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After our extended snowbird trip down south I like to go over our Cougar fifth wheel trailer with a fine tooth comb looking for defects. This spring I discovered a small leaky seal in one corner of the slide out room. Luckily it hadn’t had a chance to progress too far. Still, though, it had weakened a small area of the floorboard.
I found the leak was caused by a small opening in the external silicone sealant. Silicone caulking will dry out over time leaving openings for water to penetrate. Water had seeped in over time and wetted the floor board making it a bit spongy. Given enough time I’m sure it would have rotted away completely and led to a structural failure of the slide room. Glad I caught it early!
To repair the problem, I first removed the external flange and scraped away the old silicone caulk using a plastic chisel, scotch pad, and my thumbnail. To help loosen up the old caulking, I use a product called “Goo Gone Caulk Remover.” With around a 1/2 hour of effort, I was able to get rid of pretty well all the old silicone. Extremely important as nothing will stick to silicone.
Next, I drove several 1 1/4 inch Teks Screws through the affected board area and into an aluminum beam above it. I made sure the screw was countersunk into the wood as not to catch when the slide is drawn in.
Finally, I reattached the flange and resealed it with a product called SikaFlex 290, a high-end marine grade sealant. I smoothed out the SikaFlex and made a smooth seam using a special caulking tool. The tool comes with multi-sized flexible trowls. Then cleaned up the overflow bits and let cure.
We are ready to purchase a Cougar, the 321, 36′ plus a few inches, I’ve read number of horror stories with leaks in the slides, however, Your maintenance on the slides after the trip is a great idea for my checklist. Do you have Slide covers? Have you had any other issues? The Race’s
[quote quote=51108]We are ready to purchase a Cougar, the 321, 36′ plus a few inches, I’ve read number of horror stories with leaks in the slides, however, Your maintenance on the slides after the trip is a great idea for my checklist. Do you have Slide covers? Have you had any other issues? The Race’s
[/quote]No, I don’t use a slide cover, where and when we go RVing there really isn’t much of a need for one. We don’t spend much time under trees or in really hot weather. So just extra stuff to maintain in my mind. 🙂 Also they are a pain in strong winds which we often have in the desert and on the coast.
I haven’t had any other issues. I usually make sure the gears and teeth are clear of dirt and debris then lube them with some Protect All dry lube. The wipe down and lube the round ram cylinder with silicone spray lube. Then with another Protect All product I treat the rubber wipers and seals. I also like to wax the black plastic material under the slide bottom just to help it slide a little easier. Anything to take stress off the motor is good. If the slide is out for a long period of time I add some baby powder on the inner seal to keep it from sticking.
Cheers, Ray
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