Plumbing gremlins hit this week!!

kakampers

Past Heartland Ambassador
Well after our episode the other night with the kitchen faucet...more problems after moving locations today!

This time we are at a rally, we hooked up to the 30 amp service and nothing...tried another plug...same thing...nothing! Got scared started looking at the coach to find out why no power. While checking the breaker box, I noticed discolored carpet at the very bottom of the steps going to the bedroom...touched it and was definitely wet. Really got scared then...thought maybe a leak had shorted out the converter or something.

We pulled out the box and tried to look behind it. Couldn't see much, but noticed some of the wood attached to the floor behind the box had soaked up a small amount of water...just couldn't see where it was coming from. Emptied out the cargo bay so we could open the wall from the back side...still didn't see anything. Then I had a thought...we had flushed the black tank prior to leaving our last location, but nothing going up to the infamous "vent valve" had any indication of being wet. Decided to turn the flush on to see what happened...THERE IT WAS...the water line going into the black tank to flush, was spraying water out the side and DIRECTLY onto the cooling fins on the 12 volt converter/battery charger!!!

Turned the water off immediately and reached in to check the hose...it had approximately a 3/4" slit on the back side of the hose...apparently every time we flushed this thing had been leaking water into this compartment...for TEN MONTHS!! It was obviously cut during construction, as there was absolutely nothing that could have cut it since the area was closed up. Cannot believe our entire electrical system hadn't been ruined...guess that says good things about the equipment itself.

As it turned out there were two breakers on the electric box we were trying to hook to that were bad...Richmond Raceway came and fixed that and our electric is fine! Guess it was a good thing this happened otherwise we may not have found the leak for quite awhile and no telling how much damage we could've had!

This is definitely one time we are REALLY happy we sell Rescue Tape:D...wrapped that puppy up...tested it again, good as new. Don't want to have to try and replace it as it goes down into the underbelly and apparently connects to the black tank...not a job we want to handle!

Does it ever end??? LOL:cool:
 

Ray LeTourneau

Senior Member - Past Moderator
WOW! Ken, are you full time? I was just speculating that if you aren't, maybe most of the time when flushing the tank, you weren't hooked up to electric? It's great that no major damage was done and no one was zapped. Now, what is this Rescue Tape you mentioned? Could you repair the cut by using a pex coupling? I've been planning to remove our basement wall to possibly make some storage room. Not to carry MORE stuff but to better organize the stuff I do carry. I'll have to do a closer inspection on what's in that area.
 

kakampers

Past Heartland Ambassador
Yeah Ken, we are fulltime. We could definitely fix it by cutting out the bad section and connecting the remaining parts with a Pex connecter. However, Rescue Tape is a silicone self-fusing repair tape made just for this type of situation. Since the repair is inside, and it doesn't have to deal with UV or the elements, it's virtually permanent...think we'll just leave it alone.

You won't like what you find when you open that wall...it's a mass of wires, hoses and pipes all jumbled together. Took a while to sort things out. It really is an accident waiting to happen with water and drain lines running right over electrical components and connections...guess we really got lucky@
 

htneighbors

Unbelievably Blessed!
What lurks beyond that wall?

Ken is 100% correct - "You won't like what you find when you open that wall...it's a mass of wires, hoses and pipes all jumbled together. Took a while to sort things out. It really is an accident waiting to happen with water and drain lines running right over electrical components and connections..."

Without a doubt! Ditto in the Cyclone. When searching for a water leak a couple of months ago, I opened the wall in my storage! Like Ken - I didn't like what I found! :eek: :confused: I recently bought some PEX pipe, connectors and fittings, crimp tool - and I have plenty of electrical parts, materials, plastic boxes, etc. I currently have the Cyclone parked in a high school parking area across the street from my stix & brix. (Same location as the current photo in my signature.)

First thing in the morning I plan to get started on cleaning up that mess, re-routing water and electric...in addition to a little more winter weather prep work. Hopefully I can get it done in 2 days. Got a weekend trip planned with my folks for their 50th wedding anniversary. Then home for 3 days before heading to Branson. The morning after I get home from Branson, I'll be taking off for Wyoming.

Last Saturday was my last day with a company I had been with for 9 years. I'm taking a position with a company from Colorado, headed to a project near Douglas, Wyoming - supposed to be completed sometime in October.

I'll be sure to get photos and post in the Cyclone forum.
 

ChopperBill

Well-known member
I Bought some rescue tape at the RV show last winter in Denver. Just had a opportunity to use it yesterday. Had a split air intake on a plastic air box on a Polaris I was working on. Used it to fix the split. That stuff worked great!
 
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