Water leaking into storage compartment

[Steve Adams]

All,

Since owning our rig, ~18 months we've had a water leak (from rain) in a storage compartment on the drivers side. In our case this is the last compartment on the kitchen slide. I cannot find any source for the leak, nothing from the kitchen sink which is above the compartment or the water bay which is just aft of the compartment.

Anyone have an idea?

Thanks, Steve

[Bill Sprague]

I had a leak in that area.  Frustrated, I took everything out of the storage area, crawled in and had my DW (dear wife) close the doors.  After a few minutes my eyes adjusted and I saw a few places where light was streaming in because it had not been caulked.   Luckily, she open the doors when I asked her too!

[Jay and Raylene Todd]

I had a leak on one of my bays on the passenger side. We finally found that one of the drain lines into the grey tank had cracked and the frame shifting while driving when the tank was about half full would allow grey water to slosh out of the grey tank and find it's way into the bay. Our grey tank has pipes on both sides of the coach so this could be a possibility for you also.

Note: we also thought it was from rain as there was no odor that we could associate with the grey tank.

[Edward Buker]

Steve,

We have a large storage compartment under our slide that travels in and out with the slide. We had significant leaking primarily toward the door frame area and I could not see anything obvious regarding the source. The area where the storage compartment is coupled along the top to the slide framing was sealed with black urethane. I took a tube of the black urethane sealant and coated over the existing sealant extending slightly beyond the old sealant edges. It almost eliminated the leak down to a few drops. I'm guessing that the sealant dries out and loses adhesion from road vibration, slide movement, and age. Water then seeps along the interfaces or drying cracks. The problem is you cannot see or follow the water source so recoating it all with whatever sealant they used may be your best bet. That area probably should be handles much like you do with the roof re-sealing maintenance around vents etc. Hope this helps.

later Ed

[Larry Fritz]

I had a similar leak in our 98 Patriot. (Leaking only under the kitchen sink compartment)  Turns out it was the pex fitting seal where the water line connects to the sink faucet and a slow leak. It is pretty easy to inspect for this but you cannot see that fitting. If you take out the two lower drawers below the stove and shine a bright light back in that cavity to your right by the outside wall you will know if you have a leak. It is damp and moist. Reach in with your hand to verify it is dry or wet. In our case, the water ran down that pex water feed line and it drips on the floor back in that area. Our pex line was basically too short and the stress on the bend was too much. I replaced the rubber seal and added another 6" or so of pex line to reduce the stress and it has been fine for 2 years now. (I also, cut a access hole under the sink so I could get in there to work easier).

Another leak source according to Beaver service people that I have talked to is that many of the aluminum door frames were not sealed (caulked) back then. If this is your problem, you have to drill out the aluminum flange rivets, add the caulking, and re-rivet the metal door flanges.

In owning our coach for 11 years, we have had leaks on and off in all but two of the cargo bays from rains. Apparently the wind direction, the level of the coach and other unknown things contribute to these random and often not very repeatable leaks.

Larry Fritz

[Steve Adams]

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions. We just stored the coach yesterday for a month or so until my schedule allows us to get out again. I'll get back to everyone with what I found.

Thanks again, Steve