Anyone know about weep holes in windows?

[Takket]

I have sliding windows. There are small slits in the track called weeps, so if water form the rain gets in the track it can drain to the outdoors.

Mine seem to be clogged. The tracks just backs up with water in a heavy thunderstorm. I shoved a foot long pipecleaner down the slit, but it doesn't seem to help... but also, the pipecleaner never came out anywhere.... these weeps should have an outdoor exit somewhere where the water comes out, right? The channel seems to run parallel to the window track but I never see the pipecleaner poke outside. Maybe I just need a longer pipecleaner? Where do these weeps usually exit?

[c-rational]

1. It's usually right across from the inside. Try from the outside...is is clogged? Good luck.

[Lochloosa]

2. YouTube is a great reference for this type of thing.

?si=TTDDEq2wzklrjQkw

[Takket]

3. yeah see this is what is weird......

i expect it to go straight out like the video, but it doesn't. the pipe cleaner slides parallel to the channel in the window, not perpendicular to it. i figured there was just some sort of small offset but i never find the exit! I'm on the second floor of a condo so i can't go look. oh well, i'll maybe try popping the screen out to look.

[Wonder Why]

4. When Windows weep, it's time to use Linux.

😁

[moniss]

5. You could also

try compressed air. Buy a can of computer cleaner compressed air and blow it into the hole where you're shoving the pipe cleaner. See if you can feel air coming out along the bottom of the window. It might be good to pull your window out.

On a somewhat related note most people do not know that they also have weep holes along the bottom of the doors on their vehicle. These get easily clogged with grit over time and will be a major promoter of rusting out the bottom of your door. For people who hold their vehicles for a long period this rusting can be mitigated to a degree by just kneeling down with the door open and poking the junk out of the weep holes.

The other area most people don't know about is in their front fenders. We've all seen vehicles that have rust happening low on the body just in front of the lower portion of the door. It doesn't have to be so bad so fast. Almost all vehicles have a front fender-liner that is plastic and is held in place by a few screws. But over time grit and debris will wash down and deposit behind the fender liner in the area I described. You can take the liners off easily in a couple of minutes and clean this area out. You can spray a rust inhibitor in there once it's flushed and dried out also if you wish. Be sure you don't plug a weep hole or drainage track. I recently took off the front fender-liners on a 2013 vehicle in order install better front mudflaps. I was stunned at how much build up there was in that area. It was about 10 inches deep of grit, pieces of leaves etc. and was packed to a fairly dense consistency. So all of the ice melting chemicals etc. and all the crap were in this moist but dense mass. Each fender had about a quart or more of material back there. That was 10 years build up. So I would recommend taking the few minutes to do this about once a year. The owner's manual isn't going to tell you this nor the car dealer or most "maintenance" gurus. I just stumbled on it.

When you're checking the front don't forget about the back fenders. Similar things can happen. The bottom of the tailgate on pickups usually have weep holes also. Also look under the hood and check areas around the bottom of the radiator to see if they are trapping debris anywhere. Do a visual check using a flashlight and slowly look at areas of the wiring where you can easily see the wiring connectors. Make sure you don't see debris being trapped around connectors because it can promote corrosion in the connector and of course electrical system problems. Also on the subject of electrical connectors it should be noted that some can be behind those fender-liners. Sometimes the horn will be located behind the fender-liner. Keeping debris away from connectors is more important than ever on these newer *^%#@ vehicles because even a slight problem in a connector can give headaches for how the computer reacts and how the vehicle runs. It can also become very expensive to have the repair shops replacing all kinds of parts trying to solve the problem when in fact it is maybe just a bad tiny little pin or wire in a connector someplace.

[japple]

6. Thank you. This is why my donations to DU are such a great investment. I get all kinds

of help here from tech support to cooking and baking ideas. There are so many people here on DU who have a lot of experience and a wealth of information to give. Thanks so much for sharing yours. Now I know that those wasps are coming in the weep holes!