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Leaks

Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2018 1:25 pm
by Sheila G
Hi All
Yesterday I got in my van for the first time in two weeks. There was a puddle of brown liquid all over the floor in front of the fridge. At first I thought it was oil or something coming out of the fridge. Looking closer though it appeared to be coming from the AC up above. It felt a little sticky not oily. I couldn't imagine what it was and if it could possibly be coming from the AC. After searching this forum I found back in 2009 another B owner had a problem with his AC leaking. We've had a lot of rain here in Houston so I'm thinking maybe my AC is the culprit. However during Harvey I moved her to higher ground and she stayed completely dry inside. The ac works or worked anyway during the summer. I didn't test it yesterday because I was afraid I would damage it if it's wet.

Also (another problem) I noticed when I was getting out of her through the side door, the window curtains were soaking wet as well as the side panels. The door had been shut tight and locked. Could this mean she needs a new gasket around the door? If so, this seems like a simple fix that I can do myself ...maybe? The AC though does not seem like an easy fix.

If anyone has advice on both problems I would sure appreciate it.

Cheers
SheilaG

Re: Leaks

Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2018 2:52 pm
by skater
You could have a leak in the gasket of the AC. Basically it has to be removed and reinstalled with new sealant. Shouldn't be too expensive to have a shop do it.

For the other one, door gasket, gasket between the pieces of the top, or a leak between the fiberglass top and van body, or just even condensation. It will take some work to find.

Re: Leaks

Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 12:12 am
by slow joe
Recently discovered a leak that sounds similar. I have wet curtains and carpet on passenger side
where passenger door opens. I doubt that a door gasket would let in that much water. You can
look over your door gasket and see if there are any rips or tears in it. I am thinking mine is leaking
from the vent right above the upper sleeping area. Then working its way to the passenger side
because that is the way the motorhome tilts when parked. I havnt had a chance to really investigate
and figure it out yet. It only happened after a torrential rain a couple weeks ago, so I dont
think it is a serious problem unless we get more heavy rain. Keep us posted if you figure it out, please.
I will do likewise.

Re: Leaks

Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 11:44 am
by Kentuckian
Sheila,
One easy thing that you can do is to clean the drain holes in the windows. Here is a Youtube video that shows where to find the drain holes that I am talking about. Its possible that your drains might have been stopped up and a rain that just happened to be blowing towards the door side of your B190 might have overwhelmed the drains and leaked through the window tracks into your camper. It might be possible that the dripping water seeped along some surface to where you found the puddles / wet curtains?

Not sure if this is your issue. But its a no cost thing to try.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Uf_R39_fRY

Re: Leaks

Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 1:05 pm
by mountaindent
thank you for referencing this video about cleaning those window drains out. I am going to do that as soon as I can now because no doubt there is residue built up! I learn so much from you guys.

Re: Leaks

Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 1:46 pm
by Choptop
Nice find !!

Re: Leaks

Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 6:59 pm
by usachris
mountaindent wrote:thank you for referencing this video about cleaning those window drains out. I am going to do that as soon as I can now because no doubt there is residue built up! I learn so much from you guys.
Be careful with using that coat hanger method. In the video that woman was scraping the channel pretty hard. It looked like she would be removing any protective coating. Consider using an extra long pipe cleaner or something less abrasive.

Re: Leaks

Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 11:30 pm
by SeaQuinn
About two feet of thick Weed Wacker line is great for this job :) Those darn mud wasps/spiders and pine needles somehow get in there! Once I cleaned all window channels...no leaks:) Doing it after a good rain seems to work better.

Re: Leaks

Posted: Wed Feb 14, 2018 8:19 pm
by Sheila G
Thank you all for your advice and input. I'm hoping to get to it this weekend .... if it doesn't rain (4th weekend in a row). I'll let you know how it goes.

Thanks again. I love this site.

cheers,
Sheila

Re: Leaks

Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2018 3:48 pm
by mountaindent
Good advice about the coat hanger due to the stiff nature and ability to scrap too hard any coating. Something like the Weed Eater feed would be more forgiving yet do the job. Glad I saw this before the dreaded coat hanger method.

Re: Leaks

Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2018 9:57 am
by slow joe
I finally got a nice ladder so I could climb on top of the 190. So the leak was just that square hand crank air vent.
You could see cracking in the caulking. So I applied some more, just to see if it would have any effect, and sure
enough, leak stopped. So now I will remove it and replace it properly.