Help! My "no-leaks" Scamp had a leak

[Ruralredhead]

Hi Friends,
I have read no less than 30 threads on leaks, cried twice and said some 4-letter words. Now I'm coming to you kind and wise people for help.

When doing a deep clean of my new-to-me 2002 13' scamp, I noticed some blue-green mildew on the back side of my front bench seat where the MDF board meets the front wall(photo1). Note that the bench is a previous owner modification. This trailer never had the standard front Fiberglas bench. I pulled the MDF bench and found a section of moist, mildewed headliner and carpet (photo2). I cut that section out, am running fans and dehumidifier (photo3). I will bleach it next. I found the source of the leak (gap in plexiglass seal) and I know how to address that. I also suspect a leaky rivet in the kitchenette and I know how to deal with that from the outside.

Here are my questions:
1) what happens to unseen moisture trapped between insulation and fiberglass? I suspect there was/is moisture between the window and the floor in the section of headliner that I have not cut out yet. I don't feel wetness on the remaining headliner.

2) how much deeper do I dig for more moisture? If I pull up six inches of insulation and headliner and don't feel more moisturizer, is that a good stopping place?

Any input and suggestions greatly appreciated.







Sent from my iPhone using Fiberglass RV

[Darwin Maring]

We had a leek in our 5r and didn't find it until we were camping and the person that was sleeping on the dinning/made into a bed thing had water dripping from the overhead antenna. Would have not found it if it wasn't for that incident in the rain.

The water had dripped on the table when it was in place and ran to the back side of the camper and moved along the floor to the curb side. The antenna was on the opposite side of the camper. Water leaks are really hard to find.

[LyleB]

You may be fine with what you have found.

This is just conjecture on my part, but it seems that gravity would work for you to pull any moisture down, until it got stopped by the bench and floor.

I'm sure other folks with a lot more experience than me will be along to either confirm or dispute my conjecture.

Good luck.

[bpfick]

Front window leaks are fairly common in anything over 5 years of age. If it were mine, I would dig deeper and re-do the front window while I was at it. Our 2002 came with a leak in the back area. Previous owner did some "flooring" which was a cover up without actually finding the leak.

Ended up removing all the re-done flooring and trashing it anyhow. Turned out to be a belly band leak which could only have been found by opening up the rat fur and pulling back the bubble wrap. Found the leak not only sight, (black streak) but confirmed by watching water enter during a heavy rain down pour. Once fixed, treated everything good with mildew/mold treatments. Spray glued the bubble wrap and rat fur back into place. Easy as can be and invisible that anyone had worked in that area.

[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.

[lrb945]

i've found that my door leaks, too. is replacing the D-shape weather stripping a good idea for a first attempt to fix it??

[SpaceBtwnWords]

Originally Posted by bpfick

...Turned out to be a belly band leak which could only have been found by opening up the rat fur and pulling back the bubble wrap. Found the leak not only sight, (black streak) but confirmed by watching water enter during a heavy rain down pour. Once fixed, treated everything good with mildew/mold treatments. Spray glued the bubble wrap and rat fur back into place. Easy as can be and invisible that anyone had worked in that area.

We want to remove the rat fur to make sure all leaks are dealt with, but probably want to put the rat fur back in place when we’re done. What is the process to do this? Any good threads on this? Thanks!

[redbarron55]

Leave the interior rat fur alone as it is harder to fix again.
Bellyband leaks can be hard to find since there is,often a channel formed between the junction of the shell halves and the interior fiberglass overlay.
This means that the leak into this area could be far away from where you see the leak inside.
Water can get around poorly caulked Bellyband and attaching rivets as well.
I chased a leak that showed up at the front door jam for a long time and finally stopped it when I reinstalled the Bellyband after painting.