Water leak under the fridge
Water leak under the fridge
I was in Texas when the monsoon weather started a few weeks ago. I found a water leak from around the outside fridge access/vent. Too bad I didn't find it sooner.. Now I have mdf to fix. Here's where mine leaked from.. Check yours and put some silicon there to avoid what happened to me.
- Attachments
-
-
Re: Water leak under the fridge
Good reminder for folks. The lower fridge vents are problem areas (on any RV). They have to admit lots of air, the floor leading up to them has to be flush (but then that also means it's flush with the interior), then you drive 60 mph into driving rain, etc. etc. I've had/seen numerous other RV's and it's always been a problem area to some degree (some are better than others of course).
Although all that said, your issue is just the bedding of the surround, not really the venting function (which is what usually causes problems). On mine there was no leakage around the frame, but when I took it off (I took it off to improve the venting design), I did find that some of the plywood strips used to anchor the backs of the screws had come detached from the fiberglass. I re-bonded them with epoxy/clamps, and then re-bedded the frame.
I will beseech you (and others) not to use silicone! To put it bluntly, it sucks. For one thing, it doesn't bed things as well/long-lasting as other products. For two, it is very hard to physically remove.
But those wouldn't be so bad, except that you can virtually NEVER get the residue/contamination off the surface, and it will prevent anything else (anything, literally) from ever sticking. Even more silicone (ironically). Actually, you can remove it by removing the gelcoat, but that doesn't really count as removing it, in my book, since you are then taking away the whole surface. Since everything needs to be re-bedded (or possibly removed/repaired/replaced) at some point in time, eliminating the option is not good. Also, it's almost impossible to paint that surface (just mention silicone in an auto body shop
). Sometimes one may want to paint or re-paint... silicone residue makes this very very very difficult.
On plastics (for which you often can't use many compounds due to their plasticizer leaching behavior), I tend to use butyl. I have not seen any deterioration of plastic from this.
One more tip (which is normal in the boating world, but for some reason doesn't seem to have crossed over to RV world) is that when bedding something, the compound should go under the flange. There is no need to put it around the outside of the item, and actually it's somewhat detrimental as it collects dirt, and obscures being able to see the compound that's doing the actual job and whether or not it needs attention. I guess it's akin to putting medicinal cream around the edges of a band-aid, instead of underneath it. Just attracts dirt and looks sloppy.
Anyway, rant over (finally!), but for your later sake, and any next owner, I'd recommend not using silicone. And also putting any compound under the flange, not alongside it (which you may have done anyway, I can't tell from the photo). And I'm not meaning to rant at you, because hey, you are taking care of your rig.
Blue~Go
PS: Side note: Following what I saw another person do (I guess you could say "stealing an idea"
), I built a small diverter for the inside of that refrigerator vent grille (doesn't show from the outside). It lets air in, but drains water back out. I think it lets as much (or maybe even more) air go up the chimney area, although I'm not sure it gets as much air to the boiler area (or how much that matters). I don't use the absorption 'fridge, but it would be interesting to compare temp readings (infrared thermometer) on one that was in use with and without the diverter.
Although all that said, your issue is just the bedding of the surround, not really the venting function (which is what usually causes problems). On mine there was no leakage around the frame, but when I took it off (I took it off to improve the venting design), I did find that some of the plywood strips used to anchor the backs of the screws had come detached from the fiberglass. I re-bonded them with epoxy/clamps, and then re-bedded the frame.
I will beseech you (and others) not to use silicone! To put it bluntly, it sucks. For one thing, it doesn't bed things as well/long-lasting as other products. For two, it is very hard to physically remove.
But those wouldn't be so bad, except that you can virtually NEVER get the residue/contamination off the surface, and it will prevent anything else (anything, literally) from ever sticking. Even more silicone (ironically). Actually, you can remove it by removing the gelcoat, but that doesn't really count as removing it, in my book, since you are then taking away the whole surface. Since everything needs to be re-bedded (or possibly removed/repaired/replaced) at some point in time, eliminating the option is not good. Also, it's almost impossible to paint that surface (just mention silicone in an auto body shop
). Sometimes one may want to paint or re-paint... silicone residue makes this very very very difficult.On plastics (for which you often can't use many compounds due to their plasticizer leaching behavior), I tend to use butyl. I have not seen any deterioration of plastic from this.
One more tip (which is normal in the boating world, but for some reason doesn't seem to have crossed over to RV world) is that when bedding something, the compound should go under the flange. There is no need to put it around the outside of the item, and actually it's somewhat detrimental as it collects dirt, and obscures being able to see the compound that's doing the actual job and whether or not it needs attention. I guess it's akin to putting medicinal cream around the edges of a band-aid, instead of underneath it. Just attracts dirt and looks sloppy.
Anyway, rant over (finally!), but for your later sake, and any next owner, I'd recommend not using silicone. And also putting any compound under the flange, not alongside it (which you may have done anyway, I can't tell from the photo). And I'm not meaning to rant at you, because hey, you are taking care of your rig.
Blue~Go
PS: Side note: Following what I saw another person do (I guess you could say "stealing an idea"
), I built a small diverter for the inside of that refrigerator vent grille (doesn't show from the outside). It lets air in, but drains water back out. I think it lets as much (or maybe even more) air go up the chimney area, although I'm not sure it gets as much air to the boiler area (or how much that matters). I don't use the absorption 'fridge, but it would be interesting to compare temp readings (infrared thermometer) on one that was in use with and without the diverter.1999 Concourse