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Bay door allow water in
We have a 2000 H3-45 and are having difficulty with the bay
doors leaking during a rain. Several bays flood. Has anyone had a similar experience?Could you share the remedy you used or offer advise on door adjustments and
tricks replacing or repairing door seals? PLEASE.Thanks for your help
Ray
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15 Replies
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Ray Are sure it is bay door seals, to check it take a water hose let run from door down on the ones that are leaking, it might be coming from up higher
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On the H make sure when you close the door you then push in at the top and verify it has latched all the way in…you can look at the gasket and verify it looks the same all the way around…..using things like silicone paste and chalk you can tell how well the gasket is making contact with the coach body…
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Good advise from Jeff, we call it the H dance, pushing both top corners of each bay to assure the latch. If not, they will leak.
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Ray,
Just as Tom says, I go to each one and bump against each top corner with my shoulder to make sure the latch “clicks” all the way closed, If it doesn’t click, the locks may be out of adjustment, causing it not to latch closed all the way.
I’ve owned 3 H’s, and never had a leak by using this method. The striker is the part that may be out of adjustment.
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Thanks everyone, good advise
Ray
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All good advice above in the replies. The H doors have latches that have two positions. You definitely want them to be locked all the way. They are located about a foot from the top corners of the doors on either side. A good lean into the door at that height on both sides will confirm that they are fully latched.
Also the advice of checking with a hose just above the leaking doors will help to see if the door is actually leaking or if you will need to look higher.
If your test shows that there is no leak at the bay door then look to the window frames above the bays. You will need to open these window frames. This is done by removing the sill material from the window. You will see two bolts that hold the window frame with seal against the side of the coach. You may be able to both see and access these bolts from under the sill plates in place. You just have to look.
Once you have opened the window, it will swing out and you will be able to see the top of the side fiberglass panel. Examine this panel to see if it is coming loose from the stainless frame of the coach. This may be the entry point for the water that ends up in the luggage bays. You may have to open each window and check the panel adhesion. If you cannot tell which side is leaking then you need to open the windows on both sides of the vehicle.
If the panel is loose you need to clean the panel and the frame as best you can. Then use some Sika 255 or 252 to reseal the panel to the frame. To be sure that this does not happen again put a 3/16ths stainless rivet through the panel into the frame. Use about three per window. That should solve the water leak if the panel is coming loose.
Hopefully it will be as simple as just verifying that all the soors are properly latched.
Prevost Service
Bill Jensen
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Bill, good to hear from you…Hope the retirement life is treating you well….
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Thanks for helping Bill, I hope your goofing off and having fun, I doubt you miss the rat race…
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Still getting used to not having to be somewhere all the time! But doing fine! Thanks!!!
Prevost Service
Bill Jensen
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Bill your comments are very much appreciated. Allow me to
share a few more details that may offer more clarity.The coach is a Featherlite conversion and has glued in
windows. The second window on both driver and passenger have a slide window in
the bottom half. Bays one and two on the passenger side which are under the first
and second window are not leaking or if they are its minor. Bays, three and
four passenger side leak profusely; four houses the gen. Bay five is the double
plumbing bay and it seems fine, no discernable leak.On the driver side we have one slide that when extended
cover three bays, bay four has the RVAC bay five has a swing door and it also
leaks profusely. The swing arm does not overtly present a method to adjust the
fit on the hinged side although there is the eccentric bolt adjustment at the
latch. It appears water is gaining
access from the hinged side top and side. The water drains from the slide top
down the slide end toward the rear of the coach and trickles along the side of
that door. One could only presume it is finding a way inside.We were in a rain situation in New Mexico a few days ago and
these bays were flooded. Boots damaged as I was unaware of the issue, we recently
purchased this coach and have limited experience in varied conditions, i.e. rain.What I did note was that s we sat the coach on an incline
while attaching our car the doors drained. They seemed to be filled with water,
I head that they only drain when the have significant level, however I don’t
know the value of that information.Following the rain and drying the bays I adjusted the eccentric
bolt on all the doors, made sure that when closed they lined-up behind the
stainless drip rail that runs the length of the coach just above the doors and
made sure to latch them tightly at the top with my shoulder. We have not had
rain since this. We are full timers and I have not taken the opportunity to try
and flood the bays with a water hose, yet.The doors all have a chrome strip in the lower fifth of the
door mounted to a protrusion on the door, I observed that when the door closes
dirt puffs from the top of the protrusion. I have heard that water can gaining
access from around the chrome mounting bolts in the door, the protrusion
appears to be lugged onto the door and that somehow there is an opportunity for
air to escape venting the dust and dirt from inside the door around the
attachment, one could conclude that water could also penetrate the door there
and if the drain in the door is not draining it could access the inside of the
bay.Just thoughts without further investigating, I was curious
about seals, how to replace them, and what experience other have had in similar
situations.Thanks for all you help,
Ray
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I yield to Bill’s expertise and appreciate his help. He has always been a good friend to conversion owners and nobody matches his depth of knowledge.
If a coach is leaking, and it shows up in the bays, the problem may be related to the bay doors, but over the years we have learned leaks are a challenge and as others on here will state, the only true way to find leak sources is to pressurize the coach, use soapy water and look for the bubbles. Based on the description and extent of the leaks I would suggest a comprehensive investigation. The leaks may be coming from the bay doors, the windows, the slide, or even the roof.
If the coach has OTR this is something easily done by the owner. Open the fresh air intake for the OTR, run the coach on high idle with the OTR working and start spraying soapy water, starting with the roof down. If there is no OTR the Prevost service centers can pressurize the coach and do the inspection.
Water can and will do serious and expensive damage, including mold and mildew which will destroy a coach once it takes hold. Leaks are something that cannot be ignored.
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Jon,
Ray doesn’t have OTR AC, but we do–am I correct that you open the fresh air intake by hitting the recirculation button on the dash? -
No. I think on all our coaches there is a plate or cover over the fresh air intake. That has to be removed and in some cases a baffle has to be opened also.
You will know when there is fresh air intake. The pressure is so great it is hard to close the door.
I don’t know if the H3 is different than the XL. Perhaps Tom can jump in here. Or maybe Al.
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Then I’d be curious on how to do that.
BTW, Jon, here at LVMR in Las Vegas we found we do have to manage the shore power as you had mentioned earlier. It was never an issue with the old coach, but with 3 ACs running, we keep an eye on the Amps used. Staying nicely cool in the coach, though. Don’t need the 4th AC unit in 100+ degree temps. -
Per, off topic, but as you are realizing our coaches with all the features put us close to shore power limits, espcially in the summer heat. Adding to that is the fact that shore power can be unreliable if we allow the amps on each leg to exceed 40 amps, and the fact as summer demand goes up, voltages go down to exacerbate the issue.
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