I have a new Scamp that has outside water come through outside vents for refrigerator. Rain water appears to get blown into or splash up through the openings of the vents and accumulates on the board that supports the refrigerator controls. From there it runs in under the refrigerator onto the floor of the scamp. Anyone have this problem? Any solutions?
Thanks
We picked up our new Scamp last week and had the same problem. The water is not splashing up through the vents, it is coming in through the joint between the removable plastic vent panels and the housing that they fit into. It looks like they forgot to install the gasket material that makes this a waterproof joint.
Look in the brown envelope that has the refrigerator manual in it. If you are lucky you will find a roll of 1/4" foam weather stripping. It takes about 3 or 4 minutes to install.
TWO NEW SCAMPS WITH THE SAME PROBLEM ? The reports of poor quality control seem to be increasing.
I hope you both contacted Kent Eveland directly and you will report on the official resolution here.
I have the Scamp 16`. I also have water coming into the vents and finding its way to the floor inside camper in front of the fridge. I have the seal strip, but did know what it was for. They could have let you know about this. Instead, kept you in the dark, as a result i just do not know how many times this happened . I was parking on a board so the camper would be in a favorable tip. It helped but not much. At any rate thanks for letting me know what that seal was for. I will put it in forthright. I will follow up and let you know if it worked. Carl
Last week I picked up a new 16 Layout four with the larger (2410) fridge on the starboard side. Dave at Evelands told me that the intake vent was a newer design that they started using about a year ago because of reports of water intrusion. I have both driven through, and parked in, some pretty heavy rain already and so far the fridge compartment under the vent is still bone dry. The foam weather stripping is also in my bag with the instructions but I will wait to see if it is needed. I see no reference to it in the instillation instructions. The attached photos show (first) the vent from straight on, and from below. Of course one could easily shoot water through the vent with a garden hose (while washing the rig perhaps), so point your hose down when washing. The vent has the following on a label: 14” Vent Assembly, Rev. G, Dometic 1/05/15 and bar codes 3109350.011 and TK405438. We have about 10 inches of rain coming in the next few days so this will be a good further test.
Same as mine, it will leak, i would put that seal in before it does. Carl
Well Carl, you were right. I washed the trailer, and then it rained right after (ain't that always the way?).
After the rain stopped I found a good amount of water on the wood vent floor. But if it was caused by the rain, or my washing, I do not know.
I don't understand why there seems to be no mention of using the foam / seal anywhere in the installation instructions so I am curious if they think it is needed, or if maybe even it is intended for another purpose.
I noticed three channels on the bottom of the vent frame, and it looks to me like this could be a route for water to enter. So I added some foam in just these channels where it would block water, and I'll watch to see what happens. I would like to find the exact way that the leak is happening, and I can keep a close enough eye on it to prevent water damage while I do some trial and error research.
And I will call contact Dometic and see what they say.
I had some back and forth with Dometic Customer Service, some of which must have been with the most incompetent employee there, and for a time they ignored my inquiry.
I am a persistent type however and this morning I finally got this response that addressed the question at hand:
The weather stripping is provided in case it needs to be replaced. The weather stripping was provided by the manufacturer of the coach not Dometic. Dometic has no instructions for the use of the foam weather stripping. If the leak is around the frame of the vent, then it was not sealed properly. If water is coming in through the vent, this is possible with gusts of wind that push the rain sideways. We appreciate this opportunity to address your situation and hope all of your future travels are trouble free. Please do not hesitate to contact us at any time to order parts or for further assistance.
I still think that they channels on the bottom of the vent frame that I mentioned previously are the most likely route of water into the fridge area during normal conditions. Of course high winds, and upwardly directed water flow from your garden hose will always be able to breach the vent.
After 90 days of ownership, while keeping a close eye on this issue, I have found a little water on the plywood inside the lower vent on two occasions. Both cases involved a small amount of water that would have dried up, probably before even being noticed in the normal course of events, although the long term effect of repeated leaking still concerns me. One case might have occurred when I washed the trailer but the other was caused by rain and was after I had added a seal to the three bottom notches in the vent frame. I recognize that no vent of this type can be completely water proof as it has to allow the free passage of air and I do suspect that this vent is better at preventing water intrusion than other vents, but still not perfect. The following is the reply from Kent Eveland, President of the Scamp company, when I asked about this issue. I find his reply unusually candid and honest for a company representative.
I have talked to one or maybe two other people with that weird problem with the fridge vent bringing in water. It seems to run along the edge and then sneak in at the corner sometimes. It is ironic and strange as it only occurs rarely and is never consistent, at least on the one or two I have seen so far. The old vents were kind of notorious for leaking in certain windy or driving conditions, so we have gone to these and they have worked very well for the most part.
Probably you might want to try some seal in the corners of the vent where water can run along the edge and somehow seep in. Otherwise we can replace the vent if that doesn't work. We are not really sure what causes this issue to occur. When examining the vents it looks almost impossible to leak.
FYI: I found this on the internet: http://www.casitaclub.com/forums/topic/4292-refrigerator-vent-leak/
Posted 21 August 2005 - 10:57 AM
Just got through fabricating mini gutters made out of 1/4" channel aluminum mounted directly above the refrigerator vents. At the bottom of each assembly I beaded epoxy putty and further sealed with marine grade silicon. Shortly after the installation we had a good rain storm to test out the new system. This system stopped 100% of the leaking coming in through the vent edges & top section. I still have a small amount of water coming in above the vent. I think it might be migrating in from the porch light. More on this later.
Here are some pics of what I did.
Thanks for the update.. thats gives me some ideas. I have some left over gutter I might try.
I think the real problem is when traveling in rain (or parked in VERY windy rain), so please keep us posted on how well it works in those conditions.
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