Under Slide Damage 2020b Micro Minnie 2108TB

[RocknRoll]

While going thru some cleaning and maintenance, I noticed the bottom of the slide incurred damaged from the rollers. It was limited approximately 8" from the front of the slide back, identically on both sides.

I temporarily reinforced it with Eternabond as there was exposed, cracked wood.

Has anyone else experienced this? What might be the cause and what would be the best way to not only repair the existing damage, but to prevent it from happening again? My biggest concern is to have a slide failure in the middle of an excursion.

[creativepart]

Is your RV under warranty? Since it’s a 2020 model that kind of damage doesn’t seem right. Perhaps the roller is defective and not rolling?

[RocknRoll]

Originally Posted by creativepart

Is your RV under warranty? Since it’s a 2020 model that kind of damage doesn’t seem right. Perhaps the roller is defective and not rolling?

Yeah, I was surprised to see it. It's occurring on both sides.

Since I bought it used (6 months old), the warranty never crossed my mind. I just now filled out the Second Owner Registration on Winnebago.com. Hopefully it's transferable... I'm feeling a little stupid right now but maybe a little wiser.

Thanks Creative!

[RocknRoll]

Update:

Attempted to transfer and re-register the warranty under my name with Winnebago but never got a response. Very frustrating.

Due to old age and stubbornness, I completely forgot about checking on the original damage as I had thought I had somewhat resolved it with the eternabond band-aid.

While on the road this past April, I noticed the slide didn't sound quite the same when extending. Looked underneath, the damage was even worse as the plywood had experienced further water damage. The cause was no sealant in the joint as shown.

Peeled off the damaged wood, picked up some steel sheet metal at the local Lowes and flex-sealed them to the slide underbody. Of course, I sealed up the joint with silicone and did a final flex-seal spray. Sorry about the lack of final pics as the rig is covered right now.

Thankfully, the slide now operates normally and does not seem to leak any longer. In fact, it's most likely stronger than before.

However, the lack of quality control on something this critical could have resulted in a complete nightmare if not caught. This is not a cosmetic defect, but a major manufacturing failure and has left me rather disappointed with Winnebago.

Check your slides!

[Ford1]

You didn't mention it in your post, but did you find the actual source/ entry point of the water intrusion? My guess is that it is leaking somewhere higher up, either at the roof joint or through some screw holes such as on the slide track and dripping down to the slide floor where it is wicked into the wood. All the patching of the floor may help the slide to open and close better, but if the leak persists, the problems will continue.

[RocknRoll]

Unfortunately, the last repair did not hold. The caulk I had used to seal the joint had completely disintegrated which led to further water intrusion and damage. The steel plates were rusting and almost completely delaminated. What a mess!

Steps:

Completely removed all rotted wood, caulking and eternabond. Resealed the joints with Titebond Metal roof sealant.

After the wood was completely dry, I applied Minwax hardener (2 coats) to all of the exposed bare wood followed up with 2 layers of Minwax High Performance filler. I suppose I could've used regular bondo but I've had great success with this combo on my decking. This stuff starts drying quick! Sanded enough to get it as level and flat as possible. Next day, I Flex-Sealed the repaired areas.

Purchased (3) .050 304 SS door kick panels. Although I only needed two for the sides, I needed to support the center roller. These were pretty expensive ($45 ea) but they were predrilled (screws included) and the exact length/width I needed. Mounted them with a waterproof adhesive and screwed them down.

Waited 2 days for everything to cure brought in the slide and it finally operated like it was supposed to. No noise or shaking and the SS panels are not creasing (which was an initial concern) so right now I'm going to consider this a success

[Marine359]

Great work.

[RocknRoll]

Originally Posted by Marine359

Great work.

Thanks Jim, appreciate that!

[Gtekeepr]

Good Job!

I will subscribe to this thread as a just in case fix in the future! Better to be safe than sorry!

[RocknRoll]

Originally Posted by Gtekeepr

Good Job!

I will subscribe to this thread as a just in case fix in the future! Better to be safe than sorry!

Thanks, that's very kind of you. In my case, this was a manufacturing defect as there was no sealant whatsoever in the slide corners from the factory. The key is to inspect those areas and reseal as necessary.

Even with their issues, I enjoy having a slide but clench my jaw every time I operate it as IMO, it is a major weak point of most every RV. With that, I'm planning to replace the entire system with a Vroom during a trip out west next year.

https://vroomslidesystems.com/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvwbhGtcsSY