Leaking water in underbelly

[Luv-to-camp]

Just bought a 2013 San Antonio Landmark and had water leaks around slide and door seals. We are 7 + hours from Elkhart, and made the trip to the manufacturing plant to get this fixed- didnt trust just anyone to work on this Baby just yet. Camped last night in OH on our way back home in WV and found more leaks in the underbelly-any suggestions from the senior members in this forum on where to start looking for these new leaks?

 

[jimtoo]

Hi Luv-to-camp,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum and Family. We have a great bunch of people here with lots of information and all willing to share their knowledge when needed.

Sorry to hear your having a water leak problem, but it seems that is the most common problem with an RV. Of course the "underbelly" is a big area, it covers it all. I would suggest you drop one side of it down and see if you can pinpoint the area where the leak is. Or maybe the easiest is to remove the panel behind the UDC and check the connections there. Hook up to water and start looking for the drip. You can see a lot of the connectors from that area.

Let us know what you find and I'm sure you will get more suggestions.

Jim M

 

[danemayer]

Hi Luv-to-camp,

Congratulations on your new rig and welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum.

Sorry you're having problems, but this is the right place to look for advice. There's a lot of useful information here along with a great bunch of people who are willing to help when you need it.

I assume that the problem that was just serviced was causing water to get inside the living area and that its been fixed.

Can you elaborate a bit on how much water you're seeing in the underbelly and where.

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[tmcran]

Just bought a 2013 San Antonio Landmark and had water leaks around slide and door seals. We are 7 + hours from Elkhart, and made the trip to the manufacturing plant to get this fixed- didnt trust just anyone to work on this Baby just yet. Camped last night in OH on our way back home in WV and found more leaks in the underbelly-any suggestions from the senior members in this forum on where to start looking for these new leaks?

Didn't the repair facility check for other leaks before you left?

 

[jmgratz]

Look in the basement behind the wall. That is where most of the connections are. Check them all to be certain they are tight. Then look inside under the sinks and be sure they are tight. Behind the UDC too. If you are still in Elkhart and are in warranty take it to a repair facility and let them fix it. RV Capital has a facility you can stay in the RV while they are working on it.

 

[aatauses]

You will be happy with your rig, just sorry you are having some water issues. This is a great place to get help from some great people. Were you actually traveling when you noticed the water or in a campground? Was the water in the basement or in the belly area? Were you hooked to shore water or on your pump? If shore, do you know the pressure (too much will casue a leak in the fittings). If possible, can you send us a picture of your issue and maybe we can give you a few more suggestions.
al

 

[kowAlski631]

We had a leak in our storage area after our first trip out. Check the outside shower if you've looked at all the other fittings in the basement. That's where our service department found a loose fitting.

 

[FlyerChief]

We had a leak in our storage area after our first trip out. Check the outside shower if you've looked at all the other fittings in the basement. That's where our service department found a loose fitting.

A fitting on the back of the outside shower valve was also the culprit for us.


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[wino2]

We just had a substantial number of leaks fixed in our 2012 Rushmore. I hope the factory is taking notes on these leaks everyone is having, and will take a few more minutes for quality control, especially for all of the fittings. Granted there is going to be problems but seems everyone is having the same issues.

 

[Bob&Patty]

Dumb question....where you driving in rain?

 

[debbie1952]

We had some serious issues with our water leaking as well. Under the sink first and then the worst of all was the underbelly was full of water. There was water under the floor of the bedroom, near the sink and night stand. It was a real mess. My husband worked on it for hours and found that there was a hairline crack in one of the fittings. We too have a 2012 Mesa. We really love it, but the quality control could be so much better!

 

[Jarhead]

We had a huge nightmare with water leaks. Virtually every water connection throughout the unit (hot and cold) were not even hand tight. The drains (sinks and shower) had no seals installed and were all loose. All connections leaking. Took me nearly two days to find these connections and tighten them. I dismantled the sink and shower drains and installed plumbers putty as the seal. Every thing is working fine now.
A week later the kitchen sink which is mounted under the countertop collapsed into the cupboard below. It was only held in place with silicone sealant, no metal or wood supports to hold it in place. When my CO filled the sink with water and dishes, the sink collapsed breaking the trap and drain system and making one heck of a mess.
Went back to my dealer and showed him what had happened. He pointed to the factory and quality control. He also thought I'd done a great job repairing everything. Buyer beware is all I can recommend.

 

[danemayer]

Jarhead,

I notice your profile shows you have a 2009 model. Have you bought a 2nd Heartland more recently, or are you posting about something that happened 4 years ago?


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[tmcran]

I had visited with a retired RV tech a few months ago. Told him I had a Heartland Sundance..His first words were "oh you have an RV from the company that leaks". I have sure dealt with leaks myself. Loose connections and parts missing on bottom of slide.What concerns me is the same stories keep showing up with no improvement in CQ.

 

[Jarhead]

Jarhead,

I notice your profile shows you have a 2009 model. Have you bought a 2nd Heartland more recently, or are you posting about something that happened 4 years ago?


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This happened just after we purchased the unit, new.

 

[wino2]

Looks like things haven't changed in a few years. Wouldn't it be cheaper for Heartland to have better quality control than pay a warranty claim.

 

[brianharrison]

Dumb question....where you driving in rain?

Great question - I chased a phantom leak for 6 months until it dawned on me the road splash was wicking its way up into the underbelly.

Brian

 

[alanfred]

Just bought a 2013 San Antonio Landmark and had water leaks around slide and door seals. We are 7 + hours from Elkhart, and made the trip to the manufacturing plant to get this fixed- didnt trust just anyone to work on this Baby just yet. Camped last night in OH on our way back home in WV and found more leaks in the underbelly-any suggestions from the senior members in this forum on where to start looking for these new leaks?

Our dealer did a fantastic job on our PDI. While flooding the holding tanks, a leak was detected at the input pipe to the black tank. Dealer sealed it. While the panels were removed it gave me a great opportunity to check what's behind the bulk head.

 

[wmevans]

We too had numerous problems with our plumbing. The advice so far seems on par with what we saw:

• the PDI from our dealer was not good at all, and all of our fittings were not even hand-tight. Eventually fixed.
• the external shower assembly had two problems: first, it had a leak in the back-side (hose connections); and second, the thumb-trigger for allowing water flow out the nozzle was not staying closed when we stowed the handle.
• the fittings used (all plastic) are now being replaced with more durable (brass or copper) ones. We were advised by several plumbers (RV-specific) that the previous fittings were relatively unreliable and not necessarily appropriate for long-term steady use (we full-time in our rig).
• one of our more recent leaks detected was at the point where the hose connects to the water heater, again a plastic fitting. This was a difficult one to find since it was seeping down, so drips needed to be hunted down.

Advice:

• (Re)Check all fittings for the shower, sink(s), and external shower.
• Get access to the back side of the water panel and double check all fittings, especially under city-water pressure and with/without a sink drawing water.
• I have gotten fairly proficient at removing the walls to gain access to this protected area from the "basement" of the coach.
• Check the base of the water heater for signs of water-soak.
• Replace all plastic or simple compression fittings with more durable fittings ("T" and otherwise).
• Keep a tube of caulk (clear or otherwise) (our shower space had to be caulked again).
• Use a pressure-regulator. The simple gauge-less ones are okay, we purchased one that has a gauge and the ability to dial it up or down. (Our previous 50-psi pressure regulator has a tolerance, and it was only delivering 40 +/- 3 psi.) Though we haven't had problems with over-pressure, many have warned us with horror-stories. (This is the only advice here that I pass on and did not learn the hard way.)

We had intermittent leaks, so we purchased a moisture detector (got it at Campers World). It alarmed the first night we installed it. Ours allows for installing the sensor and alarm-box at different locations (wired), allowing for easier access to shut it off, as it is alarmingly (?) loud. Good thing.

-bill