Identifying Scamp Window Leaks

[kdhanso]

Hi All,

I just located a window leak on my '98 Scamp 16 and thought I share the photos. I know Scamps can rot from the inside and this is one way it happens.

On the street side window over the rear dinette, I saw a slight stain on the rat fur under the bottom corner of the window. I found more water staining on the edge of the dinette bench and also on the painted floor under the bench. There is no moisture there now but I bet the stains are from a driving rain possibly while traveling.

These windows were installed with a foam seal that fails over time. I have fixed other windows by replacing the foam tape with butyl tape. It's an easy fix and it has solved the problem. If I did it over I would have re-sealed all the windows at one time. I quit after running out of butyl tape. Time for me to get more.

Ken

[ruscal]

Ken,
Our Scamp had a dinette window leak and I thought it was the seal leaking as well. After some testing I found it was plugged scuppers instead. The water was overflowing the window channel. The previous owner must have parked under some really messy trees, as the felt channels had to be partially removed to clean the whole sill channel which was caked solid with debris. I had previously bought a roll of butyl to reset the frame, but didn't need it.
Russ

[kdhanso]

Good point Russ. Bad seals aren't the only reason for leaky windows. I've cleaned my gutter drains in the past but maybe another cleaning is in order. We have lots of trees and lots of pollen at our place.

[papa-t]

I had the same problem. The PO had parked the unit under a metal top shed and let it sit for a year. The mud daubers had gone in through the drain holes and stopped everything up. I thought I had cleared it by running weed eater string up into the drains and washing them out. Nope, next camping trip it poured and the rain came over the window tracts. So I ended up calling Scamp and getting the number to order outside window seals. I ordered enough to redo all the windows in my 19 5er. "Thought I had cleared it". Not even close. It was a mess in there. They had stopped it up on almost every window. After removing the window seals, cleaning and reinstalling new window seals on all windows. I can now say it's clear. The problem was when I thought I had it clear before I was getting part of the dirt. I guess while driving or the rain other pieces of dirt or bugs would fall down and stop it up again. I think thats the only way to know for sure. Scamp doesn't make the window seals. HEHR window plants have four different locations. The one Scamp gave me was 1-800-637-8938 (Ask for ED) He was very nice and knew what he was doing.

[Carol H]

I have had to pull a window due to leak and reset it as Ken did with Butyl tape and its IMHO the best fix.

Weed eater plastic line works great for cleaning out the window drains. Had another window leak and just popping the drain covers off and running the weed eater line through the drain fixed that issue.

[kdhanso]

It seems that staying on top of window leaks and channel overflows is something one should do on a routine basis. Up to now, I've been more reactive and made fixes when I discovered a leak. With the amount of debris I get off of trees, it would make sense to check and clear the drains more often.

Also, I have a cover for my Scamp that I've mainly used for storing over winter months. I think I'll try using the cover year round, when not using the Scamp, to keep debris from building up in the window channels. It seems that the time I spend on using the cover would be far less than cleaning out drains all the time.