Slide seals or gaskets

[Keith Moffett Co-Admin]

There is alot of information here about leaking slideouts but it seems to be so scattered that I figure starting a thread for just this purpose might be helpful.  I am depending on the more educated types to help fill in the gaps.

Defining the problems;

We have the (now older) '98 Patriot with the kitchen slide which has leaked since we purchased it.  
Interestingly, it leaks open or closed but only when it rains enough at one time.  
To further complicate the issues it leaks past the outer seals and the inner seals and the sealant used on top the slide for the seams lets go so it leaks down the inner walls of the slide as well.

Sources for info;
Tom at Beaver Coach Sales service dept.
Coachmasters of Bend (Paul)
Peninsula RV Sequim Wa (Harry)

Solutions;
Tom tells me that the leak inside the slideout is caused by one of two possibilities.  The exterior seam on top and just inside the outside wall of the slide can loose its seal and must be resealed with a caulking that remains pliant but sticks.  I believe he called it a "beutal".
The other possibility is the seam that can only be reached by removing all the cabinets to expose the inner surface of the roof, inside the slideout box.  Vibration over time can cause this to leak and a "beutal" caulk is indicated here as well.

While the cabinets are down, it is aparently (acording to Tom) the time to replace the white inner seal / gasket.  The inner seal down the side seems good on ours but the "D" seal that goes across  the top at some point became stuck to the wall and tore when the slide was pulled in.  I have no idea how the inner seal on the other end can be replaced unless one removes the entire slide out.

The outer seal is more acessable.  This is a "P" shape where the leg of the P is the sweep.  Aparently one must remove all old glues and on a clean surface the adhesive backing will stick.  Tom at BCS tells me that they get this seal in place and stuck but then run a bead of the above mentioned "beutal" adhesive caulk to reinforce to bulb portion of this "P" by glueing it across the top.  For the corners this "P" seal is cut on a mitre partway through and glued back together with super glue to make the 90 degree angle.

OK fellows, I stipulate that I have never done any of this and am just passing my research along.  I will be doing this, all of this and will much appreciate advice and what to look out for from you experienced types.

I hope this helps someone down the road, especialy me  LOL

Keith Moffett

[David Fischer]

I have a 97 Marquis and for the past couple of years or so have had the leak problem on the slideout.  In heavy rain the water would come down through the cabinets.  Last fall, I had Alliance RV in Florida do a complete exterior gaskets on the coach and when doing so the mechanic showed me where the problem was, and it was the exterior seam that Keith talked about.  As he said, that over the years of vibration caused the original sealant to crack.   The mechanic was able to reach it from the outside and so far I have had no problems.  

[Keith Oliver]

Here is the sealant: Butyl although calling it Beaut-al may happen after it fixes your leak.
http://www.tremcosealants.com/industrial/products/product_detail.asp?id=24

[Keith Moffett Co-Admin]

WitKeith
Sheese..beautal...what was i thinking.  Tha.ks for the link as well.  

David, i am still unsure of the seam as it was desribed.bY phone.  AS shown to you, the seam was on top the slide, outside, and runs in line with and just behind the exterior wall.  That right?
Your experience may mean i dont have to pull down the cabinets.  I hope so.
Thanks all
Keith

[Keith Moffett Co-Admin]

Typing errors are due to new mobile device.  Thanks for your patience!

Keith

[Tom and Pam Brown]

My experience with the Butyl is not so good.  It never drys and acts like bubble gum when it contacts another surface.  Had to remove what a mess!  The leak on my slide was due to poor sealeant where the back of the cabinets met the slide and the screws were not sealed.  Once i sealed with pure silicon it stopped the leak.

Hope your experience with Butyl is better than mine.

[Keith Moffett Co-Admin]

Hi Tom
Most every Beaver I've seen has many of the same leak problems.  A local dealership has a '99 Tourmaline for sale, what a beautiful rig but it too has the slide out leaks on the inner wall of the slide just behind the sofa.
When I last spoke with Beaver Coach sales, Tom told me that the butyl is the only thing to use here as it stays stuck and flexable.  He didnt indicate there were any aplication problems.  Before I order some from them, was there any chance that you got a bad product?
I can imagine you being pretty upset having to repeat all that work along with the extra mess.
Did you pull down your cabinets and if so what kinds of issues did you experience in the process.
Keith

[Larry Fisk]

Ok, just my 2 cents. I had the slide seals replaced on all four slide outs on our 2005 Beaver at Coach Masters in Bend. I left there and went to Eugene to have Davis cabinets to have a new computer desk installed which by the way came out excellent. Anyway while there it began to rain pretty heavy that night. I was disappointed to wake up to a wet carpet near the dinette at the rear drivers side slide. I found a mobile repair company called Elite Repair & Remodel. They came and checked out our problem and had it diagnosed within 15 minuets! When the slide was installed there was a metal strip on that end that had worn a hole in the tin catch pan for that end of the slide. Instead of the pan catching the water and running it outside of the coach it was coming thru the worn out area into the coach. Once they got that repaired we have no more leaks! They also repaired a couple of other items for me and charged me what I felt was a reasonable amount. By the way Coach Masters also did a great job for me. It just ended up that the seal was not the problem with this leak. I would highly recommend Elite if you're in Eugene and have a problem. I have also had great service from Beaver Coach Sales and just happened to be able to get into Coach Masters on the days I needed on this trip so I used them.

[Keith Moffett Co-Admin]

Larry
There's a catch pan?  Where is it and what does it look like?  Could you describe the metal plate and its location?  Do you know if these were used on older coaches like our '98?

Beaver Coach Sales have been very helpful to us and good folks all around.  Coach Masters (also of Bend) have done alot of work for us and very dependably,  Steve and Paul are great guys.

Thanks for the input
Keith

[David Fischer]

Keith:  If you get on the trusty ladder so you can see the top seal.  You should be able to lift up the seal enough to see a seam running right behind the interior wall.  When they took the old seal off they sealed that seam with silicone.  Maybe they should have used Butel, but they didn't.  I am over in the Carolinas now, and we have had some bad storms which would have caused some real bad leaks, but this time not a drop.

[Gerald Farris]

Keith,
The 1998 models did not use a drip pan in their design. SMC era Beaver coaches were built with the idea that the slide was not going to leak, so a drip pan was not needed. We now know that their assumption about slide leaks was wrong, because slides are our worst leak points.

By the time that Monaco was designing Beaver slides, the idea was leak control instead of total leak prevention. So some, but not all of their slide designs used a drip pan as part of leak control.

Since I have seen slide leaks in so many different locations on your design slide, I do not think that the fitting of a drip pan into your slide design would be worth the effort.

Gerald    

[Tom and Pam Brown]

Keith,

i origianlly thought the Butyl was old or something...it was not.  I purchased some just in case of a bad batch.
Same results. After all the work it was frustrating to see the lovely bead of sealant stretch out like bubble gum across the top of the slide.  What a mess.

As far as removing the cabinets I did not,  not sure how you would go about the process without messing up the finish.  What i did was to manuver the slide to about a inch from full out and applied the silicone with a tip extension under the wiper seal.  Then i used soem 1/2 inch pvc in sections to smooth the silicone from inside the slide at full in.  It was tedious but now knock on wood the leaks have subdsided.

I would love to be able to remove the cabinets to get at the issue a little better but have not found anyone who has done so who could give advice on how to acomplish this task.  Maybe someone here has had it done or done it themselves can help.  At $4.00 per gallon for diesel it looks like a good year to do some massive projects anyway.

[Tom and Pam Brown]

I forgot to mention a product to clean the stains off of the interior in case you have had a leak.

Folex stain remover.  It can be found at Home Depot in the household cleaner department.  Just spray on lightly rub in with your fingers or soft bristle brush and wipe with a white soft towel and the stain is history.

It even removed the old stains that were on the coach when i bought it.

[Keith Moffett Co-Admin]

OK, to all for clairification.  My top exterior seal / gasket is bad and as I mentioned earlier the inside seal is mostly ripped off.  That said, with the slope of the slide out roof and a slight pitch as well I cant imagine rain getting uphill far enough to leak from the seam by the inside wall surface.  I take it that is what everyone is saying.  Good grief, no wonder I couldnt find it.
Dave and Sharon stated that the seam could be caulked from the outside when the exterior gasket is removed.  Were they able to clear away the old caulking?
Q-1, What is the beas way to replace the top inner Gasket / seal?
Q-2  Does the slide need to be removed  and if not how does one get to the inner seal on the bathroom end?
Q-3 BCS told me to pull down the cabinets and caulk a seam inside.  Are they refering to the seam by the inner wall and is this all necessary if it can be caulked as David mentioned above?
Q-4  What should I know about replacing the outer seal / gasket?

Sorry to all about this abundance of questions but I have gotten several shop opinions and all backed out  when they saw it.
All the best
Keith

[JimCasazze]

For all that may need the information on where to get the slide seals for '98, 99, etc' Patriots, here is some helpful info:

1) The bottom is called "Skirtboard" and the proper size is 1/8 x 4" order from Rubbercal.com, Santa Ana, CA  (800) 379-9152 @ .73/ft

2) The outer side/top seal is item #SD268T (white) or SD268TBLK (blk) from uni-grip.com, Upper Sandusky, OH (800) 257-2289 @ $1.50/ft  (approx 30' needed).  Rubber is EPDM rubber and is best bonded with cyanoacrylate (crazy glue).  It has been suggested to also use 3M adhesive promoter to aid in adheshion.  I asked them if the black has any better UV protection than the white and they said it did not, but they recommended the black in most cases as it does not show dirt and complements the coach color in most cases.

Hope this may be of help to some....
Jim