Prevention and regular inspection are important aspects of owning a RV. Suggest to your customers that they put it on the calendar or set a reminder to regularly perform preventative inspection and maintenance so it stays preventative instead of becoming a repair.

If a leak or interior damage is found, your customer may have waited too long. Water intrusion can be especially problematic because interior damage may not become visible until after a seal has already failed.

But water isn’t the only indication of a sealing problem, Trim-Lok warns. If you start to notice dust, dirt, debris or a sudden increase in the number of insects and chipmunks in your camper (ideally that number is zero), that can indicate that the sealing barrier has been compromised.

Preventative maintenance should include both the rubber seal and the other components that allow it to perform correctly.

Inspection is on the calendar, but now what? What to inspect?

What Dealers Should Teach RV Owners

Dealers have a unique opportunity to make seal education part of both the delivery walk-through and the ongoing service relationship with customers.

Instead of simply telling owners to “check your seals,” RV dealers can go the extra step and show owners where and what to inspect, especially slideout and storage compartment seals, Trim-Lok suggests.

Educate buyers about what seals protect against, including moisture, dust, dirt, debris and pests, not just water leaks.

Teach owners to recognize issues, including what a properly functioning seal should look like, signs of wear or failure and when professional inspection is needed.

Emphasize preventative inspection with buyers. Owners shouldn’t wait for a leak or other obvious problem before paying attention to their seals.

Educating customers about preventable maintenance never hurts to encourage happier buyers and repeat customers. This is definitely not intended to substitute regular professional service and maintenance visits but can help extend the life of a unit, Trim-Lok notes.

What RV Owners Should Look For

Dealers should educate owners about visual inspection of seals and what that actually means. A simple reminder checklist with what to look for can help.

Warning signs owners can look for include:

• visible wear or damage, including cracks, tears or deterioration
• seals that are out of position or not making proper contact
• seals that stay flattened or don’t bounce back after compression, indicating compression set
• signs that the sealing barrier has been compromised
• deteriorated caulk or primary seals where applicable

For RV owners who may not know what compression set on an RV means, Trim-Lok says that dealers should educate them. (Compression set in RV seals is the permanent flattening or loss of thickness that rubber and foam seals experience after being compressed for a long time.)

When an RV slideout, compartment door or window is closed, the rubber gaskets are squeezed tightly to block out water, wind and bugs. Over time and with exposure to sunlight and heat, the rubber loses its elasticity, failing to bounce back as it once did when you open and shut a slideout or door.

This matters because a flattened seal pushes back with less pressure against the RV wall. Once that happens, gaps can form, allowing rain and road debris to leak inside. Beyond what it lets in, a degraded seal can reduce heating and cooling efficiency, Trim-Lok points out.

Common causes for compression set include prolonged compression, which can occur when leaving slideouts closed or open for months in storage; heat and sun exposure; and age and weathering.

A good preventative measure owners can take is to condition the RV seal rubber with a slideout rubber seal conditioner or UV-blocking protectant to keep the rubber flexible.

What Technicians Should Look For

If an RV has made it to the service bay with seal issues, technicians should evaluate the entire sealing system to determine why it failed before replacing the seal, as a new seal won’t necessarily solve a sealing problem.

During inspection, Trim-Lok suggests that technicians should look at overall seal condition, including the full perimeter of slideout and storage compartment seals, corners, transitions and areas where sealing components meet.

For technicians, it’s important to keep in mind that the seal itself may not be the problem. Damage, movement or misalignment of a wall, door, slideout or other surface can create gaps or change how the seal is compressed. Primary seals or caulk can also fail while the rubber seal remains in good condition.

The goal should be to identify the cause of the sealing problem before just replacing the seal. If the issue is alignment, improper compression, a damaged mating surface or a failed primary seal, installing a new rubber seal alone may not solve it.

55 Years of Seals Experience

When it comes to seals, Trim-Lok is a trusted provider of quality, engineered trims and seals since 1971, with decades of experience serving OEMs and manufacturers.

Trim-Lok’s sealing solutions include rubber seals, trim seals, slideout seals, wiper seals and custom extruded solutions for OEM applications, as well as replacement and maintenance needs.

The company takes an application-first approach, focusing on what the customer needs to accomplish and finding the right sealing solution for the application.