2023 Tab 400 Water on Floor

CountryGirl

My son is traveling in his 2023 Tab 400. Yesterday, they stopped and fixed supper and floor and rugs were dry. They continued driving in hard rain and when they got to their campsite late last night, rugs and floor were wet all the way to the battery area. There was also some water in his storage compartment.

I am thinking water was blowing in the air conditioner area and getting in the camper. (I have a tab 320 cs with the air conditioner on the floor and this has happened to me.) He did not have the snap on cover on the AC because he wasn't sure you could drive with it on.

What are your thoughts as to where the water came from? Can he drive with the snap on cover on his AC?

With the storage compartment - I am thinking door seals not placed correctly???

Any help would be appreciated as he is traveling for the next couple of weeks with his family.

TC_Scales

Nothing is wet from on top, so it has to be from underneath. I contacted NuCamp and hope to hear back from them. 

Bayliss

@CountryGirl and @TC_Scales, I assume you are both referring to the same incident?

I had the same thing occur last October (in our 2019 T@B 320 S Boondock Lite.)  A lot of water was coming in through the base of the side door opening at the lower corners of the door opening.  We caught it early, so were able to mop up the water before it did any damage, but it happened a few times during the very heavy storm we travelled throught.  I determined that the door seal was not properly sealing those corners, plus the aluminum trim of the door at those locations was not pressing inward toward the door frame to help apply pressure to the seal in that area.  I had our trailer at nuCamp to replace the defective floor and they replaced the door seal.  I also added some small corner door frame seals, like are commonly found on a house garage entry door or side door (small square seals), and those actually seem to have resolved the problem even better than the entire seal.  They basically double the width of the seal in those corners.  To see if that may be the cause of water penetration in your trailer, have someone observe from inside the trailer (while darkened) while you shine a bright light from outside toward the area of those corners to see if light penetration is visible.  See photo below.



I also had water coming in through the rear side storage compartment door.  nuCamp replaced that door seal as well with a better/thicker one.  The opening between the two ends of the original seal created a small gap and was located at the bottom center of the rear side of the compartment door opening (see yellow arrow in photo below.)  When nuCamp replaced the seal, I believe they positioned that gap at the rear left side of the compartment opening, which resolved the problem, although not completely.  I will just keep an eye on both seals if we encounter heavy rain during future trips.  Here's a photo of the original seal.  I will be picking up my trailer from storage today, so when I get a chance, I will post a photo of the new seal.

pthomas745

I would be pointing at the door here also.  People on the FB page seem to be indicating the door is fine, etc.

Is it possible at all...that water can be coming in from under the AC on the floor?  From the vent?  Anywhere in that area? 

Binghi

I would not drive with the AC cover on; at speed on the highway it will catch air and strip off. The cover does not attach to the trailer in a watertight fashion, and would leak water into the AC compartment anyway. My suspicion would be the door over the AC compartment.

CountryGirl

Yes, TC_Scales is my son.

He has a call into NuCamp and he is going to check all water lines and do the door light test when he gets to camp today.

TC_Scales

The following pictures are from the door today. I checked the water pressure and it is all good. We will check for light under the door but this is definitely where some water has made it’s way in. 

krsmes

I have a 2021 400 and when I drive in a heavy rain I get some water in the garage/storage area and just inside the main door.  Just something I've learned to accept and live with.   No issues with water when parked no matter how heavily it rains.   Only an issue with driving, something about it splashing "up" from the road or tires.  But it has never gone down the main aisle or anything that severe.

Bayliss

@CountryGirl and @TC_Scales, here are the pictures of the side door and storage compartment seals I described earlier in this discussion.  The blue arrows in the first photo point to the small door seals I added at each lower corner.  I bought them at Home Depot (two-pack.)  While in a very heavy storm in Oklahoma, quite a bit of water covered the floor between the entry door and the shower, soaking the rug you see in the photo.  Fortunately, we discovered it quickly, so no water had yet flowed back toward the seating area.

In the second photo, the red arrow points to the new location of the cut ends of the seal.  They are on the rear side of the compartment opening, plus the ends meet together (no gap like the original one.)  The seal is thicker as well.

MuttonChops

Unfortunately there are several locations road spray can enter the trailer . . .
however, in general it happens with older rigs as the various sealants fail.

On my rig it was the sealant around the wheel wells - - - - -
I could be parked at a campground in a pouring thunderstorm and the trailer (floor) would be 100% dry . . . . but drive down a wet highway in a light rain and it seemed gallons of water got sucked up into the trailer . . .

< 1 >  Complain to nüCamp . . . there is a production/design issue . . .

< 2 >  Re-Seal Everything; door area, wheel wells, and inspect the bottom side "water barrier**" for damage

** Water Barrier:  Is under the floor and is Not The Air Flow Plasitic Panel under the trailer
            {which is not watertight}