Slide leak on top seal + Eternabond question

[nateritter]

After the rain on the west coast the past few days I noticed a small leak on the inside top middle of our living room slide. A while back I noticed water pooling on the top of this slide when it rained but didn't see an issue yet. Now I think that water has worked it's way through the seal on the top of the slide and it now bubbles all the way across the top (I'm pressing down on the primary location I think the water is coming in from, and it's a tiny example of the bubbling). When I press down on any bubbles, it leaks on the inside.



So, couple questions here (may or may not be model-specific: 2021 Reflection 5er 31M:

1. It seems the top of the slide has the same type of covering stuff as the main roof top from what I can tell (correct me if I'm wrong). This makes me nervous a little because I've heard we need to be a bit careful about what we use on these surfaces for cleaning, repairing, etc. What would be the appropriate thing to use to repair in this case?

2. I have some Eternabond, which I had to use in a pinch on a skylight leak late last year. I've yet to replace it primarily because I haven't yet researched/asked how to remove Eternabond from the roof surface without damaging it. So, the same question may apply here if my assumptions that they are the same type of surfaces is correct. I'm nervous to add Eternabond here and then not be able to fix it in any other way that might be better in the future, if I made a mistake in using it today. In short, should I use Eternabond on roof surfaces?

3. When I'm ready to remove (maybe just to re-apply) it in the future, what's the best way to do that without ruining the roof/top of slide?

4. In this particular case, because the water goes all the way across the top seal, I have this, albeit OCD, desire to remove the entire black seal area and completely replace it with Eternabond to (1) be able to dry it all out before closing it up and (2) make it one long surface area to keep it nice and clean. Maybe that's a waste of Eternabond, maybe not. But what would you do or suggest? Replace that entire seal with Eternabond, or peal the whole thing back, dry it out and then use something to seal it to the surface again, or something else?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions/help with this. Oh, and if there's something else I'm missing here that I'm not even asking, please feel free to fill me in.

 

[openrangeowners]

My parent’s class C had a similar leak/issue. I removed the OEM tape, removed each screw (one by one) and filled with Dicor (or Alpha in the case of a GD roof) lap sealant. Then ran a bead of sealant where the roof meets the slide out outer frame lip. Then covered all of that with 6” wide eternabond. Finally in the corners where water would pool I added some more Dicor on the edge of the eternabond to seal the tape edges. No more leaks.

I would remove the existing tape if there is water underneath it. You can do this slowly with some heat from a hair dryer or (carefully) with a heat gun to soften the adhesive. Go very slow. I would remove it starting from the metal slide frame lip working back to the roof. A couple of the bolts were rusty indicating that is how the water was getting through the roof to the side wall and coming out in the interior where a window was located. The leaking bolt(s) were above the window BTW. The Dicor in the bolt holes and over the bolts sealed very well. The Eternabond was there to keep everything sealed well.

 

[nateritter]

Thank you.

 

[Second Chance]

I will echo what [MENTION=19389]openrangeowners[/MENTION] said. We had an issue last fall with the joint between the roof membrane and the front cap on our Solitude. The root cause was screws being over-tightened when fastening a metal batten strip across the front at the factory, but the end result was the same as what you're describing (without the leak, though - I caught it soon enough). I had my favorite tech in New Mexico come over and fix it. He did the same as described above: pulled the OEM sealant and the Eternabond (took some muscle) with which I had originally patched it, peeled the roof membrane back to make sure there was no dampness (let it air out 24 hours - that's easy to do in NM), glued the membrane back down, drilled new screw holes and was careful screwing things down again. Finally, he covered everything with lap sealant (better than the factory, of course).

Rob

 

[nateritter]

Thanks Rob.

 

[Mmullin]

[MENTION=40382]nateritter[/MENTION] we've been sitting in the same West Coast rain for over a week (Pacific City and now Nehalem Bay) in a brand new 260RD.

I've been searching every nook amd crany for a leak! Figured if there is one we should know shortly. I think the next 5 days is all rain again.

Leaks terrify me.

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

 

[nateritter]

[MENTION=40382]nateritter[/MENTION] we've been sitting in the same West Coast rain for over a week (Pacific City and now Nehalem Bay) in a brand new 260RD.

I've been searching every nook amd crany for a leak! Figured if there is one we should know shortly. I think the next 5 days is all rain again.

Leaks terrify me.

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

Same. I’ve been in Fort Bragg this week. Heading to Klamath for two weeks. Oregon winters are … yea, this.

I’ve also been nervous. Keeping an eye on everything.

I just watched a video about a guy who eternabonded everything on the roof and slide outs. Looked like overkill until I found this leak.

Might need to buy in bulk just to satisfy my OCD about leaks.

If you see a fully eternabonded rig going down the road that looks like a mummy, that’s us!

 

[Redapple63]

The only thing I would be careful with is the finish height of your repair. Make sure it is no higher than original. You don’t want issues going in and out.

Glad to hear the repairs otherwise worked. Sounds like a very stout repair.

Bill