Gary,

My original thought (and Roger's) was the inflatiable portion was little more than a thin bicycle tube cross section. That is probably a good analogy, but after seeing the failure on Roger's seal and the fact the inflatible portion is not in contact with the slide room until it is inflated I am not so sure having a robust design is important.

Roger's seal failed at the point where it flattens. The flexing due to inflation and then being under a vacuum causes the flexing to occur at a single point along its length and that is where it failed. The failure could have been caused by over inflation due to a poor pressure regulator, but the real culprit is the seal (like our air bags) is only flexing at one point and that is where it split. The split was about 15" long.

I saw no indication the inflatiable section had ever been pinched or physically damaged and my guess is age got to it just like all other rubber components like tires, air bags, brake diaphragms, etc. We all agreed however the Prevost system and seal may be needlessly complex, but short of re-engineering the entire system that is not going to change.