Just Joined Need to replace Bladder Club

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Just Joined Need to replace Bladder Club

April 19, 2023, 08:52:20 am

I have owned a Foretravel since somewhere around 1990. None of my coaches have had slides until I got the IH45. I have read, and talked to some that have had the fun of getting the bladder replaced around their slide(s) but have never had the problem. Well now I do. I have been fighting air leaks on he HWH system since we took a trip up the east coast last October. I thought I had finally gotten all of my leaks solved until around a few weeks ago when I figured I had gotten another slow leak. I keep looking around for it under the coach, but could never find it. My wife, who has supersonic ears and noise, keep telling me she could hear air leaking but was not able to figure out where she was hearing it from. She had told me when we were getting ready to leave an FMCA club event she thought the AC's were on and went to turn them off. Home and in the driveway when I exited the coach behind my wife she looked at me and said she thought the roof AC's were back running. It turns out I have a 1/4" tear in the front passenger bladder.

I have read Scotts thread on a DIY bladder replacement. I am considering doing it myself but wondering how hard is it to push the slide in (and back out). Can 2 people do this or are more needed. Of those that have done it themselves do you wish you had taken it to a shop? If I do the take it in and get replace, do you feel FOT, MOT, or

is the best place to get this done?

Re: Just Joined Need to replace Bladder Club

Reply #1 – April 19, 2023, 09:04:26 am

Sent you a PM

Re: Just Joined Need to replace Bladder Club

Reply #2 – April 19, 2023, 09:06:02 am

Call Alan at Foretravel. He can give you a pretty accurate estimate on time and money. They are doing a bedroom slide right now and the majority of coaches here have at least one slide.

Re: Just Joined Need to replace Bladder Club

Reply #3 – April 19, 2023, 09:37:16 am

I recently replaced some CV boots in an old car, and had to use split synthetic rubber boots. Typically these are bolted together, as they take a huge amount of strain as they flex as they rotate. The only ones I could get used a glue together system with Loctite. I was extremely skeptical of this but went ahead. Well, I'll tell you this stuff works. Might be worth a try as temp fix.

Loctite 406, Instant Adhesive for Plastic and Rubber, Content 20 g ==========...

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Re: Just Joined Need to replace Bladder Club

Reply #4 – April 19, 2023, 09:59:24 am

HWH should also be considered. Lead time on replacement will be several months. It's a big job and does require extra hands to install the new seal. Slide probably can be winched in also? Seal adhesive removal was an involved job. My link shows some helpful tips. Mine really cant be used as a good comparison with all the other work I had to do. Big job.
Scott

Re: Just Joined Need to replace Bladder Club

Reply #5 – April 19, 2023, 11:36:32 am

Quote from: Chuck Pearson – April 19, 2023, 09:37:16 am

I recently replaced some CV boots in an old car, and had to use split synthetic rubber boots. Typically these are bolted together, as they take a huge amount of strain as they flex as they rotate. The only ones I could get used a glue together system with Loctite. I was extremely skeptical of this but went ahead. Well, I'll tell you this stuff works. Might be worth a try as temp fix.

Loctite 406, Instant Adhesive for Plastic and Rubber, Content 20 g ==========...

Thanks for all of the great input and phone calls. It was good meeting Realmccoy and his wife at FOT Monday. Glad to see you got all fixed. Now I can put a handle with the person.

Figured I would give the Loctite 406 a try while I am trying to figure out which way to go. I did not know if the above link had the ForeForum credit in it so I go and click on the Amazon link on the home page. I then put in search box the Loctite 406, I get a lot of hits. Get ready to select the one that says Prime with next day delivery. Just before I hit the "'Order now" button I look and what I was going to buy was not even the 406 Loctite. I then went back and looked at the list of items and out of around 21 Loctite items on the first of 20 pages, only 1 was what I was searching for and was the third item down. Is nothing easy these days.

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Re: Just Joined Need to replace Bladder Club

Reply #6 – April 19, 2023, 01:07:14 pm

Quote from: turbojack – April 19, 2023, 11:36:32 am

Thanks for all of the great input and phone calls. It was good meeting Realmccoy and his wife at FOT Monday. Glad to see you got all fixed. Now I can put a handle with the person.

Figured I would give the Loctite 406 a try while I am trying to figure out which way to go. I did not know if the above link had the ForeForum credit in it

For future reference, if you hover over an Amazon link on the forum and see "tag=foreforums" somewhere in the URL, then the forum does get credit. Chuck's link has it.

Re: Just Joined Need to replace Bladder Club

Reply #7 – April 19, 2023, 01:09:14 pm

Nice to know about that feature. Just tried on on Chuck's link and it shows.

Re: Just Joined Need to replace Bladder Club

Reply #8 – April 19, 2023, 02:29:41 pm

Glad you're going too give it a try. Here's the data/application sheet:

https://docs.rs-online.com/854e/0900766b80076b94.pdf

Wonder what psi these bladders pump up to? I see it's rated for 150 psi on neoprene rubber, but your bond area is the edges of the small tear so it'd be a fraction of this. If it doesn't hold would strongly consider a small patch of similar material using the 406. Good luck! Watch your fingers, I glued myself to the undercarriage of my car.....very awkward working area.

Re: Just Joined Need to replace Bladder Club

Reply #9 – April 19, 2023, 02:58:00 pm

Chuck, bladder air pressure shoulld be requlated to 10 to 15 psi.

Re: Just Joined Need to replace Bladder Club

Reply #10 – April 19, 2023, 03:23:09 pm

Quote from: Rudy – April 19, 2023, 02:58:00 pm

Chuck, bladder air pressure shoulld be requlated to 10 to 15 psi.

I even added a safety valve set to 15PSI on the bladder air line. I recall someone down in Arizona saying they herd a slide pop and destroy itself.
Also the new slides are a much better design. With now pressure they stay in contact.

Re: Just Joined Need to replace Bladder Club

Reply #11 – April 19, 2023, 03:59:33 pm

While I was on the phone with FOT parts (we are becoming good friends) I asked about the side bladder. He told me they did not have it is stock and the size that room is was only in a very few coaches. Said it would take around a month or so to get built from HWH. He did tell me that FOT does buy the material in bulk from HWH and that when they do the bladder replacement they make it in house for what ever size is needed.

Re: Just Joined Need to replace Bladder Club

Reply #12 – April 20, 2023, 09:20:18 am

I had a leak on the bottom of the slide seal at the end where it is folded over and capped off. I used a borescope to find the exact spot and using a syringe with a long needle injected 30 cc of rubber cement into that spot. I let it set for a few days and it was sealed. That was several months ago & it is not leaking. I have travelled and cycled that slide in & out a number of times. That fix would only work if the leak was at the end of the seal. The rubber cement would cause a problem anywhere else in the seal. This was on a Valid Slide Seal.

Re: Just Joined Need to replace Bladder Club

Reply #13 – April 28, 2023, 02:31:02 pm

I ordered the Locktite 406 from Amazon. Got on ladder and found the tear in the bladder. I took blue tape and taped the scraper out of the way, I then put blue tape on the top of the slide above the tear and then taped garbage bag on the slide so if I spilled any I would not get on coach. In looking at the tear I figured if I had a syringe I would be able to get the needle in the tear and put the Locktite 406 in there. I went to Walgreens and only could find people in the pharmacy. I explained that I was looking for a syringe so I could inject some glue in a rubber tear trying to see if I could get it to seal. The guy showed me one and asked if that would work. I looked at it and said yes. He then said I could have it for free. Went back home, put some glue in it and then injected some in the tear. That was 3 days ago. Today I finally got brave and turned the air on. To my amazement the leak was gone. Don''t know how long it will hold but we will see.

Leaving in morning for New Iberia for a Motorcade rally. We will see how long it will hold up. If it does not hold up, the slide with the tear is the one side that I can easily leave in.

Re: Just Joined Need to replace Bladder Club

Reply #14 – April 28, 2023, 02:51:18 pm

Quote from: turbojack – April 28, 2023, 02:31:02 pm

I ordered the Locktite 406 from Amazon. Got on ladder and found the tear in the bladder. I took blue tape and taped the scraper out of the way, I then put blue tape on the top of the slide above the tear and then taped garbage bag on the slide so if I spilled any I would not get on coach. In looking at the tear I figured if I had a syringe I would be able to get the needle in the tear and put the Locktite 406 in there. I went to Walgreens and only could find people in the pharmacy. I explained that I was looking for a syringe so I could inject some glue in a rubber tear trying to see if I could get it to seal. The guy showed me one and asked if that would work. I looked at it and said yes. He then said I could have it for free. Went back home, put some glue in it and then injected some in the tear. That was 3 days ago. Today I finally got brave and turned the air on. To my amazement the leak was gone. Don''t know how long it will hold but we will see.

If this holds for you, we'll break this post out and pin it for Emergency Slide Bladder Repair

Re: Just Joined Need to replace Bladder Club

Reply #15 – April 29, 2023, 06:48:39 pm

FYI, my bedroom slide had a leak last year. I was able to stick some silicone sheet over the split and when the seal came up to pressure, it would cover the split and seal up. This worked for a few trips, then the leak got bigger. I would shut off the air going to the bedroom bladder so I could turn the key off for the slide control, then used this stuff to fill the gap:

Sashco - 30381 Pre-Caulking Filler Rope Backer Rod Roll, 100' Length x 3/8"...

I also used no-residue duct tape to cover the gap between the slide and body where necessary.

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Re: Just Joined Need to replace Bladder Club

Reply #16 – April 30, 2023, 12:57:40 am

That's what I did also.

Re: Just Joined Need to replace Bladder Club

Reply #17 – May 05, 2023, 11:19:28 am

Update.

The patch has held. We went to the Motorcade Mid-South Chapter Spring Rally in New Iberia, LA. I turned the valve off to the slide before I left, just in case it let loose on the way there. When you turn the air valve on for the slide you can tell if the bladder is holding pressure or you can hear some air movement. When I opened the valve, no sound at all. Figured we would then go and try opening the slide. Once the yellow light stopped flashing I went and checked an the bladder was fully retracted. I pulled slide back out and turned key switch back off. I then went and shut the valve back off. When ready to go home, 6 days latter, I went and turned the valve back on and again did not hear any air movement. Once yellow light was solid I check bladder and it was fully retracted. Once slide was in, key switch off and bladder inflated. I then turned the bladder air valve back off. Once home turned valve back on and did not hear any air movement again. When we do a short overnight stop there are a lot of times we do not even pull this slide out and is not critical to have open when parked I am going to wait on having it replaced. If my glue job lets loose then I will schedule to have the bladder replaced.

Re: Just Joined Need to replace Bladder Club

Reply #18 – May 05, 2023, 12:42:12 pm

Great to hear your patch is working!

One extra thing I did was to put a ball valve with gauges on both sides, inline with the line going to the bladder under the bed in the bedroom slide, about 3' from the bladder itself. With the ball valves I installed on the output of the slide control solenoid blocks, I can effectively isolate the line from the slide control solenoid block to the ball valve under the bed, and the bladder from the rest of the system. I found that the line between the slide control solenoid block and the ball valve under the bed would leak down, so there is a leak in that line somewhere...but that line mainly hidden and probably wouldn't be fun to replace. For now, I just lock off both ball valves, which keeps air in the bladder, but doesn't leak air from the HWH tank.

Re: Just Joined Need to replace Bladder Club

Reply #19 – August 03, 2024, 11:27:05 pm

Quote from: turbojack – April 28, 2023, 02:31:02 pm

I ordered the Locktite 406 from Amazon. Got on ladder and found the tear in the bladder. I took blue tape and taped the scraper out of the way, I then put blue tape on the top of the slide above the tear and then taped garbage bag on the slide so if I spilled any I would not get on coach. In looking at the tear I figured if I had a syringe I would be able to get the needle in the tear and put the Locktite 406 in there. I went to Walgreens and only could find people in the pharmacy. I explained that I was looking for a syringe so I could inject some glue in a rubber tear trying to see if I could get it to seal. The guy showed me one and asked if that would work. I looked at it and said yes. He then said I could have it for free. Went back home, put some glue in it and then injected some in the tear. That was 3 days ago. Today I finally got brave and turned the air on. To my amazement the leak was gone. Don''t know how long it will hold but we will see.

Leaving in morning for New Iberia for a Motorcade rally. We will see how long it will hold up. If it does not hold up, the slide with the tear is the one side that I can easily leave in.

Just curious, did you fully penetrate the bladder when injecting it, or just partially. In my case, I know about where the leak is, but I can't actually see a tear. Seems more of a pinhole. I'm not wanting to make the situation worse by putting another hole inthe bladder. In the other hand, maybe thats how to get it into the bladder and seal it up.

Re: Just Joined Need to replace Bladder Club

Reply #20 – August 04, 2024, 12:24:15 am

No don't make a second hole. You need to inject in the leak. The vacuum is not going to put a lot of stress on it but the pressure can. Make sure your pressure is not excess. Your 2002 slide can be disconnected and you can then push the slide inward to access the seal. Pinpoint the leak and attempt to seal. My bladder could easily be torn in half by hand. It's at end of life. My replacement seal works great and will seal effortlessly with zero air pressure.

Re: Just Joined Need to replace Bladder Club

Reply #21 – August 04, 2024, 02:46:26 am

Quote from: dsd – August 04, 2024, 12:24:15 am

No don't make a second hole. You need to inject in the leak. The vacuum is not going to put a lot of stress on it but the pressure can. Make sure your pressure is not excess. Your 2002 slide can be disconnected and you can then push the slide inward to access the seal. Pinpoint the leak and attempt to seal. My bladder could easily be torn in half by hand. It's at end of life. My replacement seal works great and will seal effortlessly with zero air pressure.

Thanks! Putting a hole in didn't sound right.

I have an appointment with Keith in November to get it replaced. Its manageable, with the compressor coming on every 3 to 4 hours to maintain pressure. I'd planned to shut it off when the monsoon season ends as as it actually seems to be a pretty tight fit even with the pressure off. HWW confirmed we have the upgraded bladder. So maybe, like yours, no need to keep it under pressure anyway for now.

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