Wet weather - leaks

We have the double glazed dometic windows. Our van is parked outside at all times and recently has been through continual rain for many days (live near Brisbane) and I have not noticed any water leak issues at all. I have always been impressed by how weather proof the van has been in the 2+years we have owned it.

Alan

Hi guys. We had a stain on the wall below the window next to the bed (drivers side). BTI replaced the paneling but couldn't tell us where the water came in. We then found water in the ensuite cupboard floor under the sink. After silicone on the roof etc we found water was entering via the gas heater. The bottom lip was not folded and sealed correctly. (Another 1 in 1000) Check the bottom edge of the heater. If you can get your fingernail between the folded metal casing, water will get in. A bead of silicon forced into the cavity along the bottom of the casing will fix the problem.

Hope this helps.

T& L

We had a similiar problem that really stemmed from a leaky pressure relief valve on the water heater continually dripping water out.

John

Hi Ontheroadagain,
Had 2 that leaked, told to put a bit of clear SILICON around the top corner where the hinge is but run it down the joint about 18mm with the window closed. (not to thick - about 3mm is good)
When it is dry & you open the window it will break the silicon just nicely, & when you close it again it will seal back up.
Worked for me.

Hi Ontheroadagain,
In addition to what Peter has suggested, clean off the silicon around the pop rivets that hold the black plastic piece which the winder arm is attached to (also the pop rivet where the winder arm is connected), and silicon them again. The water enters here and tracks down through the winder box and runs down the inside wall under the window.
Even though they may look OK the sealant gets old and needs replacing from time to time.
Tighten the screws that hold the window to the frame or take them half out smear some sealant on them and tighten back up, these tend to loosen up after a while.
Regards, Max

Hi again,
Another way water can get into your van is through the joins of the sheeting on the SIDE walls. This does not apply to the front and rear walls because the sheeting is different to the sides.
A combination of rain and wind can drive water UP the wall and through the horizontal joins in the cladding; these joins are about 300mm apart.
The solution is to clean the joins with prep sol (used in the spray painting industry to clean surfaces prior to painting). Run a very fine bead of white sealant along the join, then spray the sealant with detergent (Windex or similar) and then run your finger along the join to push the sealant into the join and to remove any excess. The detergent will stop the sealant from sticking to the cladding when you run your finger along and leave a nice fine strip of sealant in the join.
Start at the bottom join and work your way up the wall so if the detergent runs down the wall it will do no harm. The joins must be dry before applying sealant. Remember sealant attracts dust so it needs to be a very fine line; don’t cut the tip of the sealant gun. On a long run do about 1/3 of the van at a time.
I hope this helps if the sealant on the windows does not solve the problem.
Regards, Max

We had a similar issue, the entry point of the water was extremely difficult to diagnose. BTi were very helpful and replaced the damaged veneer panel for us, and resealed the window all the way around. They also reapplied sika to the roof where the roof and walls join.

But the problem recurred when we had heavy rain and a wind which blew the rain sideways. I had no idea where the water was coming from, but decided to try elimination by trial-and-error elimination. First thing I did was gaffer a piece of plastic sheet on the outide of the van and all the way over the window which was suspect - the leak stopped! I knew I was onto something.

Then scoured the Bushtracker Owner's Forum and found a very good maintenance article which describes potential leak on window hinges (Camec windows). To see article CLICK HERE (you need to be a registered member). I took my time, cleaning away all the old silicon very carefully, and followed Steve's tips exactly).

No problem since.

A few years ago we had a water leak on one of the side windows.

I also taped it up a stopped the leak so knew it was coming in around the window. I tried the screws and found that a number of the upper screws on most windows had worked there way loose and on the leaking window the Stikaflex had a crack in it.

BTi told me that it couldn't happen but when I took it in Wayne and Tracy inspected it and found that it had cracked and that was the source of the water leak.
Waynes comment was, "Bugger me, I have never seen that before, and wouldn't have believed it possible if I hadn't seen it."
I left the van with them for a few hours and they removed the window and resealed it and we haven't had a problem since.

I might add that this was well outside any warranty period and BTi did the work without charging me anything.

Brian