Notchless seal

[rotaxman]

Hey All

I just started the installation of my notchless seal on the kitchen slide this afternoon. It is going to a pretty good job I spent the better part of 4 hours just getting the old seal off and planning on how I'm going to install the new one.

As usual the engineering department at DT failed miserably on the design. The seal could have been easily kept off of the rollers by the installation of a simple small metal piece to keep it from being able to get caught between the rollers and the slide. I am going to fabricate and install the metal pieces tomorrow after I go pick up the material to make them.

Might of been able to to just go ahead with the installation but I figured while I've got it this far apart why not go ahead and add some extra insurance against any future problems.

It was pretty difficult to get the screws out of the end pieces that tuck up inside the coach. I think there is a better way to reinstall the new seal that will work much better than the factory installation. My unit is 2403 an 06 36TK3 there were 4 screws on the rear end of the slide ( one of which was not screwed into anything) and 3 on the front end of the slide. They were more difficult than the rear one's because of the pantry blocking access to the area where the screws are. Also so far I have found that one of the jam nuts on the roller on the slide toward the front was not tight and would allow the adjustment to drift so far mine has not moved but I will check the rest of them and lock down all that need it.

Sorry for the long post maybe it will be of some use to you that are contemplating doing the install yourself. It won't be impossible but it will take some time and patience make sure you are going to have good weather for a couple of days and you should be alright.

As always good camping

Jerry and Joyce

[john]

Glad I had the dealer put mine on...

[Gemstone]

What is the main reason for replacing the notched seal with a notchless one ? Is it just to prevent air leakage ?

Thanks

[Motor31]

Air leaks which cause either the AC or heat to cycle more than they should as well as critter / bug entry into the unit. We had a bad experiance with "kissing bugs" while staying a week in Colorado Springs last year. They got in through the notch in the seal and were attracted by the light coming from inside the rig there. Right now we are fighting mosquito's in Houston and they are winning.

[Gemstone]

OK then, I'll chime in...
Thinking our power consumption was way too much, I went about the task of finding and plugging what looked like potential air leaks. I found a black foam rubber exercise mat for about $15, and started cutting it to fit. I plugged the notches, and corners of all slides from the outside, and had plenty to seal all slides, where they meet the floor, on the inside. I even have some left for a seat cushion which I'll used at the Sprint Car races at Manzanita Raceway this weekend. It did make a difference in our power usage last month. And it seems to have a bit of advantage over replacing the old seal; it only took me about 2 hours, and zero frustration. Granted, I need to re-do this each time we move, but then we tend to stay put for months at a time.

Regards
Gemstone

[rotaxman]

Hey all

Finally got back to the notchless seal replacement it was a bit of trouble but I think it is a great improvement. No light coming in under the slide now at all I changed the way it was installed on the ends and it seems to be a lot better.

Also got the heat duct installed in the stool room no more cold seat at 2am in the morning when you go in and plop down on the thrown that really wakes you up when you do that.

As always good camping

Jerry and Joyce

[jack_diane_freedom]

Wow guess I am lucky. Electronics works fine and all buttons do what they are supposed to do. I had the Wineguard automatic dome sat systems installed and it sends to the bedroom tv just fine. Maybe our unit got built on a good day. I did install an A/B switch at the bedroom cable outlet in front of the sat dish receiver to switch between batwing/cable and the sat receiver. Have never used it as the sat dish works well.

Jack

[Wally]

rotaxman

What is a notchless seal?
Wally

[fiverdriver]

Originally Posted by Wally

rotaxman

What is a notchless seal?
Wally

I'll take a shot at an answer for you. In the past, on the 36tk3 and possibly other models, the kitchen slide out was having problems with the slide rollers digging into the seal so they started cutting out notches where the rollers were.

They solved one problem but caused several others in the process.

With the notches cut out in the vacinity of the rollers, one coule easily sit in a chair across the room and see daylight under the slide and actually feel a good draft on a breezy day. Along with the draft, anything else, bugs, critters, etc were free to come and go as they pleased.

The factory finally learned that by applying a solid lower slide seal without the notches cut out and installing them with a less aggresive sweep angle that both goals were met, no more binding in the rollers and no more daylight under the seals.

I too had my notchless seal replaced earlier this year and am happy with it.

[rotaxman]

Wally,

Fiverdriver pretty well summed it up. I'm not sure the factory has learned that yet but I do know of a Elite that was delivered about last aug that still had the notched seal. Haven took the time to look at any of the 07's that they have on the lot to see if the dummies are still cutting notches. I'd almost bet they are still comming out cut.

Fiverdriver

I have to agree with you about it being a good improvement I like mine much more than with the notches cut in. I also changed the way they were installed on the ends which as far as I'm concerned is a much better setup than the all of the cutting and bending and screwing in all of the hard places to get to that the factory seal installation.

As always good camping

Jerry and Joyce

[rotaxman]

Hey All

Went by the dealer today and looked an 07 Elite Suite still has the kitchen side slide seal with nothces cut in them to clear the rollers. I guess DT is happy with cutting the seals on the new units and sending replacement seals out the parts department door to replace said seals.

As always good camping

Joyce and Jerry

[igotjam]

Got mine 2007 unit today. Seals are notched

[RodeWorthy]

Originally Posted by igotjam

Got mine 2007 unit today. Seals are notched

The seals are not notched nearly as much as in the past. I had a chat with Tom Peck and Dan at the factory a few weeks ago. They are adamant that the seals need to be notched and that they can not be altered to raise or lower them because it would interfere with proper sealing of the seal at the ends where they make an S turn. According to Tom the replacement seals sent out do not extend into this area. I have not seen the replacements so can't really comment on that.

I still don't like the idea of cutting notches in a perfectly good seal but I must admit the seal as it is installed now does not allow nearly so much opening as before, if any. Earlier installations had deeper notches that left a definite opening subjecting the trailer interior to drafts and an entry point for bugs and rodents. The situation may not be perfect but it has improved.

Rodeworthy

[rotaxman]

Hi Don

First off let me tell you about talking to Dan and Tom they both don't have a clue about anything to do with these seals. I had the same conversation with Dan a year ago and they just flat don't know what they are talking about. Dan was adamant with me about being in on the ground floor of designing this poor design.

When I had the dealer get my seal I was sent a long roll of seal material I have enough seal left to make another one when this one wears out. So all that bull about the replacement seal not extending out to the ends is just that a bunch of bull.

Also all that bull they are running about not being able to adjust the height of the seal to reduce the sweep is also just that BULL. I have mine with a butt seal straight up against the bottom of the slide and I did away with the poorly engineered s bend at the ends and I can say for a fact that my seal now is 100 percent better than it was when it left DT. As a matter of fact I had made up my mind if I couldn't resolve this poor design that the trailer was going I couldn't see paying 1700.00 dollars for the thermo pane windows and having wind, bugs, air and daylight coming in under my kitchen slide. Kinda defeated the purpose of the high dollar heavy windows. The roller/ slide design was a poor design from the get go my seal does not contact the rollers but just for over kill I made up some brackets that I pop riveted to the front of roller brackets which will keep the seal from ever coming in contact with the rollers no matter what.

I've said this before and I'll say it again now the slide should of ramped in the first place which would of been a much much better design. They don't have the engineering talent to do that.

Sorry for getting on the soapbox but I become aggrivated when I hear the kinda BS that those two lakeys run at DT. I know I'll get jumped on for this post but I'm telling it like it is.

Again sorry for the rant I'll try and do better

As always good camping

Joyce and Jerry

No, Just Jerry

[RodeWorthy]

Hey Jerry,
No need to hold back - tell us how you really feel!

I hear you on this one. I have fought the good battle on the seals and have got nowhere. I have resigned myself to fixing it myself if it becomes a problem. You have done a good job on yours and I am sorry if I stirred you up. Thanks for taking the time to explain what you did with yours. It seemed logical to me to prevent the seal from reaching the rollers with a guard rather than cutting it. Sounds like you achieved that with the brackets you made.

I am looking forward to seeing that fix someday when we can do some campin' together and relax a bit. I've always said there's not much I can't fix if I put my mind to it.

Rodeworthy

[rotaxman]

Don

I apologize again for the rant I try and not do that to often but sometimes I can't help myself. I need more self control I guess.

You didn't stir me up I did it myself. I just can't understand how these guys get in the positions they hold and don't have a good working knowledge of the product that they speak about. Every detail that those two told you was incorrect I just don't get it. They need to come out in the real world and see how us hands on guys take care of design defects.

Looking foward to meeting up with you one of these days this retirement just isn't too bad I'am adapting to it well.

Talk to ya later
As always good camping

Joyce and Jerry

[Diesel-Gypsy]

Minor "High-Jack" here...
In defense of Tom Peck.
Recently I purchased a used MS.
During my search for this unit I came accross another one as well.
Both of the units I looked at required information, and help from DT.
I had occasion to E-mail, and talk to Tom Peck at least 6 times.
He was always courtious, professional, and quick about getting me whatever info or service I requested.

I don't know from experience if he lacks certain technical expertise, but as far as a customer service representative goes he does his job very well.

I won't get into all the nuts & bolts of everything he did for me, but he did go way beyond what I had previously thought would have been the accepted limit.

OK...high-jack over....!

Oh, and my seals are notched but only very slightly, and I could not see light intrusion under the K-slide.

Rick

[rotaxman]

Rick

I have to agree with you about Tom Peck being a good PR person I spoke with him about my kitchen side slide seal. The Select Suites addressed that problem and I wanted to take my MS back to the factory and have them make it work like the Select. He was very plesant to speak to and did return my phone call in a timely manner. He turned me down on the fix but I expected that if they fixed mine they would have about another 1000 to fix.


As always good camping

Joyce and Jerry

[bstark]

I installed my "notchless" seal today and found the job to be cumbersome while scrunched up under the slideout but definitely a worthwhile project. I also added stainless plates in front of the rollers to keep the seal from being wiped into the rollers. I also left the ends of the old seals in place and installed the new seal straight across over the top of them and added 2 additional clamp pieces to secure the ends.

All in all the job went well and I have no daylight showing now.

[SuiteWheels]

Our notchless seal is still in the basement....for some reason dh doesn't want to start this project....has plugged the holes so no light gets through and he tells me no bugs will either....hummm, time will tell!