Under the slide

[Steamboat]

I have a reoccurring issue with leaking under the kitchen sink in our 2017 30.4 ACE. The drain from the sink has a lot of strain on it when the slide is retracted and has come apart several times. I need to reengineer how the drain runs from the sink to the grey tank. My question is, what is the piece of canvas that in the access opening under the slide? Is it supposed to cover the opening when the slide is open? It bunches up and binds some of the wires and hoses when the slide is powered closed. I’m seriously considering removing it. Thanks

[javelin]

Sounds like the drain lines can be a particular problem in many coaches where the drain is located on a slideout. I think the lower slide sweep is important to retain for keeping out dust, water and most small critters. Your coach is not very old so the sweep should still be in good condition if installed correctly. Do you have enough room/slack to lift and support the hoses etc up off the floor away from the sweep action taking place? Sometimes just getting access to make changes is the worst part. Attaching some other folks/coaches having leaks caused from flexing drain hoses in kitchen slides. Someone suggested using flexible pool hose as an alternative flex drain hose. Good luck. Hope my link works.


Kitchen sink flexible drain hose replacement - iRV2 Forums

[Steamboat]

Javelin: Thanks for the reply and the link. I can access the hose and tank connections by removing the storage area floor under the sink and lifting it up. The stiff hose and the fitting going into the grey tank are very accessible. After looking at the link and what others have to work with, I’m more fortunate than most. The elbow that connects to the straight pipe going into the grey tank was just barely connected. Glue was the only thing holding it there. It won’t go on any more due to a support bracket that is in the way, of course it came off when the slide was retracted. I can’t get any more drop in the spa hose because it has to lay under a support for the sink floor. Using swimming pool tubing looks very promising. I called Thor and asked the rep if he knew what the canvas was supposed to do. He had no idea what I was talking about and asked for some pictures.

[javelin]

Wow you do have easier access compared to some other coaches. I was wondering (usually that’s dangerous) as a back up option (if other hose types are still causing you problems), if using reducer adapters at the end point stock pipes and a smaller diameter hose in between to match the reducers, might allow even more flexible retraction of your slide and put much less strain on the end point stock piping/joints. Might also allow the smaller diameter hose to be lifted off the floor and strategically fastened up out of the sweep interference zone? Of course you don’t want to go too small in pipe size or you would have a very slow drain.
I assumed the sweep material you mentioned might just be a current install material for your coach year.....but maybe they gave you a stand in solution that is not normal factory. I am not sure what my older ACE has for its slide sweeps, but I don’t think they are canvas (can't recall). I think they were more like a large flexible flat rubber mouldings.

[TomAndLindaRogers]

We have a Hurricane 29M which, I believe, has similar sink to gray tank plumbing. In our coach, the elbow above the gray tank swivels (turns) as the slide moves in or out. The bag is supposed to help close the rectangular opening the gas, electric and plumbing lines run though as the slide moves. We could not keep the bag from snagging and binding up as the slide moves. So, I have removed the bag and wrapped the gas, electric and plumbing lines to protect them as the slide moves. I fill the opening left by removing the bag with styrofoam held in place with Velcro when the slide is open. The first photo is looking down from inside with the slide open. You can see the black swiveling elbow in the lower left and the foil covered styrofoam we use to fill the opening in the upper center. The second photo shows the opening when the slide is closed. The third photo was taken out side looking up at the bottom of the slide. It shows some of the damage done by the bag. I have to put the styrofoam in place when I open the slide and remove it before I close it but the slide operates much smoother now that the bag is gone. Plus the styrofoam seals the opening much better than the bag did.

[Steamboat]

Tom: The bag has torn those flat rubber seals on mine as well. I’ve had to reattach them a couple of times. The canvas bag on mine seems to be oversized and that’s why it bunches up when operating the slide. I assume you install your styrofoam insert through the outside access. The elbow attached to the grey tank inlet was glued and didn’t swivel. All the flexing was done by the hose from the kitchen drain. I’m considering installing a smaller pipe from the elbow that will fit down into the tank inlet and let that swivel. Attached is not so great picture of the bag hanging down under the slide.

[Steamboat]

Another of the bag under the sink

[TomAndLindaRogers]

Originally Posted by Steamboat

Tom: The bag has torn those flat rubber seals on mine as well. I’ve had to reattach them a couple of times. The canvas bag on mine seems to be oversized and that’s why it bunches up when operating the slide. I assume you install your styrofoam insert through the outside access. The elbow attached to the grey tank inlet was glued and didn’t swivel. All the flexing was done by the hose from the kitchen drain. I’m considering installing a smaller pipe from the elbow that will fit down into the tank inlet and let that swivel. Attached is not so great picture of the bag hanging down under the slide. Attachment 17069

I agree the bag is too big but that is just part of the problem. The flat rubber seals almost always hung up and didn’t seal properly, especially in cool weather. After opening the slide I had to check them and usually I had to close the gaps manually. After replacing seals twice under warranty I told my dealer that, as long as I was physically closing the gaps anyway, I was removing the flat rubber seals and the bag and filling the opening with styrofoam. The styrofoam is attached to the bottom of the slide with Velcro. Removing the styrofoam before closing the slide is now part of our pre-trip checklist.

The swiveling elbow is going to require maintenance so you’re drain pipe fix may be better in the long run.

[Steamboat]

That looks like that’s the way to go. The orange ribbon is a good idea. Looks like I have a weekend project. Thanks for passing along the pictures.

[Fish and Dear]

Originally Posted by Steamboat

That looks like that’s the way to go. The orange ribbon is a good idea. Looks like I have a weekend project. Thanks for passing along the pictures.

Our 29M is in the shop right now having that seal replaced. Something got caught in there, bad tore, caught the seal and tore off one side. I might do this Styrofoam fix.

[Chuck and Mary Ann]

Originally Posted by TomAndLindaRogers

I agree the bag is too big but that is just part of the problem. The flat rubber seals almost always hung up and didn’t seal properly, especially in cool weather. After opening the slide I had to check them and usually I had to close the gaps manually. After replacing seals twice under warranty I told my dealer that, as long as I was physically closing the gaps anyway, I was removing the flat rubber seals and the bag and filling the opening with styrofoam. The styrofoam is attached to the bottom of the slide with Velcro. Removing the styrofoam before closing the slide is now part of our pre-trip checklist.

The swiveling elbow is going to require maintenance so you’re drain pipe fix may be better in the long run.

Great idea, thanks for the information and telling me what was up there. I was trying to figure it out and found the bag when I took of a panel in the bedroom closet to add a light to the washer/dryer area (wife didn't like it after asking for it, so took it back out) saw the nylon bag with hose and electric in it (as well as seeing outside) and wondered what it was for - went outside under the slide and found the seals damaged and not sealing to well. will have to look into the styrofoam solution. I'll bet if you for get it, the pipes will be severely damaged when you pull the slide in. Good idea on the orange armed tag.

[Doug Roberts]

Lots of good info here. Thanks everyone! Before I discovered this forum I did the same fix, removed the ridiculously oversized bag, wrapped all hoses, and cut a styrofoam piece to fit in place when the slide is open. It works great.

I did all this after I had taken the RV in to dealer to replace a bad water pump. While they were checking the new pump they discovered the drainage hose had come off. They said they put it back on and fixed everything. Me being me I had to inspect the repair and I discovered that it had came back off after opening the slide one time, glad I checked it!! After a few hours of messing with it I’m confident I won’t have any more issues with it.

Thanks and happy RVing

[Bob Denman]

Welcome to the Forum, and nice catch!

[TomAndLindaRogers]

Welcome to the forum Doug.

I would like to follow up on the concern of damaging the gas, electrical and water lines if you forget to pull the styrofoam covers off before closing the slide. When I was pondering what material to use to close the opening, my wife suggested styrofoam because it would break before damaging the coach. I was skeptical about that. I was convinced it couldn’t damage any thing inside the motor home. But I was concerned that wedged between the MH floor frame and the slide trim, it could damage the slide trim before it crumbled.

Well, I am happy to report that my wife was right. The fateful day came last summer when, after an interruption while preparing to leave, l closed the slide with the styrofoam in place. I first noticed the slide motors straining and then a pop. Linda was right, the styrofoam had broken without any damage to the MH. The only damage was to the styrofoam and my pride.

Tom

[halfprice]

Glad I found this thread.

Ive been having problems with my slide binding. The outside rubber seal has ripped causing the center part to hang down. I cut it off. THe bag seems to catch on the wires and pipes. I haven't had time to work on it at all in the past couple of months. But was thinking about removing the bag.

After seeing this thread Ill definitely remove it

I know the bag is screwed down inside the slide. From the pics it looks like the screws can be accessed from under the sink. Yes! No!

Is it easier to remove the screws or just cut the bag off??


Thanks for bringing this thread back to life. Hopefully its my fix to the binding problem.


Jerry

[Doug Roberts]

Half my bag was already ripped but it still had screws holding some of it in place. With the slide out and from outside I removed the remaking screws and cut the bag as close to the inside as I could. I made sure what was left (which wasn’t much) didn’t interfere with anything while the slide moved.

You can access the bag under the sink to remove screws but there’s a lot of stuff in the way and it didn’t look easy. My rubber seals were still in good shape so after I removed the bag from the outside Input the rubber seals back in place.

Good luck!

[halfprice]

Finally got around to cutting that bag off. Started under the slide then moved inside. Much easier to get to than I thought it would be

I didn't have anything to wrap the wire and hoses with so for now I left it alone

S.I.L move the slide in and out while I watched everything move. Nothing hanging up so for now its good. When I hit home depot up ill look for some insulation to wrap them.

Cut 2 pieces of Styrofoam, 1 for back up, and its all covered.

Thanks all

Jerry

[halfprice]

Forgot my pics