Kemerton xl water ingress behind microwave.

I spent most of yesterday repairing my friends 2015 van, he had noticed a pool of water on the worktop behind the cooker. We took the extractor off and removed the microwave (only 2 screws holding it in instead of 4) Then it was finding the various screws securing the cabinet, the ducting from the outside vent was a pain as it was screwed to the back of the cabinet, then we found out it was also secured to the van by the top screw of the outside vent. Having got the cabinet on the bench we could see the water damage which must have been going on for some time, the bottom and the back were completly rotten, see the pictures. Luckily I had some matching plywood from my previous van just enough to make 2 new panels. Before we refitted it we made a deflector to divert any rain back out of the vent, the driving rain from that side of the van had been finding its way in for some time. Put everything back together with new screws and 4 holding in the microwave this time, better than the factory had done. Might be a good idea for Kemerton owners to pop the microwave out and check for water damage before it gets as bad as this one.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Hi Tim, the van was standard from the factory, you can see the metal duct for the microwave at the back of the cabinet, the picture was taken before we started work. Stan has owned the van from new, never been pressure washed unless the dealer had. I am always very careful when washing mine round the vents. Tim
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

All very interesting so thanks for bringing this to our attention. That external vent could be a source of water ingress in driving rain when parked up or on the road, an accident waiting to happen as they say. I'm starting to think about fitting an external flap or even some fine mesh, externally mounted onto a thin plastic ring. It would retain the purpose of the vent whilst reducing the velocity of any water droplets.

Apart from the repair, has anyone any other suggestions for prevention yet keeping the microwave?

Do all the Kemerton solar cables come through the cupboard where the microwave Is the solar panel cable on mine seems to come in at the side of the front opening skylight and the solar panel is in between front and middle skylight ?

The cables you can see from my pictures are power for the microwave and the extractor hood.

Tim.

Cheers all