We brought our 2022 303RLS home 6 days ago and it's been sitting in our driveway as we start to load it up and prepare for our first trip this coming weekend. Last night we had a considerable amount of rain which continued into the morning. I decided to go out and thoroughly inspect the rig for leaks as this was the first actual rain (we had mist but no actual rain) since we brought it home. I am glad that I did because I spotted a slight leak coming in from the bottom of the schwintek slide, running down the wall onto the bathroom floor. It was not gushing water in, but enough to be concerned about.
After some detailed examination of the bulb seal and the wiper seals, it looked like everything was good there but water was pooling into the little plastic gutter at the bottom rear corner of the slide and getting in between that hard plastic corner piece and the long plastic piece that runs the length of the bottom of the slide opening. There appear to be some gray plumbers type putty in between the corner piece and the long plastic piece, and the putty was not put in to cover the full length of that seam; there was probably 1/2" of unsealed seam between the 2 pieces of gutter.
(This pic is the front side of the slide where the putty was good, not the back corner where it was leaking. Pictures were really difficult to take in this crevice so I couldn't get a shot of the rear putty gap. That gray stuff is putty in between the 2 pieces of plastic and runs the full length on the front of the slide pictured here, just for reference)
We confirmed this was the point of leak by using an old turkey baster and intentionally putting water into the gutter, and watched it flow in. Successful diagnosis!
First fix attempt was to slightly back out the screw holding down that plastic with a small 90 degree ratcheting screwdriver, and then with the downwards pressure released, mold the putty into the gap all the way across the gap. We basted the camper again (lol) to test and found this didn't work, so we moved onto attempt #2. This time we took some clear Waterproof Patch and Seal Gorilla Tape and cut a small piece roughly 4" by 3", rounded the corners, dried the area with a towel and heat gun, then applied the tape. I applied pressure to the tape for 2-3 minutes and we basted again but with more delicious results this time. We had a really good seal that only leaked 1 small drop even though we were directly soaking the outside gutter. Since we soaked it with way more water than it should ever get hit with and we only leaked a drop, I'm reasonably confident we are good for now.
It appears we have a temporary fix. Knock on wood. We have plenty more rain in the forecast so I'll be keeping an eye on this, the seal tape ready, and will report back if there ends up being more to this tale.
After some detailed examination of the bulb seal and the wiper seals, it looked like everything was good there but water was pooling into the little plastic gutter at the bottom rear corner of the slide and getting in between that hard plastic corner piece and the long plastic piece that runs the length of the bottom of the slide opening. There appear to be some gray plumbers type putty in between the corner piece and the long plastic piece, and the putty was not put in to cover the full length of that seam; there was probably 1/2" of unsealed seam between the 2 pieces of gutter.
(This pic is the front side of the slide where the putty was good, not the back corner where it was leaking. Pictures were really difficult to take in this crevice so I couldn't get a shot of the rear putty gap. That gray stuff is putty in between the 2 pieces of plastic and runs the full length on the front of the slide pictured here, just for reference)
We confirmed this was the point of leak by using an old turkey baster and intentionally putting water into the gutter, and watched it flow in. Successful diagnosis!
First fix attempt was to slightly back out the screw holding down that plastic with a small 90 degree ratcheting screwdriver, and then with the downwards pressure released, mold the putty into the gap all the way across the gap. We basted the camper again (lol) to test and found this didn't work, so we moved onto attempt #2. This time we took some clear Waterproof Patch and Seal Gorilla Tape and cut a small piece roughly 4" by 3", rounded the corners, dried the area with a towel and heat gun, then applied the tape. I applied pressure to the tape for 2-3 minutes and we basted again but with more delicious results this time. We had a really good seal that only leaked 1 small drop even though we were directly soaking the outside gutter. Since we soaked it with way more water than it should ever get hit with and we only leaked a drop, I'm reasonably confident we are good for now.
It appears we have a temporary fix. Knock on wood. We have plenty more rain in the forecast so I'll be keeping an eye on this, the seal tape ready, and will report back if there ends up being more to this tale.
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