R-pod Owners Forum : Seal / Leak Test http://www.rpod-owners.com/ This is an XML content feed of; R-pod Owners Forum : Warranty, Service and Recall Bulletins : Seal / Leak Test Copyright (c) 2006-2009 Web Wiz Forums - All Rights Reserved. Fri, 01 May 2026 09:21:54 +0000 Mon, 02 Apr 2018 16:13:35 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Web Wiz Forums 9.64 360 www.rpod-owners.com/RSS_post_feed.asp?TID=10764 R-pod Owners Forum http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_images/web_wiz_forums.png http://www.rpod-owners.com/ Seal / Leak Test : According to the warranty, you... http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=10764&PID=106747#106747 Author: Tibof
Subject: 10764
Posted: 02 Apr 2018 at 4:13pm

According to the warranty, you had better do this every 90 days!  Good luck.]]> Mon, 02 Apr 2018 16:13:35 +0000 http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=10764&PID=106747#106747 Seal / Leak Test : Years ago I worked for Uniflite... http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=10764&PID=100556#100556 Author: StephenH
Subject: 10764
Posted: 06 Oct 2017 at 9:11pm

Years ago I worked for Uniflite (bought out by Hatteras Yachts and then absorbed by ChrisCraft I think). We used to hook up a large blower to a plywood panel that was set in the doorway (filled the entire opening) and then use soapy water to check for leaks around the windows. Even if the R-Pod isn't airtight, the fan would provide enough pressure to check for leaks this way. It doesn't take much pressure. It just has to be greater than the pressure outside.
]]> Fri, 06 Oct 2017 21:11:36 +0000 http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=10764&PID=100556#100556 Seal / Leak Test : This summer I climbed up top to... http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=10764&PID=100543#100543 Author: WillG
Subject: 10764
Posted: 06 Oct 2017 at 12:15pm

This summer I climbed up top to inspect the seals and found that the caulking appeared to be in the process of "pulling away" from the fiberglass... seal beginning to fail, broken seal - whatever you want to call it. Basically it looks like if you ignored it the caulking could eventually fail. I removed and cleaned just beyond the areas that looked like they could fail and replaced the caulking with what one of the local trailer/rv shops recommended - Dicor Lap Sealant. I also touched up a couple of areas below that would likely not leak anyway but original caulk was applied "generously". It looks a lot better now.  The other area I did was the spoiler - I'd like to yank it off and just get rid if it. It is a very flexible black plastic as has been mentioned that may be slightly buckled where it is screwed in. What a terrible design idea....   So I resealed those as well since some of the gobs of caulk over the screws were barely hanging on or gone! Luckily no leaks yet - that I know of.

This is long winded but I have some time and dry weather and decided to do a bit more up top and the rear window before they failed since it is so prevalent.  After additional research I believe the better caulk to use is ProFlex RV flexible sealant.  
If I could specify exactly what I wanted in a trailer I'd get rid of the R-Pod. Also I asked about trailers that don't require seal maintenance and apparently they ALL need seal inspection and maintenance so I'll stick with the R-Pod-

While there the sales guy said the caulk is just the secondary seal on the outside and what actually keeps the water out is behind the trim - that makes sense to me. He stated the best way to check seals is to bring it in and have them run something like a compression test. They hook up a fan to the door and then check all the areas that are sealed, seams with soapy water and if it bubbles it needs to be re-caulked / sealed. $150 for this test.
He said check it yearly...    sounds like it might not be a bad way to go but it seems to me that R-Pods are not air tight & I don't see how that test can be that reliable. In addition like so many things it depends on the technician running the test.

Have any of you had this type of test done on your R-Pod as the yearly seal inspection?
Advice? 

I'd love to replace that flat rear window with a curved one that opens also.....


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