Mysterious water on floor

[Mark_Sarah]

We have a 1977 Triple e camper and when we pulled up the flooring we noticed the floor was damp. It’s not soaked but very damp. We left it open and aired it out and it seamed to dry up however it was calling for rain the next day so we buttoned it up and prepared for the rain. We went out the next day during the rain to check on it and the floor was back to being dry damp again . There is no water coming in from the door or the ceiling or from the bottom. Does anyone have any ideas or have had something similar happen to their trailer. We are very stumped and can’t finish the floor until we figure out what’s happening so any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Jon in AZ]

There are some good suggestions in this post. Leaks can travel some distance from the point of entry. I like the suggestion of baby powder or talc to find out what direction it's coming from.

Originally Posted by RogerDat

Only makes sense to test that front window and door for leaks while you have everything cleared out.

Yes I said door. That little bugger can run down, hit the lip for the seat and run all the way around to the front before dripping off to the floor. Or a top seal leak can drip right onto that couch area. Don't ask how I know.

Can do a bulk hose test I would do a section at a time with that. If you get any water coming through switch to a watering can and test smaller areas until you narrow down the location to dig for.

Hinge side of door, belly band to the window, curb and street side of window, belly band around to the end of the couch/bench. Hit an area with water, then wait and give it time to work its way down before moving on to next section.

On drying out all water flows downhill so given a bit of time the moisture will all tend to end up out of there and on the floor. If you can slide a thin flexible wand up behind the wall covering any place it might speed up the process of getting moisture out. Doubt it is needed though.

You can sprinkle or blow baby powder or talc around the edge against the wall, any trace of moisture even a seepage will discolor it. Little bit of a hassle to vacuum up so I would do this only if I suspected a tiny leak that I was having trouble spotting. Focus the powder in that small area. I know you don't want to deal with cleaning up a bunch or really wet baby powder. But we used to use it to track down small oil leaks on motorcycle engines. And I have used it in the scamp for same purpose.

Air flow and dehumidifier are probably doing the deed just fine.

[Alex Adams]

If the wet spot is directly under the roof vent, look at the cover very carefully. I found water on the floor in my boler after a really heavy rain and when I looked at the vent cover it had a small crack. At some point I will replace the cover or the whole unit. For now a little clear packing tape seems to be working.

[Jann Todd]

Originally Posted by Mark_Sarah

We have a 1977 Triple e camper and when we pulled up the flooring we noticed the floor was damp. It’s not soaked but very damp. We left it open and aired it out and it seamed to dry up however it was calling for rain the next day so we buttoned it up and prepared for the rain. We went out the next day during the rain to check on it and the floor was back to being dry damp again . There is no water coming in from the door or the ceiling or from the bottom. Does anyone have any ideas or have had something similar happen to their trailer. We are very stumped and can’t finish the floor until we figure out what’s happening so any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Window seal could be leaking. We found a very wet bed in a rainstorm in a pretty new motor home but never found the leak spot but knew it was the window. We had to remove the window and reseal it. Seals also dry out and leak. Your unit is older and the possibility of bad seals is great. This happened in 2 units in 2 different windows. We had tried to seal the windows from the outside and no amount of caulk or sealant worked. It was water running down the window and running up into the track then into the RV.