How do I find and fix a leak?

[Mike Lewis]

After a hard rain I noticed a wet spot on the floor of my trailer. It is in the back, where the back "wall" meets the floor. Currently the table is removed so I could get a good look.

Pardon my ignorance, but I don't know the best way to solve this problem. What would be a good procedure for finding the source of the leak? How should I attempt to re-seal the leaking area, and what should I use?

I'm assuming the leak is from the rear window (fixed on my Escape) or the upper taillights. One of those taillights has partially failed, which might be a clue. Thanks.

[dfandrews]

Upper taillights has my vote, Mike.
Last year, after reading a post w/discussion of the bowing and possible leaks in those very wide assemblies, I checked my 3 year old ones. Sure enough, they had a bow, and the caulk had gaps.
I also checked around the Maxxfan vent and the A/C unit on the roof. I found a small area at the Maxxfan that needed a little care.

[padlin]

EZ enough to check the upper lights, the caulk on top will be split open. If that's what it is you can do a quick fix by cleaning it with something like Naptha or Aceton, tape around the old caulk, then just put another layer of Proflex over the old

Better would be to use a heat gun and a plastic putty knife to remove the old sealant, clean, tape, put on new caulk.

When I replaced one of mine that went bad I put a little caulk in the hole for the wire, which was not there when I removed the light. Then caulked the top and sides. I found the Proflex shrinks when it drys, needed a 2nd coat. I do remove the tape as soon as I caulk and before it sets. Then use my finger to smooth it a bit.

[padlin]

Something else. A few weeks ago I noticed the Proflex on top of the emergency exit window was pulling away from the window frame. R&R'ed it. Wasn't peaking but seeing as how you have the same year, it may be worth checking for the same thing on the rear window, pretty obvious if you look.

[pstyer]

We noticed a similar leak on our 21. The areas under the dinette seats were completely dry. The moisture only appeared at the bottom of the panel that fits between the seats. While at the Niagara Escape Rally, Ralph (McDonner) suggested I check the rivets under the belly band. This proved to be the source of our leak.

To check the rivets, pull the top of the belly band down just enough to expose the rivets. Use a small wire (paper clip) to push through the center of the pop rivets. You should not be able to push through the rivet! We found one rivet about in the center of the window that the wire could push in almost an inch. A small dab of proflex fixes the problem.

Hope this helps!

[tdf-texas]

Originally Posted by pstyer

We noticed a similar leak on our 21. The areas under the dinette seats were completely dry. The moisture only appeared at the bottom of the panel that fits between the seats. While at the Niagara Escape Rally, Ralph (McDonner) suggested I check the rivets under the belly band. This proved to be the source of our leak.

To check the rivets, pull the top of the belly band down just enough to expose the rivets. Use a small wire (paper clip) to push through the center of the pop rivets. You should not be able to push through the rivet! We found one rivet about in the center of the window that the wire could push in almost an inch. A small dab of proflex fixes the problem.

Hope this helps!

http://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f9...tml#post206198

When this came up previously, I pulled off my belly band insert and checked each rivet.
Several of the rivets were missing the mandrel head in the rivet hole so I ended up daubing Proflex on every rivet head to make sure and reinstalled the belly band insert. No leaks now possible.

My previous Casita trailer had the same problem with the same solution - along with numerous other rivet leak issues. Really don't miss the Casita rivets!

[Ian and Sue]

Originally Posted by Mike Lewis

After a hard rain I noticed a wet spot on the floor of my trailer. It is in the back, where the back "wall" meets the floor. Currently the table is removed so I could get a good look.

Pardon my ignorance, but I don't know the best way to solve this problem. What would be a good procedure for finding the source of the leak? How should I attempt to re-seal the leaking area, and what should I use?

I'm assuming the leak is from the rear window (fixed on my Escape) or the upper taillights. One of those taillights has partially failed, which might be a clue. Thanks.

Two things come to mind
1. sealing around the tail lights especially uppers
2. sealing around the solar panel back up mounting brackets in the kit after some solar panels blew off.