Caulk

[igotjam]

After 2 days of rainy weather, I opened the trailer to find water coming out of the light fixtures, fan and seam in the soft ceiling. Against my better judgement I called the dealer to schedule an appointment but he can't get me in untill end of next week and significant rainfall is scheduled again Monday. I went up on the roof and the only thing I can figure is the side to side seam above the door/fridge area. My local RV store (not my dealer) suggested recaulking so I bought a tube. Looks east enough as it self levels. I'm thinking of taking off as much of the factory caulk as I can and putting on this new stuff.
Any tricks or things I should be aware of as an RV newbie? If you think I should wait for the dealer how about covering the seam with duct tape?? All suggestions appreciated.
Water is not in bedroom, just from the ceiling from the door back to the rear of the coach.

[shergry]

Welcome to RV-ing . Our leak was on the refridge slide, it ran all the way down from corner of slide to the wall of the hutch around the stove...caulk is an rvers best friend. Look for a teeny tiny cut or pin prick, our was a tiny cut that DT tried to patch. Take into consideration that H2O takes the path of least resistance. Check all caulking seams, could be on one side and run to the other. Caulk outside all seams around i.e. a/c, vent caps, antenna, etc.
Really sorry to hear about your experience...we all feel for you. Make sure when you get to dealer/factory that they replace any insulation, etc. that got wet.
We also had a basement leak and had the dealer replace all insulation that was wet. You do not want any mold growing in walls, etc. Keep us updated we really are sorry this happened.

[DebDav]

Also be aware:

Doubletree has a 12 month warranty on 5th wheel trailers. The small print in the warranty states something to the effect that:

Caulking and seams are only warranted for 90 days. The owner must maintain the integrity of the caulk with periodic maintenance.

A friend with a 2 year old TKS had a leak and had to repair the problem and fix the damage himself.

[Motor31]

If you are going to caulk on the roof you need to have a type that is compatible with the style of roof you have. Some caulks are not rated for use with an EPDM membrane style roof. I used a DAP self leveling caulk that was specifically made to work wit the roof membrane.

Make sure you look and see if the flapper style weather seals are laying flat against the surface they are supposed to seal against. Mine were cut a bit short by the factory in a couple areas. Also look to make sure they overlap properly to route water around and past the joints of the slide and wall areas.

Check the seams of the slides for small cracks and gaps in caulk. There seemed to be a shortage of caulk when my rig was made. The bead wasn't large enough to cover the gap in several areas including around the fan openings. Also look for broken screws in the edges of the cap mounting points. DT had a problem with using either a screw not rated for the load or in over torqueing in instalation and then not replacing the broken screws.

Don't forget to look at the sliding seal on windows where the opening pane of glass is sealed. On ours one of them wasn't installed properly and allowed water to flow right past into the frame and wall of the rig. If it's not seated properly it won't seal.

I've chased leaks in our rig from the first month of owning it and had to simply do it myself to get it done right.