Water Leaks

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Neville Anderson

Water Leaks

Post by Neville Anderson »

:( Bought a new Born Free in Mar/05 at Clermont FL. Returned in Dec. 05 for repair of heavy water leak - water in wall and floor behind driver's seat. Water damage to table console. In Feb/06 again found leak in apparently same area - again ret'd for repair. Apr/06 - leak reappeared.
Born Free's suggested solution is to return unit to Iowa (approx. 3,000 mi. R.T.)for repair - where defect was evidently not identified prior to shipping out. They advise they have no authorized repair places in FL.
Has anyone had this experience and were you able to get a good repair in FL? We are near Ocala. Would appreciate any info. Thanks. Neville Anderson
BOB& KATHY GELLER

Post by BOB& KATHY GELLER »

:cry: WE ARE SORRY TO HEAR OF YOUR WATER PROBLEMS AND UN-
FOTUNATELY CAN'T HELP WITH A REFERRAL, BUT TODAY WE GOT OUR 2005 RB BACK FROM A SHOP IN BIRMINGHAM,ALA FOR A VERY SIMILAR PROBLEM. YOU SHOULD REVIEW PREVIOUS POSTS ABOUT ONE MONTH AGO REGARDING STORAGE DOOR LEAKS. WE WERE TOLD THAT THE STORAGE DOORS ON A NUMBER OF 2005 COACHES WERE IN-
STALLED UPSIDE DOWN WHICH CAUSED POOLING AT THE HINGE AREA AND THUS WATER ENTRANCE. WE LITERALLY HAD TOWEL FULLS OF WATER IN THE COACH BEHIND THE DRIVERS SEAT AND UNDER THE
COUCH. A NEW GASKET AND REMOUNTING THE DOOR CURED THE PROBLEM. KIM AT BORNFREE WAS VERY HELPFUL WORKING WITH OUR
PEOPLE AND PROVIDING PARTS,eg GASKETS'CABINETS, FLOORING,AND COUCH MOUNTING BOARDS,ALL COVERED UNDER WARRANTY INCLUDING LABOR. GOOD LUCK
Trisha

Post by Trisha »

I have never inspected closely the doors on the compartments on any rigs.

How would I know if my doors are installed upside down (or insie out or whatever) or not? What should I look for?

Patricia
BOB& KATHY GELLER

Post by BOB& KATHY GELLER »

HINGES SHOULD BE AT TOP OF THE DOOR
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bcope01
Posts: 1290
Joined: Wed Dec 07, 2005 6:55 pm

Post by bcope01 »

BOB& KATHY GELLER wrote:HINGES SHOULD BE AT TOP OF THE DOOR
Hmmm!

I have a mix of hinges on top and hinges on bottom on my 2004 BFT.

The doors to the two outside side (under bed) storage compartments have the hinges on the BOTTOM, as do the doors for hot water heater and the propane access.

All other access doors that open horizonally (refrigerator, generator, and outside shower) have the hinges on the TOP.

Is this correct for this year and model? Does anyone with a BFT have their doors installed differently?

Thanks, Bill
PS. I haven't had any leaks, yet.
Barb & Bill
2004 Born Free 22' Built for Two (Sold)
no longer towing a 2008 Smart ForTwo

Escondido, CA
bill crommett

Post by bill crommett »

It appears that for 1004 the hinges on the BFT s were all on the bottom.
I have found no leaks as yet, and we have been in some huge rain storms.
Bill
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whemme
Posts: 2110
Joined: Mon Aug 15, 2005 8:05 pm

BF Door Hinges

Post by whemme »

I believe starting with year 2004 models, a different brand and type of outside access doors were beginning to be used and those new type doors were hinged at the bottom rather than at the top. All doors on my previous 1999 BF 24' RB and on my current 2002 BF 26' RSB are hinged at the top
Bill Hemme - Spencer, Iowa
E-mail: whemme@earthlink.net
2002 Born Free (Ford E-450 V10) 26' RSB
2016 VW Golf GTI - toad
BOB& KATHY GELLER

Post by BOB& KATHY GELLER »

WE WOULD LIKE TO APOLIGIZE FOR ANY CONFUSION OUR ATTEMPT TO HELP CAUSED. TRY TO FOLLOW THE FOLLOWING LITTLE ONE ACT PLAY.
CHARACTERS:BOB-TIRED DOC NEVER BUILT AN RV
GLEN-RV REPAIRMAN KIM- WE ALL KNOW KIM LEX-INSURANCE ADJUSTER
BOB'S RV GETS FLOODED BY WATER LEAK AND TAKES IT TO GLEN
BOB TALKS TO KIM WHO SAYS HAVE GLEN CALL ME
KIM AND GLEN WORK OUT PARTS NEEDED FOR DIAGNOSED SORAGE DOOR LEAK. KIM TELLS GLEN PARTS AND LABOR WILL BE COVERED BUT NOBODY TELLS BOB ABOUT LABOR COVERAGE. BOB
CALLSLEX,LEX SEES GLEN AND RV. LEX TELLS BOB NO NEED FOR INSURANCE BECAUSE BF WILL COVER LABOR AND PARTS BECAUSE DOOR INSTALLED UPSIDE DOWN. BOB CALLS KIM WHO SAYS THAT "YES A NUMBER OF STORAGE DOORS WERE INSTALLED UPSIDE DOWN ON SOME 2005 COACHS. BOB MAKES A CONCLUSION OF HIS OWN PROBABLY BECAUSE HE SPENT TOO MANY YEARS IN SCHOOL-THE CONCLUSION WAS THAT IF BOB'S HINGE IS WRONG AND HIS IS ONTHE BOTTOM THE CORRECT POSITION SHOULD BE ON THE TOP.DO ANY OF YOUWONDER WHY SOME OF US GET CONFUSED. I HOPE THIS LITTLE ONE ACT PLAY WILL CAUSE SOME OF YOU TO SMILE!
ronpurdum

water leaks.

Post by ronpurdum »

I have been fighting water leaks on the right side of my 2004 26RSB since new. The small upper window leaked. Recaulked etc. Finally had to remove the window and found who-ever made the cut-out for the window gouged the gel coat and water ran into the gouge and to the shelf below and then into the front overhead. That took months to figure out. . NOW I have a leak on the right side at the roll over bar. Found the joint between roof line and side of the coach had a 3/8 inch gap that was caulked over and over time split. Recaulked and still had a leak. Found a dime size hole in the same area behind the awning bracket that was just lightly cauked over. I am not impressed. Nor happy. Look closely at the caulking where the roof and sides come together. Any little crack or gap in the caulk will leak into the large gaps that the caulking covers up
Trisha

Post by Trisha »

How does one know whether or not there are cracks under calking? Pull the old calking off? If one does not have any leak problems over time, is it safe to say that they don't have these problems?

I hope your particular rig is an anomaly. I have never heard this before... I'm sorry....

trish
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Mike Jean Bandfield
Posts: 513
Joined: Sun Aug 14, 2005 3:43 pm

Water Leaks

Post by Mike Jean Bandfield »

A couple of concerns about body leaks:

We have not noticed any leaks around the storage compartment doors in our 2005 and the doors are mounted hinge down. I'm having a hard time figuring out just where the problem is. Is the problem that the hinges are on the bottom or the seal behind the frame is not making adequate contact? Does simply turning the door and frame 180 degrees fix the problem or is it the replacement of the seals between the door frame and outside wall that fixes the problem? The door frames around the doors on the 2005 are fastened with screws. I've looked at the seals around these doors and wondered if they shouldn't have a bead of Sikaflex around them.


We do have a leak in the roof somewhere that I haven't found yet. I suspect its around the fantasic fan or maybe a pooling situation developed around the TV antenna underneath the snow this past winter. Its dry now but screws in the light fixture and oak trim over the entry steps are rusting and the material around the area is stained. I was wondering if anyone has had a similar experience in the same area?

Mike
Mike & Jean
2005 26' RSS Diesel
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