We recently spent a week camping in our new Vango Edoras 500xl with front awning. Unfortunately it rained on an off every day!
After a couple of days we noticed a drip appearing from the seam at the front of the tent (in the porch area). On inspection it looked as though the seam tape hadn't quite been fitted all the way across. Secondly, we noticed that the curtain toggles by the windows on both sides of the front awning were soaking wet (water clearly leaking through the bottom of the window where the toggles are sewn in). neither of these issues were due to condensation, in fact the tent is very well ventilated with very little moisture seen.
Obviously we were disappointed and I had started to organise a repair under the warranty. However, when the next lot of heavy rain arrived we were surprised to see that both the leak under the porch and the wet curtain toggles in the front awning hadn't returned. Further heavy rain came during the week and no further sign of any leaks.
Has anyone else had an experience like this? Could this be a case of the seam stitching needing to weather in through getting wet and expanding (like a polycotton tent)?
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Read somewhere that after you blow your tent up first time it might stretch a bit, did spray mine around the beams on the first trip out (it didn't rain but thought better be same than sorry) have since had it out in the rain and had no problems.
So yes just need a bit off weathering and you should be fine
They sometimes do need settling in but to be fair it's near impossible to make any tent 100% waterproof. I very quick spot spray of proofing in an area like suggested above will cure 99.9% of issues.
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the Edoras tent and the Taiga tents are very likely to leak on this seam!
the roof beam is not taped ( sealed ) on the porch side of the roof beam because this is deemed to be an external area of the tent.
it is only sealed ( taped ) on the tent living area side of that roof beam.
on the taiga models the flysheet doesnt even come all the way down to the ground further re-inforcing the " outside " area of this part of the tent - its not much more than a tarp really - this is according to the information from my dealer via vango.
so edoras and taiga models CAN leak in the porch area because no sealing tape is used in the roof seam. some folks tents dont leak - it can depend on intensity of rain, the wind direction - how its blowing the rain etc etc.
i had calm conditions and a very heavy downpour and had 2 steady conitnous dripping of water above the outside side of the tent door (which leads into the living space).
personally it doesnt bother me because i very much treat the porch as the outside porch. keep all the wet and muddy stuff in there instead of bringing it into the tent.
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Quote: Originally posted by hankakampa on 02/8/2016
the Edoras tent and the Taiga tents are very likely to leak on this seam!
the roof beam is not taped ( sealed ) on the porch side of the roof beam because this is deemed to be an external area of the tent.
it is only sealed ( taped ) on the tent living area side of that roof beam.
on the taiga models the flysheet doesnt even come all the way down to the ground further re-inforcing the " outside " area of this part of the tent - its not much more than a tarp really - this is according to the information from my dealer via vango.
so edoras and taiga models CAN leak in the porch area because no sealing tape is used in the roof seam. some folks tents dont leak - it can depend on intensity of rain, the wind direction - how its blowing the rain etc etc.
i had calm conditions and a very heavy downpour and had 2 steady conitnous dripping of water above the outside side of the tent door (which leads into the living space).
personally it doesnt bother me because i very much treat the porch as the outside porch. keep all the wet and muddy stuff in there instead of bringing it into the tent.
The outside front area of my Edoras does appear to taped but not all the way across. I agree it wouldn't normally be a problem being on the outside (but under the porch) but when you add the front awning, this area effectively becomes a new living area for the tent - one in which I don't appreciate a puddle of water on the groundsheet!
Hopefully it appears to have sealed itself now - I've got another test coming up in a few weeks and being the British summer I'm certain it will rain!
the taiga doesnt have options for front extension - so its understandeable as you say.
but that is a bit odd that the edoras being extendable has this half taped seam then!.
i guess fingers crossed but it might be an idea to get some seam sealer.
i took some detailed pics of the roof seam and this was discussed elsewhere on a different group at length - and what came to light was the angle of the stitched seam on the porch side of the roof beam where it acted like a V shape channel to capture rain and almost feed it down to the inside of the tent!
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Yes I've had a similar problem with my Kampa Brean 4. Big leak first time out, much better the second time. It din't rain this weekend so still waiting to see if it is completely cured.
cotton is a natural fibre - swells and contracts depending on the moisture in it.
polyester is a plastic man made material - a plastic which doesnt change size - but depending on the thread used to stitch it together - this may contain cotton and so as you use it and it gets wet and swells therefore filling any air holes and becoming water tight
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Our Edoras 500XL has been fine despite almost 48 hours of rain the last 2 days here in Cornwall Mind you we have the roof liner which might make all the difference. Love our Edoras. Probably best tent we've owned. Just wish Vango would put 2 way zip on bedroom pods.
Quote: Originally posted by campasarow on 03/8/2016
Our Edoras 500XL has been fine despite almost 48 hours of rain the last 2 days here in Cornwall Mind you we have the roof liner which might make all the difference. Love our Edoras. Probably best tent we've owned. Just wish Vango would put 2 way zip on bedroom pods.
Campasarow
Yeah, ours was fine once its had fixed itself and withstood some good downpours!
Like you, we think its a great tent (the awning really gives you a bigger living / cooking area). But we also noticed the lack of 2 way zips on the bedroom pods!
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