Ultra Sonic Water Detector

[Ron J. Moore]

I read a Post on FB from a RT owner who had a leak in the roof area. She went to the glass folks - they said it wasn't in the windshield. She then went to her Chevy Dealer, who used a Ultra Sonic Water Detector to find the leak and seal it. You folks know all about the technical things, their operation and parameters - if this was used by a Chevy Dealer successfully, why don't RV Dealers and others employ it in their businesses? I did a Google and see pictures, but not sure if that is the type that would be used. Thanks, could help a lot of folks downstream. Ron

[<<B-Guy>>]

We had minor - but chronic - water leaks with the last trailer we owned (Airstream Classic 30) that I tried and tried to resolve over the years but never could.

I recaulked everything I could think of over the years but it persisted. That trailer had inne and outer aluminum skins and once the water got between the two, the route that it had taken from leak source to eventually appearing at floor level and wetting the wooden floor (AS still use wooden floors!) was far from obvious to figure out!

Had I kept that trailer, I suppose my next step would have been to take it to one of teh RV dealers that has the Sealtech setup whereby they use air pressure to put a slight positive
air pressure inside the unit, then spray some sort of soapy solution over the entire exterior looking for bubbles.

I was wondering just the other day if infra red photography would have been of any assistance at all? Don't know much about it.

Perhaps not, as I suppose you'd need a significant running leak to create enough of a temp. differential on any surface to reveal the route of the leak! Just an idle thought!

Brian.


PS - incidentally, years ago when I worked for CN Rail, I was involved in messing around with an ultrasonic leak detector for pinpointing high pressure air leaks. Seems the air leaks generate a lot of ultrasonic noise that - by definition - cannot be heard by ear but could easily be located in noisy areas with such a device. Not sure how that would work for liquid leaks, especially where no real pressure is involved.

[Ron J. Moore]

With the leaks that have developed in the RT 170/190 & 210, I would think this would be something that Roadtrek Dealers would have available. Until I read the FB Article, and now Wingeezer, I had no idea something like this was available - it could cut to the bottom line real quick on the roof leaks. Thanks for making me aware of this. Ron