2023 Cortes 17 Leaks in Lower Shell - Solutions?

[Stephen W.]

I wanted to love this CORTES camper. It offered numerous upgrades from older FBRVs, like no wooden framing, full kitchen, no-axle suspension and much more.



HOWEVER, I had a huge problem with plumbing that required me to go to the factory in Ohio immediately after I bought it in 2024. The fabrication leader, Tom, had supposedly fixed the issue (updated models, he said, avoided this issue).


Now, I have a leak that shows up (and showed up previously) in the bottom of the lower shell. I'm not sure if it's from faulty plumbing or rainfall that worked it's way down.


If anyone has solutions for me, I am all ears.


Yes, I have caulked the fan/vent, installed a new cover for it, sealed some other areas on the roof with 3M 5200 marine caulk.


Thanks for reading. I look forward to your input.

[WillyB]

Three things:

** You might try putting dye down the drains to see if it leaks through the shell and I supposed you could do the same for water. At least this would show a leak that you could dive deeper into or eliminate this concern all together.
*** Possibly pressurizing system with air?

** Not knowing how much water is leaking, could it be a lot of condensation from the cool nights and warm days of Spring?

** I hate plumbing issues!

Best of luck!

[Jimmy J]

Good luck. I doubt there are many sources for help on a Cortes other than the factory.
You might try running water for an extended time in different places like the shower, sink, toilet and lav; separated by a day or two to see if it's a drain problem. By pressuring up your water system with the water pump, you can detect a leak there by the cycling of the pump ever so often.

[daveandalice]

Stephen, so sorry you are going through this with a trailer which was conceived by someone who was building boats and decided to jump into building trailers by first posting photos of a Casita in their factory used in copying the body for making their molds followed by making derogatory remarks about the quality of Casita, Oliver, Scamp, etc.

It's assumed their customer service may be lacking since they had no prior experience designing/building/servicing trailers and the dealers neither have experience servicing them.

When you say the "lower shell" are you referring to water appearing on the floor of the trailer or inside the closet or storage hatches?
Is it a substantial amount of water?
Are the water lines hidden between the inner and outer shells?

The trailer floor is supposedly sealed, in fact their website encourages you to take a pressure washer inside the trailer to clean the floor and drain it by pulling a drain plug underneath in the rear.

Good Luck

[Stephen W.]

Originally Posted by WillyB

Three things:

** You might try putting dye down the drains to see if it leaks through the shell and I supposed you could do the same for water. At least this would show a leak that you could dive deeper into or eliminate this concern all together.
*** Possibly pressurizing system with air?

** Not knowing how much water is leaking, could it be a lot of condensation from the cool nights and warm days of Spring?

** I hate plumbing issues!

Best of luck!

Very good suggestions! There is not a lot of water but a large towel was used to absorb it, so it was enough and noticeable. I believe the leak may be from rainfall in rear of the horizontal center seal. I will try a test with a hose and the dye. Thank you!

[Stephen W.]

Originally Posted by Jimmy J

Good luck. I doubt there are many sources for help on a Cortes other than the factory.
You might try running water for an extended time in different places like the shower, sink, toilet and lav; separated by a day or two to see if it's a drain problem. By pressuring up your water system with the water pump, you can detect a leak there by the cycling of the pump ever so often.

Also very good suggestions! There is not a lot of water but was defintiely noticeable. I believe the leak may be from rainfall in rear of the horizontal center seal. I will try a test with a hose. I have not really used my water pump (I've used shore city water in parks) but need to in order to make sure it works well (and I will cycle it on and off to see about the leak). Thank you!

[Stephen W.]

Originally Posted by daveandalice

Stephen, so sorry you are going through this with a trailer which was conceived by someone who was building boats and decided to jump into building trailers by first posting photos of a Casita in their factory used in copying the body for making their molds followed by making derogatory remarks about the quality of Casita, Oliver, Scamp, etc.

It's assumed their customer service may be lacking since they had no prior experience designing/building/servicing trailers and the dealers neither have experience servicing them.

When you say the "lower shell" are you referring to water appearing on the floor of the trailer or inside the closet or storage hatches?
Is it a substantial amount of water?
Are the water lines hidden between the inner and outer shells?

The trailer floor is supposedly sealed, in fact their website encourages you to take a pressure washer inside the trailer to clean the floor and drain it by pulling a drain plug underneath in the rear.

Good Luck

Hi Dave and Alice,


You can say that again! I purchased my faulty Cortes in MD from a good dealer. The dealer service dept. did their best to fix a massive leak that I discovered the day after I bought it. After a few valiant but unsuccessful attempts, I then contacted the factory and and they agreed to make the fixes (I had a decent list of other issues besides the leak).


Then I had to drive it 450 miles to the factory in Ohio and wait a day for the repairs. All seemed well but some issues still lingered. Cortes also promised to reimburse me for travel expenses, which, of course, never happened. (I spoke with the CEO/owner, as well as the kindly warranty rep. Lots of promises and then lots of avoidance.)

I now know that I am on my own with this Cortes (although I'm lucky that I have a "Warranty Forever" warranty from the great dealer, Leo's RV).

Anyhow.... Yes, when I say lower shell (this is a double hull construction. So, top/bottom shells and outer/inner shells), I mean water appearing on the floor of the trailer inside the rear lower storage hatches where there is rough fiber glass. Indeed, there is a central 1" drain hole in that same area but it may be closed (I have to check the exterior. I think there may be a brass hex-headed bolt plug).


When I bought it, it had apparently been sitting in the lot for 1 year. Upon purchase, I inspected the storage hatches and there was a faint gray mildew haze on it. This told me there was likely a window or shell leak (as opposed to a plumbing/tank leak, which hit me the day after purchase) from weather exposure in MD.

The recent leak produced approx. 1/8" of water, which extended 12"-18" in each direction from the corner. Yes, the water lines are hidden between shells, largely below/behind the wet bath area, refrigerator and kitchen sink (which are all in a line).


My year model is 2023 (manufactured in Nov. 2022), which does not have the tiny cabin floor drain holes in later models but, like I said, there is the main 1" drain hole underneath.


I'm going to test to obvious points of entry with a hose tomorrow and see what happens. I already bought more 3M 5200 boat adhesive to get it sealed right when I do discover the leak location. I suspect it is the rear window and/or central horizontal shell seal.


I'll report on what I find.


I'll give my full Cortes experience in another thread.

[ShelbyM]

Welcome! Folks here appreciate all FGRVs and your trailer is relatively rare and we'll enjoy reading about it. Hopefully you can sort out the issues and the negatives of the manufacturer won't impair your future enjoyment.

[Bob Greene]

For 7 years we owned a 13' Scamp which we sold to buy a new 16' Scamp 2 years ago. The 16' Scamp had a leaky window, the hot water heater was defective and had to be replaced, plus some other more minor problems. While disappointing, I must say Scamp stood behind their product and paid for all necessary repairs. We live in NY and Scamp even paid to a technician to come to our campsite in Florida to have the hot water heater replaced. My point is that Mat of Scamp did whatever he had to do to stand behind their product. Your problem with Cortes is not only frustrating but it is unacceptable and should be a warning to others looking to buy a Cortes camper.

[mtdanet]

I have owned 7 FRP Campers and they have all leaked. Some are from fresh water system some from the exterior some with both. It takes some one who has the time to chase them down. My latest on my 2017 Casita I had a leak from the vent line for the water tank, after testing I found another leak from the tank drain line, a fitting was not fully crimped then another line fitting with a poor crimp then I was sure it was done while the interior was dissembled, over night we had about 1 inch of rain, it was wet again, I then sprayed water from the house and I found a leak in the access door seal. It took several hours of work to finely have a dry camper. Now I'm retired, have all the tools and perseverance to chase them down, Your circumstances may be different!