were no leaks inside the trailer, but it kept raining. This afternoon I checked again and sure enough a small leak had started to occur on the street side rear window. Not enough to be a major issue yet but the fitted sheet had a wet spot about 3-4 inches in diameter. Weep holes were not emitting or leaking water which was no surprise. The tracks have been cleaned twice in the last month alone.  The upside down weep holes at the top of the frames have been plugged all to no avail.  The new installed gutters do avert water running down the side of the trailer but offer no benefit from rain hitting the windows directly.

I can't imagine living down south where torrential downpours are normal and putting up with this. I'm at a loss for how to deal with this going forward.

Thanks

 

[DavePhelps]

I posted this pic a couple years ago in another leaky window thread. Those weep slots are just not up to the task of keeping water from building up in the tracks (capillary attraction really hinders water flow). Folks talked about using pipe cleaners and lantern wicks to help wick out the water (maybe they work as well) but I find that 1/8" paracord works great. Cut some 3" lengths and stuff them in the slots. It's amazing how well they work! Don't heat seal the ends! Easy to replace and everyone has some paracord around right? Some may think it's kind of ugly looking but better than a wet bed!

Cheers,
Dave

[routlaw]

Dave I remember seeing that photo in the past. For me the pipe cleaners do next to nothing unless I go out and manually pump them back and forth which will remove quite a bit of water from the weep holes. On one window I have enlarged the weep holes, curb side rear, and that window seems to consistently have much less water in the channels and doesn't tend to leak either.

I have never heard of paracord though, what the heck is that? Will have to look into this. 

Thanks

[Katy McAnarney]

We had a torrential downpour last weekend and had the rear emergency window leak terribly.  Both beds wet a good deal.  We ended our trip early and came home.  I did not use pipe cleaners in the weep holes.  I will do so now.  I've cleaned and replaced the original molding on the outside about 1.5 years ago.  Upon inspection of the gutter and molding on the emergency exit window, the gutter the window slides on was brittle and about rotten.

I opened a ticket with Oliver and I received a response with step by step instructions on how to replace the gutter after cleaning the trays.  This included removing the window pane.  So we did that.  Cleaned everything up, replaced the gutter and replaced it with a product from the company Oliver suggested, steelerubber.com. The gutter is one, continuous running piece, that starts at the street side bottom and runs to curb side, up and then over the top of the window and terminates at the top street side.

Everything has been done and the new track gutter fits perfectly.  But, now we cannot get the window back on track.  I've tried just about everything.  I've even swung the window outwards hoping to be able to clearance over the shade track to re-seat the window panes on the track.  Didn't work.  I've tried putting the gutter around the window first and then popping the window back in.  Again, couldn't get the window pane over the last steel rim to seat it into the track.  The idea being putting in the top part of the pane first, and the pushing it up and seating the bottom.  I cannot get clearance over the trim of the window frame.  It lacks probably 1/8 of an inch.  I even attempted to put the old gutters back in, thinking the new gutters were too thick.  I compared the two pieces side by side and they are exactly the same thickness, but that didn't work either.  I'm so frustrated. 

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

2021 LE II, twin bed set up, Hull #920, La Dame Blanche

[routlaw]

@Katy McAnarney welcome to the dysfunctional Oliver window club but sorry you are having this issue like so many of us. 

This is how I have re-installed the sliding window with either new or cleaned and refurbished gutter track. First put the siding window into its channel without the rubber track. Coat the rubber track with silicone and wipe off excess. Position the sliding window approximately half open/closed and gently start feeding the rubber track into the bottom of the channel and below the sliding window first. You will only get so far, then start to close the window part way, hold the rubber track against the sliding window then start to push open again as far as it will go. Repeat this back and forth process for a few efforts until the rubber track appears on the far side of the sliding window at which point you should be able to grab the rubber track and pull the it through as far as it needs to go. Open the window all the way and feed the rubber track into the remaining channel along the bottom then up the vertical side and into the top leaving several inches of dangling rubber track. At this point you will need to slide the window forward into a partially closed portion so that you can repeat what was done on the bottom channel. This will also take a few passes to complete. 

It will be virtually impossible to do this without the use of silicone. The rubber alone just has too much friction. Once you get the hang of it the process will go much easier in the future. I don't think it is possible to do this with the rubber track already installed. The silicone allows for very easy back and forth maneuvering of the rubber track and window. It's far easier to start on the bottom rail first before the top.

Hope this helps