Forum Discussion

GmaTessa's avatar
GmaTessa
Explorer
Oct 05, 2016

Leak at point where hand-held showerhead connects to faucet

Thanks to those who addressed my first forum posting regarding a sewer smell under the kitchen sink. It was a faulty air admittance valve which we replaced and have had no further problems. Since everyone was so helpful with that, I'm posting another issue we are experiencing and asking for help/advice. We have a 2014 KZ Sportsmen Classic 200 travel trailer. The issue we are having is with the shower. When we pull the faucet stem to use the hand-held showerhead, there is a leak at the point where the line from the showerhead connects to the faucet. We've taken it all apart, blew out the line in case there was blockage (none) and we can see no visible cracks (the faucet is plastic). My husband has hand tightened the connection as tight as he could but it still leaks. He is considering tightening with a wrench but worried that will cause the connection to crack. Has anyone else experienced this? Would we be better off replacing the entire faucet with a metal one? We appreciate your advice. Thanks!
  • All_I_could_aff's avatar
    All_I_could_aff
    Explorer
    Oct 05, 2016
    Most likely equipped with a vacuum breaker in line to prevent back flow. There is probably a small sticker with tiny print worn away stating that. Some dripping is normal upon turning off the hand held hose. Continuous leakage usually means replace the valve.
  • westend's avatar
    westend
    Explorer
    Oct 05, 2016
    JUst replace the cheap OEM head with a better one. Your hubby can put a wrench on the original because if it breaks, you'll get the better one quicker.
  • bartlettj's avatar
    bartlettj
    Explorer
    Oct 06, 2016
    It's likely that the valve has frozen at some point and the plastic has cracked. This has happened to me a couple of times with my exterior shower valve. The crack tends to be very hard to see because it only spreads when there is water pressure on it. A lot of these valves don't completely empty even if you drain the water out.
  • mike-s's avatar
    mike-s
    Explorer
    Oct 06, 2016
    All I could afford wrote:
    Most likely equipped with a vacuum breaker in line to prevent back flow. There is probably a small sticker with tiny print worn away stating that. Some dripping is normal upon turning off the hand held hose. Continuous leakage usually means replace the valve.
    This. They're designed to leak for a while after use. Only if it's still leaking a day later do you have an issue.

    The vacuum breaker, which causes this, it a safety device. It prevents water from siphoning back into the fresh water system if the shower head were to be dropped (and left) into gray water. Not a very likely occurrence to have a tub/basin left full and the shower head left in it, but possible. Welcome to nanny government, which requires manufacturer's to protect you from yourself.
  • nickthehunter's avatar
    nickthehunter
    Nomad II
    Oct 06, 2016
    There should be an o-ring gasket in the screw on connector, I'll bet it's missing.
  • GmaTessa's avatar
    GmaTessa
    Explorer
    Oct 18, 2016
    Thanks all for the suggestions. After a few days of deliberation, and since we are leaving in a couple days for our last camping trip of the season, my husband decided to take the easy route and replaced the o-ring and used plumbers tape around the point where the line for the handheld connects to the faucet. That has seemed to work so far with just running a bit of water through here at home but the real test will be while we are on our trip and using the shower. We will more than likely replace the entire faucet early next spring prior to our camping adventures next year. Thanks!

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