Check Your Windows!

manyman297

On a recent trip I noticed we had a wet passenger side dinette cushion. At first I assumed it was condensation but it soon became apparent that it was more than just that. 

It rained a lot on this trip and during the night I got up to see if there were any active leaks. Sure enough I saw water trickling in on the bottom right edge of the front window. After some investigating I realized that the butyl tape seal under the rubber flange had deteriorated and water was allowed to come in off the top side of the window hinge and under the exterior flange.

Once I got home I pulled the edge back, cleaned out the dirt/debris with rubbing alcohol and applied a small strip of butyl tape. While I was at it I checked the stargazer and kitchen window. The left side of the kitchen window's sealant had never actually bonded to the wall so who knows if any water has been allowed to leak in from there. I just had to push the flange into the wall of the trailer to get the sealant to stick. The stargazer's left side had barely any contact with the sealant so I added some butyl tape to that corner as well.

Bottom line is to check the exterior flanges on your windows. My guess is it's probably an often-overlooked area when doing seal checks but it could've been a disaster waiting to happen.


Here's where I noticed the water coming in on the bottom-right corner


Most of the water was coming in where that break in the interior flange is.


This entire corner needed butyl tape to seal up the leak. It looks like it either had broken free a while ago or was never actually bonded in the first place (which is alarming).


The kitchen window edge that looks like it had never bonded to the trailer wall. I just had to push the flange into the wall to get the sealant to stick.

AnOldUR

Your second picture shows the window in the vent position. Could wind have blown the rain in through the opening?

manyman297

@AnOldUR No. I leave them in the vented position in storage. Windows were closed during the rain. Also during the rainstorm I put some gorilla tape over that exterior flange on the corner and the leak stopped.