Surprise... A water leak

[imchud]

Well... We just got back from a week vacation in our 09-3385 B/H, and yes it was a great time.... Until the dreaded LEAK. When we 1st got it last year we took it out for the 1st time and I found the storage Basement had a bunch of water from a leak on the by-pass valve. I got it fixed and thought that was it, Well silly me. Today I was loading the basement and I was moving a few things around and I found a puddle of water under one of the storage totes. After clearing some things out of the way I noticed there was a little stream of water coming from behind the wall, so i removed the wall (again) and saw a very small leak (a drip about every 30 seconds) coming from the by-pass valve again. Then i noticed near the front of the water pump (which I don't use) a small puddle of water, I checked all the conections on just about every fitting i could get my hands on and no drips. The only other thing i found was on the main hose line that feeds the water into the coach was very wet? I think it was just condensation, but i'm not sure. I dried it off and with in about two minutes it was wet again. Can condensation create enough water to stream up and run through the wall and soak a box i had in the basement and also pool up under a storage tote? One more thing please... ...There was no sign of water for the 1st 3 days we were on vacation... I realize you can't tell me whats wrong but if you can take a shot at it, it might help, thanks...

Tommy

 

[SmokeyBare]

If you have not yet... check the fittings on the Hot Water Tank... both Cold water in and Hot water out lines.... any suspected pipe that you can reach... make a few wraps of toilet paper around them... any fitting... the same... if there is a slow leak flowing... the Toilet paper will soon show the signs of being WET.

Gravity makes it difficult for water to flow UP a Pipe.... But water can flow across a level area... and it can flow down from above... so check and check again any plumbing areas....

Outside Shower? Have a sink above the area you are finding the puddles of water?? Could it be coming down from the fittings on the shower valve?

Good Luck on your Quest for a dry basement.

Marv

 

[kkamshop]

Good luck Tommy, we are dealing with a wet underbelly. Have you checked for water there? We can remove the furnace vents in the kitchen and living areas and reach down to check for wet insulation. We did not have any water in the accessible storage areas, not even behind the "wall", so we think our leak is in the drain plumbing or the tanks themselves.

 

[JohnDar]

You would need very cold water flowing through the hose, with the hose in a very warm & humid area to get condensation, much less running condensation. Sounds like something either loose, or not seated/sealed properly. During our PDI, I found a small puddle around the water pump and on top of Gray #1, behind the basement wall. Ended up being the sediment filter on the water pump was not tightened. Fixed on the spot, no further leaks.

The only other leaks we've had...so far...are the signature HL shower stall problem, which I fixed, and the lavatory sink drain gasket was not installed properly, again fixed by me. Every time I pressurize the water system, I check every pipe/fitting I can reach.

 

[imchud]

If you have not yet... check the fittings on the Hot Water Tank... both Cold water in and Hot water out lines.... any suspected pipe that you can reach... make a few wraps of toilet paper around them... any fitting... the same... if there is a slow leak flowing... the Toilet paper will soon show the signs of being WET.

Gravity makes it difficult for water to flow UP a Pipe.... But water can flow across a level area... and it can flow down from above... so check and check again any plumbing areas....

Outside Shower? Have a sink above the area you are finding the puddles of water?? Could it be coming down from the fittings on the shower valve?

Good Luck on your Quest for a dry basement.

Marv

Thanks Guys for all the info... I love Marv's idea regarding the toilet paper wrap for the fittings... I will be back at the 5er on the 5th and will spend some time trying to hunt it down... Also I have read some issues people have had with the shower valves. Now my shower is on the opposite side from where I found the leak, but I guess if the valve was leaking water could leak down the supply lines to the area where I found the water? Also I have (from what it looks like) a access panel on the back wall of the shower, I never took it off to check anything. If the valve is leaking will I be able to access from the panel?? thanks guys

Tommy

 

[lhetsler]

Leak

Yes, the shower panel unscrews and you can tighten the pipes to the hot and cold side. Make sure the clamp on the fresh water fill tank is tight. If your fill hose was wet you likely have a loose clamp there. I actually had to put silicone caulked around the fill hose to get it to stop leaking. As you know, it is a corrigated hose and therefore doesn't clamp down perfectly on the surface of the filler orifice.

I found that I was getting water from the central control center where you fill the city water. Sometimes things can get a little wet in there where you are filling and I found that a little water was getting behind the walls of the control center, so I unscrewed each valve and caulked behind them and refastened them. That solved the problem. Make sure all the corners of that control box are well caulked as well.

One other thing I remember once I left the outside shower faucets in the on position and during travel or even stopped the push button gets pushed a little when it is in its storage compartment and was getting water into the basement. So alway shut those valves off. Don't depend on the sprayer lever as it may get pushed.

I have a habit of checking the pressurized system for each trip and sometimes in the middle of a long trip. The water system gets contantly jarred and it is just a good idea to check once and a while to catch any small problem before it becomes a big one. Good luck.

 

[imchud]

If you have not yet... check the fittings on the Hot Water Tank... both Cold water in and Hot water out lines.... any suspected pipe that you can reach... make a few wraps of toilet paper around them... any fitting... the same... if there is a slow leak flowing... the Toilet paper will soon show the signs of being WET.

Gravity makes it difficult for water to flow UP a Pipe.... But water can flow across a level area... and it can flow down from above... so check and check again any plumbing areas....

Outside Shower? Have a sink above the area you are finding the puddles of water?? Could it be coming down from the fittings on the shower valve?

Good Luck on your Quest for a dry basement.

Marv

Well, I got to the B/H today and removed the panel to do the toilet paper trick on the fittings... I then hooked up the water line and then waited approx 1 hour before i check back to see if any of the paper was wet...
what I found was the same fitting that had a bad clamp on the by-pass valve that I thought was fixed last year was leaking again. This time the clamp was fine but the the fitting had a crack in it... When I tried to remove it only half of the fitting came out, the threads stayed in the valve... Well after a few very well placed choice words and a hour or so of cutting it out with a razor knife it finally broke loose. I put in the new improved fitting in and hook the water back up and............................
Wait for it......... Wait for it.......... I Now I have a dry Basement
I also found out (Via the toilet Paper method) that I had three more fittings that were loose that I fixed just by tighting by hand...


Tommy

 

[wdk450]

Water system Proactive Leaktesting

I just got through finding and getting fixed a leak in my propane system. I had my dealer's 1 service guy out on this a couple of months ago, he came without all of the proper test gear, and told us what we smelled was NOT propane. He did a few bubble juice tests and didn't find anything.
On a recent trip, I bought a propane pressure guage to keep an eye on how much gas was left in a tank. Last week I pressurized the propane system with the guage in line on the tank, then turned off the tank valve. I watched the pressure needle slowly bleed down. I called the dealer again, and he was too swamped with service calls to handle it. I took it to a local independent RV servicer who had a **** of a time finding the leak, but finally found a cracked fitting where the flex hose connects to the kitchen slide (I think i have heard of this one before on the forum). It cost me $134, but no more propane leak.
What has this to do with water leaks?? I know that water pipelines in houses are checked just about the same way as I checked for a propane leaks by the building inspector. A fitting and guage is screwed onto a hose faucet, and pressurized air is pumped into the system with a tire valve on the test fitting. The test guage is left connected overnight and must not leak down.
Maybe this would be a smart test to start doing after any travel on the rig and before setting up anywhere to minimize the chances of water leak problems.

 

[SmokeyBare]

Tom,

Sure glad you found the cracked fitting and was not too difficult to get it replaced... Could have been far worse if you weren't as careful as you were taking out the broken thread part of the fitting... your choice of a razor knife saved from damaging the threaded area and made the repair a quick fix !

Bill,

Thanks for the post on the Propane leak.

Even with the proper test methods... the Service tech missed finding it... that said... your right ! Gas company always did a pressure test on house gas lines before they passed the inspection and allowed the gas to be turned on.

Trouble with propane or natural gas... with the odor they put in so we can tell when there is a leak... it sometimes can leave a lingering smell on the fittings & pipes.

The soap bubble method is still far safer method for anyone to use... please guys, don't be tempted to use the Zippo to check... GASP !!! :O

Thanks for the tip.

Marv

 

[Rickhansen]

Tommy,
Another possibility is a leak in the UDC. We thought we had a plumbing leak in the belly, but we had a leak in the main hose fitting in the UDC compartment. Water was running in and dripping off the birds nest of plumbing lines behind the wall. I sealed all of the penetrations in the UDC backpanel with Silicone caulk and the problem went away.

 

[twrailroad]

I have had several leaks at the by pass valves also. It seems like everytime we move from one place to another the leaks begin again. I hope by tightening up everything AGAIN, it will work this time.

 

[lhetsler]

Udc

I had the same problem with the UDC. I sealed all the edges and pulled the plates off where the valve etc go through the wall and caulked the back of them and put them back on, problem went away. You usually splash some water around in there when filling and using black water flush and that can go through all the holes that have been created for the hoses and pipes. Also check the water fill hose. It is corrugated and I had to put silicone on it to get it to seal right.