New Bailey Leaking

We have a Bailey Unicorn Madrid (2016) and have experienced a leak in cupboards towards the rear of the van.  The dealer suspects a faulty roof strap but says that it may take some time for Bailey Caravans to approve the work under warranty.  In the meantime, they are going to try to apply a temporary 'fix' to prevent any further water coming in.  This is our third Bailey caravan and we haven't previously experienced any problems with rain leaking in.

I see this is an old thread, probably found through the vagaries of the search box.

Yes I had the same problem on a 2015 bailey earlier this year, the repair kit was sent rapidly once approval had been given, believe it or not they used the wrong glue that did not cope with the expansion coefficient of the polyester roof material vs the original aluminium. The glue delaminates and capillary effects leak water into the plastic channel on the roof interior, this acts as a gutter and deposits the water out of either end into cupboards or down the wall depending on van layout. The repair kit has exactly the same dimension parts for inner and outer covers but the correct glue/sealant.

I effected a temporary repair covering the roofstrap with 3M all weather clear tape which is UV stabilised and lasts well. In fact I am considering covering all seams with it as I have have a sneaking suspicion that the same glue/sealant was used on the side seams as well as the roof seams. This problem is prevalent on all Baileys soon after their transition from ally to polyester body panels.

So far so good, no more leaks at present.

I had seven caravans from new, one Avondale, three Baileys, and three swifts. 

Of the seven, two developed leaks, the Baileys !!.

Having now moved to a motor home,  I avoided Bailey's. 

While the general public continue to buy Bailey products in large numbers, they have no incentive to improve their build quality.   Only market forces will make them improve. Giving Bailey vans a huge body swerve for a few years when buying new, will help to concentrate their minds and result in a much better product in the future. 

K 

I sympathize with you as I have had 2 leaks so far in my 2016 Lunar and after having to wait many months for parts from Lunar,  the forward roof strap was replaced but the leak is still apparent! In addition the oven door exploded on first use, both taps have been replaced, the lounge carpet has fallen apart at the seams, the kitchen sink started to rust and replaced. I have had to tighten numerous screws, fitted screws where missing during manufacture and refitted shelves that collapsed when towing!I

my local Lunar dealer are unable to carry out warranty work on my van as they are too busy with their own customers. I bought the van from another dealer in the north.

In conclusion, the caravan industry can get away with a terrible product that was evident in the car industry of the 1970s and until we the public stop buying the saga will continue.

We did have damp in our last Lunar after three years, but the dealer was very good, got the claim in quickly and arranged the repair to suit us. They have had a problem with the seal over the joint between the front panel and the roof and the workshop foreman is very familiar with this.

Our dealer Changed the roof strap and sealant when our was in for service this year as they had been advised by Bailey that some roof joints from an overseas supplyer were not to speck

...thas OK then guys, nothing to do with Bailey.....carry on....

carry on buying, carry on leaking, carry on bringing them back, carry on getting them fixed',......not good.

JVB, did your dealer tell you who at Bailey is responsible for checking the quality of any bought in components?.....or is it just an easy cop out....

bit like blaming Truma, Thetford and Dometic for failures when the converters chuck the installation instructions out of the window....

My new roof strap was exactly the same as the old one, I was told Bailey had used the wrong glue/sealant at the factory, apparently the glue/sealant used for ally panels doesn't work on polyester panels  due to different expansion rates. I surmise that they changed materials and did not test the resultant bond /seal.

The glue/sealant as i understand it, is an integral part of the roof strap