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  • Schwintek slide leak

    We are pulling our hair out trying to fix a leak of rain water into our 2015 317RST Reflection5th wheeler. We 1st discovered water in our storage compartment below our Schwintek bedroom slide. After replacing storage door gaskets we tested and found water was coming into bay in between the wall and coming into storage compartment. Looking we can see the wall was bubbling between Slide and storage compartment. We have de lamination on outside wall. It was leaking into the interior of the Bedroom also. Next we researched on here leaks. We replaced all the bulb gaskets going a round the slide. Found where a hole was cut too big in top wall of exterior. The gasket was not completely covering that so we caulked it and cut new bulb gasket longer. We have vacuumed out and wiped out the pan at bottom of slide wall interior. We can not find a weep hole of anything else on bottom right corner exterior in the way of a drain cup. All new bulb gaskets have been caulked. Last night we had a regular rain not driving. My husband put a dish under corner of slide where it has leaked into bedroom. We had about a quart of rain come into dish. About 1 cup was in the storage bay. Today we installed a carefree ascent slide out cover but we have little hope this will solve our leak. We contacted the closest Grand Design dealer with a repair department in the beginning and they can’t get us in till the end of October. We purchased the unit used from a non Grand Design dealer. The dealer delivered it to our seasonal site and set it up for us In June. The only thing we can think of is pulling the slide completely out which is pretty hard in a campground. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. We have owned RVs for 40 years and never had a repair we couldn’t fix.

  • #2
    Have you checked the roof area?

    Brian
    Brian & Michelle
    2018 Reflection 29RS
    2022 Chevy 3500HD

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    • #3
      Yes Brian we have. The roof looks good. The water seems to collect in the left lower corner of slide When inside the bedroom. No damage to exterior wall above slide just below. I included photos of damage where it is. Thanks for your question.
      Laurie

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      • #4
        Laurie M

        You're doing a great job documenting the problem. I can only speculate on possible causes.

        You do know the bulb seals shown in post 1 (as being replaced) are used to keep water out when the slide is all the way in, right? There's a duplicate set of bulb seals on the interior of the camper that seal the slide when it is all the way out.

        The aluminum channels on the side of the slide make a "V" that traps water in the older Schwinteks. (In the new style the "V" is inverted to shed water.) This may be very obvious, but water will travel a path according to the slope it finds. Could the slide be tilted towards the camper? Try putting a level on the bottom of the slide and/or along that channel--what does it show?

        If the camper is level (according to the main floor, or island, or other locations) but the slide seems off, the easiest thing to try is resync'ing the motors in the slide. If you look on YouTube there's a video by Lippert titled "Schwintek In-Wall Slide-Out System - Retiming". Perhaps the slideout is slightly tweaked and resyncing will get it straightened out. (That's a total SWAG...if you're familiar with the acronym....)

        Wish I could be of more assistance!

        Howard
        Forum moderators are not GD employees--we are volunteers and owners presumably just like yourself. Unless specifically mentioned otherwise, we have nothing to gain should you choose to purchase a product or engage a service we discuss on this forum.

        2017 Ford F-350 DRW, '19 315RLTSPlus

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        • #5
          Thanks Howard, we are level, slide is level too. I have retimed it. 1st thing I tried after reading the forum. So far we have had 2 techs out to look at it. They both agree all seals look good. Neither of their shops can handle our 5th wheeler right now. They all agree side needs to be removed or hyper extracted to try anything else. The slide topper has kept the last 2 rains out but not a rain with wind. Has anyone taken outside flange off and Successfully brought slide in to replace inside bulb seals and wiper seal? At this point we have to try something. If we put a hose with no pressure on the top of slide it still leaks. Leads me to believe the leak is the inner bulb seal or wiper seal even though the look good!
          thanks for the input,
          Laurie M

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          • #6
            Originally posted by Laurie M View Post
            Thanks Howard, we are level, slide is level too. I have retimed it. 1st thing I tried after reading the forum. So far we have had 2 techs out to look at it. They both agree all seals look good. Neither of their shops can handle our 5th wheeler right now. They all agree side needs to be removed or hyper extracted to try anything else. The slide topper has kept the last 2 rains out but not a rain with wind. Has anyone taken outside flange off and Successfully brought slide in to replace inside bulb seals and wiper seal? At this point we have to try something. If we put a hose with no pressure on the top of slide it still leaks. Leads me to believe the leak is the inner bulb seal or wiper seal even though the look good!
            thanks for the input,
            Laurie M
            There's an extensive thread where I documented my journey getting seals replaced. There's quite a bit of info that may of interest: https://gdrvowners.com/forum/exterio...ard-to-replace

            If your seals are the new style (one piece, as shown in post 26 in that thread) it *should* be easier to replace as the wiper and bulb are one piece. The slide does not require hyper-extension to replace. If the seals are the "old" style (like mine) where the wiper and bulb are two pieces, the bulb is very easy to replace (slides on and off a track) but the wiper blades are impossible to replace without removing the slide.

            Read through the thread and let me know if you have any questions.

            Howard
            Forum moderators are not GD employees--we are volunteers and owners presumably just like yourself. Unless specifically mentioned otherwise, we have nothing to gain should you choose to purchase a product or engage a service we discuss on this forum.

            2017 Ford F-350 DRW, '19 315RLTSPlus

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            • #7
              Click image for larger version  Name:	5DF7B099-C312-4879-8447-9CEB4D219F4C.jpeg Views:	0 Size:	87.8 KB ID:	30584

              I thought I would update the forum on our leak. It took over 3 weeks but we have received all the parts we need. We had to go through 5 parts distributors to get all the seals and parts needed.

              Today my husband on the advice of the dealer we bought it from he removed the lower pan/seal/bulb seal. He was able to do it without removing the slide. The problem was the lower seal/pan was cut short at the factory about 2 ½ inches. The side pan/ trays was notched but the lower pan was not slipped into the grove. So what some people have referred to as a weep hole is not correct. It is more of a tray/pan that catches water as it follows the seals. The tray/pan is notched to allow the rollers of the slide to go through.

              There is a slot in the lower seal/pan that should have had the side pan/tray slipped into. It was not in the slot therefore it was not supported and was tilted down thus allowing the water to go into the bedroom instead of being redirected to the outside. Being that the lower bottom pan/seal was cut short there was 2 ½ inches of the wall at the bottom of the slide not covered with any type of seal at all. Thus the water would pool in that corner and seep through the wall to the storage compartment below. With all the driving rains we had this summer there was enough water to de laminate the side walls. He was able to replace the bottom seal/ pan and the side that had been leaking since the other side was in the correct position to drain water outside he left those seals alone. I will attach at few photos.

              Click image for larger version  Name:	3A1F8777-ADC3-47A6-BC15-A8423D1B079B.jpeg Views:	0 Size:	58.4 KB ID:	30583
              Attached Files
              Last edited by howson; 09-23-2020, 09:03 PM. Reason: Edited where text was for ease of reading (I did not change any content). -Howard (moderator)

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              • #8
                I will post these photos to help show what terms I’m using to describe the difference parts.
                Attached Files

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                • #9
                  Thank you for the comprehensive explanation, Laurie M . I'm going to have to look at my unit in more detail.

                  Howard
                  Forum moderators are not GD employees--we are volunteers and owners presumably just like yourself. Unless specifically mentioned otherwise, we have nothing to gain should you choose to purchase a product or engage a service we discuss on this forum.

                  2017 Ford F-350 DRW, '19 315RLTSPlus

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                  • #10
                    Easy fix! Use a soft/thin plastic bag push in the gently pull out! So lame this issue. I'm disappointed in GD post construction inspection :(

                    4 days after purchasing My second Momentum Class G25, I found water running down the wall, along bedroom slide. I had no interest in returning to Iowa from the east coast. The rain gutter and spout conduct water directly on to the lower rail even while level, just a crazy placement of the spout(should be forward a few inches)

                    My my 2019 G25 never leaked. The reason: the pre cut seals, on all the slid rail are off set by about an 8th of an inch. This leaves a gap on top the rail and the lower congruent aspect to flare out. Using a plastic bag I have fixed the leak. Living in the camper all of last year and through winter in New Hampshire. If you need a quick fix for worn out wipers or shotty construction ( as in my case) this is the easiest fix.

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                    • #11
                      JL Montelius -- welcome!. When you get a chance, check out the Welcome Letter to New Members if you'd like more info on this forum. https://gdrvowners.com/forum/main-fo...to-new-members

                      Can you take a picture from underneath the slide looking up to show the location of the spout relative to the slide? If I'm visualizing what you wrote the spout/rail is as drawn below (from a stock online photo).

                      Click image for larger version  Name:	25G.JPG Views:	0 Size:	85.8 KB ID:	80243
                      Forum moderators are not GD employees--we are volunteers and owners presumably just like yourself. Unless specifically mentioned otherwise, we have nothing to gain should you choose to purchase a product or engage a service we discuss on this forum.

                      2017 Ford F-350 DRW, '19 315RLTSPlus

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