Door hinge leak

[tonyj]

How frustrating. It's these little problems that can take years off your life trying to find a fix.

You could mount the hinge on the face of the door and flat on the door, or on the edge of the wall and the face of the door, but then you have that hinge and all the screws showing. You could change to another style hinge instead of the piano hinge.

Question--is the foam the grsy foam, or the black automotive foam? I've been struggling with the same type of problem on hatch seals on the kayak I just built. The gray foam compresses quite easily while the black seals better, but is harder to compress.

Miriam came close to the first idea I had. You could run a bead of silicone down each hinge face, smear with your finger to flatten out, place a long strip of wax paper on one of the beads and close the door. If you don't have any squeeze out that cures one side to the other, you will have a custom seal. But . . . you might also end up with a very small gap the thickness of the wax paper. And I'm not sure about the long term ability of the silicone adhering in that area.

I'm still leaning more toward a squishier (that's a technical term) foam strip.

[M B Hamilton]

Tim,

If you need to do the duct tape thing to keep your trailer dry while you work your way through this problem, use Gaffer's Tape instead. It's waterproof and uses a rubber based adhesive rather than the "nasty/sticky" on duct tape.

It doesn't leave residue when you peel it off, and it isn't as hard on the finish the way duct tape can be. It'll help you keep your pretty finish pretty.

Mark

[TPMcGinty]

Thanks for the help on the 1/8 inch foam weather stripping. I found it at home depot. I thought it would work but the doors still won't close with even as little as 1/8 inch in the hinges. I don't know what to do.

Is there a chance you could make your own thin gasket with some caulk?

That might be my only option. The question is how to get it to stick to only one side of the hinge.

[tonyj]

The question is how to get it to stick to only one side of the hinge.

A strip of wax paper, or maybe a strip of clear packing tape adhered to the opposite flange. You'll have to experiment. Some caulk and silicone stick to everything.

[TPMcGinty]

How frustrating. It's these little problems that can take years off your life trying to find a fix.

You could mount the hinge on the face of the door and flat on the door, or on the edge of the wall and the face of the door, but then you have that hinge and all the screws showing. You could change to another style hinge instead of the piano hinge.

Question--is the foam the grsy foam, or the black automotive foam? I've been struggling with the same type of problem on hatch seals on the kayak I just built. The gray foam compresses quite easily while the black seals better, but is harder to compress.

Miriam came close to the first idea I had. You could run a bead of silicone down each hinge face, smear with your finger to flatten out, place a long strip of wax paper on one of the beads and close the door. If you don't have any squeeze out that cures one side to the other, you will have a custom seal. But . . . you might also end up with a very small gap the thickness of the wax paper. And I'm not sure about the long term ability of the silicone adhering in that area.

I'm still leaning more toward a squishier (that's a technical term) foam strip.

Tony, I'm not using a plain piano hinge. I'm using Grant's "Custom Formed Offset Aluminum Piano Hinge". Also I have used the black and the gray foam seals and neither one have worked. I'm wondering if somehow sticking some rubber to one side of the hinge so when the door closes a seal is formed is possible. I don't know.

[TPMcGinty]

Tim,

If you need to do the duct tape thing to keep your trailer dry while you work your way through this problem, use Gaffer's Tape instead. It's waterproof and uses a rubber based adhesive rather than the "nasty/sticky" on duct tape.

It doesn't leave residue when you peel it off, and it isn't as hard on the finish the way duct tape can be. It'll help you keep your pretty finish pretty.

Mark

Mark, Thanks for the advice. I was worried about tape residue from duct tape. Where do I get Gaffer's Tape?

[Wolfgang92025]

Maybe automotive gasket cork or other gasket material, you can buy it in sheets, and some of it is real thin.

Wolfgang

[TPMcGinty]

The question is how to get it to stick to only one side of the hinge.

A strip of wax paper, or maybe a strip of clear packing tape adhered to the opposite flange. You'll have to experiment. Some caulk and silicone stick to everything.

Tony, I really appreciate the help. I'm supposed to go camping in it on Sunday and I work from 6pm to 6am on Wednesday thru Saturday nights, so I don't have lots of time to experiment. I just want to get the problem fixed before it's more of a problem than damp bedding.

[TPMcGinty]

Maybe automotive gasket cork or other gasket material, you can buy it in sheets, and some of it is real thin.

Wolfgang

Wolfgang, That might be an idea. I would have to figure out how to glue it to the hinge.

[M B Hamilton]

Tim,

If you need to do the duct tape thing to keep your trailer dry while you work your way through this problem, use Gaffer's Tape instead. It's waterproof and uses a rubber based adhesive rather than the "nasty/sticky" on duct tape.

It doesn't leave residue when you peel it off, and it isn't as hard on the finish the way duct tape can be. It'll help you keep your pretty finish pretty.

Mark

Mark, Thanks for the advice. I was worried about tape residue from duct tape. Where do I get Gaffer's Tape?

A good (as in big) hardware store should have it, but an industrial supply store is your best bet. If you have a friend involved in local theater production they would know about the nearest sources.

Mark

[Miriam C.]

I am thinking that hinge won't take a seal but if you have room perhaps you can put one just to the inside of the door but not on the hinge.

Also to stick nylon to the hinge you might be able to use caulk or epoxy will certainly work. Just keep it real thin.

One of the things I have on my door is a back stop. That is the piece of wood that stops the door from coming in. It allows me to put a seal on it and water keeps out.

[doug hodder]

I've done this and it seems to work really well. I have Grants offset door hinges, but should work with any type of continous hinge. I cut a piece of rip stop nylon about 1.5" wide full length of the hinge. Wipe down the hinge with something to remove any grease, like a denatured alcohol. Lay down 2 strips of double sticky tape, not high tech stuff, just on a typical tape dispenser, thin not the foam, down both sides of the hinge flange. With the door fully open and braced, just apply the rip stop nylon to both sides of the hinge and really burnish it down as you go. Close the door slowly and you should get a good fold in the center. I've had good luck with 4 trailers using this technique. Seal is tan colored. Others experience may vary. Doug

[TPMcGinty]

I've done this and it seems to work really well. I have Grants offset door hinges, but should work with any type of continous hinge. I cut a piece of rip stop nylon about 1.5" wide full length of the hinge. Wipe down the hinge with something to remove any grease, like a denatured alcohol. Lay down 2 strips of double sticky tape, not high tech stuff, just on a typical tape dispenser, thin not the foam, down both sides of the hinge flange. With the door fully open and braced, just apply the rip stop nylon to both sides of the hinge and really burnish it down as you go. Close the door slowly and you should get a good fold in the center. I've had good luck with 4 trailers using this technique. Seal is tan colored. Others experience may vary. Doug

Doug, Since both you and Auntie M are suggesting nylon it sounds like a good idea. Time to look for some thin double sided tape and some rip stop nylon. Where did you get yours?

[doug hodder]

I picked up the tape at the local office supply store...typical tape dispenser, black and yellow marked (permanent double sided tape) by 3M. You might have to call around to find the rip stop nylon. I had some extra from wings that I made for the first tear galley, but some of the larger fabric shops like a JoAnn might have it. Also a trashed tent/ rain flys etc... from a garage sale would work. I'd just send you some, but don't have any pieces long enough anymore from the last tear, had to reuse a piece and it's pretty funky.

Since you appear to have outer seals on your doors as do I, here's what I did on the bottom to minimize splash from the vehicle wheels throwing water up under the door lip. I made a small splash flange and glued it up on the interior side of the body. Only sticks up like 1/2". It acts like a deflector to stop any water from getting on the mattress, especially when under high speeds. My side walls are really sealed well with epoxy but all of it is in plywood. You can't feel it in the back of your legs if the mattress is up above the top of it.

On the way to Minden in 07 Gage, Sue and I had several hours of absolute downpour, high speed on the wipers and they wouldn't even touch the rain....only had 1 small patch that water had gotten in on.


Doug

[TPMcGinty]

I picked up the tape at the local office supply store...typical tape dispenser, black and yellow marked (permanent double sided tape) by 3M. You might have to call around to find the rip stop nylon. I had some extra from wings that I made for the first tear galley, but some of the larger fabric shops like a JoAnn might have it. Also a trashed tent/ rain flys etc... from a garage sale would work. I'd just send you some, but don't have any pieces long enough anymore from the last tear, had to reuse a piece and it's pretty funky.

Since you appear to have outer seals on your doors as do I, here's what I did on the bottom to minimize splash from the vehicle wheels throwing water up under the door lip. I made a small splash flange and glued it up on the interior side of the body. Only sticks up like 1/2". It acts like a deflector to stop any water from getting on the mattress, especially when under high speeds. My side walls are really sealed well with epoxy but all of it is in plywood. You can't feel it in the back of your legs if the mattress is up above the top of it.

On the way to Minden in 07 Gage, Sue and I had several hours of absolute downpour, high speed on the wipers and they wouldn't even touch the rain....only had 1 small patch that water had gotten in on.


Doug

Doug, Thanks for all the advice. A splash flange sounds like a good idea. Now I just have to figure out what to make it out of.