vgstef wrote: Why does the jayco year 2007 have so many roof leak ?
Might not be leaks. Considering that a family of four releases 2 to 4 gallons of humidity a day, a few cups of water accumulated in an attic would be a piece of cake for the insidious process.
{soapbox on}
In full size homes, the worst ceiling/attic damage, up north in Bismarck, ND, occurred above sloped ceilings when vaulted ceilings became popular in the '70's. The first sloped ceilings were designed using 2x8, 2x10 timbers etc sealed with 1/2 inch ply for the roof, and drywall sheeting fastened right to the bottom of said timbers, with no vapor barrier, or venting. The humidity accumulation, and sunsequent soggy ceiling drywall, soon required all these ceilings to be re-engineered with provisions for venting. I improved some with vapor barrier paint, but the key is to vent, vent, vent.
If for some reason Jayco didn't take condensation seriously, the possibly non-vented cavity above the ceiling in a camper can collect huge amounts of water in a weeks time, under the right humidity conditions. My bet is that everybody has a hard time finding these mysterious "Jayco rain leaks" because they don't exist, Sure, folks reseal their roof, figuring they've "got 'er now". But the next time condensation conditions are just right, they will have an attic full of water again.
On the other hand, there can be such a thing as rain leaks too. They are just more uncommon in fairly new campers, because they are so simplistic to diagnose. Often a small real leak will be blamed for vast damage, but it is more likely a combination of very local leak damage and broad condensation at work again.
Notice in all these above posts, only a few even mention humidity and condensation. That is the faulty mindset of the general population, that water only usually occurs because of leaks. It is also the flawed mindset of RV manufacturers in general. Of course it is handy to blame all customers for damage by accusing them of insufficient caulking, but I think manufacturers really believe that. Therefore the real problem, lack of any vapor barrier, is never addressed.
{soapbox off}
Wes
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Do you have an Idea for a fix on RV's???
I'd love to Vent my properly w/o sucking in water driving down the road, all advice taken seriouslyeal
Repo
05 Tundra 4x4
1976' SIX PAC, cut to size and function.
$800 1977' Road Ranger, not yet road worthy (AUG '11')
I'd love to Vent my properly w/o sucking in water driving down the road, all advice taken seriouslyeal
Repo
Hi
If you go to the NUWA 5'er site and see how they create a 4 season camper you can see the roof vents in place to vent the roof cavity. This is one way to let the attic breath. http://www.nuwa.com/ You have to go to the construction video's to see them.
You can also see the mold that grows behind the vinyl insert. The screw heads rust and soon the screw can start wicking water into the camper. I caught mine just in time before big issues started. And I use to inspect and touch up any Dicor slit starting at least 4 times a year. Now I do not have to worry about it. The only down side I have found so far on the Eternabond is it seems to pick up black streaks faster. But they do wash off without any issues. I also Dicor'ed the exposed edge of micorsealent on the Eternabond. IT attracts less dirt that way. Picked that tip up off the EB web site.
Good luck all and hope this helps.
John
John & Cindy
2005 Ford F350 Super Duty, 4x4; 6.8L V10 with 4.10
CC, SB, Lariat & FX4 package
21,000 GCWR, 11,000 GVWR
Ford Tow Command
1,700# Reese HP hitch & HP Dual Cam
2 1/2" Towbeast Receiver
2004 Sunline Solaris T310SR
(I wish we were camping!)
vgstef wrote: Why does the jayco year 2007 have so many roof leak ?
Might not be leaks. Considering that a family of four releases 2 to 4 gallons of humidity a day, a few cups of water accumulated in an attic would be a piece of cake for the insidious process...
...It is also the flawed mindset of RV manufacturers in general. Of course it is handy to blame all customers for damage by accusing them of insufficient caulking, but I think manufacturers really believe that. Therefore the real problem, lack of any vapor barrier, is never addressed.
Wes
...
Do you have an Idea for a fix on RV's???
I'd love to Vent my properly w/o sucking in water driving down the road, all advice taken seriouslyeal
Repo
The handy link that John Barca provided does lead to some collaborating attic humidity testimony. A more direct video link is http://www.nuwa.com/videos/player/121/. Discussion of fiberglass insulation and attic venting starts about 50 seconds in.
In full size northern climate homes, both outside walls and ceiling have a vapor barrier on the warm side of the wall/ceiling, just under the wallboard. It is important that folks that remodel, not forget this barrier, by the way. The barrier resists dry water vapor from migrating through the cavity until it strikes a cool enough zone (called the Dew Point) to condense into wet water. Windows are cool enough that water condenses right away, but not wall and ceiling cavities until the vapor is halfway through or so.
Attics in full size homes are best served with power ventilator fans that not only have a thermostat to exchange hot attic air during hot summer days, but also have a humidistat to turn on venting during cold weather just to vent accumulated humidity during cold weather.
So herein lies the problem. Campers house the same size family in much smaller quarters, but the same humidity is given off by habitation. Campers usually don't have a dedicated vapor barrier (Ex: 6 mil polyethylene) in either the ceiling or walls, nor do they generally have attic venting. Vapor resistant exterior walls encased by Filon (polyester gel-coat) and a continuous rubber roofing membrane greatly resist vapor from migrating completely out of the cavity. Therefore the accumulation. The vapor barrier is inadvertently on the wrong side, the cold side... after dry vapor has turned into wet water.
A paint-on inside vapor barrier (special paints) would be less effective because of leaky jointed panels and a disruption of natural factory appearance. Adding attic venting may be a worthy endeavor but it is still a lot of trouble. Both would be best done during construction, but the problem is not fully recognized nor understood by RV manufacturers.
So there is only one reasonable choice and that is to watch humidity levels inside the camper and reduce, or prevent, them however possible. Open vents in the hatches. If possible, run a power dehumidifier to keep humidity well under 40% (20% is better). Remember, some condensation will always occur, but it can be minimised.
As a peculiar side note, it is quite possible that rust damage found on outside screws (especially those in upper, outer corners) is the result of inside humidity migrating up, to these coolest cavity areas (Dry water vapor is lighter than ordinary air, that is why condensed rain comes from above). During cool weather, the quick conduction of heat by metal fasteners causes them to be coolest of all, encouraging local condensation, and therefore wetting screw threads, from the inside out. Often fasteners will be shiny on exposed surfaces, but corroded on the portion sunk into, or touching, wood. This ongoing process can easily be mistaken for some sort of mysterious "wicking". Not that capillary action never occurs, but it is far less common than condensation. If this be the case, all the outside caulking in the world will not help under certain cool-weather conditions. The first step to success is recognizing the problem, whether it be a leak, or humidity.
Wes
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* This post was
edited 10/19/11 09:46pm by Wes Tausend *
Days spent camping are not subtracted from one's total.
- 2000 Excursion V-10 - 2004 Cougar Keystone M-294 RLS, 6140# tare
- Hensley Arrow - Champion 4000w/3500w gen
- Linda, Wes and Quincy the Standard Brown Poodle
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I have now been declined by Jayco twice about getting the roof repaired. I have been going around to different rv dealers and found out they are talking about how Jayco seems to be having alot a problems with the roofs rotting out, even when the caulking is intact and the roof membrane is good. I wonder if it has to do with a manufacture defect somewhere. So I have contacted the Better Business Bureau, Consumers org.,and govt health and safety in hopes something can come out of this so other people don't have to go thru hoops to get Jayco to be responsible for their defective matertial used.
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