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Water leak rear hatch door on full camper

 

Hi All,
Thought I'd try to tap into the collective knowledge base of this forum to see if anyone has figured
out how to resolve the issue I'm having with my beloved aging EVC.
I am trying to determine the most likely cause of water accumulation in the flooring underlayment
in the rear storage area, just past the rear hatch door. (see pics)
I have a 2002 full camper.
The flooring is soggy and soft from water accumulation.
(this has probably been going on for years, but noticed it recently)
The van has sat out all winter experiencing lots of heavy rain exposure.
There is no obvious entry or water trail from the top of hatch door.
I have dried out the wet area using a fan and heater.
All it takes is the next heavy rain and it is soaked again.
Again no obvious water entry trail.
The van has not been driven lately, so the cause is not from road spray underneath.
?
Could this be caused from the poptop seal or silicone caulking in the rear corners?
The silicone looks intact and has no cracking that I can detect.
However, I do notice that the poptop seal is really compressed and flat where the rear
corners are. See Pics.
The door seal itself seems intact with no obvious damage or compression.
Please give me your best advice (or best guess) on how to resolve this.
?
Thanks in advance!
Andrew

20240129_143316.jpg
20240129_144046.jpg
20240129_144518.jpg
20240129_144548.jpg

 

"Could this be caused from the poptop seal or silicone caulking in the rear corners?"
?
To me, far more likely the top than the door seal.? The sprawling mass of silicone does not inspire confidence and best guess is that water is entering where the poptop meets the patch.
I would:
1) Replace the poptop seal.? They need to be replaced periodically.?
2) Remove all silicone, lightly chase/grind out whatever crack (and 1.5" to the sides) and re-work it with a clean, precise? (not a huge smear) repair using a marine-grade Polyurethane (3M4200, Sika 291 ) or a polymer (3m 4000 UV or, top choice -) sealant.? Possibly reinforce it with some woven fiberglass tape or cloth.? Smooth the patch well and perhaps even sand smooth when cured to make sure the poptop seal meets a smooth level surface.??

Hopefully the silicone residue will not prevent adhesion with a more effective material.? Silicone is problematic that way.??
 

Hi Andrew,

I don't have the answer to where the leak is or how to fix it, but I had a very similar problem with my 1995 full camper several years ago. When the floor became very wet it basically decomposed - turned into jelly. Perhaps Winnebago had changed their materials between 1995 and 2002, but what was below the vinyl floor covering in my EVC was some sort of MDF or particle board that was not at all durable. Of course it took me a while to notice how bad it had gotten. Before that, over the years, I had scraped and scratched the very thin vinyl floor covering (thanks again, WInnebago!) making water entry an even? more likely issue.

I eventually needed to have the entire floor replaced, but this time used a marine grade plywood covered with Marmoleum, which is a very true to original old school linoleum floor covering and quite durable. Whole Foods uses Marmoleum on their check out counter surfaces. The reason I am telling you this is that leaks, of the sort you describe, no longer wreak havoc with the vehicle. Leaks happen, and my response was to toughen up the flooring so that I was more "bullet proof." My leak was related to some water that was spilling inside the camper or entering near the front of the pop top. Then later I had issues with the front doors letting water in.

I wish you luck in getting your issue resolved.

Louis
Monterey, CA
 

Is it parked on the flat or on a slope with the nose up???Most common water entry point for the rear is the leaking skylight but I can only see this be possible in your case if it’s on a slope and the water is running along the roof before falling.?
Jim
Le 4 févr. 2024 à 07:16 +0100, Andrew via groups.io <abpeake1@...>, a écrit :

Hi All,
Thought I'd try to tap into the collective knowledge base of this forum to see if anyone has figured
out how to resolve the issue I'm having with my beloved aging EVC.
I am trying to determine the most likely cause of water accumulation in the flooring underlayment
in the rear storage area, just past the rear hatch door. (see pics)
I have a 2002 full camper.
The flooring is soggy and soft from water accumulation.
(this has probably been going on for years, but noticed it recently)
The van has sat out all winter experiencing lots of heavy rain exposure.
There is no obvious entry or water trail from the top of hatch door.
I have dried out the wet area using a fan and heater.
All it takes is the next heavy rain and it is soaked again.
Again no obvious water entry trail.
The van has not been driven lately, so the cause is not from road spray underneath.
?
Could this be caused from the poptop seal or silicone caulking in the rear corners?
The silicone looks intact and has no cracking that I can detect.
However, I do notice that the poptop seal is really compressed and flat where the rear
corners are. See Pics.
The door seal itself seems intact with no obvious damage or compression.
Please give me your best advice (or best guess) on how to resolve this.
?
Thanks in advance!
Andrew

 

Steve, Thanks for the reply/advice!
I will get some of the Loctite PL marine sealant at Home Depot.
It make sense to repair the existing caulking at the rear of poptop, even though it
seems to look pretty intact.
A few years ago I had water leakage in the front area near the frig.
The flooring was spongy there as well.
I resealed the 2 front poptop caulking locations and it seemed to resolve the leak.

Thanks,
Andrew
 

Jim,
Thanks for the reply.
The van is parked on a level driveway, the slope idea was a good one.

Andrew
 

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I had a leak in my 2000 EVC on the right side rear window frame, at the top, near the seam. ?
It was pretty subtle and I wouldn't have noticed it other than I was washing the van and had the interior panel taken off and saw water dripping inside.


Picture 1 shows the location on the van.
Picture 2 shows it after re-sealing with silicone sealant.

The EVC actually has 3 of these windows with these seams, so I would check all 3.

PastedGraphic-2.png


PastedGraphic-1.png



On Feb 3, 2024, at 10:17 PM, Andrew via groups.io <abpeake1@...> wrote:

Hi All,
Thought I'd try to tap into the collective knowledge base of this forum to see if anyone has figured
out how to resolve the issue I'm having with my beloved aging EVC.
I am trying to determine the most likely cause of water accumulation in the flooring underlayment
in the rear storage area, just past the rear hatch door. (see pics)
I have a 2002 full camper.
The flooring is soggy and soft from water accumulation.
(this has probably been going on for years, but noticed it recently)
The van has sat out all winter experiencing lots of heavy rain exposure.
There is no obvious entry or water trail from the top of hatch door.
I have dried out the wet area using a fan and heater.
All it takes is the next heavy rain and it is soaked again.
Again no obvious water entry trail.
The van has not been driven lately, so the cause is not from road spray underneath.
?
Could this be caused from the poptop seal or silicone caulking in the rear corners?
The silicone looks intact and has no cracking that I can detect.
However, I do notice that the poptop seal is really compressed and flat where the rear
corners are. See Pics.
The door seal itself seems intact with no obvious damage or compression.
Please give me your best advice (or best guess) on how to resolve this.
?
Thanks in advance!
Andrew <20240129_143316.jpg><20240129_144046.jpg><20240129_144518.jpg><20240129_144548.jpg>
 

Thanks!
I'll give those windows a look over.

Andrew
 

On Sun, Feb 4, 2024 at 09:13 AM, <louiskaplan@...> wrote:
Louis,
Thanks for the info.
Unfortunately Winnebago used the same cheap OSB board on all years of the Eurovan conversions.
Good idea on using the Marmoleum for replacement.
Will look into that.

Andrew
 

Just guessing at probable "weak links", but it could be a window or anywhere!? ?I just think that replacing the pop-top gasket is good maintenance in general and helps eliminate that as an issue for any problem solving now or future.

As for replacing the silicone patch, it may actually be just fine and it IS a lot of work to clean it off.? AND if it's truly silicone (poor roof seal material), removal leaves you open to the well-known silicon contamination problem (nothing sticks to it or it's residue) unless every bit is removed.? So, that may not be the efficient thing to do without some proof that the leak is there.

Still, one wonders how smooth and level the patch is.? Ultimately, a patch that is so different from the metal roof will seal differently.? Maybe fine, maybe not.? The marine sealants will stick better, be sufficiently flexible yet sand-able and allow later reworking (stuff can stick to it) without full removal if needed.?

Myself, I would change it out without proof because I'm anal and want repairs to be as full integrity as possible before I hit the road.? But you might not want to spend a lot of time on what turns out to be a non-problem and then still have to find the actual leak!? So, grain of salt, eh?

One test you could do is remove any trim that obstructs your view of water entry around that corner and hit it with a hose while watching.? I wouldn't abuse the seal with heavy direct pressure but yes, simulate a windy driving rain.?

As a general comment for all? -? it's best to avoid silicone except for certain glass and bath/kitchen uses.... perhaps.? There are much better sealants out there these days.? ?Generally, when I might want a good clear Silicone, I go for "Lexel" or similar.? The ones that advertise "Crystal Clear" are usually that type.?

And then Polyurethanes or the (silane-modified/polyether) variations like Locktite Marine are very very good where they fit.? Roof or window sealing is an ideal use case.? Just verify that they say "UV resistant"? or paint if exposed.
 

I have a hardtop?('93) with the same problem. So water entry around the rear hatch may be independent of the various poptop/camper features.
??
My sense is that water flow from heavy rains (in northern CA) may overwhelm the existing (old) seals around the rear hatch.? I haven't found the exact entry point. The vehicle is parallel parked on a flat street that tilts slightly towards the gutter, so most of the water flow around the rear hatch drains off on the gutter side of the vehicle, and that's the side where the interior dampness occurs.? ??


On Mon, Feb 5, 2024 at 8:41?AM Steve via <seaweedsteve=[email protected]> wrote:
Just guessing at probable "weak links", but it could be a window or anywhere!? ?I just think that replacing the pop-top gasket is good maintenance in general and helps eliminate that as an issue for any problem solving now or future.

As for replacing the silicone patch, it may actually be just fine and it IS a lot of work to clean it off.? AND if it's truly silicone (poor roof seal material), removal leaves you open to the well-known silicon contamination problem (nothing sticks to it or it's residue) unless every bit is removed.? So, that may not be the efficient thing to do without some proof that the leak is there.

Still, one wonders how smooth and level the patch is.? Ultimately, a patch that is so different from the metal roof will seal differently.? Maybe fine, maybe not.? The marine sealants will stick better, be sufficiently flexible yet sand-able and allow later reworking (stuff can stick to it) without full removal if needed.?

Myself, I would change it out without proof because I'm anal and want repairs to be as full integrity as possible before I hit the road.? But you might not want to spend a lot of time on what turns out to be a non-problem and then still have to find the actual leak!? So, grain of salt, eh?

One test you could do is remove any trim that obstructs your view of water entry around that corner and hit it with a hose while watching.? I wouldn't abuse the seal with heavy direct pressure but yes, simulate a windy driving rain.?

As a general comment for all? -? it's best to avoid silicone except for certain glass and bath/kitchen uses.... perhaps.? There are much better sealants out there these days.? ?Generally, when I might want a good clear Silicone, I go for "Lexel" or similar.? The ones that advertise "Crystal Clear" are usually that type.?

And then Polyurethanes or the (silane-modified/polyether) variations like Locktite Marine are very very good where they fit.? Roof or window sealing is an ideal use case.? Just verify that they say "UV resistant"? or paint if exposed.

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