First Seattle Rain! Leaks galore!

[Civilguy]

Originally Posted by LiseKen

Big accomplishments for me today! Karin came over and we looked at the leak areas I had identified, and a few others as well.

I saw my trailer thru new eyes and learned so much about its construction, strong and weak points.

I drilled out my first rivet, used butyl tape, took a trip to Home Depot for a rivet puller and stainless screws, and made my first repair!

Thanks Karin!

Lise,

Sounds like a great outcome!

I expect you'll soon be foot-dragging through the hardware stores and casting covetous eyes at all the tool displays.

[Carol H]

Thats Great! The drilling out of the first rivet is always the scariest! The rest will be a snap and you will not be hesitant to replace anything that looks suspect now.

A rivet puller? Dang I dont even have one of those! ;-)

[k corbin]

On Lise's Boler we found that original rivets were not pulled tight against the backside of the shell. There was barely any compression on any of them. Not surprising there were leaks!

The installers either did not know how to use a puller, the rivet installation tool was defective or the foam with vinyl inside of the shell wall finish was interfering. Hard to know exactly what went wrong but something did.

It won't be the easiest job to drill the heads off the rivets of as some of them have so little compression on them that the whole rivet spins around when you drill. It will call for measures such as wedging sharp end of a chisel just under the head to apply enough pressure to keep the head from spinning. One one such rivet started pulling out all together when slipping the wedge under the head but it would not pull all the way out of the hole. I then cut the shaft of the rivet with a Dremel cut off tool and drove the shaft back into the hole and on out the backside with an 1/8" drive pin punch. A drive pin punch that matches the rivet size is the proper tool for knocking the rivets out of the hole.

It was a good thing that she asked for instruction as her rivet head removal operation is not exactly going to be easy with the issue of some of the rivets spinning while trying to drill the head off. But at least now she knows what she is up against and what to do.

[anne myette]

I am so glad you posted all this info on the rivets. I have a 2013 16' Scamp. I found 3 rivets that leak so far on the ceiling. As a temporary measure we put gorilla tape squares over them on the outside. I sure didn't expect to have these problems on something this new. I am going to have to learn about the drilling out. I am not looking forward to this. The tape will last until Spring and by them maybe I will have gained some confidence.

[k corbin]

Originally Posted by anne myette

I am so glad you posted all this info on the rivets. I have a 2013 16' Scamp. I found 3 rivets that leak so far on the ceiling. As a temporary measure we put gorilla tape squares over them on the outside. I sure didn't expect to have these problems on something this new. I am going to have to learn about the drilling out. I am not looking forward to this. The tape will last until Spring and by them maybe I will have gained some confidence.

Anne, gaining confidence for drilling out rivets is not that difficult. Get a piece of scrap metal or some such material. Buy some rivets and a puller. You need a drill and motor. Then put some rivets into the material and then drill them back out. Takes all the worry out of it if you practice on something that you can mess up on. Try to actually have some fun with learning how to do it. Give yourself permission to be a beginner going through a learning curve

[anne myette]

I will be practicing. I love Harbor Freight and I will buy my rivet gun and puller there. Then look out. The rivets that are leaking look like they were too long and didn't snug up. They hang below the rat fur and are very loose. Do you use screws, maybe a silicone washer and nut to replace them? Or if you rivet again, how do you know what length to use? Thanks for the solutions. Annie

[JRTrillium]

I am joining this thread - it's not the correct thread but it is about leaks. We had a torrential rainstorm to drive through - our trailer had puddles under the bench areas - both on the dining side and couch side. Typically, when sitting in the rain, the trailer stays dry - it was only when we drove through the rain for two hours we noticed this issue. Soooo . . . . we are wondering why and where. AS well, I would love someone to direct me to a thread where it tells us how to take the roof vent (mesh with metal ball string for opening and closing) out - reseal and put it back on.

Really hoping someone sees this question and I get some direction.

Thanks so much!

[Paul O.]

I don't know the layout of the Trill, but the one place that is often overlooked is the window frame drain (weep) holes. These, and the channel which they drain, need to be clean to work properly.
Are there any opportunities for leaks in the front of the trailer, in the areas that the rain might be pushed in by the wind? At 60mph it it a 60mph steady wind. Tough to resist that.

[Glenn Baglo]

Here's a picture of like drain ( center of pic ).

[Raz]

Originally Posted by JRTrillium

I am joining this thread - it's not the correct thread but it is about leaks. We had a torrential rainstorm to drive through - our trailer had puddles under the bench areas - both on the dining side and couch side. Typically, when sitting in the rain, the trailer stays dry - it was only when we drove through the rain for two hours we noticed this issue. Soooo . . . . we are wondering why and where. AS well, I would love someone to direct me to a thread where it tells us how to take the roof vent (mesh with metal ball string for opening and closing) out - reseal and put it back on.

Really hoping someone sees this question and I get some direction.

Thanks so much!

Older Trilliums develop leaks at the belly band due to the rusting of plates used to assemble the two halves of the body. David Tilston has posted a couple of threads on the issue and details on his solution. Here's a link.

http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...ead-58763.html

[k corbin]

Originally Posted by anne myette

I will be practicing. I love Harbor Freight and I will buy my rivet gun and puller there. Then look out. The rivets that are leaking look like they were too long and didn't snug up. They hang below the rat fur and are very loose. Do you use screws, maybe a silicone washer and nut to replace them? Or if you rivet again, how do you know what length to use? Thanks for the solutions. Annie

Sorry for not getting back to you right away about how to figure out the length needed for a rivet. I have just been rather busy with things other than my trailer renovation this past couple of months.

I a little while back I wrote a thread about how to figure out the length needed for a rivet. Here is the link to that thread.
http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...vet-75556.html

[JRTrillium]

I will look into that area - thank you. We had heard that possible around the lights on the lower part of the trailer - maybe the vents too - it was the tail end of Hurrican Matthew - we left early but got high winds and forceful rain - I think it's the first time we've ever towed in the rain. But like I said, when it sits and is raining - it stays dry.

[JRTrillium]

Thanks - I will look at that too