Newell Gurus

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I've had a water leak in the roof of the slide 3 times since I've had the coach. Only a slow drip each time but wasn't able to see the top of the slide because of the awning toppers.
Last night we had a heavy rain and about 2am I woke to find water dripping on the sofa. We covered the sofa and cleaned up the mess. I dropped the front right side to keep the water away from the outside seam of the slide since I thought that was where the leak was. The next morning we pulled in the slide, unbolted the awning and while Tom & Clarke were holding the awning arms I ran out the slide. I climbed on top and inspected the roof and silicone seals. Couldn't find any obvious places where it had leaked.
On the top of the front slide there are aluminum panels where Newell had glued over some holes where the locking pins had punched through the roof when the computer went wacky. There is a hole at the front & rear where the panel doesn't cover. So I built up that area with 3m 5200 to level it out. It looked like the water could maybe seep through the seal since there was a depression there.
Tomorrow once the 5200 has cured we'll spray water on the top of the slide to see if there are any more leaks.
And yes we pulled the valence and have been cleaning the inside of the upholstered ceiling.
Update tomorrow.
Forest, mine also leaked in the same manner. I found out if we took the valence off and run the slide out the final step is it will lift the center of the slide, mine wasn't lifting. This left a small valley on the top just large enough for the warter to seep under the seal. The boys at Newell adjusted the metal that lifts the roof part. This is better but it needs just a little more.
Forest,

Do you have little beads of silicone perpendicular to the wall that seal creases in the corners of the seal? When the seal goes around the corners it creases leaving a pretty big gap. Conventional wisdom is to put beads of silicone to fill these creases. Trace along the corner on the slide and look for small beads of silicone. If you dont find any, then there may be the source of your leak. If you dont have them, you will probably want to do that. I am not sure of the material, but Newell used something that ended up looking like clear silicone caulk....but this was definitely not water based.

Also, If you do not have them...let me know and I will draw a diagram.

Cheers,
bill
I did the one hour silicone beads at all corners where the slide seal "wrinkles" are both in the in position and out position on both slides and have not had any leakage since.Just a small bead 1/4" or so where the crease will meet the metal...I thought I saw these on Forest's coach though, but good for everyone to do this to prevent any future issues.
Also, try to see if they are working as expected. Newell put mine on, and I still had leaks. A second try along with a test in the wash bay confirmed that the new one were working. In my case, I had to remove the slide bearing cover and could then see water running down the aluminum framing.

With all the trim pieces in a Newell, the water could be coming in from the corners and dripping down in the middle.
I do have the caulk pieces on the wrinkles. I can still see a little daylight so they may not be big enough but I'm not getting leaks there.
We determined the water is coming in at a point 18" forward of the middle piece that lifts the slide when extended (the middle piece does have some rust so there must have been a leak there). Can't see any dips in the slide top that could be allowing water. Thinking of maybe applying eternabond tape in that area to build it up a little. It does not leak when the slide is retracted.
Bob, my problem may be similar to yours. The long bar that lifts the slide may need to be adjusted since it may not be lifting enough. I can slide a plastic putty knife under the bladder and that area is slightly easier to slide the putty knife under.
Forest,
Sounds like you found it and need the bar adjusted at Camp Newell or Toms house....
This morning Tom and I took the bar off and brought it to the campground owners farmhouse and used their vise to adjust (bend) the metal piece. And took it back and forth about 5 times. We got it to lift the slide tighter but when the locking pins engage it pulls that piece back out enough for it to still leak. No JOY!
So we gave up, or at least will sleep on it for a while. So we'll have a 2 slide coach when the weather is nice and a 1 slide when it rains. Does that mean we have a 1-1/2 slide coach?
We'll plan to have the factory work on it when we head back. Thankfully it's something that won't keep us from travelling until we get it fixed.
This morning we had frost here in Madden, Alberta. Tomorrow we head to the Columbia Icefields and Jasper for a couple days.
Forest,
Does leaning the coach down on the drivers side not keep it from leaking?
Don't know yet Steve. But sometime I'll have to do that when a rain catches us unexpectedly.
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