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Bunks Leak
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8 Posts
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1
January 5, 2013 - 12:30 pm
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I keep reading about hybrid bunks leaking and causing water damage to campers.  Are there manufactures who know what they are doing?

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2545 Posts
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January 5, 2013 - 12:51 pm
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I don't have a Hybrid but I understand the issue was with older models, when they first came out.

Matt O 2006 Skyline Nomad 27' travel trailer.  Previously owned 1986 Coleman Columbia / 1992 Coleman Senecca / 1989 Born Free Class C RV.

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336 Posts
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3
January 5, 2013 - 5:15 pm
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The first hybrids that came out were not designed the way they are now.
Bunk doors didn't close right allowing water in.  Especially the front bunk when towing.
I haven't heard of any hybrids built in the last few years with any water issues (bunk related).

We bought our hybrid new in April.
A good rain came through and later in the day I went outside to show my brother our new hybrid..... With water on the floor.

Had nothing to do with being a hybrid.  A part in the furnace was broken allowing water to come in through the furnace exhaust. 

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255 Posts
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4
January 5, 2013 - 5:53 pm
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for the early hybrids, there were a number of growing pains, bunk leaks were just one of them.
for hybrids built since 2004, the bunk end designs are much better.

the big issue is quality control at the factories. it's not the design as much as it is poor installation.

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333 Posts
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January 6, 2013 - 1:06 am
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In our case, it was definitely poor installation.

On our 2011 Palomino HTT that we sold two months ago, I had some issues with my front bunk leaking at one point.  One day, I opened up the front bunk to find a small puddle sitting in the middle of the folds of the vinyl top.  Fortunately, it hadn't seeped through the vinyl top or run anywhere else, and no water got otherwise inside as far as I could tell.

The bunk doors on our unit had two seals, the outer seal was attached to the edge of the bunk door and mated up with the outermost edge of the door frame.  The seal is the black gasket runs around the outer edge of the door in the pic below.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-sGYnwJdDAGQ/TlKqEeNvPxI/AAAAAAAAAjE/sIEhOPz0s5U/s400/IMG_0480.JPG

The inner seal was attached to the door frame and contacted the the inner-most part of the metal on the door.  You can see the white gasket in the picture below.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-h2AJcgLg1UM/TlKqCnmoHBI/AAAAAAAAAio/VeejebCY7lo/s400/IMG_0475.JPG


It is supposed to mate up with the white metal part on the door that's facing up and right next to the faux wood.  Note that the pic of the door above is with the canvas almost entirely set up, with just the corner pulled back to take the picture, which is why you see so little of the seal and metal.

These pics are of the rear bunk, but all three bunk doors were essentially the same, just the front one was a slightly different size.  The observant among you may notice that in the second picture, there's a line across the top left by the outer seal where it contacts the door frame.  It runs right across the screws, which means the seal doesn't have good contact with door frame in those spots.  As I'm sure you can imagine that any water wanting to to get in is going to find those gaps.  I ultimately wound up installing a second row of seal tape just inside the first outer seal.  The second row would contact the door frame just inside the row of screws and get a good seal because it was mated up with flat metal.  Between the two rows, it kept the water out until we sold it.

I'm not certain the white inner seals actually made contact with the door like they were supposed to, otherwise, I shouldn't have found that puddle.  I was never able to confirm it, since it would have required disconnecting the tent material from the door to get my head in there while the door was closed, and I never had a reason to pursuer it further after installing the additional outer seal.

Our trailer had the lever style latches on the doors.
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-WiRNXP5AK-4/TlKqByboNyI/AAAAAAAAAiY/gHDmyFsP59U/s400/IMG_0472.JPG


I think those are the ones that are supposed to be better and the ones that are like a gigantic wingnut are supposed to be one of the styles with problems.

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352 Posts
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6
April 8, 2013 - 6:01 am
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We just bought a brand new Jayco 17z and we had a front bunk leak that caused some inside wood damage. It was a build defect not a design fault, they never tightened the top of the bunk assembly. Being new everything has been replaced by the dealer i bought it from.

Mike

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2 Posts
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April 9, 2013 - 8:51 am
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I have a Jayco 2010 17C and yes my bunkends did leak. The rear was the biggest problem and caused most of the damage. The biggest issue is make sure nothing is traped between the door and the seal. A small leaf will cause a big leak. In a way this was a blessing. jayco does not put peep holes in areas that need to be checked for water, like right below the front and rear bunkends. After taking out all the water damage I put in lift up panels in the rear and front. The rear bunk was always cold. We could never get enough heat back there without over heating the front of the camper. After removing the water damaged board (Fake Wood) that covered the rear bunkend I found the heater duct completely crushed. The sewer tube was not fastened or sealed, glade it was never used. In the front there is a lot of wasted space. The fiberglass bat was just thrown in there. I now do not close my bunkends with the bed cushions installed. This has helped in double checking to make sure the canvas is not pinched and the seal is tight. I haven't had a leak in either door since and the removable panels I put in the front and rear allow to use that wasted space for storage and to check for water leaks.

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666 Posts
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8
April 9, 2013 - 2:11 pm
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One of the nice things with the permanently attached tenting is that even if the outer seal is penetrated, the water will remain in the tenting till you open it.
The permanently attached tenting appeared in 2010 on the 2011 Passport and late 2011-2012 Jayco/Starcraft and some FR products around the 2012.5 year.
That seems to be the safest design currently.

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9
April 10, 2013 - 6:19 am
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Here is a link to another site which has had the latch mod dicussed a few times, this thread mentions the part numbers and has before and after pictures.

http://www.hybridexplorer.com/.....ic=77912.0

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