CVT Rainfly Leaks

[NatersXJ6]

Hey all,

I have a CVT Denali Summit series that I bought used last summer. Over the winter, I discovered that even in a relatively light rain the fly leaks pretty badly, leading to a huge pool up on the extended cover of the tent. I wasn’t ever able to track it exactly, but it seems that the leak is coming from the edge of the clear vinyl window panels.

Initially, I thought bad seam sealing, but after pulling the fly indoors for close inspection, the thermal seal tape on the seams looks pretty good - great even. I’m now questioning the “downhill” joint between the vinyl and the fabric. Nice been thinking about running a very small bead of silicone caulk around that joint, but I’m hesitating in case it never really dries, or otherwise causes other issues.

Any thoughts or alternatives? Has anyone else run into something similar and solved it? Considering that I live in the desert, this is low urgency but I did buy a tent to keep me out of the weather, not to get dripped on steadily!

Thanks for any ideas!

 

[OverlandNA]

Time to get out the hose and find where it is leaking. If isn't a seam then the fabric may need to be waterproofed. If it is coming thru the fabric, I would call CVT and ask what product they recommend.

 

[Softwaremom]

So sorry for your problem. If it makes you feel any better my new Tepui Autana tent leaks. The leak is in several places in the Annex. I am returning to REI. I am kind of nervous about trying another brand of rooftop tents. I hope you can fix your leak.(I live in the desert too but love to camp in the mountains and it always seems to rain some when we camp)

 

[NatersXJ6]

So sorry for your problem. If it makes you feel any better my new Tepui Autana tent leaks. The leak is in several places in the Annex. I am returning to REI. I am kind of nervous about trying another brand of rooftop tents. I hope you can fix your leak.(I live in the desert too but love to camp in the mountains and it always seems to rain some when we camp)

Thanks for the kind thoughts. If I had water pouring in through sidewalks like you did, I would be pretty upset. I think this is more of a minor annoyance and probably not significant once I do as suggested and actually drag out the hose when I have a hot dry day available to set up the tent and search for leaks.

This is my first annex tent, and it has me thinking about a whole different way to design and attach the annex, as I really only need it when my wife goes camping, and that is somewhere between rarely and only-if-forced-by-apocalypse!

I might be on the market soon for any completely ratted-out tent that I can cut up and re-sew to try out my annex idea!