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Advice on tracking down and stopping leaks


donbob3

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My trailer is a 2016 Elite 2 which I keep under a carport.  Last week the window tracks were cleaned.

 

During my trip to the Cherokee  rally (it rained 2 hours on way up and 1st 2 days of rally) I had water coming out

 

of the chrome belly band on both twin beds.  In addition, clothes in closet were damp.  The window tracks contained

 

water but would not drain unless I broke the surface tension of the weep holes with a knife.  The tracks were cleaned

 

the prior week.  I plan on checking the ac gasket from inside.  I will check rear cabinet for water. Then I will

 

start resealing running lights, camera, fan, and anything else above midline.  It was a blowing rain.

 

Because of the double hull I am not  sure that visible water may actually

 

be coming in somewhere else.

 

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated..

 

 

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Don - See Mike's post under "Recent Topics" concerning clogged window weep holes.  I suspect that this is not your only problem, but, it might help.

 

Bill

2023 Ford F150 Lariat 3.5EB FX4 Max Towing, Max Payload, 2016 Oliver Elite II - Hull #117 "Twist"

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DonBob,

 

Last year resealed the Maxx Air Fan exterior mounting flange & screws.  The Maxx Air fan also has a neoprene seal between the mounting flange and fan assembly. Also tightened 2 of 4 bolts securing AC to the roof last year.

 

We towed Ollie in heavy rain through Oklahoma a few weeks ago. Found dampness between the insulation & roof's rear outer shell afterwards. Checked AC mounting bolts again last week and found 2 of 4 bolts to be loose again, not sure if they were the same loose bolts originally found. The AC gasket sandwiched between the AC and outer camper hull looked OK, so snugged both loose bolts. Not sure if this was the source of the leak, but I always look above the area where a leak is found.

 

Believe your unit model may be found online for exact instructions or in the original component brochures included with Ollie.

 

"Evenly tighten the bolts to a torque of 40 to 50 inch pounds. This will compress the roof gasket to approximately 1/2". The bolts are self locking so further tightening is not necessary".

 

https://www.dometic.com/en-us/us/products/climate/air-conditioners/air-conditioners-for-rvs/dometic-penguin-ii-_-20669

 

Towed & camped in heavy rain again +5 inches in 24 hours, will probably check later this week for dampness between shells.

 

Found a leak coming out of the rear Oliver sign & LED light assembly.  This leak dripped from the LED housing between the camper shells around the rear window and out of the bottom of the window on to the curbside bed. Had to remove the LED lens and reseal to stop the leak.

 

Another leak was a porch light, all four were removed and resealed (ours has the older style housings). The porch light over the dinette window allowed water to get in between the inner & outer shell over the dinette window, water dripped out of the top of the window frame on to the dinette table. Resealing the exterior light over the dinette window corrected the problem.

 

Sometimes when heating on cool nights, condensation will form on the interior of the outer shell, too.

 

I believe all campers will eventually have leaks, but the nice thing about the fiberglass Ollie, when the leak is fixed, you don't have to worry about wood rot.

 

Hope this helps.

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Bill #75 LE2

 

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Bill thanks for the moral support. No doubt about it, leaks are depressing.

 

 

DonBob,

 

I felt the same way on our first camping trip after buying Ollie used, the dinette window leaked.  Once I started looking for possible leak sources, they were not too hard to find. Oliver fixed the dinette window leak.

 

The dampness in your closet could be from the black tank vent roof flange. I forgot to mention I removed the sealant on the black tank vent roof flange and resealed it.   Some of the sealant used by the factory is easy to remove, but some is tough to remove, too.  Please keep us in the loop on progress.

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Bill #75 LE2

 

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  • 2 years later...
On 10/14/2018 at 7:02 AM, donbob3 said:

My trailer is a 2016 Elite 2 which I keep under a carport.  Last week the window tracks were cleaned.

 

During my trip to the Cherokee  rally (it rained 2 hours on way up and 1st 2 days of rally) I had water coming out

 

of the chrome belly band on both twin beds.  In addition, clothes in closet were damp.  The window tracks contained

 

water but would not drain unless I broke the surface tension of the weep holes with a knife.  The tracks were cleaned

 

the prior week.  I plan on checking the ac gasket from inside.  I will check rear cabinet for water. Then I will

 

start resealing running lights, camera, fan, and anything else above midline.  It was a blowing rain.

 

Because of the double hull I am not  sure that visible water may actually

 

be coming in somewhere else.

 

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated..

 

 

My leak was showing up the same place as your was. I pulled back the insulation behind the rear Oliver sign and ran water down from the top. Sure enough, water was leaking in from that sign. I sealed it from the inside. Dry as a bone now.

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