Roof Leak on My Aliner, Popup Camper. What to do !? 

Great !! There really isn't much difference and trailer manufacturer isn't very different from one to another. Except maybe an Airstream and a Newmar. I'm going to "reseal" my bubbles because there is a lot of obvious flex to those areas. And they add very little strength. I won't use Eternabond because if they crack or break, I want to be able to remove them easily and install a regular Home Depot Skylight ! Much stiffer and stronger !

@Chickenlips Excellent comment. Sometimes you just never know ! So you have to do your best attempt. Its the same at the dealership, they will try stuff and charge you and it may not work, but they still charge you again, and again. Its all trial and error, and its all because we love our campers and want to continue to go camping !! So its all about getting out and camping !! Everything else is just supportive !! LOL

Ya, I did mine after Dave Michaels did his, and his has a different window configuration. So I'm thinking its not a great idea for an old trailer. But really it might be more that water got in and softened the wood, which then allowed the springs to do the warping of the roof. In either case, The Gas Struts are far better, and more tunable. I'll be surprised if Aliner doesn't change to them sooner of later !

@@GoingNoWhereFast Started watching your channel quite a while back just to see where you were traveling. I'm originally from upstate NY and it was just like going home (live in AZ now). The more I watched, the more I got interested in the camper so I bought a used one, restored it and now I travel & boondock every chance I get. Your channel got me started and its one of the best things I've done for myself.

It seems to be happier !! 😊😊 I used to keep it in the garage during winter, but had to keep it down and outside at the temporary living place when we first moved down. I thiink thats when it really saw some infiltration as water sat on the roof !! And Ice, and Snow, and leaves, and dirt and yucky stuff. It was a very unhappy camper !!

@@GoingNoWhereFast Lol, a happy camper will definitely make you a happy camper too 😊

Thanks ! I have a ton of new music, but that particular tune seems to strike a cord of "happy" with me. Glad you like it too ! Thanks for the comment !

Just long enough to want them to last forever, and then they are gone ! Thanks for the comment ! Wish we could meet at a campsite someday !

@@GoingNoWhereFast -We did meet-I think around 2 or 3 yrs. ago. You had your drone at an AOC rally near Pittsburgh and filmed some of the a-frames. You were busy but I was fortunate enough to meet your Dakota and Caesar. Don't tell anyone, but I shed a few tears when you lost them.

@@brewjaz4529 I am still tearing up everytime I think of them. They were a team not easily replaced ! That rally was one a Did not stay at the rally, but came by to get some photos for Dave Michaels. That rally was a crowded one !! Any chance you'll be at Williamsburg?

@@GoingNoWhereFast I will be. I'm assuming you'll be there with Akela?

@@brewjaz4529 I will, but I won;t be staying at the campground. As before, it looked a bit too crowded for me, so I am staying about 20 minutes away, but plan on being there for the dinners and activities. Please stop me and say hi !! I'll look forward to seeing you, I'll even give you a free sticker !!

Thanks! Come back anytime! I'll see that you get the friends and family discount on popcorn. And good luck finding a deal. This is the time of year people thinking they want their garage back... LOL

Thanks ! I probably could have done a better job if I wet the spoon a little, or sprayed it with a little pam. But its not art, its a repair. LOL.

That is a true statement !! Thanks for the comment !

Thanks for the comment. Great information. I have no experience with Dormers, so I'm sure some will be glad you posted this. Thanks Again.

Just 3 weeks away now !!! Ya Whoo !! Thanks for the comment !

The Casita is a nice little trailer. But they all need attention and maintenance if you take them anywhere. Thanks for watching and for the comment !

That’s what I paid for my 2008 five years ago. So that’s a pretty good price. Just take a real good look at all the caulking and see if there’s different colors or if any of it is pulling away. That’s the first sign of leaks. Good luck have a good time. Come back often

I attempted to take it down to inspect for the window for the leak, but I determined that unless I wanted to completely rebuild it, I did not want to mess with it !! There is a YT Video about changing the strings and doing repairs that I watched a couple years ago. It made it look fairly easy to do if you just tie a new string to the old one and use it to follow through all the twists and turns. But I have never had any issues with mine. Even with the boys pushing it with their heads and paws, it works great.

As long as you leave it set up, I think you'll be mostly ok. I had to have mine down and closed up out in the open because I was staying at this temporary living apt. complex and they forced me to store it in a distant parking lot. If it had been set up it would likely have been vandalized and leaving it shut down and locked up left it with water sitting on the roof and snow and ice at certain times... It definitely did it no good. I think a lot of water must have seeped into the roof walls during that time. I wondered why they seemed about 30 lbs heavier when i finally moved it out of there. A Tarp would have helped !!

@@GoingNoWhereFast - I found water inside after the first rain. It's the seal at the top where the roof pieces meet.

The roof peices actually should seal out any water even if there is NO Seal Present. They over lap that much. The Foam Seal is really just to keep the roof from rubbing and wearing and clanging when you set it up. Make sure it isn't condensation ! I have met so many people who see water dripping along the top seam and think its a leak, when really its just the condensation dripping off. Wait for a warm dry day and then spray it with the hose. If its leaking up there, it will show really fast !

Hmm..I didn't know that. It was definitely a leak but must have been coming from somewhere else. Once I get some warm(ish) weather, I will try the hose test. Thanks.

I was thinking of using a heavy commercial wall paper or maybe a piece of vinyl flooring. The tough part is cutting it to match as it is so ragged. And I'm afraid it will show the edge through whatever I place over it. So for right now I'l leaving it until I am certain it does not leak anymore !

It is not recommended to use Daycor. The roof material is a different substance, and the Dicor will not adhere to it very well Aliner, and good Aliner repair people suggest GE silicone. 100% silicone, caulk, clear. And yes, clean as much of the other stuff off as you can And lay it on fairly thick. I prefer to lay tape around and then kind of push the caulk into the seams, and then pick up the tape right away because you don’t want it glued in with the silicone

There is no rotten wood. I'm not sure what you mean by the "block of wood". The spring sits in a cutout on the sidewall and the bottom part goes into the back wall. When they install them, they "Glue" them in with a generous amount of caulking. If they don't drill the original hole straight, you will never get them to sit straight. But that would not matter when the roof is down. It might cause some alignment issues when up, but that isn't the problem. Yes, you can "re-align" the spings with a piece of pipe, but that isn't really doing anything for you. Its just esthetics for the OCD crowd. I replaced my springs 2 years ago. The new ones are in the identical orientation as my original ones. But these are 3x as strong. So I believe they caused the 8inch piece of plywood between the aluminum edge and the window to bow up a bit. Like if you were walking on a piece of plywood between 2 chairs. It would flex. It could be the inner wood got wet and so weakened, or it could be just old age and stress. In either case The next video will show how I fixed it, at least for a while. By the way, taking a "set" crooked Spring and putting that pipe inside it and trying to turn it so it lines up with the other side will split your back wall framing 40% of the time. Been there, seen that ! Sometimes its serious, sometimes you can live with it.

Good For you. Yes, The bubble wondows can get incredibly small hairline cracks that are very hard to find. I put the pressure washer up close and on high power toi my bubbles and they seem to have withstood the test. No cracks or infiltration of water through them. I think a lot of people make the mistake of leaning on the bubbles, or setting something on them and that cracks them. Good Catch ! Thanks for the comment !

Its not so bad. For a 10 yr old camper that was purchased used and obviously had some work already done ot it and has been used pretty hard. Its just routine maintenance..LOL. thanks for the comment !

@@GoingNoWhereFast I have no idea how to do any of this stuff so i'm so grateful for your video.

I'm not sure what its called. I beleive it is just a sheet of plastic laminated with styrofoam. I watched them make these panels in the factory, Its a pretty cool process !

IF it is really on a slope that it may go, I lay down a 2x4 board that will stop the wheels, but most of the time I just direct it to go sideways, across the grade, so it has no slope to go down.. Then lay a 2x4 side of the wheels and spin it around in the direction I want it to point and the 2x4 will act like a chock. Even rolling at a pretty good clip the trailer won't jump a 2x4, at least not 13 or 14 inch wheels.

Leaks happen in all trailers, you just have to find them before they do a lot of damage. This is a Not so well built house in an earthquake daily!

@@GoingNoWhereFast hahah! Yes it is. Our passenger side roof lock latch popped off on our last washboard-road journey... still got to fix that. ☺️

They are built as well as any RV in the industry. There is no warrantee required on RVs, Trailers, Motorhomes like there is on cars. So all equipment seems to be less than perfect. But Aliners are built very tough for what they are, and they are a very lightweight 2 person mini trailer with one axle.

Going NoWhereFast thank you.

Ya, a lot of people do that, but its a lot harder to remove the tape and do another repair or make a change to the fan or vent once you use that stuff. It is eternal after all.. LOL. Thanks for the comment though, it does work for most people.

D LR f

No, in fact I didn't realize it until I had to do some work on it and I shoved it into my garage and realized it fit rather nicely, even with my car in there.

I have a very high tolerance for "Ugly", so I have not done anything with the bare wood I exposed when I dug into the leak. Sometime this fall I will probably just paint it white along with the rest of the ceiling as the entire roof/ceiling is pretty dirty from the black weather stripping rubbing as it get put up and down. Since that is where the water would go if thee is a leak, I'm thinking I like it being exposed.

My only problem is that removing the wallpaper left a coating of adhesive that is still sticky. Products like "Goo-Gone" will dissolve it, but it's a slow, tedious process. Oh well, it will give me something to do in my spare time...which, being retired, I have plenty of, .

Acetone will take it off pretty fast, but you have to make sure to remove the acetone and glue fast or it will just move to some other location and be a mess. Oven cleaner also works, and there is a "Paint and adhesive" remover I have used, but its a bit toxic, so wear the gloves and do it outside.

Yes, look very close and if you see any seperation or cracks, its time to recaulk.... very carefully !!

It happens. I'm pretty rough on the old trailer. She serves me well. Thanks for stopping by!

Its a very Small World, Glad to have you watching the channel. Hope you enjoy it ! Thanks for the comment !

Work to be completed properly, requires huffing ! :-)

Thats an Idea !! I think there is going to be a long research project trying to figure out how to make this look the best possible. I doubt anything will make it look like new, but something will work ! Thanks for the suggestion and comment !

I was thinking it was just scary ! You never know how much damage water can do when its hide behind walls and coverings. Thanks for the comment !

It wasn't long enough !! Cheap Walmart Caulking guns

My bubble windows have never leaked. I believe the water collecting under the window came from the separated caulking on the upper sky lights and fantastic fan. Though the caulking around the edge of the roof was also fairly dry and cracked. The bubble windows are installed pretty carefully with a lot of adhesive that is hard to believe would ever leak around the edges, but the windows are sometimes abused and do get cracks.

If you haven't seen my "Don't buy and Aliner..." video, its all tongue in cheek. I love it! I will be doing a "Buy it, Love it, Care for it" video this spring.... If you might wait....

@@GoingNoWhereFast I'm glad I watched this video. I was convinced that my leaks were coming from the bubble windows. Now I can see that the springs have been working the edge pieces of aluminum in and out enough to pull the caulking apart. The caulk was done well only a year ago. I'm curious if you were ever able to remedy your situation? Did you need to stiffen it up with aluminum angles, or did you find a flexible enough caulk that would withstand that much movement?

@@ghneely Aliner has started adding Angle iron on the inside under the springs to stiffen the roof from bending and causing the aluminum to warp and open up an area that encourages water intrusion. I added some on the outside, but it is not as effective. And its pretty ugly. Check out a new Aliner at a dealer..

Welcome

😭Lol!

Its a 2008, so over 10 years. And it has been used fairly hard. I have pulled it through some back roads and swamps I do not believe it was ever built to travel over or through !

depending on how well you care for it........ If it gets a lot of sun and temp extremes, You need to watch the caulking around the edges of Everything. When it becomes dry, cracked, or pulls away from the surface, scrap it off and replace it. NEVER put an weight on the roof panels. They are not for sitting on, or tie canoes of kayaks to. They are fairly flimsy, though will hold up to any thing the weather can throw at them. A lot of people will lie on them to wash of reach stuff, and it bends the panel and breaks the seal on the caulking.

You're welcome

All campers as they age if they aren't cared for will get leaks. There are tons and tons of RU-vid videos about leaking campers. A 10 year old Aliner which has been abused is no exception!! Don't believe that any camper will never leak!

Agreed, never caulk over old caulk, Never paint over old paint, Never put on new underwear over old. So why do you say sell it. It has many many more years to go.

Going NoWhereFast Did you remove the old caulk first? If you did, how did you do it?

Believe it or not, they have the same problems.

Dicor and Eternabond is just plain UGLY. It is usually used on roofs where it will never be seen except by someone climbing on the roof. But I don't want it on my side walls/roofs. It don't belong on a nice beautiful Aframe camper !! :-)

Makes sense, But Dicor wont leak for years to come. I hope that sealant you used toes not break apart from the travel vibrations. Just keep an i eye on it closely.

Well, we will see and will report, but SikaFlex is what is used throughout the auto industry to hold car and truck bodies together and leakfree, so hopefully it will work. Though this trailer may rock and roll more than most cars or trucks !!

Going NoWhereFast keep us posted.

Too big and ugly, and would never go where my Aliner goes !

Thanks for the comment.