Design Flaw??

[fiferjim]

We have a plastic door mat inside the hab door of Burstner van and sometimes when visiting the van in storage there is water under the mat, no where else, though there is a highish damp reading of 25% on the bottom of the hinge side wall and under the hab door where the wood has actually rotted. We have not witnessed any water penetration while using the van. You'll see from the photos that the inner black rubber seal is not tightly compressed to the frame on the hinge side as it is everywhere else. There's no visible light getting through but pressing the seal slightly with fingers easily produces a gap. Can't see any way to adjust the door. Could it be in times of heavy rain and wind, water is pushed in and on reaching the bottom is trapped and so spills over inside or something? Are all hab doors like this? Thanks for any input!

 

[Lucky]

Sorry in advance for taking advantage of your bad luck but this seems another example of the much vaunted build quality of 'premium' German m/hs

 

[Lucky]

.

 

[M-J]

Can the door be adjusted?

Are the seals fitted correctly?

 

[martin2603]

There should be adjusted on the hinges , Had a similar problem with a Hartel door with wind but no water
Current MH has a seitz door no problems

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[Pekepal]

We have a plastic door mat inside the hab door of Burstner van and sometimes when visiting the van in storage there is water under the mat, no where else, though there is a highish damp reading of 25% on the bottom of the hinge side wall and under the hab door where the wood has actually rotted. We have not witnessed any water penetration while using the van. You'll see from the photos that the inner black rubber seal is not tightly compressed to the frame on the hinge side as it is everywhere else. There's no visible light getting through but pressing the seal slightly with fingers easily produces a gap. Can't see any way to adjust the door. Could it be in times of heavy rain and wind, water is pushed in and on reaching the bottom is trapped and so spills over inside or something? Are all hab doors like this? Thanks for any input!

View attachment 432287View attachment 432288

we had the same problem last year and were racking our brains as we had not had any water in van before. Our door mat was almost floating and whenever we dried the step more water appeared. Fingers crossed we think and hope we solved the problem. The rubber seal on the right hand external side of the door has a join near the lower hinge. This had popped out of position and was acting like a funnel everytime it rained. Just pushed it back into place and we haven’t had any water in since. We do keep an eye on it, but so far so good.

 

[Campervan_man]

Close the door. Someone outside with a low pressure water hose.
Someone inside with a torch & floor carpet removed.
Start wetting/ dousing low down side to side and work up.
The leak should show itself inside the van.

 

[Boringfrog]

Yup, adjust the hinges.

 

[Pekepal]

Close the door. Someone outside with a low pressure water hose.
Someone inside with a torch & floor carpet removed.
Start wetting/ dousing low down side to side and work up.
The leak should show itself inside the van.

We tried all these things but was just simple pressure with finger popping rubber into place.

 

[Speve]

Are all hab doors like this? Thanks for any input!

That’s terrible on our Hymer the door seal is actually on the outer edge and fits snugly to the door it’s a double seal as you can see

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[Simon Meadwell]

Our Burstner seemed to have two settings for the door closure. Pull to to close the door or slam it shut if you wanted it to close properly without drafts etc.

 

[mike mcglynn]

We used to have an N+B Arto and I noticed that there was a seal on the door and also on the doorframe simple or what .

 

[DuxDeluxe]

We used to have an N+B Arto and I noticed that there was a seal on the door and also on the doorframe simple or what .

Double seal on mine as well. The door is so heavy that it sounds like a prison cell door slamming.

 

[fiferjim]

Can the door be adjusted?

Are the seals fitted correctly?

Thanks for reply. Cant see any means of adjustment and seal fitting round the door looks correct

 

[fiferjim]

Close the door. Someone outside with a low pressure water hose.
Someone inside with a torch & floor carpet removed.
Start wetting/ dousing low down side to side and work up.
The leak should show itself inside the van.

Yeah, I really need to do that but no water source at storage place unfortunately.

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[fiferjim]

There should be adjusted on the hinges , Had a similar problem with a Hartel door with wind but no water
Current MH has a seitz door no problems

I cant see any obvious means of adjustment and the door looks to be central in the opening. Do you know what the adjustment might look like? Ta

 

[fiferjim]

That’s terrible on our Hymer the door seal is actually on the outer edge and fits snugly to the door it’s a double seal as you can seeView attachment 432323View attachment 432324View attachment 432325

Looks super sealed!

 

[M-J]

Yeah, I really need to do that but no water source at storage place unfortunately.

One of those pump up garden sprayers would work just as well.

 

[fiferjim]

Our Burstner seemed to have two settings for the door closure. Pull to to close the door or slam it shut if you wanted it to close properly without drafts etc.

Yes, same with mine Simon.

 

[fiferjim]

One of those pump up garden sprayers would work just as well.

Now that's a good idea!! Cheers

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[Flook]

On reading the OP post set me thinking about seal closure testing technique when I was checking out fridge and oven door seals against leaking heat or cold. The following suggestion works for any type of seal, fridge, oven and even believe it or not Habitation door seals, not microwaves though (sorry).

Okay, with a sheet of new paper or similar cut or tear into approx half inch to inch wide, about 6 inches long. place the strip between seal and where you suspect it to be leaking and slightly tug it. if it is loose you should find it will pull through easily. Now to give you an idea of what it should feel like is, place the strip between seal and frame where you feel it grips more and tug, again not pull but tug.

Try both sizes to see what suites the situation, if the paper splits while tugging don't worry just cut another.

This way you will know if it leaks around certain areas, trait on your fridge door as a guide or even your oven door.

I hope this idea goes some way to assist you, it works, I done this for over 40years in the appliance trade, and is an excellent guide to seal testing.

Flook

 

[Podney]

We had a similar problem on the garage door of our van. Seals looked OK. Probably the originals,so 14 years old. Fitted new seals,no further problems.

 

[fiferjim]

On reading the OP post set me thinking about seal closure testing technique when I was checking out fridge and oven door seals against leaking heat or cold. The following suggestion works for any type of seal, fridge, oven and even believe it or not Habitation door seals, not microwaves though (sorry).

Okay, with a sheet of new paper or similar cut or tear into approx half inch to inch wide, about 6 inches long. place the strip between seal and where you suspect it to be leaking and slightly tug it. if it is loose you should find it will pull through easily. Now to give you an idea of what it should feel like is, place the strip between seal and frame where you feel it grips more and tug, again not pull but tug.

Try both sizes to see what suites the situation, if the paper splits while tugging don't worry just cut another.

This way you will know if it leaks around certain areas, trait on your fridge door as a guide or even your oven door.

I hope this idea goes some way to assist you, it works, I done this for over 40years in the appliance trade, and is an excellent guide to seal testing.

Flook

Thanks. I have seen that done on a fridge and though I haven't tried it on hab door yet, am quite sure that paper won't be gripped at any point down the length of the hinge side since the seal is not compressed to the frame as it is round the other 3 sides. Instead it's simply touching against the frame. Now perhaps that's not where water is getting in, but if it is I cant see any means of adjustment. Cheers for the reply!

 

[Flook]

Okay, what I thought but not put down was this, if the paper can easily slip between the door seal and frame, and be shown to slip between, then point out to the dealer whom you bought it from, and tell them that if you can slip a piece of paper between as you can demonstrate, then that shows you have a weakness there that can easily leak and you have water ingress. And ask them what they can do about it.

I bet they faff about saying all sorts of things, but these are trade excuses, they may try and build out the seal to grip better, but, if your door is a unified unit, it may have to be replaced.

So, if your vehicle is under any form of warranty/guarantee you may have a claim.

All the best

Flook

 

[fiferjim]

So, if your vehicle is under any form of warranty/guarantee you may have a claim.

I wish it was but long since expired unfortunately. Thank you for your input and I'll definitely give it the paper test anyway to test the efficiency of the seal.

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[Doobray]

I had the same issue it wasn't the Hab door it was under the step there is a plastic casing that had a hole in it, probably a stone. Sealed with silicone which sorted the problem

 

[Tomos]

I had a similar problem with an A class Burstner, the problem was resolved by fitting a small length of trough (rain deflector) above the door to divert rainwater away from the door seals.
Speve’s 2nd photograph of his door shows the ” rain deflector” or troughing above the habitation door.
I mentioned this to my Burstner dealer, that is, Chelston’s in Taunton, and they were able to resolve the problem, which is no longer a proble!

 

[fiferjim]

I had the same issue it wasn't the Hab door it was under the step there is a plastic casing that had a hole in it, probably a stone. Sealed with silicone which sorted the problem

I'll check that out, thanks.

 

[fiferjim]

I had a similar problem with an A class Burstner, the problem was resolved by fitting a small length of trough (rain deflector) above the door to divert rainwater away from the door seals.
Speve’s 2nd photograph of his door shows the ” rain deflector” or troughing above the habitation door.
I mentioned this to my Burstner dealer, that is, Chelston’s in Taunton, and they were able to resolve the problem, which is no longer a proble!

Worth a punt! I appreciate the heads up. Do you happen to know what the deflector is exactly or where to get it? Ta

 

[Tomos]

I don’t know what it’s called, but Chelston’s and Newport caravans are familiar with the item as they have fitted the “ rain deflector” to my Burstner A class.
In conversation with the dealer, I was of the opinion that they are aware of this scenario.
Have a go, it’s worked for me, twice!

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