Leaking roof vent fan
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Forum Name: Podmods, Maintenance, Tips and Tricks
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URL: http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=11146
Printed Date: 28 Jun 2025 at 11:36pm
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Topic: Leaking roof vent fan
Posted By: Davidb
Subject: Leaking roof vent fan
Date Posted: 15 Feb 2018 at 1:17pm
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Another trip was cut short due to a leak in the roof of our 2018 180. The previous leak was the air conditioner hold down bolts were falling out on our first trip with the new trailer en route to Colorado from Louisiana and completely flooded parts of the interior while driving through some rain. We woke last Saturday up to the unmistakable sound of water dripping on the floor during rain on day one of our trip. It was dripping from the flange of the square roof vent, I was puzzled since I had installed a Maxair vent cover over the original vent for extra protection. We returned home immediately  and I looked into the problem on the roof and noticed two of the corners of the vent flange had small 1 1/2" gaps/splits in the sealant .I removed all of the sealant on the flange and the roof and also wanted to see if there was any additional sealant such as butyl tape under the flange for additional protection. The first thing I noticed was it was screwed down with small #6 screws along the four edges but not in the corners where they lifted causing the sealant to split open, the only sealant under the flange was a few spots of haphazardly squirts of the same sealant used to cover the screws and outer flange. (it was also squirted in areas of the roof and air conditioner cover) I cleaned all sealant from the roof and underneath the flange, carefully applied some butyl tape to the flange, set it on the opening and proceeded to screw it down with a #2 hand driver, most of the screws would just spin and not pull the flange /sealant down tightly which tells me the screws were originally installed with a power driver until they stripped the holes. I moved up to #10 stainless screws and added additional ones to the corner areas for a seal I feel confident will hold up even if I wouldn't have applied some sealant all around the flange and screws. You would think Forest River would train their employees to take a little more effort to do a better job on little details that cause annoying problems for the consumer. I would advise anyone purchasing a new trailer to have someone do a thorough check of the seal on all penetrations to the body of trailer before heading out across the country. ------------- David |
Replies:
Posted By: lostagain
Date Posted: 15 Feb 2018 at 4:26pm
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Did you ask about warranty repair? If you did, what was the response? ------------- Never leave footprints behind. Fred & Maria Kearney Sonoma 167RB Our Pod 172 2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost |
Posted By: mjlrpod
Date Posted: 15 Feb 2018 at 5:12pm
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That is a bummer dave. I had an issue with the outside shower enclosure lifting at the corners and splitting the sealant. I noticed it at the end of the summer, and I was putting it into storage with my dealer. He looked at it and said, we will take care of that, I don't like the way it looks. So lifting corners might be an occasional issue? I wouldn't mind as much, as long as I don't end up with a bunch of water damage. sealant is going to fail, lets face it. Considering how absolutely thin the outer shell is on these campers, I guess i'm surprised it's not more common. ------------- 2017.5 Rp-172 2020 R-pod 195 2015 Frontier sv 4.0L 6cyl I'll be rpodding |
Posted By: Davidb
Date Posted: 16 Feb 2018 at 7:01am
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My neighbor who observed me removing the caulk and vent was puzzled also and asked the same question, my response was Forest River has made it almost impossible for dealers to recover labor from warranty work, so they can only spend minimal time on repairs.(AKA quick fix) Thus they would probably have only been allowed to dab a few drops of sealant around the lifting ends and call it "fixed". I prefered to seek out the actual cause of the problem which was carelessness/laziness from the factory, (haphazard sealant application,small screws tightened improperly,missing screws, etc.) I'll now have a little piece of mind if I get caught (again) in a huge rainstorm 1200 miles from my dealer. I will also inspect the roof seals more frequently. ------------- David |
Posted By: Keith-N-Dar
Date Posted: 16 Feb 2018 at 7:52am
What are you basing this claim on? ------------- Keith-N-Dar Boris & Betty (Boston Terriers) 2011 R-Pod 177 2010 Ford F-150 |
Posted By: Davidb
Date Posted: 16 Feb 2018 at 8:59am
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I have no issues at all with my dealer, I simply find it very inconvenient to have to take time to drop off the trailer, wait several weeks, return and pick up trailer and possibly be disappointed if a failure pops up on the next trip. If it fails after my repair I can only get upset with myself and suck it up. Here is a link to the new warranty claim procedures imposed on the dealers. http://rvtravel.com/forest-rivers-new-policy-good-news-or-an-idiots-tale/ - http://rvtravel.com/forest-rivers-new-policy-good-news-or-an-idiots-tale/ ------------- David |
Posted By: Subzilla
Date Posted: 16 Feb 2018 at 10:05am
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Making me feel better about the extra money spent for an extended warranty with a third party company. But still hope I never have to use it. ------------- Mark Concord, NC 2017 RP 179 "Podzilla" 2011 Silverado 1500 4X4 |