[Archived]

I was told to not do anything Dan.

[Chris]

The only thing that should be done is to keep the top of the slide clean so nothing like leaves, pine needles, acorns or twigs get swept or forced under the seal.

[Dan]

Not any maintenance but on inspection side.

An important item to check is the air pressure setting on the seal.

I believe Prevost suggest 10 psi. PMI

AL

[AL]

Grateful for the advice. I had watched some YouTube videos suggesting to use baby oil on the outside gasket to keep it from drying out, baby powder on the inside gasket to help slippery. Also there is a slide seal dry lube being marketed by 3in1 oil. And thought I would use that, but sounds like not. It looks like silicone spray.

There are some small areas of the leading edge of the outside gasket that are curled inward. It makes me want to take some of those windshield gasket nylon knives and work that edge out. But haven’t done anything so far.

As much as we talk about the affects of aging on rubber, makes it difficult to do nothing.

[Roy]

It’s not suggested or recommended to use any petroleum, silicone, soap, dry lube, baby powder, slide lube, snake oil on your slide seal.

All of these products attract dirt which surely will cause failure.

Keep in mind the moving of the slide with any lube has no effect or help in its travel.

It’s a rubber tube with a really big price tag , last I heard $3K. plus labor, …yikes .

AL

[Bill]

Al, what would be your take on polishing and waxing the slide surfaces that the rubber comes in contact with?

[John]

Wax on the slide skin on the sides, top and bottom will not hurt anything.

But Al is absolutely correct in that anything that will attract or hold dirt or debris or damage the rubber is not a good idea.

[Archived]

We had to replace the front seal in 2017 at ETLC and the rear in 2018 at Prevost Nashville. Both just plain ‘blew’. Easy to hear and diagnose and very expensive. I doubt the inflatable seal is actually in contact with the slide when the slide moves. So, other than keeping the slide top clean I’m not sure what else i could do as maintenance. The inflatable seal should be fully deflated before the slide moves or it won’t move. The ‘wiper’ is in contact with the slide but we still have the originals.

Jeff’s TLC at ETLC and Prevost’s superb over the phone assistance have helped us through various slide problems. Two new seals, one new manifold/block, and some ’emergency’ experience have boosted our knowledge and confidence immensely in dealing with slide problems. Hopefully the two controllers keep working forever.

And, if your seal fails and you’re in driving rain for days, pull the slide in and tape the outside seam with outdoor blue painters tape until you can get it fixed. The tape keeps water out and draws lots of ‘cool’ comments.

[Archived]

The slide seal is within a rubber channel with about a 2″ web and 1″ legs.

The channel is a flattened oval of rubber, a shape that can be compared to what a hose would look like if you were able to push it flat with your hand.

Until inflated, the seal retains the flattened shape, and any time the slide is in motion a vacuum is pulled on it to insure it stays flat so it never rubs or touches the moving slide room. Only the legs of the channel are touching a moving slide.

When inflated however the seal expands from its flattened shape to something similar to a skinny bicycle tire tube. It makes contact with the slide around its entire perimeter to seal out moisture,

[Andre]

Thanks Jon, very helpful in visualizing what’s going on. From this, my intuition is that the inner tube could be damaged by residue that gets past the wipers/legs.

[Dick]

That is exactly what happens. I sectioned a piece of slide seal and the walls of the seal itself seem about the thickness of a bicycle inner tube, but I suspect if you get twigs or some debris between the seal itself and the slide it is possible to cut or damage the seal.