Air intrusion or air leaks found on cold windy days

[micwtx]

Has anyone noticed where they have air intrusion or air leaks coming INTO the camper on cold windy days? We found that the plug on the wall at the side of the refrigerator leaks LOTS of cold air! Also all around the refrigerator leaks cold air as though it was not sealed into the compartment when it was installed. Any one found air coming in anywhere else, and what did you do to fix it? Thanks to Winter Storm Cleon we are finding all sorts of things!

[Tobys Home]

Just look behind the fridge. Two vent openings that work well allowing heat to escape in warm weather and cold air especially wind in winter. You may want to partially cover those slots with a small piece of plexiglass with holes drilled in slot areas. You can,t shut it off completely because of the propane operation side of your fridge.
As far as the other air leaks, use a candle and run around all slide seal areas inside. Your slides could be slightly out of alignment. Bottom line is that this is a recreation vehicle and this comes with the territory. At minus 26 outside with wind and snow our past rigs always had little breezes and ice build up in corners.

[atom ant]

Originally Posted by Tobys Home

Just look behind the fridge. Two vent openings that work well allowing heat to escape in warm weather and cold air especially wind in winter. You may want to partially cover those slots with a small piece of plexiglass with holes drilled in slot areas. You can,t shut it off completely because of the propane operation side of your fridge.
As far as the other air leaks, use a candle and run around all slide seal areas inside. Your slides could be slightly out of alignment. Bottom line is that this is a recreation vehicle and this comes with the territory. At minus 26 outside with wind and snow our past rigs always had little breezes and ice build up in corners.

Whoa - that is a dangerous game. I wouldn't restrict those vents in any form or manner. That is a combustion air stack for LP and restricting flow can actually create a carbon monoxide issue, overheating fridge, or as shown by one fella, a fire potential. If correctly installed, there should be no airflow between those vented spaces and the coach itself, because it is a combustion chamber.

[micwtx]

Originally Posted by atom ant

Whoa - that is a dangerous game. I wouldn't restrict those vents in any form or manner. That is a combustion air stack for LP and restricting flow can actually create a carbon monoxide issue, overheating fridge, or as shown by one fella, a fire potential. If correctly installed, there should be no airflow between those vented spaces and the coach itself, because it is a combustion chamber.

I was thinking more on the lines of sliding the fridge out of the compartment just a few inches and applying clear caulking around the edge and then sliding the fridge back into the the recess. It doesn't seem that there is anything sealing it around there. If this is a combustion chamber and it is not sealed it could explain why we have had to pull the fuse on the LP gas detector as it constantly goes off with no reason, and often in the early hours of the morning! We have had it unplugged for most of the two years we have had the coach.

Not sure if caulking around the inside of the windows would help too. They seem to have air leaking there too.

[sinder]

Micwtx - If you are unable to find the propane leak and your detector goes off regularly, I recommend you get your unit in for service. A propane gas leak should be addressed promptly for both health and potential fire reasons. For your outlet you should be able to but in a foam outlet insulator to help block the draft.

[atom ant]

Originally Posted by micwtx

I was thinking more on the lines of sliding the fridge out of the compartment just a few inches and applying clear caulking around the edge and then sliding the fridge back into the the recess. It doesn't seem that there is anything sealing it around there. If this is a combustion chamber and it is not sealed it could explain why we have had to pull the fuse on the LP gas detector as it constantly goes off with no reason, and often in the early hours of the morning! We have had it unplugged for most of the two years we have had the coach.

Not sure if caulking around the inside of the windows would help too. They seem to have air leaking there too.

I would agree, if you are getting cold air through there, no issue with caulking it. I just would not mess with the outside vent openings.

Combustion chambers don't have to be air tight, you just don't want to ever mess with the flow. Your stick house hot water tank combustion chamber is wide open at the bottom, and has air inlets at the top of the tank into the stack which provide a natural flow of air up and CO goes out your roof vent. If you change anything on that, like try to close the air vent openings on top of the tank at the stack, CO stops flow out and it starts flowing in.