I would like to share this, especially with the other owners of
Scamp 19's, both standard and deluxe, and will eventually ask
Scamp to modify the construction a bit to eliminate the vulnerability.
Last spring, while it was still winterized, i.e. no water in plumbing, I had a nasty flood in my
Scamp 19D (5th wheel), layout A. It did not rain much, but the water was coming in pretty fast. The carpet was wet inside of the closet that is straight ahead from the door and water was spreading along the floor of the galley and underneath the
fridge. After pulling up the edge of the carpet, mopping it up and observing, mopping up and observing again and again, then testing with a garden hose a couple of times, I got it!
The bottom edge of the FG shell of the upstairs has a black edge trim that goes all around, from where the shell meets the lower part, from left side to right side (near the door). It is pop riveted in place, about every eight inches. This edge trim acts as a gutter and rain water from the whole upstairs roof flows towards the ends where the upper shell connects to the lower one, especially when parked level, or front up a bit. The ends of that trim are blind riveted, two on each side, above the belly band, and the holes seem to be drilled right through. When the pop rivets are new and tight, all may be fine, but after a rain followed by a number of freezing and thawing cycles, without the benefit of parking under a Scamport, the pop rivets loosened up. The same problem is on both left and right. My fix was cutting about a foot off the ends of the black trim, drilling out three rivets on each side and caulking the rivet holes and the crack where the upper shell meets the lower shell.
The pictures show the left and right side, the old rivet holes are still somewhat visible, but they are sealed. I did not do the best job as far as the appearance goes, but no
leaks on either side at all. Both sides had a leak, the one on the right side was small and explained a little bit of musty smell that I noticed on occasions, the one on the left was the acute one that needed this emergency action.
I think the shorter trim and exposed edge look just as good and making this change will save Scamp two feet of trim and six holes and rivets, and best of all eliminates two potential leaks! I hope they like it.