Forum Discussion

klr650goldwing's avatar
Mar 19, 2022

Water leak, we cannot find.

Today water started leaking out from between the membrane on the very bottom of the 5er and the metal frame the screws that hold it on are attached to. Upon inspection, the membrane was full of water all the way across the trailer and the entire area in from of the first axle was sagging severely. We shut off the water spigot, cleaned everything out of the basement, there was no water in the basement, and removed the wall to gain access to the area behind the water valves. With the wall removed we inspected everything and saw no leaks. So we turned the spigot back on there were no leaks anywhere. Next, we turned on the water in the kitchen sink, bathroom and shower one at a time. There were no leaks. After that we removed all the screws that were holding the membrane on one side. Here, we could see where water had been, but couldn't tell where it was leaking. I think our next step is to remove all the screws from the membrane in front of the first axle and pull the membrane down to get a better view. But before I do all of that, I thought I'd ask all the knowledgeable people who might have been here before. Is there a better idea than removing the membrane? Can you offer me any ideas of how that area could get wet? The wet area is all below the basement floor. By the way our trailer is a Grand Design Solitude 369RL.
  • My guess is that you have a cracked drain in your shower that only leaks when under strain from the floor flexing while you are standing in the shower with the water running. Try having someone walking around in the shower while the water is on and see if you see leaking below. We’ve had 2 trailers with that exact problem.
  • Check out HappilyeverHanks on YouTube. There is too much to just be a coincidence. Same 5th as you, not sure the year. They posted their problem not to long ago-
  • There is a recall on some models. Apparently water laying in the coroplast "membrane" can cause electrical issues because of the way trailers are manufactured. These trailers and probably most other brands have all the electrical and plumbing just laying loose and supported by the coroplast "membrane" thus nothing is tied to the frame or structure!!! If that fills with water you can have major electrical issues and possibly even danger because all that stuff could be laying in water. Water can actually be forced in or find it's way in between the screws holding up the coroplast!! Imagine the pressure especially in the front when traveling in heavy rain at 60 MPH. Water will come in and lay in the lowest point causing it to sag even more with the weight of water!! Check with Grand Design to find if your unit has the recall. They may take care of this for you.

    I agree with one post that suggested you drill holes in the lowest point of the coroplast to let water out before removing any screws yourself!! It could be very heavy and fall when the last screw is removed.
  • Really, the only way to know for sure is to drop enough of the coroplast down so you can get eyes on everything. Before you do that, you might want to carefully drill a hole at the lowest point of the coroplast to let the water out gently instead of all at once when you are on your back on the ground under the tank. Watch out for pipe and wires. Hopefully (if it's not a water line leak) it's not your black tank.

    Had that happen last year. Found the leak by filling the grey tank. Turned out to be a flange along the top of the tank that (of course) only leaked when it was full. I had to put in a new tank and put in a couple of extra support straps under it to take some of the weight off the flange when it was full. I also strapped the black tank as well since I was looking at it.

    Hope this helps.