Grey "quest" piping??

delete

I have a 1988 Avion 34' trailer that is full of Polybutelene piping. It is the worst piping water material ever inflicted on the modern public. It was known to not only have bad fittings but the piping itself will get linear cracks from exposure to chlorine. Anyone know of any municipalities that use chlorine as a disinfectant within their water systems?
When I get the time, in the next decade or so, I will replace all of it with PEX (a).

Thank you,,,,, just ordered the catalog.

Are there suppliers that publish supply catalogs that you can get to quickly reference parts cost?
it's called "camping world"
http://www.campingworld.com/

Quest was discontinued in 1995. It sounds like they were still using what they had in inventory on your trailer. Although PB pipe failures do occur, the primary leak problems are the acetal (plastic) fittings. If copper fittings & crimp rings have been used (properly installed) there is little concern. When cutting and modifying Quest piping, simply use Pex with brass fittings, onward from the point of interconnect. BUT, be sure to use the Quest X Pex conversion couplings. Although similar in appearance, there is a slight variation in insert size/configuration. There are several types of crimps, but if you are using copper rings, remember that copper color (natural) rings are on the Quest side and black rings are on the Pex side. Hope this helps.

I replumbed my rig with PEX. It is not a job for the faint of heart. You will discover many joints that are in hard to reach spaces. As was posted, if you have butyl pipe, remove it.

FWIW, I had two butyl supply lines in my house, both in the bathroom. One night, while sleeping, I heard one let go. Raced into the bathroom to find 10 gals. of water in the vanity and across the floor. Ripped all of it out the next day and haven't had a leak since.

I second PEX, because it is easy to work with, is fairly flexible, freeze-resistant (not freeze-proof, but more forgiving), and there are many ways to join PEX tubing together. Only fittings I'd be leery of (just from reading the Airstream forum) are Sharkbite ones (there are better) because only one O-ring separates you from a leak, and there are others that are reusable like Flair-It or Seaquest which do a better job of securing the pipe onto the fitting, and use pressure all around the pipe to ensure a seal.

If you have Quest I would re plumb the whole thing. This stuff was banned from houses years ago because of all the leaks. The company that made it had to pay to have many entire finished houses re plumbed. I personally know 2 people who had this done. One was preventative. One was done after a big leak in the wall caused extensive damage to the home.
CPVC would certainly work. I find PEX easier to work with. PEX is what is used from the factory in every modern RV I've looked at.

GA1dad wrote:
So I hooked up the water on my new (to me) 1997 Gulfstream and found leaks at the kitchen faucet. I promtly shut the water back off and am assuming there are more leaks. In your experience, would you repair leaks as found or re-do the entire plumbing system with CPVC? Some of it looks pretty easily accessible, but some of it looks pretty tricky to get to.

The good news is that the furnace worked on our maiden voyage this weekend! Woo-hoo!! But the square roof vent cap leaked when it rained and soaked a brand new mattress,,,,, I guess my project list has gotten a little more detailed.

It sounds like you have the dreaded Polybutylene piping which had all sorts of issue with deterioration and leaks due to chlorine and hot water susceptability. I'm sort of surprised it was still in use in 1997 since IIRC it was banned sometime in the 80's. If you do have it I personally would replumb your RV since I wouldn't trust it and the fittings like elbows, etc. are notorious for leaking. You need to confirm that you do in fact have the PB pipe and if you don't replace it I would never leave you water pump on or keep city water pressure on the lines when unattended.

Larry

We had water leak between water tank and shower.....ended up replacing with PEX
We had a leak at the kitchen sink.....replaced with PEX
STILL had leak at kitchen sink.....discovered the spendy faucet we bought was leaking......when taken apart, the copper tubes were touching metal (causes a chemical reaction that causes holes).....replaced with new MOEN faucet....no more problems.
All problems occurred during different trips
DH stated if he had it to do over again, he'd have replaced EVERYTHING once and for all
:) :) I sat back and supervised