Leaks- possibly along seam

[exponent]

I have a Trillium trailer. I am not sure of the model as the original door is gone. I have had an ongoing problem with leaks, I am down to just one minor leak in the front. I have replaced the entire trailer electrical system including lights and they are all sealed well.I live in Vancouver so our winter is the perfect opportunity to test for and repair leaks. I know the leak is not coming from any of the lights. I have covered the front window and still the leak persists. I have recaulked all along the top of the middle seam that joins the top and bottom fibreglass sections. The leak appears ate the bottom of the insulating wall liner. I am thinking it may be coming through the middle seam.



Can anyone tell me what is behind the seam and how it works?

If anyone has pictures of seam removed it would be great.


I have spent the winter restoring this unit and am almost done. It has new cushions, new cutains and custom maple cabinets, cupboard doors and table top. This leak and minor issue with the door are the last pieces.

[thrifty bill]

Google Trillium belly band, its a common leak source and a common repair. Two most common leaks on the Trillium are the belly band and the windows (that attaches to wood on the inside of the trailer). The wood tends to get wet and rots out eventually.

The Trillium is a really nice vintage trailer with well known flaws. Go to the manufacturers section, click on Trillium, and you will find hundreds of threads on common repairs. Body to frame bolts and frame cracks are two more flaws. Then you have the door hinge attachment.

[exponent]

That confirms what I am seeing. To be honest this retrofit went much better than I expected. There were no real nasties. Early on I simply gave up on the wiring and ripped it all out, replacing everything.Absolutely nothing remains of the original lighting or wiring. That was the biggest job after the cleaning. When I got it this thing was filthy and had not been washed in years.


Thanks for your help

[ThomasC]

Some photos would be great.

[exponent]

When I am done I will post before and after.

[Questingant]

I too have an old Trillium and spent a good portion of last year resolving leak issues. This included scraping out the old sealant from around the windows and replacing it with Proflex and installing a new gasket around our door (which was a challange because the frame around the door is warped and required significant refibreglassing).

I also removed the old vinyl strip from the belly band (and replaced it with JR Products 11291 3/4" Narrow Black Vinyl Insert--available on Amazon). When I had the strip off, I replaced the rusted screws with stainless steel ones and used ProFlex to seal the screws, as well as the seam both above and below the belly band.

No matter what I tried though, I still had a stubborn leak that I thought came from the front window area or the belly band area underneath it. I eventually found a spot where the sealant around the ceiling fan vent didn't completely cover one of the screws. I could only see it from a certain angle with the vent raised. Water would pool around that one screw, seep down and sneakily travel between the ceiling and the inside liner and make its way past the window down to the belly of the Trillium. Once I resealed that one little spot, that leak issue was resolved.

The one area that still caused problems was the front window, but only when driving in the rain. I don't have a window cover, and when on the highways, the water and wind combination would push the rain up between the panes of glass and into the Trillium. As a temporary fix, I picked up a sheet of corregated plastic and cut a couple of panels that I would slide between the window and the screen (easy to do with the window open). When travelling, the rain that managed to seep between the window panes would get trapped by the plastic. This temporary fix has now proved so effective, that I'm no longer thinking of building a proper cover.

I'd send pictures, but I live in the Kootenays and my Trillim (nice and snug under a trailer cover) is currently under three feet of snow.

[Raz]

I'd send pictures, but I live in the Kootenays and my Trillim (nice and snug under a trailer cover) is currently under three feet of snow.

Is the roof supporting the snow? The trillium roof is not very strong. They have been known to cave.

[Questingant]

It made it through the last winter without an issue, so I’ll risk it. Also the snow here is fairly dry. Besides, there’s so much snow piled around it it’s impossible to get to.