Rainwater leak under lower right front of refrigerator

[Quint]

I have a 1992 Roadtrek 210 Independent with a Norcold N300 Refrigerator. When there is heavy rain, there is water entering the coach near the bottom right corner of the refer and running down the baseboard. It is making the carpet wet on the baseboard under the refrigerator.

What should be sealed to prevent this from happening?

Does parking on a hill aggrevate this problem as it may channel the water into the refer compartment more than being parked level?

The refrigerator is empty, off and dry inside and I only noticed it today when it was raining heavily.

Thank you for any help.

 

[markopolo-ClassB]

I don't know much about your particular RT.............
Water can come in through the fridge vent though.
Was it also windy in addition to the heavy rain?

 

[Ron J. Moore]

Like Marko, I think the vent is the vulnerable area. You might think of fabricating a magnetic type cover - so when the rain comes it might not get in....if you still have water with it on - I be looking around the roof, but I'm leaning on the vent screen. Keep us posted. Ron

 

[Quint]

This is where rainwater can enter on my refrigerator grill. How can I seal around this gap. There is no gasket or seal, doesn't look there ever was one. Do you know what I could do to waterproof this gap between the grill door and the frame? Also, do you have a recommendation on what product to use to "re-caulk" around the frame? It looks like a black type sealant caulk now. Can I use a standard white exterior window caulk?

 

[markopolo-ClassB]

The caulk stuff that is black now is probably butyl rubber tape. It is like a sticky putty. When new it is grey but the exposed edge turns black from dirt & age.

To use it you would have to remove the vent frame and clean off the old stuff. Then you form a flat gasket with the butyl tape and reinstall the vent frame. Use something like a plastic putty knife to trim off any excess butyl tape that gets squeezed out after all the frame screws have been tightened.

Caulk can be hard to remove should you ever have to. An RV shop would be able to recommend a caulk that adheres to paint and bare metal and is not affect by the long term exposure to the sun. I'd go with the butyl rubber tape method myself.

The butyl rubber tape is wide so it might still be OK under the frame.

I can't see your lower vent that well in the photo.

Mine has a flexible clear plastic cover over the hinge. Water can't get under it. I wonder if you could do something like that? Or maybe closed cell weather strip that would compress and seal between the door and the frame. You would need to get the right thickness.

Mine:

 

[Quint]

Can anyone tell me how to remove the vent grill frame from the camper to redo the butyl tape? As you can see from the the photo it doesn't have any screws that hold it on. Is it just press fit into the cutout? Can I pry it off carefully or how?

 

[markopolo-ClassB]

Are there any screws under the access door?

 

[Quint]

On the inside edge of the frame it looks like small rivets but I don't think they would rivet this onto the frame. I'm not sure because the rivets are in the edges of the grill door too which seems to hold the grill door edge to the vent part.

 

[markopolo-ClassB]

I just realized that access door/vent/frame looks like a custom piece made by Roadtrek.
It matches the storage door below.
It does not look like a standard Norcold or Dometic lower fridge vent.

I don't know how to remove it

 

[Quint]

I figure I'll just try a neat line of clear polyurethane around the outside and inside edges of the grill and use white electrical tape in the gap. Hopefully this should keep the water out. I don't know how to take off the grill to butyl it.