Boler 1700 Mystery Leak

[KitD]

I have a Boler 1700 that has a persistent leak that I can't track down. After a heavy rain there is always a small (a couple of Table Spoon's worth) puddle in front of the door. The windows and roof vents have all been re-bedded with butyl rubber and I can find no interior leaks. The door frame is well caulked, as is the stove vent. All of the walls seem to be dry, but water keeps showing up. While I am not ruling out a leak around the door, the floor in the boler has a small slope towards the door side (i.e. when all of the horizontal surfaces are level in the trailer (cabinets, belly band etc.) the floor still slopes towards the door side of the trailer by about half a bubble on a regular level) and I think there is a definite possibility that the leak is someplace else and the water is just traveling to the lowest point in the trailer. The trailer is one of the units from Earlton so it has the recessed flat door.

Are there any other places I should be checking for leaks? I've been trying to get this resolved for a couple of months - and nothing to date has resulted in success.

[trilliumdan]

Have you tryed on a sunny day to go in the trailer while someone else hoses the trailer from outside , Could it be comming from a vent ????

[John in Michigan]

After re-reading the OP's post, I noticed that this is the Earlton model with the recessed flat door. We have the same model with the same flat door. We have been systematically eliminating leaks, i.e.:

- Pulled and re-sealed all windows (including the window in the door) with butyl tape.
- Replaced all Hehr window glazing bead seals.
- Removed and resealed several glass panes that were leaking.
- Resealed some of the factory seams in the Hehr window frames.
- Replaced rear roof vent; re-sealed forward roof vent.
- Started replacing through hull fittings.
- Sealed around frame bolt holes and replaced frame bolts.
- EDIT: Replaced and sealed with butyl tape all towing light fixtures.

We've also checked for leaks several times with a garden hose. Our latest discovery is that we found lots of water coming through the Lyster lockset and resealed around the lockset with butyl tape. We STILL plan to remove and re-seal the door frame with butyl tape. Also, the weather stripping in the door jamb needs to be replaced.

I agree with the previous poster that one of the best ways to track down leaks is to have an observer watch inside the trailer while spraying with a garden hose on the outside.

[John in Michigan]

You might also check the porch light fixture, awning rail rivets and cabinet mounting rivets for leaks.

[daveandbonscott]

I have a similar Boler - 17" 1977
Had some water appear in middle of floor aisle between stove side and fridge/washroom side. We live in Vancouver, where it rains a fair bit.

Two ideas: water splashing up from rainfall and showing up on floor or
humidity inside trailer so high that the condensation with rainfall creates the pool of water....I say this because we put in some Dri-Z-Air Crystals and we had no more water appear!

[KitD]

Thanks for all of the suggestions. I've been hunting for this leak since early summer and I've done the water hose test a couple of times. During the most recent test this fall which lasted 15 or more minutes, I found no sign that water was leaking into the trailer, but the next morning there was a new puddle in front of the door. Similarly we had a major rain storm last week - I spent a chilly hour sitting in the Boler watching for the appearance of water. I found a small leak in the rear window - but after 6 hours of rain it left a wet spot the diameter of a quarter on the cushion, so I don't think it is the source of the problem. Again, I saw no water dripping from any of the other windows, the vents or running down the walls - but again water accumulated in front of the door. My best guess at the moment (and I have had several "best guesses" that have been proved wrong) is that water is either leaking in a some low point perhaps the rear access hatch, or is somehow leaking in between the fiberglass and the ensolite. We are expecting another rain storm this evening, and I have jacked the front of the trailer up a bit to see if I can relocate the puddle to the rear of the trailer. If it is wet in front of the door tomorrow it will be strong evidence of a problem near the door.

[KitD]

[QUOTE=John in Michigan;762373] "We STILL plan to remove and re-seal the door frame with butyl tape."

Have you attempted to remove the door frame? We started to remove it last spring and concluded that there was no way to accomplish this without destroying the aluminum frame. I'd very much like to have been able to remove the door frame as the door does not fit the frame (top to bottom) as well as I would like. I don't think the leak is coming around the frame - but I am leaning towards a wide, sculpted bead of 5200 to eliminate the potential.

[John in Michigan]

Well I haven't yet attempted to remove the door frame. I will attempt in the spring. I will keep you posted.

[GWMattson]

I had a similar type of leak around a window. The leak path was so slow that you wouldn't see it leaking during a rain, but a small puddle would show up later. I tried the hose several times with no luck. Finally, I took a bucket of water and slowly poured it over an area I suspected. If I didn't see a leak later, I'd pour the bucket over another suspect area the next day. I finally found the area on the outside, and had to remove the interior trim and some insulation before I found the actual leak. When an awning was installed, some screws and a hole in the shell (made when the awning was installed) were only sealed by caulk. The caulk finally gave way. You may have a similar thing where the leak is small, and has to go through some interior insulation and trim before reaching the floor.

A leak this small may take some careful troubleshooting to locate.

[weezrd]

Have you tried dusting the floor with talc or cornstarch to track the path of the water to the low spot? If it turns out to be just condensation, then the talc or starch should end up uniformly damp.

[John in Michigan]

[QUOTE=KitD;762400]

Originally Posted by John in Michigan

"We STILL plan to remove and re-seal the door frame with butyl tape."

Have you attempted to remove the door frame? We started to remove it last spring and concluded that there was no way to accomplish this without destroying the aluminum frame. I'd very much like to have been able to remove the door frame as the door does not fit the frame (top to bottom) as well as I would like. I don't think the leak is coming around the frame - but I am leaning towards a wide, sculpted bead of 5200 to eliminate the potential.

KitD, I finally got to work on removing the aluminum door frame today. I managed to get the door frame OUT. Here's how:

- removed the screen door and solid door
- removed two vertical exterior aluminum moldings and two exterior fiberglass door jamb panels
- removed screws on all four sides of the outside of the door frame
- slightly trimmed back with a utility knife (or your could remove) the interior wood trims and panels the are installed tightly around the door frame
- pried out the door frame starting at the top

I determined that water had been seeping in through the sill area below the aluminum door frame. To fix this problem, I'll apply some type of flashing on the exterior that extends from the bottom of the door frame to direct water out.

[KitD]

I'm going to try the same once I get the thousand other spring time tasks (non-boler related) completed. I'm pretty sure that like your situation water is getting under the frame.