Vent Leaks January 04, 2008, 06:51:55 pm Yahoo Message Number: 87891After a severe storm here in Northern CA... I found the roof of my shed ripped off this morning, shed wall collapsing and after doing a check on my BodegaBaby 1986 23' FL LD... I found that the vent in the bathroom is leaking severely. Everything wet! We've had no problems in previous rains as well as when washing the roof... The vent has a small fan and a vent roof cover... What do you suggest in fixing this... I have no place to pull Bodega Baby out of the weather... Really bummed out over this...Ellen[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Re: Vent Leaks Reply #1 – January 04, 2008, 07:31:31 pm Yahoo Message Number: 87893If it was me, to keep anymore rain from coming in, I would take a sheet of plastic, a tablecloth, etc., and cover the vent. Use bungee cords, or a piece of rope, to secure this cover to the vent frame. I.e. the upright part of the vent that the cover rests on. After the storm passes, there will be time to determine the exact cause. One possibility that comes to mind might simply be rain water being driven horizontally by the force of the wind. The water hits the upright part of the vent and is blown up and over, the vent wall. During hurricanes water gets blown over dikes just like that.Ed
Re: Vent Leaks Reply #2 – January 04, 2008, 09:05:41 pm Yahoo Message Number: 87895"I found that the vent in the bathroom is leaking severely...What do you suggest in fixing this."I always carry large plastic garbage bags and duct tape. Put a bag over the vent on the roof and tape around the edges, and nothing will get in. That'll hold you until you can get repairs made.Andy Baird http://www.andybaird.com/travels/
Re: Vent Leaks Reply #3 – January 04, 2008, 09:41:31 pm Yahoo Message Number: 87898Quote from: Andy Baird" "I always carry large plastic garbage bags and duct tape. Put a bag over the vent on the roof and tape around the edges, and nothing will get in. That'll hold you until you can get repairs made." I second that! On a long trip someone, maybe me, put her big fat knee on the escape hatch over the cab. Plastic makes such a nice crackly noise if you hit it just right. We were 2,000 miles from home and with three of us, someone had to sleep under that hatch. We found the nearest Home Depot, bought some heavy duty plastic and duct tape and made the repair in the parking lot. I did it "all by myself" since I'm a little more flexible than George and I had to use the rear ladder to get down. It looked ugly but who sees the roof. No leaks and the factory shipped a nice new cover to us when we got home. The plastic and duct tape held at 60 MPH in heavy rain.Karen - freezing and anxious to head south.
Re: Vent Leaks Reply #4 – January 04, 2008, 10:32:35 pm Yahoo Message Number: 87899Subject: [LD] Re: Vent Leaks Thanks for the responses to my situation, it really helps to get it into perspective... I will take your advise and cover it with plastic and duct tape until I can get a better handle on it. You guys ROCK!!!!!Ellen in my Bodega Baby 1986 23' FL LD[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Re: Vent Leaks Reply #5 – January 05, 2008, 01:28:30 am Yahoo Message Number: 87901"I found that the vent in the bathroom is leaking severely. Everything wet!"Ellen After you cover the vent, place an electric heater inside your LD to dry things out. Let it run for a couple of days.After the leak has been repaired, consider adding a vent cover to protect the vent and allow it to remain open in wet weather. http://tinyurl.com/yvkdek>Larry
Re: Vent Leaks Reply #6 – January 05, 2008, 07:54:52 am Yahoo Message Number: 87903Karen, How much did the factory charge for a new escape hatch cover? How hard was it to replace? I'm about to make my second repair on our escape hatch cover (small fatigue cracks) with Eternabond, and I'll eventually probably have to replace it.Barry 2001 Red RB, TX Where are we? http://map.datastormusers.com/user1.cfm?user=122
Re: Vent Leaks Reply #7 – January 05, 2008, 08:13:13 am Yahoo Message Number: 87905I'll add that in addition to garbage bags, I also carry a 9' x 12" reinforced vinyl tarp. In a real emergency (e.g., tree falls on roof), this would cover a large area. These tarps are inexpensive, and they take up almost no room when folded up. I've never had to open that tarp's package, but I like knowing it's there. :-) I also second Larry's recommendation of adding vent covers. They let you leave your vents open for air circulation even if it's raining, and they provide a second line of defense against vent lid breakage in case of a hailstorm, vicious tree branch attack or whatever. In addition, a vent cover stops UV from reaching the vent lid, so the lid won't become brittle and cracked from the sun.Andy Baird http://www.andybaird.com/travels/
Re: Vent Leaks Reply #8 – January 05, 2008, 08:19:47 am Yahoo Message Number: 87906Andy said:QuoteI always carry large plastic garbage bags and duct tape. Put a bag over the vent on the roof and tape around the edges, and nothing will get in. That'll hold you until you can get repairs made. Duct tape won't hold on aluminum if the aluminum is wet. If the storm has passed but you can't move BodegaBaby yet, make sure the aluminum is fully dry. Wiping with alcohol OR using a hair dryer (NOT BOTH!!!) will help with that. If you are still in the storm, use his idea of the garbage bag, and weight the edges with sand bags or equivalent. Once the storm is past, use the duct tape.
Re: Vent Leaks Reply #9 – January 05, 2008, 10:07:09 am Yahoo Message Number: 87909Quote from: Barry Barnes" " How much did the factory charge for a new escape hatch cover? How hard was it to replace?"Barry, I can't find the receipt but somewhere around $80., shipping included, seems to ring a bell inside the cobwebs. That was 3 years ago though. The job was so simple that even George and I could do it. We removed copious amounts of Parlastic and found 2 set screws holding the cover in place. We removed the screws and the cover just slid off it's track. Well, it slid but needed a little force as the track was slightly squished in places. More fat knee syndrome? Everything we needed was included with the hatch, including the sticky foam gasket. I'm one step below a trained monkey so it was really a no brainer ;-).Karen
Re: Vent Leaks Reply #10 – January 05, 2008, 11:28:37 am Yahoo Message Number: 87911" How much did the factory charge for a new escape hatch cover? How hard was it to replace?"Barry After our escape hatch cover was destroyed by a twister last summer, I found a identical replacement at a local RV dealer. They had several sizes to choose from so either measure carefully or take damaged cover with you to match it, I think I paid about $70 for the replacement.Larry
Re: Vent Leaks Reply #11 – January 05, 2008, 12:34:58 pm Yahoo Message Number: 87916Quote " How much did the factory charge for a new escape hatch cover? How hard was it to replace?"BarryAfter our escape hatch cover was destroyed by a twister last summer, IQuotefound a identical replacement at a local RV dealer. They had several sizes to choose from so either measure carefully or take damaged cover with you to match it, I think I paid about $70 for the replacement.Larry Barry, the replacement is easy. Simply remove the four screws on the small aluminum tabs (two screws on each tab) on the exterior of the vent cover. These tabs hold the cross rail to which the hand- crank arm attaches on the interior side of the vent cover. Once the cover is free from this cross rail, there's one screw on each end of the roof-mounted rail where the leading edge of the aluminum vent cover and the motorhome join together. (This creates the "hinge" area at the front of the vent). Once you've removed one of these screws, hold the vent cover straight up and down(vertical to the roof of the LD)and slide the cover off towards the side where you removed the one screw on the roof-mounted rail. The installation is just the reverse of this procedure. I think it took me about twenty minutes to remove and replace mine. I bought the vent cover online and i beleive it was $90.00 with shipping, but I have the "old style" vent that measures 27" x 27". The newer LD's have a smaller rectangular-shaped exit hatch. By the way, the online suppliers call them "exit hatches" if you're having trouble finding them under "vents". Good Luck!Scott
Re: Vent Leaks Reply #12 – January 05, 2008, 03:19:43 pm Yahoo Message Number: 87926Karen, Larry, and Scott, Thanks for the feedback, information and instructions for the escape hatch replacement. I'll keep the posts until I decide I can't patch the original hatch cover any more. (or until someone steps on it )Barry 2001 Red RB, TX Where are we? http://map.datastormusers.com/user1.cfm?user=122
Re: Vent Leaks Reply #13 – January 06, 2008, 08:34:18 am Yahoo Message Number: 87946I placed a plastic garbage sack over the vent and taped it all up with some duct tape. I also have the electric heater going to dry things up. There is one of these covers on the vent at the present time, that is why I was kind of surprised that it was leaking. http://tinyurl.com/22wp6p To repair the leak... Should I think about replacing the whole vent, or maybe take some of the EternaBond and seal around the edges? Where might be the most reasonable place to purchase EternaBond and is there larger and smaller widths then 4" ? Also, if I put the EternaBond on all the seams... Is it a good idea to put on some type roof coating and if so what type? You see where the rolled edges of the roof is, the paint is starting to blister off.Thanks in advance for all your responses! Ellen in her Bodega Baby 1986 23' FL LDleaking severely. Everything wet!"Ellen After you cover the vent, place an electric heater inside your LD to dry things out. Let it run for a couple of days.After the leak has been repaired, consider adding a vent cover to protect the vent and allow it to remain open in wet weather. http://tinyurl.com/yvkdek>Larry>>[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Re: Vent Leaks Reply #14 – January 06, 2008, 08:54:57 am Yahoo Message Number: 87949QuoteI placed a plastic garbage sack over the vent and taped it all up with someQuoteduct tape. I also have the electric heater going to dry things up. There is one of these covers on the vent at the present time, that is why IQuotewas kind of surprised that it was leaking. If you remove the inside trim from the vent and find that the leak is between the vent frame and the roof, you will probably have enough access to inject polybutylene caulk to repair the seal from the inside. The important issue is access to the gap between the aluminum roof skin cutout and the metal frame of the vent. This caulk is often called 'gutter seal' caulk, and sticks well in the wet, stays flexible, but is messy if it drips during application. Protect accordingly.This has worked well for us in such emergencies, and permanently.Steve
Re: Vent Leaks Reply #15 – January 06, 2008, 01:04:30 pm Yahoo Message Number: 87955"if I put the EternaBond on all the seams... Is it a good idea to put on some type roof coating and if so what type? You see where the rolled edges of the roof is, the paint is starting to blister off."Leaks come through seams and openings (such as around vents), not through the roof itself. Peeling paint won't cause a leak, and applying a roof coating won't stop one. Concentrate on sealing the seams; that's the only thing that will get you results. Putting a coating onto a Lazy Daze roof would be a waste of time and money.Andy Baird http://www.andybaird.com/travels/
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Topic: Vent Leaks (Read 25 times)
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