My 2023 pop top doesn’t leak

[Monty6]

Hi. Does anyone have one that does not leak, please?

 

[yorkshiredave]

Our June 2023 Ocean pop-top has been subjected to heavy rain and wind over a long weekend recently and didn’t leak. There was the minutest few drops on the roof frame one morning but that was more likely from internal condensation with 2 people sleeping up top. I wouldn’t classify it as a leak! Upon getting the van and after reading the previous posts on the forum about leaking pop-tops we did subject the fabric to some light rain & dried out one day before using in earnest, to help the fabric and stitching to ‘condition’ itself but whether this has helped who knows. Interestingly, when we collected the van from VW Dealer, he was at pains to point out that VW don’t claim the pop-top is waterproof, only water resistant. And he did advise to close the roof in very windy & heavy rain conditions.

 

[Corradobrit]

Mine hasn't leaked yet. Although I need to let it get a proper dousing and reassess.

 

[sbmcd]

Our June 2023 Ocean pop-top has been subjected to heavy rain and wind over a long weekend recently and didn’t leak. There was the minutest few drops on the roof frame one morning but that was more likely from internal condensation with 2 people sleeping up top. I wouldn’t classify it as a leak! Upon getting the van and after reading the previous posts on the forum about leaking pop-tops we did subject the fabric to some light rain & dried out one day before using in earnest, to help the fabric and stitching to ‘condition’ itself but whether this has helped who knows. Interestingly, when we collected the van from VW Dealer, he was at pains to point out that VW don’t claim the pop-top is waterproof, only water resistant. And he did advise to close the roof in very windy & heavy rain conditions.

Good to hear there are some that don't leak.

 

[sbmcd]

Our June 2023 Ocean pop-top has been subjected to heavy rain and wind over a long weekend recently and didn’t leak. There was the minutest few drops on the roof frame one morning but that was more likely from internal condensation with 2 people sleeping up top. I wouldn’t classify it as a leak! Upon getting the van and after reading the previous posts on the forum about leaking pop-tops we did subject the fabric to some light rain & dried out one day before using in earnest, to help the fabric and stitching to ‘condition’ itself but whether this has helped who knows. Interestingly, when we collected the van from VW Dealer, he was at pains to point out that VW don’t claim the pop-top is waterproof, only water resistant. And he did advise to close the roof in very windy & heavy rain conditions.

Is it still not leaking?

 

[Corradobrit]

I spoke too soon. Mine leaks like a sieve from the seams on the front panel

 

[sbmcd]

I spoke too soon. Mine leaks like a sieve from the seams on the front panel

Time for that warranty replacement.

 

[Corradobrit]

Time for that warranty replacement.

Tried mate, but the dealers in my town (Hannover) appear incompetent, not only saying they got no leaks (I have video evidence they do and badly) but charged my 175 euro for putting a hose on the bellows. Looks like some spray treatment like Aquatex will be my only option.

 

[johns6809]

Tried mate, but the dealers in my town (Hannover) appear incompetent, not only saying they got no leaks (I have video evidence they do and badly) but charged my 175 euro for putting a hose on the bellows. Looks like some spray treatment like Aquatex will be my only option.

That's awful. Maybe time for a trip to the UK?

 

[LobsterVan]

I had mine up on a hilltop site recently and overnight it rained, really hard and blown by the wind right onto the frontside. It leaked, quite a lot - pools of water in the front corners. But, I don't know now whether that's an issue or really to be expected?

 

[sbmcd]

The bellows should not leak.

I've just sold my 2014 California and that never leaked in get 10 years of serious use in all weathers.

I pick up my 2024 Ocean on Friday, I must be mad. I'm fully expecting to have to have the bellows replaced with the latest 06S version.

 

[myvanrodney]

Ours hasn't leaked yet. 2 Days of rain in the New Forest, although the wind was only moderate.

....still testing, but fingers crossed.

 

[Paul1]

My Dec 23 OS3 after about 1/2 hour home hose test did slightly leak at both corners. About 3 week later did another approx 45 min test and , no leaks. Dry Now treated with Aquatex just to make sure it wasn’t a fluke. Liverpool dealership who have given very good service so far offered to replace bellows but am un decided. Perhaps I’m over cautious, it’s a big job . Is it worth it ? Comments welcome. PS, have a roof topper which will be used.

 

[CaliforniaCylus]

My Dec 23 OS3 after about 1/2 hour home hose test did slightly leak at both corners. About 3 week later did another approx 45 min test and , no leaks. Dry Now treated with Aquatex just to make sure it wasn’t a fluke. Liverpool dealership who have given very good service so far offered to replace bellows but am un decided. Perhaps I’m over cautious, it’s a big job . Is it worth it ? Comments welcome. PS, have a roof topper which will be used.

I'd get it swapped for the 06S if they will. There are many inherent design improvements in the latest version.

Dealers are very experienced. A non main dealer (Kernow) can swap them out in an hour or so.

 

[yorkshiredave]

Is it still not leaking?

I also spoke too soon. Our original 04S bellows did leak in Nov ‘23, usual place on front, capillary action through the stitching (pinprick holes, you could see daylight where the stitching pierced the fabric) for the front window. Dealer replaced these with a set of replacement 04S bellows in April ‘24 but they leaked like a sieve in July. Dealer replaced again with a set of 05S in August ‘24 and touch-wood they’ve been fine though haven’t been subjected to a really, really heavy downpour. Good news is that we can see no daylight through stitching on this set, other than one tiny pin-prick in the fabric next to the corner of one side vent. If this leaks I’m tempted to ‘plug’ somehow if this turns out to be the only leakage, as it’s random chance as to the quality of the bellows you receive (in terms of stitching ‘holes’). But I must say the fabric itself has never leaked on any set and is waterproof, the stitching through the stiff fabric is the cause of leaks. Dealer (VW Van Centre Liverpool) have been excellent throughout with warranty replacements. VW just needs to be more stringent with 3rd party quality control and design.


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[sbmcd]

I also spoke too soon. Our original 04S bellows did leak in Nov ‘23, usual place on front, capillary action through the stitching (pinprick holes, you could see daylight where the stitching pierced the fabric) for the front window. Dealer replaced these with a set of replacement 04S bellows in April ‘24 but they leaked like a sieve in July. Dealer replaced again with a set of 05S in August ‘24 and touch-wood they’ve been fine though haven’t been subjected to a really, really heavy downpour. Good news is that we can see no daylight through stitching on this set, other than one tiny pin-prick in the fabric next to the corner of one side vent. If this leaks I’m tempted to ‘plug’ somehow if this turns out to be the only leakage, as it’s random chance as to the quality of the bellows you receive (in terms of stitching ‘holes’). But I must say the fabric itself has never leaked on any set and is waterproof, the stitching through the stiff fabric is the cause of leaks. Dealer (VW Van Centre Liverpool) have been excellent throughout with warranty replacements. VW just needs to be more stringent with 3rd party quality control and design.


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Thank you for that.


I have now picked up my new Ocean from Breeze, it has the 05S bellows fitted, I've not tried them in anger yet.

I did have a proper look around inside the roof bellows and light through the stitch holes at the bottom was evident in places see pics. Breeze said this was not unusual and not cause for replacement at this time.

My old 2014 T5.1 bellows never leaked and they also had some stitch holes around the bottom in the same places.

Only time will tell if they will leak or not.

 

[Kev56]

My 23 plate 0S3 leaked and through this forum and a very, very long thread on this matter i contacted Adrian Burns (very nice bloke) about this. I decided, once again through this thread regarding the newer 04S still leaking that i would wait until hopefully the problem would be resolved. 0S5 came and went, same problem. Then 0S6 came along and from the comments or lack of them about leaks i've booked in for replacement. So, question is do we think the 0S6 has solved this problem finally.