Shower in the back of Torque 396 leaking

Nwasher

Member
We bought our Torque 396 3 weeks ago and we love it but having a few issues. One issue is we kept seeing water randomly dripping from the underbelly. I think we found the culprit. The shower in the garage looks like it is leaking where the water drain is in the bottom of the tub. The water looks like it is going straight to the underbelly. Our question is should we be concerned about anything in the underbelly such as wood or insulation? Mold is a huge concern to us since we have a child with asthma. We've been in it about three weeks and the kids have been showering in that shower. Any input would be greatly appreciated.
 

BigJim45

Luv'n Life
Check your drain connection as it might of come loose. Should always check to make sure all plumbing connection are tight as a regular item on your checklist. A rolling house going down and over bumps in the highway can shake things up.
 

wdk450

Well-known member
I have thought that in the "rolling earthquake" environment of an RV, the standard plumbers putty used for sink and drain flange seals is not up to the job. I re-sealed my kitchen sink drains with RVers Goop rubberized adhesive/sealer (available in the RV section of most WalMarts).
 

Nwasher

Member
Thank you for the replies. My husband resealed the shower drain so we are going to see if that keeps it from leaking now. We also checked all the other plumbing and found a few loose fittings so he tightened those.
Another question we have is about mounting a tv in the garage. We tried to find a stud and couldn't the first time then the second time we found one we think but it's aluminum stud so what's the best way to mount a tv to that? I know a tv is suppose to go there since the hook ups are right above on the ceiling.
Thanks again.
 

weekender01

Well-known member
Thank you for the replies. My husband resealed the shower drain so we are going to see if that keeps it from leaking now. We also checked all the other plumbing and found a few loose fittings so he tightened those.
Another question we have is about mounting a tv in the garage. We tried to find a stud and couldn't the first time then the second time we found one we think but it's aluminum stud so what's the best way to mount a tv to that? I know a tv is suppose to go there since the hook ups are right above on the ceiling.
Thanks again.

Hope the leaks are fixed for you.

As for mounting a TV in the garage area you can call Heartland to get a print of the garage wall. It will show you where the backer board "should" be. On my 2017 Torque 321 the print shows a backer being in the wall, but I can not find one anywhere in the wall. I have tried using a stud finder, pressing on the wall and knocking on the wall, but with no success. Heartland says there should be one there, but there is not. If I want to have one added they said they would cover under warranty to have it done. Most likely though we will just place a TV on the shelf so our daughter can watch TV from her bed in the garage.
 

JohnD

Moved on to the next thing...
Hope the leaks are fixed for you.

As for mounting a TV in the garage area you can call Heartland to get a print of the garage wall. It will show you where the backer board "should" be. On my 2017 Torque 321 the print shows a backer being in the wall, but I can not find one anywhere in the wall.

In our previous Heartland Trail Runner, there was a sticker on the wall in both the livingroom and bedroom showing where the TV backer plate was.

In the livingroom the sticker was spot on . . . right where it should be.

The bedroom, however, was way off (see photo below):

TVBackerTrailRunner-IMG_0024.jpg

After drilling a couple of holes and hitting nothing, I finally found the backer plate over a foot lower and 6-inches to the left of where the sticker was.
 

Nwasher

Member
Our Torque didn't come with any stickers letting you know the location. We found a backer plate or a stud in the bedroom and we were able to hang one but really confused about the garage one.
 

JohnD

Moved on to the next thing...
Our Torque didn't come with any stickers letting you know the location. We found a backer plate or a stud in the bedroom and we were able to hang one but really confused about the garage one.

Our Prowler didn't have any stickers in it, either (probably because they had a reputation of not being in the right spot).

I found the backer plates by using both thumbs about 8 inches apart and pushing on the walls until I found the backer plates.

Right now I have the same two Vizio LED TV's and swivel mounts that we had in the Trail Runner.
 

Nwasher

Member
Heartland told us they wouldn't cover it under warranty. If we want one we would have to pay for it. They said there's a 2x4 but can't find that either. Not sure what we will do.
 

danemayer

Well-known member
Heartland told us they wouldn't cover it under warranty. If we want one we would have to pay for it. They said there's a 2x4 but can't find that either. Not sure what we will do.

Are you still talking about a TV installation? What warranty coverage are you expecting?
 

Nwasher

Member
We fixed the shower. I was talking about having a backer so we can hang a tv not heartland install a tv. The person below commented that Heartland would put a backer in for them under warranty because there's suppose to be one but heartland told us they wouldn't. So we are a little confused.
 

danemayer

Well-known member
We fixed the shower. I was talking about having a backer so we can hang a tv not heartland install a tv. The person below commented that Heartland would put a backer in for them under warranty because there's suppose to be one but heartland told us they wouldn't. So we are a little confused.

Now I understand. If there's supposed to be a backer board, and it's not there, yes that would be a manufacturing defect and it should be covered. BUT, you would probably have to take the rig to your dealer and they would have to determine that there was no backer board, and then submit the warranty claim. If you take it to the dealer and they find a backer board, you may owe the dealer some money for their locating the backer board since they won't be able to file a warranty claim.
 

weekender01

Well-known member
Now I understand. If there's supposed to be a backer board, and it's not there, yes that would be a manufacturing defect and it should be covered. BUT, you would probably have to take the rig to your dealer and they would have to determine that there was no backer board, and then submit the warranty claim. If you take it to the dealer and they find a backer board, you may owe the dealer some money for their locating the backer board since they won't be able to file a warranty claim.

That is odd that Heartland told me they would cover since the print showed it was supposed to be there and was not. Did they send you the print showing its locations?

Either way we are probably not going to put a TV on the wall in the garage after thinking more about it. It appears to be alot of work to get behind the paneling. We will just put one on the shelf so our daughter can watch in bed. If we want to watch one during the day in the garage we may put a smaller table in the garage to set the tv on. During travel we will just store on the bed.

Good luck with this.
 

myla296

Active Member
We fixed the shower.

Congrats on a pretty easy shower fix...we wound up replacing a bunch of plumbing using Home Depot to get a better fit, etc...it was accomplished, but only after lots of visits back and forth and re-tightening and sealing stuff :)
 

Nwasher

Member
Yes they sent us a print and it shows a 2x4 wood that we are suppose to use to hang a tv but we are still having trouble finding that. We would just set the tv somewhere but we don't have a shelf or anything to set it on. If we can't find the 2x4 we will just try taking it to the dealer and see if they can find it.

- - - Updated - - -

My husband resealed the drain and tightened all the plumbing and thankfully so far it's been ok. Yesterday we started having a weird problem with the valve switch from city water to fresh tank. We had it on city water but apparently it was filling the tank as well so the tank overflowed and water was coming out of the bottom of the 5th wheel! My husband plans to take the valve switch off tomorrow to see what the problem is. Is there anything in the underbelly where the tanks are that could be damaged by water? There was a lot of water coming out.
 

danemayer

Well-known member
Yesterday we started having a weird problem with the valve switch from city water to fresh tank. We had it on city water but apparently it was filling the tank as well so the tank overflowed and water was coming out of the bottom of the 5th wheel! My husband plans to take the valve switch off tomorrow to see what the problem is. Is there anything in the underbelly where the tanks are that could be damaged by water? There was a lot of water coming out.

It could be the 4-way valve, but is much more likely to be the water pump. There's an internal check valve intended to keep city water from flowing backward into the fresh tank. If it gets stuck open, the fresh tank will fill by itself and overflow.

One way to fix it is to get the pump replaced. If you call Heartland, they'll probably ship you one that you can install yourself. It's pretty easy.

The other way is to add an inline check valve on the suction side of the pump, so it's in between the pump and the fresh tank.

There's a diagram on page 11 of our Water Systems Guide that illustrates what's happening.
 

Nwasher

Member
Ok. How do you get to the pump? Also since the fresh water tank overflowed and water was coming out from the underbelly is there anything in the underbelly that could have been damaged?

We turned the knob to normal/sanitize/winterize and have been using it that way for now.
 

danemayer

Well-known member
Ok. How do you get to the pump? Also since the fresh water tank overflowed and water was coming out from the underbelly is there anything in the underbelly that could have been damaged?

We turned the knob to normal/sanitize/winterize and have been using it that way for now.

The pump is usually near the water connections, behind the Universal Docking Center (UDC). Layouts vary, but on many rigs, you have to take down the rear wall of the pass through basement storage.

A 1/2" brass check valve by Sharkbite can be installed in a couple of minutes once the wall is down. You cut the pex on the input side of the pump and slip the pex into the fitting. Just make sure the arrow on the check valve is pointed the right direction.
 

Nwasher

Member
Ok. If we install the check valve by Sharkbite would we still need a new pump? The pump is still working.
 

danemayer

Well-known member
Ok. If we install the check valve by Sharkbite would we still need a new pump? The pump is still working.

The check valve will stop the fresh tank from filling by itself. After you install it, replacing the pump for the same problem would be optional.
 
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