leaking windows - Fiberglass RV
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Old 12-16-2002, 10:00 AM   #1
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leaking windows

Morning, I have an 86, 16 foot Casita,with shower and bunk bed which I have completely redone from bare fiberglass to all new carpet. In the process I removed all windows and rebuilt and painted them. The three smaller ones leak! I cant figure out how to stop it. They are fully caulked all around. They leak open and shut. The water seems to enter from the top, run down the screen and then into the trailer carpet.
Any ideas? I've see RV gutter material but if it didn't ship with them in 86 then it must be a fixable problem. HELP!
lanny



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Old 12-16-2002, 10:41 AM   #2
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Hi Lanny!

Hi Lanny ... a couple of things come to mind ...

1. Check for weep holes ... little openings in the bottom of the window ... are they plugged? Run a piece of weed whipper line up and around the channels. Nick the end of the weed whipper line with a knife to create some little barbs.

2. Did you reinstall a gasket with the small windows ... or just place them against the fiberglass?

3. The trim screws used to hold the window against the trailer can be overtightened and pierce the outside rain channel. Casita also occasionally uses a couple of pop rivets to hold the window in place .. did you reinsert those and carefully seal them?

If no weep holes or gaskets were installed in your unit and particular windows ... then what kind of caulk did you use to seal them?

Remove the caulk and use a "high flow" caulk available at any boating store. As a last resort, buy some Capt Tolley's Creeping Crack cure (online or at boating store ... this stuff is great for finding even the smallest souce of leak!).



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Old 12-16-2002, 12:04 PM   #3
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leaks

Hey Charles, many thanks for the reply. I have read a number of your posts on the Casita Forum page. I tried posting this thread as well as doing a search for previous answers but the server times out when ever I try to do either.

Well, first, for all I know I caulked the weep holes. I don't think I understand where you a re talking about though running the line to open up the holes. Are they on the frame that holds the glass, which, when closed, would let the rain drip into the frame which is sticking through the fiberglass shell.

When I removed the windows there was no gasket. I reinstalled them with 100% silicone caulk as a gasket then again around the edges of the window frame where it meets the fiberglass.

When looking at the window from the inside, the rain drips down the screen from the very top and when it gets to the bottom, flows right on in to the carpet wall. The small windows didn’t use revets so I know that’s not the problem. ?

I wish I had another good one or diagram of what I should have too look at. Do you know of a source?

Lanny



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Old 12-16-2002, 12:51 PM   #4
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Leaks

Lanny - I have an '89 Casita that had several elusive leaks. One was the small bathroom window. I had pulled out all the old caulk and redone it several times, but it kept leaking. Problem? Clogged drain hole. I only have two of the small windows in my '89. The one in the bathroom is vertical. Drain hole is underneath the small ridge below the rubber seal (outside). On the horizontal one, they have cut a small slit (under the vertical center bar) for the water to drain out.

Although recaulking and replacing a gasket on my emergency window solved many of my leaks, the two that continued were clogged drain holes (one bathroom, one emergency).

NOTE: I also left a 2'' slit on the bottom without caulk...just in case. So far so good.

If you have trouble locating the drains, let me know and I will attempt a picture of the locations.



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Old 12-16-2002, 01:37 PM   #5
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screen

If I'm reading Larry's post right he said it's running down the screen. I guess this is on the inside? the main question would be how is it getting on the screen in the first place?



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Old 12-16-2002, 01:52 PM   #6
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Thanks, Jana

...for pointing that out, but I'm thinking it could still be a clogged drain hole. I can see how it could happen if they were placed horizontal (window sliding sideways) but having a harder time visualizing it with the vertical (window sliding up and down) where the sceen starts in the middle.

Hang in there, Larry; we'll figure this out yet!



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Old 12-16-2002, 01:56 PM   #7
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Drain hole

Lanny, windows change from year to year ... but I'm familar with late 80s rigs like Suz ... and know there were drain channels and holes around the windows then.

Like Suz says, the drain hole is a little slit on the bottom exterior flashing of the window ... it empties a channel that runs around the window.

When the drain hole is plugged, water in the channel backs up and spills out, usually from a interior screw hole.

If you laid a wide ribbon of caulk around and on/top of the frame, it's possible you caulked it shut. (Also a former owner could have done it.)

>>casitaclub

I appreciate your comments. But I'm online here, exclusively now, so we look forward to seeing you here, ok?

Maybe Suz can post a pix of her window's drain hole in her '89.



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Old 12-16-2002, 02:23 PM   #8
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Drain Holes

Here are the two pictures. As you can see, these were cut into the original windows. Perhaps they were enlarged or this was something they started doing at the Casita Factory when earlier ones were leaking. So, if yours do not have them, then you could probably do the same thing. I have a feeling since these windows were used in different applications that, perhaps, the drain holes were added where they were needed once the application was decided.

You will also notice the excessive amount of caulk that was put on the vertical window to try and stop the leak before I cleaned out the drain hole...clog was further up. Still need to remove excess caulk and redo. Hope this helps.
Vertical window in bathroom over toilet
<img src=http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/uploads/3dfe34d192ce9MVC-011S.JPG/>

Horizontal Window over kitchen sink
<img src=http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/uploads/3dfe34ebedc8aMVC-012S.JPG/>



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Old 12-16-2002, 03:06 PM   #9
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draining

What if the window is in upside down, that would explain why he can't find a drain hole and with the hole on top it would it drip in funny places. :)



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Old 12-17-2002, 04:27 PM   #10
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Upside down

Wow Janifer,
You just may have hit the nail on the head there...
That sure sounds right to me.

For someone who :bh a lot. I'm impressed!!!

:ola



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Old 12-17-2002, 05:31 PM   #11
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Quote:
Orginally posted by pjanits

Wow Janifer,
You just may have hit the nail on the head there...
That sure sounds right to me.

For someone who :bh a lot. I'm impressed!!!

:ola
Pete,

Jana [b]always gets it right. :feet You have to watch her, she sometimes takes a path like a mobius strip, but she gets there. :wink Where's that smilie that says, "erudite?"



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Old 12-17-2002, 06:08 PM   #12
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mobius strip

Quote:
For someone who :bh a lot. I'm impressed!!!

Jana always gets it right. You have to watch her, she sometimes takes a path like a mobius strip, but she gets there. Where's that smilie that says, "erudite?"
(I think I'll print this page out and hang it on the wall. This may never happen again. :) )

Okay, I looked up erudite, and it's a whole lot better then it sounds, but that mobius strip didn't pass spell check. :o

Thanks for the confidence guys. :wave now if Lanny Webb would just come back and check it out to see if I'm right!! :sporty



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Old 12-17-2002, 07:19 PM   #13
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Lanny Webb came back today. He may have had some issues as I see he has reregistered as ‘lenny w’.



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Old 12-17-2002, 09:11 PM   #14
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Yeah!

Yeah!!Sorry, I have been trying to post a reply but kept getting an error message,"Not Found ,The requested URL /board/board/post.php was not found on this server."??
I tried several times yesterday and again today??
I tried a few minutes ago and it didn't work either. When I tried just now, it worked?

OK, Many thanks for all the advice and speculation. I thought I'd send pictures of what I have in hopes someone would recognize the windows I have.
Lanny
<img src=http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/uploads/3dffe0ca88806/>
This is a before shot. The glass was covered with mirror silver and completely disintegrated. It was a mess getting it off.
<img src=http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/uploads/3dffe542764daOLDwindow.jpg/>
<img src=http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/uploads/3dffe68fd6898outside leak window SM.jpg/> This came out too small to read. It says"I think it is leaking here.
This is an interior shot

<img src=http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/uploads/3dffe2d16bd6eSmall inside window.jpg/>

One final shot showing the weep holes, I think

<img src=http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/uploads/3dffe43d577c6Small window out bottomSM.jpg/>



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Old 12-17-2002, 09:21 PM   #15
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Thanks, Lanny

Sorry for the problems, but glad that you finally was able to get back in. I was wondering if your windows were different and they are. Thanks for posting the pics...now maybe we can get our heads together and figure out what the problem is.

I was wondering, since yours pivots out (like my emergency window) if there may have been a gasket there at one time. Having older units is fun, but can be frustrating trying to figure out how it use to be when there aren't that many like that still out there!

The last owners had done some kind of monkey rig on the thing which was worse than no gasket. Casita sent me three different samples....that was the easy part. Hard part was trying to get a 'best fit' with one of them. Finally did it, and it stopped leaking after I cleaned out the holes.

Since your installation on the others didn't cause leaks and the window opens as it does, I'm thinking gasket or misplacement of current gasket. What are your thoughts?



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Old 12-17-2002, 09:28 PM   #16
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Drain holes

Drain Holes
Lanny, it is hard for me to tell the exact placement of the drain holes, but it appears to me that when the window is closed that they would drain into the frame. If so, where does it drain out of the frame?



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Old 12-17-2002, 10:14 PM   #17
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Suz, I'm clueless. I put them back in like they came out after I refurbished them. I have never seen another Casita besides mine except in pictures so I have nothing to compare them to.. I have no idea how these are supposed to look. They were a mess, as was the whole camper when I got it. Everything in it was rotten or rusted.
Lanny



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Old 12-17-2002, 10:23 PM   #18
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leaking

you may have already done this, but in case not, I'll say it. Call Casita and show them the pics of this window. maybe it's not stock or they can tell you a gasket should be somewhere it's not.



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Old 12-18-2002, 06:18 AM   #19
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Suz, I don't think the original owner removed the windows. From the other attempts done as modifications, I think a project like removing windows would have been way out of his league.
I agree about "where do they drain"? I don't think these were intended to have weep hoes. Would that be likely? The windows leak profusely when opened slightly, opened all the way or closed as tightly as I can get them. My two large windows don't leak at all.

It appears that they leak between the glass frame and the frame mounted in the shell where they are hinged. I just can't figure out what to caulk?
Lanny



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Old 12-18-2002, 06:20 AM   #20
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Oh yeah, I forgot, I have talked to Jay at Casita but he hasn't seen the pictures. I think his assumption was that I had just no caulked properly. Possible, but not likely.
lanny



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