Slide Awning as Bird Bath

[RUSSELL5000]

In the first year we owned the TT, we got up on the roof and swept all the leaves, pine needles, pine cones, sticks, etc., off of the roof of the slide before retracting the slide in. That was not so fun, especially when the roof was all slick with dew in the morning – the time we had to be on the roof in order to meet the required departure time.

So we had the dealer add an awning over the slide this spring. This had seemed to work well.

We used the air conditioner a great deal this past weekend because it was quite warm and very humid. I noticed the slide awning was quite “bowed” and sagging when we were packing up yesterday morning. A small lake flowed out when we retracted the slide. I went up on the roof and condensation water had been running across the roof and pooled on the slide awning (you can see a small stream in the picture).

Has this ruined the awning – it sags quite a bit, far more than others I observed in the campground.

Did I level the trailer improperly?

Is there some way to present the condensation running across the roof to that side?

[weekender]

You can try and level the trailer more nose high to try and get the runoff dircted towards the back of the trailer. If this does not work you culd make a "dam" of dicor sealant to redirect the flow of water, but this may not always work. Regardless of what I do my A/C runoff always comes off the front of the trailer.

It will not hurt your slide awnaing and that is pretty normal for them to collect water say after it rains. Some put beach balls and other things under the slide awnings in an attempt to fix this, but I don't worry about it.

Good luck.

[TCNashville]

The condensation from the A/C should be running off your roof into the gutter, then to a downspout. Is the gutter clogged? It happens easily. I have 2 slide covers and they do collect moisture from a heavy rain, not from the A/C.

[Fastalker64]

We have a brand new Whitehawk, and the very first time we went out, water (AC condensation) ran down the middle of the side of the trailer on the curb side, and then, on the next trip, onto the top of the slide-out on the other side. It appears that the gutters on this model are inadequate or poorly designed and we are going to return it to the dealer with a warranty repair/re-engineer request for this issue.

Our last TT (a Keystone) always ran the AC condensation down the gutters and downspouts, regardless of level-ness of the trailer.

[3'senough]

Originally Posted by TCNASHVILLE

The condensation from the A/C should be running off your roof into the gutter, then to a downspout. Is the gutter clogged? It happens easily. I have 2 slide covers and they do collect moisture from a heavy rain, not from the A/C.

Agree with this. Plus you should have 2 drip rails to get over before the awning.

[RUSSELL5000]

Thanks for the responses. I was at the trailer this evening; I assume the gutter is this very small metal channel along the edge of the trailer. I assume the function is the same as the gutters on my house. This gutter is about one-half inch wide; about 1/10th the width of my home gutter.

There was no debris in the gutter. I would think the gutter could handle the condensation stream from the AC unit.

[ninjahbob]

Check the rail again and make sure it is sealed properly to your TT. We had a small void in the seal and the water followed that opening down the side. If your rail are clean and no cracks the water should follow the rail to the front or the back.

[RUSSELL5000]

Thanks, ninjahbob. Will look at this weekend.