12-19-2018, 12:51 AM
I have Valid slides with no slide toppers.
Lately, I keep having issues with water coming in during rain. Each time, I have gone up and found a tiny stick or a leaf that gets caught across the slide seal, and it acts like a wick and sucks a ton of water inside the coach, atop the slide, where it then proceeds to run everywhere and make a huge mess.
When this first happened in the fall during the hurricane, on my #1 slide, I was able to bring the slide in and climb up inside the coach with my ladder and clean out all manner of small organic debris, dirt, and other crap and get the whole "channel" very clean.
But on some of my slides, the design of the cabinetry, trim, or other interior things makes it hard or impossible to access that channel. And, in all cases where I can reach anyway, I'm doing it half blind, on a ladder, with my head squished into the ceiling.
This time, I got on the slides outside, deflated the seals, held the rubber wiper up with one hand, and reached in with my other hand and/or a small tool and tried to clean the channels out from the outside (with the slides fully extended). On two of the slides, this seemed to work pretty well: I pulled out tons of tiny leaves, some hard seeds or berries, and other junk. On one slide, the clearance between the coach and the slide roof was too small for my fingers to fit. And on the #1 slide, well, I already cleaned that one from the interior before.
I'm curious: does anyone else find that they have to get up there and clean these things out every so often, just to avoid a flood during the next rainstorm? I can't find much mention of it as a regular thing, and there's certainly no easy way to do it (unless you're pulling the slide out for a major repair, like a new seal or wiper). It just seems like kind of a design flaw to me. Or maybe I'm just really unlucky with stuff getting trapped up there. Or maybe I just camp underneath too many trees!
Lately, I keep having issues with water coming in during rain. Each time, I have gone up and found a tiny stick or a leaf that gets caught across the slide seal, and it acts like a wick and sucks a ton of water inside the coach, atop the slide, where it then proceeds to run everywhere and make a huge mess.
When this first happened in the fall during the hurricane, on my #1 slide, I was able to bring the slide in and climb up inside the coach with my ladder and clean out all manner of small organic debris, dirt, and other crap and get the whole "channel" very clean.
But on some of my slides, the design of the cabinetry, trim, or other interior things makes it hard or impossible to access that channel. And, in all cases where I can reach anyway, I'm doing it half blind, on a ladder, with my head squished into the ceiling.
This time, I got on the slides outside, deflated the seals, held the rubber wiper up with one hand, and reached in with my other hand and/or a small tool and tried to clean the channels out from the outside (with the slides fully extended). On two of the slides, this seemed to work pretty well: I pulled out tons of tiny leaves, some hard seeds or berries, and other junk. On one slide, the clearance between the coach and the slide roof was too small for my fingers to fit. And on the #1 slide, well, I already cleaned that one from the interior before.
I'm curious: does anyone else find that they have to get up there and clean these things out every so often, just to avoid a flood during the next rainstorm? I can't find much mention of it as a regular thing, and there's certainly no easy way to do it (unless you're pulling the slide out for a major repair, like a new seal or wiper). It just seems like kind of a design flaw to me. Or maybe I'm just really unlucky with stuff getting trapped up there. Or maybe I just camp underneath too many trees!
2008 Newell #1234
Boulder, CO