|
|
Member
Posts: 18
Location: concord nc | Any ideas where to look for this leak? Our trailer leaks at the nose, but seems to be coming in between the wall and wets the carpet. It will only leak if the trailer is sitting flat. Does not leak if nose is up. The area above the side window also leaks (if the nose is not up)It seems to be right where the nose turns to go to the side of the trailer. I was thinking the roof caulk may need to be replaced. Any other ideas would be appreciated. This is a 2002 Sundowner Valuelite. |
|
| |
|
 Regular
Posts: 79
Location: Shelby N.C. | I have a 2000 Sundowner Valuelite and it also leaked a couple of years ago. My problem was the seal on the roof where the radius corner pieces meets the aluminum sheet metal that covers the roof. What I did was to clean the whole seam with warm soapy water and coat it with an elasto-matic coating made for mobile home roofs. I only did the seam not the whole roof. I would put a coating on the seam and let it dry before putting on another coat. I did about 6 coats to seal it up good. Now this might not be the best way to fix the problem or might not be the right stuff to use but it has worked well for my trailer. You may need to put a bead of clear silicon around the trim at the bottom edge of your horse trailer nose if you think the water is coming in there. But water is tricky to determine where it is coming from so I would look at all areas and seal anything that looks suspect to leaks. |
|
| |
|
Expert
Posts: 2957
  
Location: North Carolina | I have a valuelite too. The windows were leaking at the seal. I pulled the windows and replaced the gasket with EPDM closed cell foam tape. Then recaulked between the side and window fram for appearance. (the window is held in by the torx screws through the interior frame ) The roof seam between the roof sheet and 1/4 round also leaked. I fixed it by recaulking it with the OEM sealant. It's a sikaflex product. |
|
| |
|
Regular
Posts: 99
| If your trying to find a tough leak. Find a squirrel cage fan. cut a section of plywood to cover a door or window. Mount the fan to the board. fix the plywood to the door or window so it is air tight. Close up the LQ. Turn on the fan to pressurize the LQ. Cover all the areas in question with soapy water look for bubbles. To make sure the cabin is pressurized put soap on the weep holes in a window when you see bubbles there your all set. This may seem like a lot of work but if air can escape water can get in. This won't work in the horse area, to many ways for the air to get out. |
|
| |
|
Member
Posts: 24
Location: North Webster,Indiana | Figero. Thank you, I have had a leak that no one could find. I tried your method shzamm there were bubbles coming out of the trailer on the roof up front. The water was showing up half way back above the window. This is the same window the dealer has replaced twice. Don't know how the water got that far back but we resealed the roof and put a hose up there to see if I could get the water to show up. And it didn't. Looks like we have a lot of rain in the forcast cross your fingers. |
|
| |
|
Veteran
Posts: 151
Location: Manitoba, Canada | just wondering what you used to get that air tight seal around the plywood. I'd like to try this on my mystery leak, too. |
|
| |
|
Expert
Posts: 5870
Location: western PA | foam self adhesive weather stripping works well |
|
| |
|
Veteran
Posts: 151
Location: Manitoba, Canada | Would I need to worry about leaving a sticky residue behind on my painted aluminum trailer walls? Also, in lieu of soapy water, my husband tells me that where he works they use a product called Snoop. Not sure why he's suddenly becoming helpful now, when he knows I've been trying to find this leak for the last two summers already. Oh, the frustration! I'm definitely going to try this fan idea. |
|
| |
|
Expert
Posts: 5870
Location: western PA | Originally written by TPenning on 2009-12-05 2:19 PM Would I need to worry about leaving a sticky residue behind on my painted aluminum trailer walls? Only if the tape/seal were left on for many days in a hot sun. Remove it when you finish your leak test, and you should have no problems The better way would be to stick it to the plywood, and push the plywood and fan against the trailer. Then there would be no adhesive transfer at all. Edited by gard 2009-12-05 4:27 PM
|
|
| |
|
Regular
Posts: 99
| Originally written by TPenning on 2009-12-05 8:36 AM
just wondering what you used to get that air tight seal around the plywood. I'd like to try this on my mystery leak, too. I cut my plywood a little larger than the opening of the door, drilled a hole in the wood large enough to put the top of a "C" Clamp thru. And clamped the wood top and bottom. I had a little leakage around the door but the fan put enough air into the trailer that it worked just fine. It dosen't take much pressure to get it to work. If you like you could put the foam on to the plywood for a better seal if your fan is weak. Soap is cheap and it works just fine, I put about 1/2 a cup and water in a one gallon srayer and it covered the whole trailer. It isn't my idea, someone told me how to do it. Maybe the converters will read this and pre check their trailers before they ship them.
Edited by figero 2009-12-05 10:15 PM
|
|
| |
|
Veteran
Posts: 151
Location: Manitoba, Canada | I was discussing this thread with my brother last night, and he said that the truck shop he used to work at would use a smoke bomb to test for leaks. You might have to be pretty friendly with someone at a truck shop to get your hands on one, however. |
|
| |
Trailer Leaking
