weep hole cleaning

[John and Debbie]

Hi all, does anyone have a great tip on how to clean the weep hole track.  Specifically,  does anyone use a syringe or wet/dry vacuum to get all the debris cleaned out between the holes.  I can pour water on the outside track and get a good flush, but the inside track has water in it, enough to cause furry looking mildew.

John

[John Dorrer]

18 minutes ago, John and Debbie said:

Hi all, does anyone have a great tip on how to clean the weep hole track.  Specifically,  does anyone use a syringe or wet/dry vacuum to get all the debris cleaned out between the holes.  I can pour water on the outside track and get a good flush, but the inside track has water in it, enough to cause furry looking mildew.

John

The key is keeping it clean when camping

 We us our small vacuum or compressed air. We inspect before closing a window so we don't grind up debris. We call it daily preventative maintenance, and it pays off as our tracks have never had an issue.

 

[topgun2]

2 hours ago, John and Debbie said:

Hi all, does anyone have a great tip on how to clean the weep hole track. 

Have you tried THESE things?

To get things really clean I still have to use a "Q Tip" for deep in the corners and where the two windows meet.  But a light spray of Simple Green or 409 or .... and a couple of swipes of one of these really does get things clean.

Bill

[Geronimo John]

Raise or lower the front end so that the track flows down hill to a weep. 

18" Heavy Duty Pipe Cleaners

A hose end valve to control water flow to a small fan shaped nozzel to push against the weep to sort of force water into the track and flow water downhill in a controlled manner.

Beyond cleaning annually, and checking for junk in the tracks, having window gutters was a HUGE improvement on the older trailers.

gj

[John and Debbie]

2 hours ago, topgun2 said:

Have you tried THESE things?

To get things really clean I still have to use a "Q Tip" for deep in the corners and where the two windows meet.  But a light spray of Simple Green or 409 or .... and a couple of swipes of one of these really does get things clean.

Bill

Bill, I can get the track area clean on that inside track, but I am concerned that there is water underneath the black glide strip where there are those quarter inch wide holes every inch or so.  Enough water wicks up to keep the sides of the track wet enough to grow white fuzzy mold along the vertical edges of the track inside the trailer.  I am running a dehumidifier and some heat in the trailer to minimize that.  It's working a bit.  The trailer is parked level by the house so I can check it often.  Maybe in that area, it's always going to have some moisture during our wet Oregon winters.  I just thought if I can clean out that area under the black glide strip, that it might dry more.

John

[John and Debbie]

1 hour ago, Geronimo John said:

Raise or lower the front end so that the track flows down hill to a weep. 

18" Heavy Duty Pipe Cleaners

A hose end valve to control water flow to a small fan shaped nozzel to push against the weep to sort of force water into the track and flow water downhill in a controlled manner.

Beyond cleaning annually, and checking for junk in the tracks, having window gutters was a HUGE improvement on the older trailers.

gj

18" Heavy Duty Pipe Cleaners

John, Do you use those to go under the black plastic glide strip?  I take the white rubber seal off the outside track and can pour water into those holes that are about every inch until it comes out the external weep slots all clean looking.  It's the inner track that concerns me the most.

John

[topgun2]

9 hours ago, John and Debbie said:

It's the inner track that concerns me the most.

Have you tried taking that black inner track cover off?

Bill

[topgun2]

14 hours ago, John Dorrer said:

We us our small vacuum or compressed air.

Small cans of compressed air can be used for multiple purposes in and around the Oliver.  I always have a can with me like THIS.

Bill

[jd1923]

19 hours ago, John Dorrer said:

The key is keeping it clean when camping

Yep, or each time we get home. To wash the Oliver, I use a car soap foam-sprayer and first I get the entire Oliver soaked in soap suds. Then I mount the pressure washer gun and clean the entire body. I hit the windows with the pressurized water and you can see the dirt coming out of the weep holes. When you see clean water coming through you're done. I've asked Chris to go inside to see if anything gets wet inside, but it never does. She'll clean the interior window tracks as needed with a damp dust rag.

I use a battery-powered leaf blower to get most of the water off the Oliver, preferring not to rub/towel dry. Hit the windows with air too. Now that we're ceramic-coated she cleans up nicely and quickly!

[Geronimo John]

I don't have the courage to do that.  It is very delicate and difficult to change if damaged.

I do lightly brush it though and rinse well with Dawn/hot water to clean and flush well.  Best to relocate the bedding out of harms way, and have a friend inside with towells in case of an overflow.  

GJ

Edited January 4 by Geronimo John

[Geronimo John]

17 hours ago, John and Debbie said:

It's the inner track that concerns me the most.

Part 2

Setting aside (Not Fully Removing) the white seal along the bottom part of the window is a good start.  Then clean the inside trough, but as indicated above I don't recommend removing the black window guide.  If it has slid all the way to the corner, I try to move it back towards the latch a few inches.  This gives me a barrier free section for water flow to under the black window glide.  It also gives me a way to flush water under the black guide to flush out dirt and gunk.  

My leaks almost always manifest themselves as an overflow over the inside track and down the wall to the sleeping area.  This overflow is generally due to lack of flow to the outside of the track caused by the inside trough weeps to the outside trough being restricted, or rarely due to the water not flowing thru the black window track with the holes. (see above)

Once the water gets into the outside track, it departs via the outside facing weeps of the inside trough.  Sadly the two sets of weeps are not aligned.  As such it complicates cleaning the inside weeps. This prompts the use of the 18" pipe cleaners  (PC).  Poke them into the outside weeps and get them cleaned and flush this track from the outside.  Then use the pipe cleaners to scrub out the entire length of this lower track.  GO both ways thru all the lower outside weeps.  

Now use the PC's to find and clean the inside weeps between the two trough's.  Clean and flush from the inside trough to move junk thru and to the outside trough.  Then flush the outside and clean the outside track again.

Low hose pressure and control is a must to prevent inside flooding.  My home made Hot Water Tank Flush wand works nicely for this control.  

Edited January 4 by Geronimo John

[John and Debbie]

On 1/4/2026 at 5:17 AM, topgun2 said:

Have you tried taking that black inner track cover off?

Bill

No, it looks fragile to me so I haven't done that.

John

[topgun2]

55 minutes ago, John and Debbie said:

No, it looks fragile to me so I haven't done that.

Yes - I'd try all of the other possible solutions before going down this road.  But, it you have mold under there you might try spraying a bit of diluted bleach in order to kill it.

Bill

[2008RN]

On 1/5/2026 at 10:38 AM, John and Debbie said:

No, it looks fragile to me so I haven't done that.

John

I had some flooding problems of water coming through.  I had always cleaned the out track, but never cleaned the inner track. I cleaned the track out as good as I could.  I still don't know if I made a difference yet.   I also put J channels around the window hoping that will help.   All the problem windows are on the Street side where the is more water draining down the sides.     I did poor a small amount of water in the track and it slowly seep out very slowly.  My felt track also is covering some of the weep holes which might not help, I do not know how much the felt wound stop the drainage.

I totally agree about the felt tracks being fragile.  I started to try to pry part of the track out,  but quickly stopped because of the amount of force to pry the sides back and the chance of breaking the felt track.

I also considered buying new rubber track covers for the outside.  They do not contact the window any more.  

[John and Debbie]

1 hour ago, 2008RN said:

I had some flooding problems of water coming through.  I had always cleaned the out track, but never cleaned the inner track. I cleaned the track out as good as I could.  I still don't know if I made a difference yet.   I also put J channels around the window hoping that will help.   All the problem windows are on the Street side where the is more water draining down the sides.     I did poor a small amount of water in the track and it slowly seep out very slowly.  My felt track also is covering some of the weep holes which might not help, I do not know how much the felt wound stop the drainage.

I totally agree about the felt tracks being fragile.  I started to try to pry part of the track out,  but quickly stopped because of the amount of force to pry the sides back and the chance of breaking the felt track.

I also considered buying new rubber track covers for the outside.  They do not contact the window any more.  

My thought now is to get a small wet/dry vacuum with small attachments and put a little water in the inner track and then use the suction to pull the water through.  The washing machine technician who came out last month had one that he used to clean out the small drains in our front loading washing machine.  

John

[jd1923]

On 1/4/2026 at 1:21 PM, Geronimo John said:

I don't have the courage to do that.  It is very delicate and difficult to change if damaged.

I can’t see with windows locked shut how anything can get damaged. Should a violent thunderstorm damage our window tracks too?

And I don’t get why we’ve never had a drop of water leak to the interior and many of you have leaks, mildew, etc.

No idea how you know your weep holes are clean, open and functional without running water! Can the “cleaning” process be creating the problem?

Definitely replace the exterior rubber if it has shrunk at all. $100 in rubber, I replaced all with black stock first year of ownership.

Edited January 7 by jd1923

[Mike and Carol]

On 1/5/2026 at 12:38 PM, John and Debbie said:

No, it looks fragile to me so I haven't done that.

John

I pull mine up everytime I clean the window tracks.  I can only pull up what isn’t underneath the window when open and they go back down pretty easy.

[Patriot]

As @topgun2 and @John Dorrer mentioned the compressed air and regular cleaning has always worked well for me. I also apply a little coating of spray silicone or WD40 on a rag and wipe down the exterior black rubber seal before reinstalling. This helps to keep it supple and clean looking. 

[2008RN]

15 hours ago, jd1923 said:

$100 in rubber, I replaced all with black stock first year of ownership.

Did you get the black rubber from Oliver?  If not who?

[jd1923]

40 minutes ago, 2008RN said:

Did you get the black rubber from Oliver?  If not who?

https://www.pellandent.com/Half-Inch-Glass-Vinyl-Seal

[John and Debbie]

56 minutes ago, jd1923 said:

https://www.pellandent.com/Half-Inch-Glass-Vinyl-Seal

JD, do you have a picture of how the black looks on your trailer.  I noticed that my white strips are getting mildew spots.  I read that it's nearly impossible to clean that off so I am interested in the black.

John

[topgun2]

John & Debbie - 

Below is a pic of the black window molding.  Please disregard the black "louver" in the pic since it was/is a mod done by another owner and is not available for sale (that I know of).  Note that one pic is from the outside while the other is from inside the trailer.

Bill

 

[jd1923]

44 minutes ago, John and Debbie said:

JD, do you have a picture of how the black looks on your trailer.  I noticed that my white strips are getting mildew spots.  I read that it's nearly impossible to clean that off so I am interested in the black. John

The consensus is go BLACK! IT does not show stains and the window is black anyway. 

[Mike and Carol]

We still have the original black molding that was installed on our trailer when new.  After long trips when I am cleaning the window tracks I pull those rubber moldings out and put them in a bucket of soapy water.  After I’ve cleaned the tracks and the screens I clean the rubber moldings with a sponge and dry them well.  I apply some 303 protectant before I put them back in.  They show very little wear after 10 years.  No mold or discoloration.  I think black looks much better than the white, not sure why Oliver switched.

[Geronimo John]

21 hours ago, jd1923 said:

A.  I can’t see with windows locked shut how anything can get damaged. Should a violent thunderstorm damage our window tracks too?

B.  And I don’t get why we’ve never had a drop of water leak to the interior and many of you have leaks, mildew, etc.

C.  No idea how you know your weep holes are clean, open and functional without running water! Can the “cleaning” process be creating the problem?

D.  Definitely replace the exterior rubber if it has shrunk at all. $100 in rubber, I replaced all with black stock first year of ownership.

JD to answer your points, I took the liberty of adding A, B, C, D in front of them.

A.  I can assure you that our vintage windows can and do leak, and that they do cause damage (espcally to beddng).  Short of an oak tree taking out the window frame, the storm itself does not cause damage.  It is the accumulation of "stuff" in the track that blocks the weeps and that causes damage.  

B.  Maybe you are blessed!  Or maybe in AZ you don't see much rain!  But looking at it from the "other side", why have so many owner installed rain gutters to help mitigate the flow of water INTO their trailers?

C.  I use and posted using a lot of water carefully from the inside trough to the outside trough to the outside of the trailer.  You know the weeps are functional when you add water to the inside trough and it flows to the outside wall of the trailer.  The cleaning process is working when you see the system drainng well.

 

GJ

23 hours ago, John and Debbie said:

My thought now is to get a small wet/dry vacuum with small attachments and put a little water in the inner track and then use the suction to pull the water through.  The washing machine technician who came out last month had one that he used to clean out the small drains in our front loading washing machine.  

It helps to raise/lower the trailer tongue jack to let gravity assist in the effort.

GJ