Water resistance of tenting

amabee · 05-30-2013, 04:13 PM

I continue to try and figure out what's wrong with the tents on our X17Z.

I do not ever remember having these issues with our Jay Series 1207 and this appears to be the exact same tent material.

Questions: Should the thread be dry on the inside?? I really don't remember how this was on our popup, but I just hit the side with a sprayer on a garden hose and water is definitely getting through the stitch holes, the thread is almost immediately "wet" on the inside.

The window flaps are also soaking through, shouldn't they be able to handle water from a garden hose? I know I cleaned our popup many times, I don't recall the inside of the tent ever getting wet.

Any thoughts? Has anyone had any issues like this? To me, this does not seem normal.

Thanks,

Allen

tlhdoc · 05-30-2013, 07:14 PM

Did you "season" the tenting on your camper? You should soak it 3 times, allowing it to dry in between. The tenting has a 5 year warranty. From Jayco's website "We also offer for camping trailers five-year (5) coverage on our tent with parts, labor, and freight covered the first two years; parts, factory labor, and return freight during years three, four, and five." If there is a problem with your tenting you are covered.

amabee · 05-30-2013, 07:30 PM

Problem is, we purchased it used, so we don't have warranty coverage. Was it properly "seasoned", I have no idea. If it wasn't done when it was new, is it to late, again I don't know, it certainly got wet this last weekend, was dried and it still leaks just as bad.

I am just trying to find out what is and what is not, normal. I am seriously thinking about replacing the tents, but their isn't much point if they all do this. I just don't recall having any issues with the 1207, I don't recall if the thread felt "damp" on the inside as I really had no need to check it, it didn't leak. All the bottom corners of the side windows get very wet, I can't believe this is what should happen.

ingie66 · 05-30-2013, 08:27 PM

Never had a leak yet in ours and it rained hard on us the past 2 trips out.

tlhdoc · 05-30-2013, 09:07 PM

It should not leak. Maybe the former owner use something to clean the bunkends and removed the waterproofing. The side windows are Sunbrella and to rewaterproof Sunbrella you should use 303's High Tech Fabric Guard. I would use that on the entire bunkend.

amabee · 05-31-2013, 01:48 AM

I've actually got some 303 coming, hopefully it will be here today, I still don't get why the thread holes are leaking though. Even if they didn't actually "season" it, you would think the first couple rains would have taken care of it. Worst cast scenario, I will replace the tents, I am not going to deal with this every time we go camping, kind of takes the fun out of it real quick.

It sounds like everyone is confirming what I had thought, these tents should be able to take some rain and not leak. I know our popup went through several serious thunderstorms and even with high wind thrown in, water did not get in. The good news, I guess, is aside from whatever the cost may be, the tents look really easy to replace.

amabee · 06-02-2013, 09:58 AM

Well, I spent several hours yesterday seam sealing every thread on these tents, to say the very least I am not too happy about it, I don't really think this should have to be done. I may as well go back to a tent.
This morning I sprayed all the side windows down with ScotchGard, I think the 303 would be better, but it won't be here in time and no one sells it locally. I also don't think water from a garden hose should cause the inside of these to become soaking wet in places.

I sure hope the new tents from Jayco work like they did on our popup, I should have been spending this weekend getting things ready to go for our week long vacation, not trying to keep water out of the tent ends. I don't know that I would ever buy a used unit again. I've also discovered several stains in the seam between the roof and the sides, this has happened before and nothing was done to correct it. Instead they traded it in and gave us their problem. Gues I should have looked closer before buying.

Maybe our recollection of our popup is wrong, but I don't remember anything on the inside of the tent ever getting wet and dripping water.

go wild · 06-03-2013, 09:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tlhdoc

It should not leak. Maybe the former owner use something to clean the bunkends and removed the waterproofing. The side windows are Sunbrella and to rewaterproof Sunbrella you should use 303's High Tech Fabric Guard. I would use that on the entire bunkend.

I thought Jayco used Duratek?

DocBrown · 06-03-2013, 01:53 PM

When we owned tents it was not uncommon to have to reseal the seams and re-waterproof the canvas annually. Our '93 Jayco 1208 had standard old style canvas on it and also had to be seam sealed every year. And like a tent you could not touch the side during a storm or water would just come right in.

That said, we had the DuraTek vinyl on our '03 Kiwi and of course on our X20E. We never experienced any leaks save for one small seam section on the rear bed on the Kiwi. We didn't even "season" the seams on the new trailer. We took it out the day ater it was delivered and we had a good storm on the 3rd night. No leaks.

One thing to keep in mind when testing leaks with a garden hose is not to spray directly on the sides. Aim up and let the water fall on the bunk like real rain. Even in the worst storms the side window canvas rarely gets much water on it.

amabee · 06-03-2013, 03:04 PM

Part of the problem is that I don't know the history of this camper, buying used does come with some risk. Both of our last two popups were bought brand new, no problems with leaks.
Why these are leaking is hard to say. I guess I had thought a camper that was newer than our 1207 would perform at least as well in the rain. It really didn't take much to get the side panels wet and have water coming in around the thread, it was literally a few seconds with a hose. I really should have tried to take some pics, but even with it just sprinkling, the side windows continued to get soaked, they just seem to have no ability left to repel water.

The tents are $360 a piece, plus shipping, so I'll have to think about this a little. I would like to think new tents would perform like those on our popup, but that's a lot of money if they don't.

I suppose its somewhat worth mentioning, as we were packing up a fellow camper pulled up with a 2013 X17Z, his experience in the same rain, not a drop of water leaked through.

cameronkarger · 06-13-2013, 08:30 PM

I had a similar problem with the stitching and a couple of worn spots on my popup's slide out tent vinyl canvas.
I used a product called: http://www.sunnysports.com/Prod/MCNSG.html
It worked awesome. I then treated all the stitched seams and some other worn areas where it appeared thinner from looking at the tents from the inside.
It drys clear and you couldn't even see it. I had zero seepage or moisture on the stitching or otherwise after using it. Good luck

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