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Old 01-02-2021, 11:34 AM   #1
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leak behind vinyl in under range cabinet in 17B

So there is visible water/moisture between the side wall vinyl and the wood strips on the floor in the under-the-range cabinet of our 2013 17B. We originally thought it was coming from the bathroom vent which was brittle and cracked, so we had it replaced and caulked very well. In fact, our guy did a pretty thorough job of recaulking everything outside. There are 2 possibilities for leaks on the wall opposite this cabinet and those would be the range hood vent and the furnace vent. The seals on both those seem intact. Is there anything else in the vicinity of this that we might be overlooking?
Thanks for helping with advice on this issue and others in the past! We appreciate this community SO MUCH!
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Old 01-02-2021, 02:09 PM   #2
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Furnace vent hood

a possible location for water infiltration. I made a hood template out of stiff cardboard. Local sheet metal shop fabricated. Used sealant and pop rivets for install. Will try to attach photo.
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Old 01-02-2021, 05:09 PM   #3
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There have been a few occasions where belly band rivets leaked.
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Old 01-02-2021, 08:12 PM   #4
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leak

Pinch the belly band with your fingers in the area of the leak. pull it out. You will see rivets. Take a small wire and poke it gently into the hole in the center of the rivet. If you don't feel resistance in about a half an inch you have a defective rivet that can leak. Escape had some bad rivets in the era of when your trailer was built, you can drill them out and put in a new one.

We bought a used 2013 Escape. It never leaked to my knowledge. i took the Escape to ETI for a solar panel install. When I picked it up, Nigel told me they had pulled the belly band and checked every rivet. found three defective rivets. Replaced. Also drilled four little tiny holes 1/16 inch in the bottom metal rim of the rear window to drain water infusion. Also keep the weep holes clean on your slider widows. We put the stick on vinyl gutters above all our windows on both the 19 and the 21. We like them too.
Hope this helps
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Old 01-02-2021, 09:32 PM   #5
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The heading of your thread implies that you are certain that the water is running between the vinyl and the fiberglass shell. Your discussion leads me to think that you are seeing water on the surface of the cabinet floor. Is it possible that your plumbing is leaking, rather than the exterior shell?

Try pressurizing the fresh water system to make sure all is good there. That's where I had a problem, and it was an easy fix.
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Old 01-05-2021, 08:54 AM   #6
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Nomade, We like this idea! For a temporary fix, we taped on a section of plastic milk jug, but your solution is long term and we may try that. Thanks!
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Old 01-05-2021, 09:06 AM   #7
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Thanks, Iowa Dave, for belly band idea! Never knew one could get in behind the belly band. And for further clarification, the plumbing never feels damp or wet. The vinyl wall itself is never wet either. The only clue we had was the wood strips seemed to be darkening with water stains. So I pushed back the vinyl where it meets the wood strips and found moisture. Depending on recent rain, I can wedge a paper towel in there and soak up water. Not good!
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Old 01-05-2021, 09:53 AM   #8
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Originally Posted by E-pad View Post
Thanks, Iowa Dave, for belly band idea! Never knew one could get in behind the belly band. And for further clarification, the plumbing never feels damp or wet. The vinyl wall itself is never wet either. The only clue we had was the wood strips seemed to be darkening with water stains. So I pushed back the vinyl where it meets the wood strips and found moisture. Depending on recent rain, I can wedge a paper towel in there and soak up water. Not good!
I did the wire inserted into the rivet hole on my trailer and found that about a third of the rivets were missing the center piece. Escape had a batch of rivets that were defective that they were using when my trailer was built.

I just pulled the belly band off and squeezed a dab of proflex into each rivet such that the hole in the middle was filled and the area around the rivet was sealed as well. If a third of the rivets were defective, I figured over time, the others may fail too so all of them got the treatment.

I put that belly band back on and don't worry if the rivets may leak.

ps. This is not unique to Escape - I had to do the same thing to the Casita I had as the rivets were leaking on that trailer too. At the time, it was a big discussion on the Casita forum and a lot of owners had to do it. Larry Gamble was asked about it at a Casita rally and said he uses shoe goo to seal them.

Scamp and Boler trailers have the same issue. A Google search will find lots of info.
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Old 01-05-2021, 10:17 AM   #9
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Well since we are on the belly band topic....
I checked the rivets on our 2013. 21 Escape late in the fall of 2019 and the center piece was still present in all of them. Haven’t checked since. That same fall I was camped at Land Between the Lakes with a lot of other fiberglass camper units. One of the Escape owners related a strange story to me early Saturday afternoon. He noticed a person unknown to him near his trailer “picking” at his belly band. He asked this person what he was doing and the guy had no good answer and walked away. We both agreed it was pretty strange. With the potluck, campfire etc that evening we were away from our trailers. On Sunday morning as I got ready to pack up, I was removing the Ball X Chock on the drivers side and noticed the belly band on our trailer pulled out of the channel in three places. I reinstalled the belly band without a problem and concluded that one of the fellow campers in that campground had returned when we weren’t around and pulled the vinyl out to look at the way things were put together on Escape trailers. He was taking a much greater chance than he ever realized. Considering the changed management of that campground, the clientele encountered, and the filthy restrooms, the Land Between the Lakes has disappeared from my camping radar.
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Old 01-05-2021, 05:00 PM   #10
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Escape 17b

I actually had two hoods fabricated. I had a leak where the electrical wiring enters the fiberglass shell at the front of the trailer. I am not a fan of unsightly caulking. The installed stainless hood functions as it should. No more leaks, looks good too.
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Old 01-05-2021, 11:11 PM   #11
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Being a rather new Escape owner, i had no idea of the belly band issue. Immediately went out and checked the rivet on my '09 19. The rivets all look like conventional pop rivets, but none have the stem I'm used to seeing in the pop rivets I have used. Will caulk them all later in the week as a precaution.

I am also wondering about the extruded channel over the seam between the two halves of the trailer. What prevents water from running down the side of the trailer and being wicked into the seam between the fiberglass and the channel, and then into the inside of the trailer by way of the rivet holes? Should the top of the channel be caulked to prevent this? The original owner of my trailer always kept it covered, and it was virtually unused when I got it, and I haven't had it out in foul weather to learn if leakage might be a problem, since I also keep it covered when not in use.
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Old 01-26-2021, 03:56 PM   #12
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After a pretty good rain last night, we checked for the leak under the range and it's there again. We still have the temporary milk jug shield over the furnace vent, so we are more suspicious now of the rivet-behind-the-bellyband theory. The belly band seems very hard, immovable, impervious and solidly in place. So how would one go about getting in behind the belly band?
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Old 01-26-2021, 04:11 PM   #13
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If it is cold where you are at, you might have to use a heat gun on low or a hair dryer to warm
It up and make it pliable. Once it’s warm you should be able to pinch it with your thumb and forefinger and the edges will pull out from below the aluminum “rim”. If it’s split anywere or you have a little accident, don’t panic, it’s available in multiple colors and not too expensive. Unless the previous owner used some liquid adhesive on it to hold it in place? Sorry, that’s about the extent of my knowledge and experience.
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Old 01-26-2021, 05:36 PM   #14
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If it’s split anywere or you have a little accident, don’t panic, it’s available in multiple colors and not too expensive.
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Like $17 for 100 ft.

https://www.amazon.com/Insert-Moldin.../dp/B077H26H2Z
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Old 02-24-2021, 02:02 PM   #15
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On a warm day a couple weeks ago, we went back to the belly band idea, and yes, it actually does become pliable when it's warm. We found 3 rivets with deep centers, maybe faulty. Easiest thing to try is caulking with pro-flex. Has this actually stopped leaks for some folks? Another thought---if there was water infiltration higher up at the range vent or porch light fixture, would you expect it to show up on the kitchen counter, for example? Or would it dribble on down to the floor level? (where our leak actually is)
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Old 02-24-2021, 04:59 PM   #16
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Originally Posted by Vermilye View Post
There have been a few occasions where belly band rivets leaked.
Mine doesn't have a rivetted on bellyband.

That was the first thing I thought when watching the 'How It's Made' video.

You have two water tight haves and the first thing they do is drill holes all the way around the trailer.

Karl agreed to not install the bellyband, on my trailer.

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Originally, the plan was for a VHB attached automotive style belly band which I may still do. I have temporarily covered it with Duck Brand tape to seal it.

Now I'm working on sanding the edges, and am going to fill the crack with Six 10 epoxy. If I can get it smooth enough, I may just go with a stripe of Avery Denison graphics film.

Otherwise, it will be back to 'Plan A' with the automotive rubber trim (perhaps still painted to match the graphics).
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Old 08-15-2021, 12:37 PM   #17
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Update 6 months later....last February we put a dab of Proflex on each rivet behind the belly band on the affected side of the camper. After a hard driving rain just a couple days ago, I once again checked the space under the range and still found no moisture. Safe to say the remedy worked and is still working. Thanks, everybody!
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Old 08-15-2021, 12:50 PM   #18
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Update 6 months later....last February we put a dab of Proflex on each rivet behind the belly band on the affected side of the camper. After a hard driving rain just a couple days ago, I once again checked the space under the range and still found no moisture. Safe to say the remedy worked and is still working. Thanks, everybody!
Thanks for the update, really appreciate follow-ups like this sharing results.
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Old 08-21-2021, 04:07 PM   #19
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I just removed my discolored white belly band to install a new one. Found significant mold on one side in the belly band channel, which is odd in our dry climate. Also found several holes for rivets in the channel but no rivets. The holes do not go into the shell. Any harm in clogging those holes with ProFlex. Those empty hole are mostly at the corners.
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Old 08-21-2021, 04:33 PM   #20
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Hi Ray
The belly band aluminum has holes evenly spaced along it but not all of them are used. At least that is and was the case on our 19 and 21. No harm in Proflexing them that I can see. The bigger issue was that on an earlier Series of builds rivets were used that left a passageway to the inside. To check them, a wire or fine rod like an ice pick was gently inserted to see if they were missing the center piece. If they were they were best drilled out and a new rivet was installed. Escape industries did this for us and found three that needed replacement on our 2013 21 “Original Classic” or 21 OC OG OH-IO. We had three which Nigel said was about the most he’d found at the time in 2017. I wouldn’t be too worried about it but it doesn’t hurt to check.
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