Phantom Water Leak...

[mgirardo]

The last time we went camping in February, we were on a concrete pad and after being parked for about an hour, I noticed a nice big puddle under the sewer outlet. I crawled under and saw water was running along the grey water plumbing and dripping onto the ground. I couldn't tell exactly where it was coming from. I turned off the city water. I checked inside and didn't find any water until I went into the bathroom. There was a little water along the back wall, which is where the fresh water comes into the motorhome.

I cleaned up the water and just used the fresh water tank for the rest of the short trip. After we got home, I pulled apart the wood hiding the piping and dismantled the cabinet that hides where furnace and the fresh water inlet. I hooked up a hose and turned on the water. I ran about 10 gallons through the bathroom sink and kitchen sink and then left the city water on for about 2 hours. I couldn't find a drop of water anywhere. I put the cabinet back together, but left the wood that hides the piping on the floor off.

Now we are camping again. We are using city water again. We've been hooked up to city water since early afternoon and again, there isn't a drop of water anywhere. We are not on a concrete pad, but I put a towel down under where it leaked before and the towel is dry.

Our motorhome has a water valve control board. There is one hookup for city water and there are 5 valves to control where the water goes. For example, if I want to fill the fresh water tank, I arrange the levers in a specific order; if I am running off city water, I rearrange them in a different order, etc.

My thinking is that perhaps when I switched from running off the fresh water tank during the drive to using city water when we got to the campground, I did not move the levers fully or the levers didn't fully engage and it caused the water to leak out onto the bathroom floor and out the motorhome.

Has anyone with a similar water control setup ever experience such an issue? The thing I don't understand is if my thinking is correct, I would expect a lot more water to have been on the floor of the bathroom, but it probably wasn't more than a cup of water and maybe a cup of water under the motorhome.

-Michael

[mgirardo]

Artum Snowbird wrote:
It's a possibility for sure. You can try it again, and then try pumping up your own system and then leave the taps tight and start the hot water tank to see what happens.

I always run the Hot Water heater and I'm running it now without an issue. The hot water heater is in a separate location from the city water inlet and that hot water heater area was dry.

ronfisherman wrote:
High water pressure can cause a leak. Are you using a water pressure regulator?

No, I wasn't using a water pressure regulator, because something is wrong with mine. It completely restricts flow. We were in Fort Wilderness and I've never used a pressure regulator there before. We are going again next month and I'll pick up a new regulator and see what happens when I am there.

However, if high pressure caused the leak, wouldn't it still be leaking now?

Thanks for the responses guys, I appreciate it!

-Michael

[ronfisherman]

High water pressure can cause a leak. Are you using a water pressure regulator?

[Artum_Snowbird]

So, when you connected to the city line, you put your system under city pressure. At that time, perhaps you put on your hot water tank? Maybe you did, and perhaps the pressure was high on the city water and rather than expelling the excess once the water was heated out the pressure relief valve, it found another place with just a little less pressure required.

It's a possibility for sure. You can try it again, and then try pumping up your own system and then leave the taps tight and start the hot water tank to see what happens.