New 28G trailer leaking from slides (I think)

[Mellowmoods]

Our trailer is less than 6 months old 2022 28G. We had a heavy rainy season here in California this year. I found water coming from under both the kitchen slide and the bedroom slide during the storms. I would place a towel down to catch the water during storms. Since this is a new trailer, and the leaking occurred with the slides were NOT out, what should I look for to find out where the leak is occurring?

 

[Soundsailor]

Our trailer is less than 6 months old 2022 28G. We had a heavy rainy season here in California this year. I found water coming from under both the kitchen slide and the bedroom slide during the storms. I would place a towel down to catch the water during storms. Since this is a new trailer, and the leaking occurred with the slides were NOT out, what should I look for to find out where the leak is occurring?

If your coach is under warranty, what does the dealer say? Have you reached out to GD customer support?

 

[Mellowmoods]

If your coach is under warranty, what does the dealer say? Have you reached out to GD customer support?

It is definitely under warranty. We have a couple of other items that are being warrantied already. I have reached out to GD and have not had any response yet. The dealer just says to drop it off but they are 1.5 hours away from me and who knows how long they would keep it. I've heard nightmares about warranty work taking many many months. Already it has been 6 months and still no replacement parts arrived for what was found during dealership inspection.

 

[Soundsailor]

Have you tried calling customer service? If your dealer is far away, they might authorize a mobile tech to look at your rig. I wouldn't wait too long, water can cause a lot of damage quickly.

 

[Ynot4me2]

I had a similar issue with mine. Water would make its way in when the slide was closed. It ended up being the D seal on the top not compressing enough on the facia part of the slide. It needs a 30% compression for a proper seal. 3 separate trips to our dealer, 2 seal replacement and it was still leaking during hard down pours. It was a mobile tech that GD approved that figured out. He bent the facia a little bit and inserted a round piece of foam backer in the D seal to push it out some more. If you have filler gauges or a very slim piece of metal or plastic, you can verify if your D seal (on top) is compressioning enough.
Here's what was added. A big 4 bucks.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/M-D-Bui...Rod-for-Small-Gaps-and-Joints-71464/202837935

 

[Thorvald]

Check your front outdoor kitchen, that was where all my leaks were coming from (water came in there and depending on the angle of the trailer flowed in via the floor and made it look like the leak was elsewhere.

I have a thread on it here.

 

[Mellowmoods]

I had a similar issue with mine. Water would make its way in when the slide was closed. It ended up being the D seal on the top not compressing enough on the facia part of the slide. It needs a 30% compression for a proper seal. 3 separate trips to our dealer, 2 seal replacement and it was still leaking during hard down pours. It was a mobile tech that GD approved that figured out. He bent the facia a little bit and inserted a round piece of foam backer in the D seal to push it out some more. If you have filler gauges or a very slim piece of metal or plastic, you can verify if your D seal (on top) is compressioning enough.
Here's what was added. A big 4 bucks.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/M-D-Bui...Rod-for-Small-Gaps-and-Joints-71464/202837935

Thanks! I'll look into if that is the issue...

 

[Mellowmoods]

Check your front outdoor kitchen, that was where all my leaks were coming from (water came in there and depending on the angle of the trailer flowed in via the floor and made it look like the leak was elsewhere.

I have a thread on it here.

Thanks! I know this isn't coming from there but I would love to make sure that won't happen in the future. Shoot me the thread link. Thank you!

 

[PeterInNH]

Hi all,

Since I have a 28G resurrecting this old thread....

Just today ran into the same problem. The camper had been sitting in the driveway for a few months with the kitchen/living room slide open and no issues. Went out for two nights over the weekend for our "maiden" voyage, got home yesterday and buttoned everything up (slides closed) and it rained heavily overnight and today just happened to go out and look for something else and ... water everywhere! It was pretty obvious that it was coming in from high/on top since it was splashed over the rear seats and along the rearward inside wall of the slide.

I opened and closed them a couple of times and the seals looked good and seemed to move in the right direction. For now I've left the slide open. When it stops raining I might close the slide and get up there with a hose and see if I can get a better idea of exactly where the water is coming in.

Anyway, @Mellowmoods did you solve your problem ? Did you try the solution @Ynot4me2 proposed?

Thanks !

 

[ajg617]

Hi all,

Since I have a 28G resurrecting this old thread....

Just today ran into the same problem. The camper had been sitting in the driveway for a few months with the kitchen/living room slide open and no issues. Went out for two nights over the weekend for our "maiden" voyage, got home yesterday and buttoned everything up (slides closed) and it rained heavily overnight and today just happened to go out and look for something else and ... water everywhere! It was pretty obvious that it was coming in from high/on top since it was splashed over the rear seats and along the rearward inside wall of the slide.

Now I want to go out and look inside - rains last night were absolutely torrential and I know the factory pulled my main slide out in December. It didn't leak before but....First time with snow melt I can even reach the door to open it up and put the slides out.

 

[Mellowmoods]

Well... I thought it was, but we had our first rains here in southern California in over a year this last month. And, I had leaks coming from areas that the dealership said were fixed. However.... Grand Design has been SUPER on top of it since I contacted them about it since the rains. They are having someone come to my house this month so that I don't have to take it over a 1.5 hours away to the dealer and will get it taken care of. Grand Design has been a pleasure to work with and has been very responsive. Unfortunately, I can't say the same of the dealership's quality of repair work. I'm confident it will get resolved.

 

[PeterInNH]

Well... I thought it was, but we had our first rains here in southern California in over a year this last month. And, I had leaks coming from areas that the dealership said were fixed. However.... Grand Design has been SUPER on top of it since I contacted them about it since the rains. They are having someone come to my house this month so that I don't have to take it over a 1.5 hours away to the dealer and will get it taken care of. Grand Design has been a pleasure to work with and has been very responsive. Unfortunately, I can't say the same of the dealership's quality of repair work. I'm confident it will get resolved.

Well, I don't have that kind of time. Tomorrow I'll be running some tests with the slide in and out with a hose from on top and see what I can see.

Will post here results.

Thanks !

 

[ajg617]

Well, I don't have that kind of time. Tomorrow I'll be running some tests with the slide in and out with a hose from on top and see what I can see.

Will post here results.

Thanks !

Check your roof just above the gutter and the gutter seal. I started to see an area above my main slide out where it looked like the RV side above the awning was swollen along a seam. Factory said they found a 'hole in the roof'. When I got it back, there was a clean length of white eternabond just above the gutter about 3' long. So I went back and looked at some of my old pictures and in May 2024, I could see what I would best characterize as a slice in the roof material. I don't know what would have caused it - but it looks like it was cut with a knife. I had water leaks but they stayed inside the wall up to that point.

 

[PeterInNH]

Well, I don't have that kind of time. Tomorrow I'll be running some tests with the slide in and out with a hose from on top and see what I can see.

Will post here results.

Thanks !

Hi,

Well I got up on roof and immediately noticed the upper corner seal was not right (the picture of the top left corner is what is should look like). When the slide was opened it sat tight enough (apparently) to the wall but when the slide was closed it was pinched and definitely wide open and when I pulled it open the caulking along the bottom edge clearly had good sized gaps.

So, I called the dealer and confirmed I should re-caulk that area and then they suggested using super glue to (re)attach it to the slide wall.

Did all that and will test for water tightness tomorrow. I'm pretty confident though that this was the source of the leak. Pretty piss poor quality control if you ask me though !

 

[PeterInNH]

Hi,

Well I got up on roof and immediately noticed the upper corner seal was not right (the picture of the top left corner is what is should look like). When the slide was opened it sat tight enough (apparently) to the wall but when the slide was closed it was pinched and definitely wide open and when I pulled it open the caulking along the bottom edge clearly had good sized gaps.

So, I called the dealer and confirmed I should re-caulk that area and then they suggested using super glue to (re)attach it to the slide wall.

Did all that and will test for water tightness tomorrow. I'm pretty confident though that this was the source of the leak. Pretty piss poor quality control if you ask me though !

Well, it rained last night and went to check this morning (while it was still raining) and there is still water coming in although very minor compared to before my fix-it. This time it appears to be leaking in under the rubber seal (the 'flap' that bends inwards when you close the slide) and then draining towards the back end (the trailer must be just a bit off level). When I lifted that flap I could feel the moisture nearly all the way towards the front of the slide (but not all the way).

The bedroon slide is dry as a bone.

Any suggestions on what to look for/fix next ? Is it possible the slide needs to come in a fraction to further compress that D seal ? Is the Schwintek adjustable to this fine of a degree ?

Should I bite the bullet and arrange a trip to the dealer ? Or, call Grand Design directly and try to work with them to fix it on my own ?

Thanks !

Peter

 

[ajg617]

Should I bite the bullet and arrange a trip to the dealer ? Or, call Grand Design directly and try to work with them to fix it on my own ?

Thanks !

Peter

If your dealer is the same as mine (Merrimack), I personally would call Grand Design and arrange for a mobile tech - schedule dependent with that option as well as dealer. FYI, there is a Lippert shop in Henniker, NH. All American RV - Joe is good and GD has worked with them for repairs on mine directly reimbursing them so I was out of the loop.

 

[Soundsailor]

FYI, there is a Lippert shop in Henniker, NH. All American RV - Joe is good and GD has worked with them for repairs on mine directly reimbursing them so I was out of the loop.

Thanks for the tip.

 

[PeterInNH]

If your dealer is the same as mine (Merrimack), I personally would call Grand Design and arrange for a mobile tech - schedule dependent with that option as well as dealer. FYI, there is a Lippert shop in Henniker, NH. All American RV - Joe is good and GD has worked with them for repairs on mine directly reimbursing them so I was out of the loop.

Hi,

So my/our dealer wouldn't even return my messages. Guess I'm done with them.

I did end up calling Americam RV and Bri was very helpful on the phone and arrangedd for Joe to come to my house in a couple of days, where he made the diagnosis and sent it along to GD. Then I had to bring it up to them because it was better to work on the slide in his shop. Dropped it off last Sunday and picked it up Monday afternoon. Awesome !

No leaks and the slide is operating fine.

I can't recommend them enough - he even fixed a problem with the solar cables not being screwed down properly (the screws broke ?).

I will certainly be calling Joe and Bri (American RV) in the future for any problems that come up - screw that dealer.

Thanks for the recommendation (btw I did mention intially that I got the recommendation from you and Bri said she remembered you) !

Peter

p.s. As an aside GD (they said as a customer courtesy this time) are covering both the trip/mileage fee AND the diagnostic fee, along with the actual repair bill. So, my out of pocker cost, this time, is $0. Pretty sweet.