Hi everyone. Bit of a weird one this, but wondered if anyone had any ideas. We have a Coleman Vespucci 6, bought “second hand” but unused (very obviously unused when we first unpacked it etc). We have so far used it on one trip, where we woke up with the bedroom inners literally floating on a river of water after some heavy rain. As seasoned campers this rang alarm bells - the tent was well pitched, vents open etc and brand new!
We’ve since had it up in the garden in nice weather to try and work out what’s going on. When giving it a soaking with the hose, very obviously water appears to “mist” through the entire back section. This doesn’t happen on the front panels at all. We have applied two liberal coats of fabsil to the affected panels and no need improvement. When looking at the panels you can see a defined patch variation of colour. My question is, would it be unheard of for there to be an issue in the factory where the PU coating simply hadn’t been applied?! It’s not something I would expect with a respected tent brand but it’s so odd? And if so, is there anything else we could possibly try to rescue the tent, or are we going to have to offer it up for tent pole spares?? It’s such a shame as it’s a lovely tent and in perfect condition in every other way!
Any ideas gratefully received!
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You could try to silicone coat the fabric along those lines: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQgrNZgnQtU - there are many similar videos . The Fabsil coating might act in your favour by helping the silicone to stick to the polyester.
Obviously, try painting the fabric on a small inside patch first.
Have you tried washing the tent with a specialist tent cleaner? If any dust or dirt gets in the fabric it will "wick" the water through. Also using a hose stronger than actual rain will mist through.
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