# Slide Out Water Leak From Upper Gasket



## Ken S (May 1, 2011)

Hi Outbackers. I recently purchased a 2001 Keystone outback 25RS. I sure wish I found this site before I made the purchase, but now that it is done I am on may ay to make repairs.

The problem I have been unable to resolve is water leaking on top of the sofa slide out. When the unit is extended it is as dry as can be, but when the slide out is closed the water runs off the top of the slide out an onto the floor. Something that has been occurring for quite some time by the looks of it.

What I noticed.

The upper outside gasket was not meeting the RV's wall when closed.
The gasket was old and torn in places.
Each mitered corn of the outer trim of the slide out was gapped.

What I have done.

Removed all the gasket material and decretive corner plates.

Using either 3/32 or 1/8 inch thick aluminum, I machined the pieces for each corner to bring the miters together with pop rivets. Each piece had caulking behind it to cover the miters and any holes, then replaced the decretive caps with new ones.

Replaced all the gasket material.

Outcome
Looks good, but there is still a good gap at the top when the slide out is pushed in, as the pictures shows and this is with the wife sitting on the couch.

Does anyone know of an adjustment that can be done? I did not see anything that would adjust for this since the top has no guides.

Is there a device that can be put between the inside wall and the inside lip of the slide out, that when expanded will force the top of the slide out snug with the outer wall?

Thanks for any suggestions shy of target practice.


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## KTMRacer (Jun 28, 2010)

It looks to me from your pictures that the slide is not retracting all the way. Usually there are stop adjustments for both in and out positions on the slide. adjustment methods vary by mfg and model of the slide, so without knowing the slide and model it is hard to tell how it adjusts. On our slides, in the retractacted position (in), the slide gasket is heavily compressed against the trailer outside wall. Also, usually the slide will contact the top wall first when it retracts and then pull in against the side walls.


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## Insomniak (Jul 7, 2006)

KTMRacer said:


> It looks to me from your pictures that the slide is not retracting all the way. Usually there are stop adjustments for both in and out positions on the slide. adjustment methods vary by mfg and model of the slide, so without knowing the slide and model it is hard to tell how it adjusts. On our slides, in the retractacted position (in), the slide gasket is heavily compressed against the trailer outside wall. Also, usually the slide will contact the top wall first when it retracts and then pull in against the side walls.


I agree - it looks like the slide isn't coming in completely. Now, to find out why...


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## maddog (Dec 16, 2009)

Does the slide run flush to the floor or does it have a rise to it. From the looks of the type, it is not flush with the floor. If that is the case, on the inside of the trailer, take the panel off the bottom of the slide and you should find the motor and tracks. There should be an adjustment there.


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## Ken S (May 1, 2011)

I'm not all that fluent with the forum so hopefully this will post in the correct spot. I'm not at all sure if the slide mount is parallel with the floor. One thing that I left out was that this unit is a manual one. I have to pull on a cable on the outside of the slide out in a doored compartment, then pull or push on the slide out. It's not that bad to get it out, but getting it back in is a bit of a pain. So far I have had my wife help me vice getting PO at it.

I'll have to take another pick/s tomorrow of the inside. Hopefully I do not have to disassemble the couch to get to the mechanism that has been referred to, but that is better than a flood.

Thanks for the info.

Ken


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## maddog (Dec 16, 2009)

If you are looking at the slide from the inside. Is there a small step up to the slide from the floor? If so, the front panel of the step up should come off. You will have to feel around through the carpet to find the screws. Inside you should find the track with the stops.


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## maddog (Dec 16, 2009)

maddog said:


> If you are looking at the slide from the inside. Is there a small step up to the slide from the floor? If so, the front panel of the step up should come off. You will have to feel around through the carpet to find the screws. Inside you should find the track with the stops.


Disregard that last statement, the retract stop should be on the outside under the slide on the track. But from the pics it does not look like you have one. Sorry! Didn't mean to add confusion to a frustrating situation.


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## Ken S (May 1, 2011)

Hi all.

Thanks for your inputs. I was able to get the front covering off the sofa and took some pics from underneath of the sofa. Also included are a couple of pics of the slide out from a side view prior to replacing the gaskets.

No worries about frustrations, that came from the big bag you can see hanging on the side were a door is supposed to be. Underneath the wallpaper, I found that the lower 1/4 part of the door was rotten, and the wood just fell off. I ended up removing the door and all the effected wood. Cleaned it up and purchased some ply wood that was close to the original thickness, ran it through my thickness sander, epoxied it place, and repaired the areas of the leaks. like I said, the purchase of this unit would be considered an entry exam for the school of hard knocks.









This forum has been a big help. The article on old tires might have been a lifesaver. The original owner said he blew a tire but did not know why. After viewing the videos, I found that the tires are most likely original tires, 2001 year date stamp. Had great tread, but loads of cracks.

Anyway, if the adjustment were done on this device, what would the procedures be?

Thanks 
Ken


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## maddog (Dec 16, 2009)

After looking at the pics, It appears as if the top of the slide is out further than the bottom. When the slide is closed does the bottom seal? This may be a tilt issue which looks to be adjustable by the two bolts on front of the mechanism. Just a guess!


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## Ken S (May 1, 2011)

Hi Maddog

I was thinking the same thing. I was unsure if it was intentionally designed to have a slight tilt to it so that water drains away from the unit when it is extended. The bottom is pretty snug when it is closed, and if I put some significant weight on the sofa, the gasket shows significant compression all the way around.

There seems to be a bit of play in the slide out as well. The top of the slide out moves about 1.5 inches when it is closed up, and the 2x4 in the back against the wall seems to have the play in it.

At the corners of the slide out is some minor delam which is prob from water intrusion in which I am trying to correct. I'm confident that the walls are constructed using aluminum studs. I have removed the oven exhaust and a couple of other items to find an aluminum studs, so hopefully the wall is still structurally sound.


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## maddog (Dec 16, 2009)

Try to snug everything up the best you can. It looks like the front of the slide can be brought down by the looks of the holes on the adjustment plate. Try lowering the front of the slide with it closed until the top is flush with the wall. One thing to check first is if the slide is open does the bottom fit snug to the wall or is ther a gap on the inside? The structure should be ok, thats the nice thing about the aluminum studs.


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## Ken S (May 1, 2011)

I was able to loosen the bolts and adjust the slide out. It did snug up the upper part of the slide out. It does shift very quickly, so it is good to have some wood and shims handy. In the last rain we got, about 4 hours worth, I got what I would guess at to be 3 table spoons of water on the top of the slide out. It wasn't enough to run off and down the wall which is good, but there is still a small leak, somewhere up there.

I was thinking about replacing the wiper seal on the top, but I'm not at all sure that will fix the problem. I took it off and cleaned it up some and filled the corners with RV RTV with no change in water intrusion.

Another thing I noticed was the top gasket on the slide out, when it is slid in, it does not completely contact the mettle trip on the RV wall. There are one or two spots that look to be just the side of the upper portion of the gasket that contacts the RV Side. If there was a way to raise the slide out 1/4 of an inch, or raise the gasket I think I would be good.

What I was thinking about doing was taking some weather stripping and placing it on the slide out under the main gasket in a way that lifts the main gasket.

Another fix I was thinking about was constructing an awning of sorts. Using Velcro, attaching a 7 foot by say 6 inches. I could attach it to the RV and then the slide out, hopefully keep the rain from intruding into the RV. It can be easily removed when in use or driving.

Any thoughts?


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