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Let me first state that there is little to nothing original in this post--what you're reading here is a culmination of a lot of reading and gathering of ideas from various forums (including those dedicated to other than Grand Design) and watching numerous YouTube videos.
You might have read my torn seal thread where I documented the temp fix I applied until I can get them permanently repaired. The question is, how did they get torn?
I inspected every inch of the kitchen slide, inside and out, looking for a loose screw or debris or anything that might have caught and torn the seal. What I found (and is documented in the other thread) is the wipers seal(s) didn't flip correctly. What I think happened is as the slide moved in and out the seals bunched under the metal at the top of the side of the slide (where the roof is joined to the side). You can see this in the picture below.
With the exterior and interior wiper seal pinched between the metal and camper body it ended up tearing the seals. (If you watched the video both the interior and exterior wiper seals are torn.) Here's the video again if you missed it:
So what I've done is made my own "seal flippers" from leftover lengths of the RecPro wiper seals used for the temp repair. I cut off the "wiper" part and retained just the stiffer side with the self-adhesive tape. One "flipper" is attached at the top and bottom (on both sides of the slide) to grab the exterior wiper seal when the slide is going in, and there are two (on each side) positioned to grab the interior wiper seal when the slide is going out. Appears to work perfectly. (This is *not* a time-tested modification, I just did it today.)
One note from my reading: one post on another forum stated the response from Grand Design technicians (at a rally where the question regarding seals not flipping was discussed) was, "don't worry about it--it's normal". If that's true I respectfully disagree.
Any questions--fire away.
-Howard
You might have read my torn seal thread where I documented the temp fix I applied until I can get them permanently repaired. The question is, how did they get torn?
I inspected every inch of the kitchen slide, inside and out, looking for a loose screw or debris or anything that might have caught and torn the seal. What I found (and is documented in the other thread) is the wipers seal(s) didn't flip correctly. What I think happened is as the slide moved in and out the seals bunched under the metal at the top of the side of the slide (where the roof is joined to the side). You can see this in the picture below.
With the exterior and interior wiper seal pinched between the metal and camper body it ended up tearing the seals. (If you watched the video both the interior and exterior wiper seals are torn.) Here's the video again if you missed it:
So what I've done is made my own "seal flippers" from leftover lengths of the RecPro wiper seals used for the temp repair. I cut off the "wiper" part and retained just the stiffer side with the self-adhesive tape. One "flipper" is attached at the top and bottom (on both sides of the slide) to grab the exterior wiper seal when the slide is going in, and there are two (on each side) positioned to grab the interior wiper seal when the slide is going out. Appears to work perfectly. (This is *not* a time-tested modification, I just did it today.)
One note from my reading: one post on another forum stated the response from Grand Design technicians (at a rally where the question regarding seals not flipping was discussed) was, "don't worry about it--it's normal". If that's true I respectfully disagree.
Any questions--fire away.
-Howard
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