# Slide Room Maintenance



## Luv2Camp (Feb 25, 2011)

Hi everybody. I have a slide room concern, so I decided to post my concern here in hopes of getting help from the more experienced 5ers. My husband and I are first time owners of a fifth wheel. We just brought home our 2011 Puma Fifth Wheel 259RBSS Wednesday. We opened the slide room yesterday, and it rained over night. When we went out this morning to retract the slide room, obviously, the sides and roof of the slide room was very wet. We wiped down the sides, but couldn’t reach the top of the slide. My husband turned on the furnace long enough to take the dampness out of the fifth wheel. Should I be concern with retracting a wet slide in the rain? I am worried about moisture building up in the fifth wheel, which will cause condensation, and creating a breeding ground for mold. What should we do when retracting a wet slide room? Thank you in advance for any replies to this very newbie question. I thought my greenhorn days were behind me. But here I am!


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## artmart (Sep 21, 2010)

Here's a few ideas...

Some carry a ladder in the trailer and squeegy most of the water off the slideout roof prior to retracting a slide, but if it's raining that's hard to do. You can also climb up the existing ladder (if attached), then squeegy from the roof.

There is rubber surrounding the slideout and as you retract it (slowly, don't hold the button down continuously) most of the water should be squeegied off as the slide retracts. Some water may collect but see my notes below about drying things out.

Buy a slide topper. This creates an awning above the slideout roof so debris and water fall past the roof of the slideout. Unforunately these have some problems in themselves in that they can be noisy in strong wind and the awning fabric can stretch, sag or tear over time. If the rain falls side ways you may still get some under the slide topper.

Finally, just retract the slides, head home, wait for dry weather, then open up the rig to allow all moisture to dry out. I park my rig on my driveway and have the room to do this, but maybe you can find a way. I find that even when it's all closed up, the rolled up awning collects water when it rains at my house. After a rain I wait a couple of days, then roll out the awning, let it dry, then roll it back up. There are enclosures for this but now we're getting into another topic.

Mold and mildew will only form when you allow long term storage of wetness. I hope you can find what works for you to keep things dry.


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## Luv2Camp (Feb 25, 2011)

Thank you for replying to my post so quickly. And thank you for the great ideas. Yes, I did hold the button down continously. The next time we retract the slide when it is raining, I will use your suggestion of retracting the slide slowly. After camping in a popup for six years, then moving to a fifth wheel, I guess I overreacted. Thanks again for your help.

Louann


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