Is that black blood on that tarp???
No, that is where some of the roof sealant dripped onto the tarp. This one small compartment has had a pesky leak since we bought this motorhome. The dealer didn't do squat about a fix. A stop at the Winnebago factory, and we thought it might have been taken care of. Seems we didn't travel in driving rain with lots of standing water on the roads until our return home this last time. Yep, it was wet in there.
The dealer "adjusted the door latch." There was nothing wrong with the latch or the seal. Winnebago did a very pretty job with some caulking. Look at the photo above, and you can see the issue: that compartment is directly behind the rear dual wheels - at highway speeds, it is like putting a fire hose on that compartment. If there is even a teensy opening anywhere underneath, water will find its way in. I sealed every seam. Every attachment point. Every screw. Then, sealed that side of the compartment on the inside, as well.
The black roof sealant is like working with 3M 5200. Every boater knows what I mean: put one little dab of 5200 on a project, and soon you will have smeary white 5200 on your hands... and in your hair... and on your skin covered by your underwear (and jeans). How does that happen?
Fortunately, I was wearing rubber gloves. And my "boat fixing" long-sleeve shirt (works for RV, house, and bike projects, too). I pushed and smoothed the sealant carefully. Doesn't matter. Those big black blobs on the tarp are evidence that some of the sealant escaped from the underneath side of that compartment. They were relatively small drips that turned to huge blobs when I tried to wipe them up.
"What's that red thing in the first photo? Some kind of a paddle?" Thanks for asking. No, that is an LED light panel - great for projects like this; really lights up, and it is flexible. I started out by putting it in the compartment, shut the storage unit door, then crawled underneath to see if I could see light anywhere. Nope. That would be too easy. The light lit up the area on the bottom side of that compartment while I went after it with the black goop.
Next time we drive in the rain, we'll find out how I did.
No aliens were injured in the making of this post.
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