Wet floor near shower from full holding tank - why?

zztop

Active Member
What can be the problem? The DW took a shower and said that the water was not draining very fast. I just happened to be by the front door, so I checked the holding tank levels. Sure enough The rear holding tank was full.
I took a step forward and having bare feet felt that the carpet was wet by the steps and around the tv/radio consol.
Why would the floor get wet rather than filling the shower?:eek: Is some thing loose in the plumbing?
 

JohnDar

Prolifically Gabby Member
That would be my guess. Usually plastic drain traps have fittings that are tightened by hand, not glued together. Or the flange nut to the shower drain is loose and the gasket is installed cockeyed, as was the case with our bathroom sink (caught it early on our first trip). Good practice to regularly check all accessible plumbing fittings for tightness and leaks, including those behind the basement walls.
 

zztop

Active Member
Yes, I did drain the holding tank. It was full,as I stated in my OP. The question is why is it leaking.
 

Pulltab

Well-known member
I don't believe you have a plumbing problem, at least not with the piping. Usually the drain where it comes thru the floor has a fairly large hole cut in the floor, if it were to leak it would go into the basement. My guess is you have a leak around the glass or the gasket is missing from behind the access panel if you have one. Another spot is often they will leak behind the faucet control.

Don't rely on the lights for levels to much, it is not uncommon to dump the tanks and have them still read full.
 

bsummit

Arkansas Chapter Leader-Retired
Why do you not leave the gray tank valve's open? When you have full hook-up's leave the gray valves open. As far as the leak, remove the partition in the storage area and check the drain. If no leak is found it would probably be like pulltab said about the glass.
Good luck, Bill
 

zztop

Active Member
Pulltab,
We have been showering in there for over 2 weeks, with no leaks. So I would think that it must have something to do with an over full holding tank. But I will check that out.

Bill ,
I had only a elec and water only hookup.
 

Pulltab

Well-known member
Ask your wife if while she was showering she had the head pointed at a particular wall or glass panel while doing whatever women do in showers and not wanting the water hitting them. That was the first time it arose for us. I would almost guarantee that if you had a leak from the grey tank it would have filled the basement not cover the bedroom floor upstairs. Do as Bill Summit suggested and remove the basement wall panel so you can see the drain coming out. You will see a fairly large hole the drain comes thru, so unless the seal was bad in the drain and it just leached along the bottom of the shower enclosure that is not your problem.
 

Pulltab

Well-known member
Pulltab,
We have been showering in there for over 2 weeks, with no leaks. So I would think that it must have something to do with an over full holding tank. But I will check that out.
LOL! ZZ, I am guessing you are possibly a new rv owner. First let me say welcome to the forum, as you can see plenty of people will help you sort this out. Second shower for 2 weeks with no problem is like saying I been driving my car for 2 weeks and BAM it just quit :p:p . Just poking at ya my friend.:D

We'll get ya fixed up but your gonna have to do some checking.
 
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bsummit

Arkansas Chapter Leader-Retired
LOL! Bill, I am guessing you are possibly a new rv owner. First let me say welcome to the forum, as you can see plenty of people will help you sort this out. Second shower for 2 weeks with no problem is like saying I been driving my car for 2 weeks and BAM it just quit :p:p . Just poking at ya my friend.:D

We'll get ya fixed up but your gonna have to do some checking.

Is zztop's name also Bill.
This Bill is not a new RV owner.
Just checking pulltab.
Bill
 

Pulltab

Well-known member
Is zztop's name also Bill.
This Bill is not a new RV owner.
Just checking pulltab.
Bill
LOL I could have sworn I seen him sign a post using bill, so if his name is not bill then I was referring to zztop :D

I went back and corrected my post. Sorry for the confusion. ;)
 

zztop

Active Member
Well, I think I have found the problem. Although I have not checked for the loose shower drain fitting yet, that's on the back bunner for now.
I got wet carpet again, next to the entertainment cabinet and even a little in the slide under the sofabed. I took a good look in the shower and low and behold, next to the bathroom sink cabinet where the metal frame holding the corner shower glass meets the shower pan, I found a gap about 3/8 of an inch near the wall down to zero at the door hinge. It had been half heartedly caulked. The problem was that whomever had installed the shower had not pushed the frame down against the shower pan and over against the wall. They had just simply screwed it right there leaving the gap. I'm sure he must have been a little behind the rest of the crew and they were yelling at him to hurry up so they could roll the unit down the assembly line. Although it should have been done right in the factory, the fix was easy. Since we are on a 2 month trip to Alaska, I figured I had better bring a few tools. I just happened to bring my Makita cordless drill along. So I just backed out the three self-tapping screws and lightly pushed the frame into place and rescrewed it in the proper position. I then bought some clear caulk and caulked it using a borrowed ( WHAT? You guys think I would have thought to bring that too?) caulking gun from the RV park owner. And guess what ? I was hooked up to sewer with the valve open so I was not worried about an overflowing holding tank.

Well the carpet still got wet.

I found that the hose connection to the city water is leaking at a very slow drip, but enough to fill the bottom of the docking station box. From there it is leaking either through the docking station box joints which appear to be lightly caulked or running out the big hole and seeping under the box and into the living area. I put some plumbers tape around the male hose end which has stopped the leak.
I am going to try to caulk the inside of the docking station box when I get it dry and also up under the big 5-6 inch hole where dsb meets the floor. But I also want to put drains in all 4 corners of the dsb to drain any leaks. Any ideas??
Right now I wish the docking station was all on the exterior as I have flooded the basement before this as others have with a bad hose connetion and had the basement door closed and had not found it for an hour or two.

Any other ideas??

No, I am not a new RVer. The last 5er that I had for 5 years was 5 yrs old when I bought it and had most of the quirks worked out and I did a lot of boondocking and only once was hooked to city water.
 

Pulltab

Well-known member
Open the access panel screw plug and reach in behind and make sure the connections to the faucet on the back are all tight. Feel around the back side of the access panel and the faucet to make sure nothing feels wet. I am willing to bet that is the culprit if you feel confident you have sealed the shower completely. If you can not feel any moisture around the bottom of the shower pan on the outside or at the bottom of the panels then it has to be coming from the access area or lines.

Sorry if you think I am being a pain about that but if you really want to stop it you have to completely check these areas. Good luck. Believe me I have chased many a leaks on a few rv's.
 

Tom of Ypsi

Well-known member
ZZtop,

Not to steal this thread but let Heartland know of your wish for an exterior docking station. We have one on our Classic Landmark and love it. I have told HL many times they made a mistake putting the docking center in the storage area. If more people tell HL this maybe they will change their minds. We fulltime and need our storage space for its intended purpose not for a docking center.

BTW Good luck with your water problem.
 

jmgratz

Original Owners Club Member
From what you said your holding tank was full. If the holding tank was full and water was getting on the carpet I would presume your shower was not draining into the holding tank because it was full and the water was going on to the carpet. If you drain your holding tank that should tank care of the problem.
 

zztop

Active Member
From what you said your holding tank was full. If the holding tank was full and water was getting on the carpet I would presume your shower was not draining into the holding tank because it was full and the water was going on to the carpet. If you drain your holding tank that should tank care of the problem.


jmgratz,

I ruled the full holding tank cause out because it happened again 3-4 times with the tank empty. That's not to say that may still be another problem.
 

zztop

Active Member
Open the access panel screw plug and reach in behind and make sure the connections to the faucet on the back are all tight. Feel around the back side of the access panel and the faucet to make sure nothing feels wet. I am willing to bet that is the culprit if you feel confident you have sealed the shower completely. If you can not feel any moisture around the bottom of the shower pan on the outside or at the bottom of the panels then it has to be coming from the access area or lines.


Pulltab,

Thank you, I did check the shower access. It, fortunately, is as dry as a bone.
I am very confident that the docking station leak is the cause of the problem of the last 2 wet carpet episodes at this point.
Thanks.

ZZ
 

branson4020

Icantre Member
Open the access panel screw plug and reach in behind and make sure the connections to the faucet on the back are all tight. Feel around the back side of the access panel and the faucet to make sure nothing feels wet. I am willing to bet that is the culprit if you feel confident you have sealed the shower completely. If you can not feel any moisture around the bottom of the shower pan on the outside or at the bottom of the panels then it has to be coming from the access area or lines.

Sorry if you think I am being a pain about that but if you really want to stop it you have to completely check these areas. Good luck. Believe me I have chased many a leaks on a few rv's.

I'm with Pulltab here. Had your symptoms in my BH and it was a leak behind the shower. Finally got bad enough I could here it dripping. Open that access panel behind the shower and shove some newspaper down there. I'll bet you find your leak.
 

Pulltab

Well-known member
Have you checked the fittings on the back of the hot water tank for leaks? You will have to open up the basement to see although I am assuming you have already done that right? If you haven't you need to get that done and I bet you will see where the leak is occuring.
 

zztop

Active Member
Pulltab,

I have checked the back of the water heater many times. I can access that area which is under the enterainment center in my RK unit by taking out 2 screws and a panel. The panel has not been back on in over since we started our trip. I check it almost every day. The fittings are always dry and so is the floor behind the WH.
The water must run along the floor next to the wall.

ZZ
 
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