Condensation or Leak?

[CDeLaCruz]

Hello,

I've been working on the weekend trying to trace a leak on my Trillium 4500. After a heavy dowpour, I found a leak under the foam cushion in the dining area. I was thinking that this was coming from the belly band. So I scraped the old sealant and resealed the belly band with ProFlex RV sealant. Run a hose outside to check. Still leaking. After reading some threads, it looked like this should have been last place to look for a leak. I found a leak coming from the tail light area. I'll try to seal it with butyl tape and see.

While tracing this leak , I removed some Ensolite from the wall below the window on the passenger side. The Ensolite was wet. Could there be another leak somewhere or is this just condensation?

Thanks for any input.

Regards,

Constant

[brendadave]

Sorry to break this to you, but as you can see in my post a few weeks ago, it is leaking from around the window, not condensation. It would be best to remove the window and re-seal it.

http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/index.ph...mp;#entry224984

[CDeLaCruz]

Do you know how to peel/remove the Ensolite without damaging it? I'll probably go the route of the window re-seal.

[brendadave]

Do you know how to peel/remove the Ensolite without damaging it? I'll probably go the route of the window re-seal.

I just carefully peeled back what was loose from the water leaking (stuck my fingers in where it was wet and lifted gently), stuck stuff between Ensolite and wall so air could get in and let it dry. I didn't actually remove any Ensolite.
I found it easier to pull, and put the window back, by removing the bug screen and opening the window, then I could reach through for positioning.

[CDeLaCruz]

Thanks a lot Brendadave. I looked at the traielr last night and the moisture/leak was indeed coming form the window. I run a hose through the tailight and no leaks.

BTW, what did you use to seal the windows. I've read the discussions on Butyl tape and auto seam sealer and I've used the Proflex RV sealant to seal by belly band as recommended by Tillium RV. Do you think I shoukd stick to the Proflex RV?

Thanks again for sharing your expertise.


Regards,

Constant

[brendadave]

Thanks a lot Brendadave. I looked at the traielr last night and the moisture/leak was indeed coming form the window. I run a hose through the tailight and no leaks.

BTW, what did you use to seal the windows. I've read the discussions on Butyl tape and auto seam sealer and I've used the Proflex RV sealant to seal by belly band as recommended by Tillium RV. Do you think I shoukd stick to the Proflex RV?

Thanks again for sharing your expertise.
Regards,

Constant

I had considered all the options before I did my window, in the end I chose the Butyl tape, and I was glad I did. I put the tape on the window frame and when positioning the window back in there is a lot of jockying back and forth, in and out, to get the Ensolite around the window frame into the little pocket it sits in (you will see what I mean when you pull it out), when I finally had the Ensolite where I wanted it, I was able to press the window into place. Had I used any of the other products, they would have started skinning over, or smearing all over the place in the time it took (15 minutes maybe). Then when I started putting screws in, they push some the the butyl tape into the screw holes to seal those as well. I slowly tightened the screws as I went around, sort of working from the sides out to the corners, waited a day and tightened a little more, then cut off the excess butyl, put back the black cover over the screws and I was done.

By the way, the roof vent also leaked after heavy rain. I used Butyl Tape between the vent and the roof to help bridge the uneven surface, then I used Proflex RV to seal around the edges just in case.

In the end I would say it was easy enough to take the window out, clean off the butyl tape (except the sealant someone else put over the top of the window), put the window back in. If it only lasts 20 years, it would be easy enough to do it again. Now that I have done one window, I won't be so worried about the other 3 windows, which don't leak, but have gobs of silicone around them and look yukky (dust sticks to silicone like glue it seems).

Dave

p.s. the windows do fit through the hole, it is just a tight fit.

[CDeLaCruz]

Hi Dave,

Thanks for the advice. I finally resealed all the back windows, and no more leaks. It has been raining the past two days in Calgary and there's no leak at all. It's fairly easy to remove and put the windows back. I did it in one day. The only mistake that I made was not replacing all the screws with stainless steel Halfway through the process of putting back the first window, I realized that it would be better to replace all the screw with stainless steel.. Finished the first window and went to Canadian tire to buy the screws. So all the remaining windows have stainless screws.

I used the putty tape that I got frmm the Trillium factory and finished off with ProflexRV. This is not a very difficult process at all. So if the front window leaks, I know what to do.

Her maiden voyage wil be on July 14th in Banff. Wave if you see me out there. Mine is a cream Trillium 4500 towed by a red Toyota T100.

Cheers,

Constant