Damage to plywood panel in storage space under rear cupboards

photon

I hope I'm posting this under the correct category. Please advise if there's a better topic.

There is a storage area at the back of my 2014 T@B under the full height cupboards. I rarely look there but recently noticed staining/mould, some knid of damage to the plywood panel. It's present at this, the left side, and on the right side too. Any help to identify the cause so I can make a repair to stop it from happening would be welcome.

Also, I'm looking for help to know how to repair/replace this piece of plywood.

gulfarea

I have had 2 320 T@Bs water gets in there from leaks some times from the tail lights, Art

photon

Good thought, thanks. Any idea how to remove that panel?

gulfarea

This is a photo of my first T@B, as you can see water was getting in this area around the tale lights. I resealed the lights with calk and put epoxy glue around the inside area after the wood dried out. I did not remove the panel. Art

grassgd

I just found water in my 2018 Tab 320s in the same area. 

A 10 days ago traveled in heavy rain one day and had light rain one day.  Parked in my driveway since then.  Did not see any sign of leaks but did not look in the storage areas until today and noticed some slight discoloration on the plywood bottom corners like you guys showed but only slight color difference. 

Since I had pulled the storage compartment out that covers the rear heat exchangers to fix the corrosion on the exchanger ends, I tried inspecting under the plywood bottom of the storage area with a camera and found some newspapers that had been dropped by the previous owner behind the lower storage where the heat comes up.  The papers were dripping wet. 

There is no way to remove the plywood bottom of the storage area and you cannot get a hose under it to use a wet vac, I decided to use a hole cutter and drill a hole in the corner with the most sign of water discoloration.  There is insulation under the plywood which does not leave any gap between the plywood bottom/insulation and apparently floor of the camper.

Currently using a wet vac to suck through the holes I drilled and put a small blower to circulate air over night from the rear opening.  Very difficult to effectively get the water out but I will keep this up until I decide on another approach.  A better option might require cutting a large access hatch in the storage area bottom plywood on each side. This would allow easy verification if the leak is actually found and fixed before finding the plywood rotted out.

Finding the leak point is the most important thing.

I pulled one taillight but all seemed to be sealed up good and no obvious leak point found.  There are only 4 screws that could leak and they were all sealed up good and the wire connection is recessed and points downward so not likely a leak point either.  Might have to use a hose to identify where the leak is.

Anyone else have any suggestions?
 

grassgd

photon said:

Good thought, thanks. Any idea how to remove that panel?

I am in the process of cutting out a large section of the plywood to make sure I can effectively dry out the plywood and treat it properly with some wood hardener plus get all remaining water out. I made the three cuts as shown but plywood will not come up.

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I was hoping that the other end is the edge of the plywood where it meets the trailer floor but it is attached or being held it in place somehow.  I sent an email to nuCamp Tech support asking how the plywood is attached from underneath - waiting for response.  The plywood edge may just be wedged somehow at the floor junction.

I think the leak comes from underneath the trailer where the plastic meets the trailer floor.  There is a strip of aluminum molding of sorts that is supposed to be sealed but on mine it's not properly sealed like it should be.





I saw water along this seam under the trailer when I used the wet vac to blow air in the hole I cut in the plywood on the inside of the trailer.  This seam is at the very forward end of the plywood.  While driving at highway speeds in heavy rain for an extend period of time is how I believe the water made it way through the seam that is not sealed properly when I last used the trailer.

Will update this post after I hear from nuCamp and proceed to get the plywood up.

Sharon_is_SAM

Possible the plywood veneer is glued down.

grassgd

nuCamp would not provide any information concerning the floor removal but suggested the taillights as a source of the leak.  I had sealed the bottom of the trailer where the floor showed signs of water draining out and thought I had fixed the leak but I was not completely sure.

We used the trailer this past weekend and had a lot of rain while the trailer was parked.  Water leaked in again.

Removed both taillights and saw no apparent leak points.  Removed the aluminum strip covering the joint of the roof and the plastic rear cap housing the taillights.  



This exposed the obvious leaks where the sealant was not properly installed as shown below:




The factory uses a gray putty material to seal the joint with one strip installed between the rear plastic cap and the roof and a second strip between the aluminum strip and the plastic rear cap.  Problem is there were two large places where the seal was not placed in the gap between the roof and the rear plastic cap as seen above.

I used a putty knife to force the gray putty material deep in the gap all along he seam as shown below:



I then ran a large bead of sealant on top of the seam and re-installed everything.

Rain is expected in a couple days which will verify if the leak is truly fixed but from what I saw, I feel confident it is fixed. 

It is unfortunate the design did not have the roof overlap the rear plastic cap which would prevent this type of leak even without sealant. 

gulfarea

Yes its like putting shingles on a roof backwards! I notice yours is also a 2019, makes me wonder if someone missed their job with the sealant that year! Art

YanniLazarus

When I brought my 320S to Miller Trailer in Pennsylvania for Alde service they suggested I drill 3 drain holes through that rear panel to safeguard against standing water- no matter what our how anything leaked. This is one of my drain holes with a home made baffle. Not pretty but...

grassgd

So far so good!  It's been raining overnight and all day and no signs of leaks yet.  Still raining off and on so will check again in the morning. 

The amount of water I had leaking prior to my repair was simply too much to have been from the taillight screws. I would be willing to bet anyone that checks the rear storage area and sees evidence of water on the plywood floor should check the seam where I found the missing sealant installation.

Marceline

grassgd said:

So far so good!  It's been raining overnight and all day and no signs of leaks yet.  Still raining off and on so will check again in the morning. 

The amount of water I had leaking prior to my repair was simply too much to have been from the taillight screws. I would be willing to bet anyone that checks the rear storage area and sees evidence of water on the plywood floor should check the seam where I found the missing sealant installation.

Did you buy that camper new or used?

grassgd

Marceline said:

grassgd said:

So far so good!  It's been raining overnight and all day and no signs of leaks yet.  Still raining off and on so will check again in the morning. 

The amount of water I had leaking prior to my repair was simply too much to have been from the taillight screws. I would be willing to bet anyone that checks the rear storage area and sees evidence of water on the plywood floor should check the seam where I found the missing sealant installation.

Did you buy that camper new or used?

'I bought it used....was only about 1 year old when I got it.

Marceline

grassgd said:

Marceline said:

grassgd said:

So far so good!  It's been raining overnight and all day and no signs of leaks yet.  Still raining off and on so will check again in the morning. 

The amount of water I had leaking prior to my repair was simply too much to have been from the taillight screws. I would be willing to bet anyone that checks the rear storage area and sees evidence of water on the plywood floor should check the seam where I found the missing sealant installation.

Did you buy that camper new or used?

'I bought it used....was only about 1 year old when I got it.

The reason I'm asking - and it's hard to be sure from the photos - is that it almost looks like the rear-end of the camper might have been disassembled and then put back together at some point. It almost looks like there are vestiges of caulking that was there (in the gaps) at some point. But like I said, it's hard to be sure from the photos. I suppose it could be detritus from you taking off the aluminum strip.

AnOldUR

I found some water damage in that back location under the side running light on the passenger side. Originally thought it was the running light, but later it looked more like bad sealing underneath. I tried soaking it with several applications of a wood hardener. It did firm it up, but I haven't been in a really heavy rain since. It appears to have helped with more water getting in. Time will tell.

Before hardener application...


After hardener application (and a few thousand miles with some rain) ...