Leaks

We just finished a day's drive south through Georgia heading for the Florida panhandle. Lots of rain.
Got to our campsite on the gulf and found wet bedding and wet food. This has happened before, last August in newfoundland. I talked with Cary and he told me to adjust the back rubber galley seal and to put electrical tape over the lower door vents. Haven't driven through this kind of rain since.
I did both of these things before hitting the road this morning but obviously didn't get something right.
I left a message for Cary late this afternoon but won't hear from him before Monday. So I thought I'd ask you folks, particularly those of you in the northwest who must drive through a bunch of rain if you've experienced these problems and, if so, how you dealt with them.
I'm having a hard time believing that these problems are common, 'cause C-I wouldn't have the great rep they have if they were.
And the good news is that the campground has good dryers and we'll sleep dry tonight. And even better, the Bulleit Rye goes well with a bit of water ...
So whaddaya y'all think?

 

Funny that you are reaching out to folks in the Northwest for leak prevention advice. I have lived in the Northwest and Southeast and honestly I have never experienced rain here like in Florida/Georgia/Alabama/Mississippi etc. Here it's mostly a light drizzle 24/7, there it's buckets from heaven for the most three days and then relief. We drove through torrential rain leaving Florida on our way to New Orleans last year, we should have stayed put until it was over. We camped at Lafayette SP in LA, the campground was completely flooded out. We had to use our flip flops (ugh! really cold feet) to the restroom at night cuz the water was so deep our rubber shoes which are pretty useful in Washington were useless. Dewey, our 2013 550 stayed completely dry inside! Dewey is one dry trailer, go figure.

Sorry, I'm not much help.

Michael

 

Unfortunately my CampInn incurred some water damage while stored outside last winter. No driving in the rain, no power washing, etc. just wet Washington weather.

My first indication that I had a problem was I noticed some black staining / streaking on both side walls inside the cabin (staining was under the finish). Pressing on the walls I could feel some 'give' meaning the plywood was starting to delaminate.

With Cary's assistance, I isolated the leak to both front-side amber marker lights. Apparently water was wicking behind the lights and wetting the plywood through a small hole that was drilled to route wiring to the lights. No water actually entered the cabin, instead it slowly made its way between the plywood layers.

The repair was fairly substantial. I first had to strip the finish off of both walls, seal up the leaks to prevent further damage and then treat the wood for rot. I left a heater in the cabin for several weeks to dry out the wood, and once dry I removed the layers of wood that were too far gone. After that, I patched the damaged areas, sanded everything smooth and cut a piece of wood veneer to re-surface the walls. I still need to seal the veneer with urethane, but I ran out of time before the weather turned.

I also have a bit of water damage in the galley where water got past the galley seal. I will probably just leave it / accept it for what it is if it doesn't get any worse.

 

Oh yes, the unexpected leaks due to high wind driven rain. Been there a few times, now I know to expect when driving in rain.

I pre-plan by placing duct tape over the window drainage holes, a cotton ball and duck taper over the door vent holes, and place towels along the doors, tucked in between the mattress and doors, to hopefully save the bedding. Then during rest stops check for water seepage, adjust tape and towels as needed.

Also I wipe dry the door and doors seals, making sure to place towel edge under the black door seal to wick up all water after traveling. Be sure to check under the mattress also. Water has amazing seeping powers under the mattress. Yes the galley hatch can be slightly adjusted from side to side to help with water seepage also.

 

I don't think having to seal the window vents is necessarily unreasonable, but it sounds as though you've had leaks around your door seals. THAT is unreasonable. If a car door can be sealed against the rain then our custom-built campers ought to be able to meet that standard. I expect most of them do.
If I feel like it's necessary to put towels in my 550 to catch leakage around the door then there's going to be one on the market soon.
After we dried our stuff last night we talked with the owner of an aluminum Little Guy. Goes everywhere with it they said. No, it doesn't leak they said. It's not too much to ask imho.

 

I drove home from WI two summers ago and encounter a rain/snow storm in Wyoming. I kept on moving but did not experience any water in the cabin or the galley.

I just bought a larger tow vehicle and went camping last weekend. It was raining both coming and going and again did not get any water in the cabin.

I can 'hear' your frustration. I would wait to see what Cary has to say tomorrow.

 

Thanks for all the replies. Joan and Jenn's reinforce my opinion (and likely most of yours) that we have well-made teardrops that usually don't leak.
I do indeed look forward to talking with Cary.

 

I had a good conversation with Cary regarding these issues. If you're having leaks i'd advise that you give him a call.

 

Michael, aren't you up there in the "Banana Belt" where the rain is less? Lately though, I agree with you. It feels more like the end of May than winter. This skier has been pouting for 2 months at the lack of snow (and the subsequent closing of nearly all of our ski areas). I am really scared for our summer. It is going to be ugly. I have lived through that a few times already, and the humans will not be the only ones at risk. Hope we have some big, cold, wet weather come through to build up that mountain snow pack. We are sitting at 18% of normal. Ugh.

We have had the torrents of rain and driven through them. With the SUVs especially, we make sure to tape our windows up in big storms. As added protection I like to put a small towel behind the curtains, to knock down any potential water from coming in (sometimes, when the windows are already wet, the tape doesn't stick very well). I have come away with some wet bedding and rain soaked curtains. That has worked for us for the cabin area. Like Jenn said, there are new vent covers that are meant to keep water out. I have the older ones.

I have also had leaks in the galley and had to dry out our bins. We checked all of our gaskets and Mick put a little more sealer into certain spots we thought needed it. I also make sure to position the hatch so it is centered. They have a little give in either direction, and making sure it is centered is important.

The only other leak we have had, which might be a mute point is from our sunroof. The caulking was shot (lots of expansion and contraction) and we pulled that out, and resealed it. I think we are water tight again.

Good luck and the folks at Camp-Inn will make sure it is taken care of. They are awesome!