Lesson Learned!!

[rhagfo]

Well not long ago there was a post on here about turning off the water when leaving the trailer for any period of time more than hour or so. I responded that we don't as treat much like our Sticks & Bricks. Well that that all changed this last Sunday! We were out of the 5er in town doing some work on our daughters town house, we had left the dogs in the trailer, and at some point one got up on the counter and caught the kitchen sink faucet and turned on the water! Well tank filled, sink filled and then spilled on to carpet and so on!
We are a bit lucky it was clean water, and currently it is hot and dry! Rug Doctor to get 99% of water out of rugs, dehumidifier running full time inside sucking moisture of of the air, underbelly opened up the coreplast I had installed and have a carpet blower running 24/7 into that space (carpet blower is blocked up upside down so the nozzle is directly in line with the opening in the corplast to dry out the under floor insulation.

Lesson Learned will be turning off the water any time we leave the trailer!!!!!

Damage so far noted; The edge to the particleboard counter top has expanded and will need to be replaced, the boards that form the frame for the plywood panels on the backside of the sink peninsula are shot and will need to be replaced. That seems to be worse than particleboard, more like sawdust board wrapped in a wood grain paper, some nice fall projects!

[Pauljdav]

Someone at a rv oark in Mcminville about 2 eeeks ago looked like they did that. Olde stone rv park i think it was.

[BobsYourUncle]

I have an ugly habit of driving away and forgetting to turn stuff off....
Few years ago, emptied tanks, filled fresh, hooked up and drove a couple hundred miles. Stopped for fuel and hmmmm why is my pump running steady?
I go in for a peek and a bottle of shampoo fell off the shower corner shelf thing and scored a bullseye on the hot water tap and turned it on.
Luckily the grey tank was about the same size as the fresh. Emptied the fresh, filled the grey with a little sloshing in the tub.
No harm done but sure got my attention!
I try to remember to turn the thing off but frequently forget, even after the close call. And I try to remember to secure things that will fall too but always seem to miss something, like a pound of butter a few years back.... (I wonder if any of you still remember that story!)
Guess I need to join the note on the steering wheel club!

[2oldman]

CavemanCharlie wrote:
if it going to be a long weekend I bring a extra 5 gallons in the back of my pickup.

I bring an extra 55 gallons.

[CavemanCharlie]

I am a tank only guy too. I don't trust the water sources at all of the parks I go to. Because I'm just a weekend camper I can bring enough water with me. Though, if it going to be a long weekend I bring a extra 5 gallons in the back of my pickup.

[fj12ryder]

ScottG wrote:
I know there are all kinds of one in a million things that can happen.
Still wont stop me form leaving the water and power on. Can't live life worried about those kinds of odds.

Yeah, I'll have to admit I feel the same way.

[rockhillmanor]

Pump or direct water hook up....the water still goes thru the same small plastic tubing with cheap plex fittings just waiting to be an accident to happen. RV's don't have real adult size plumbing pipe like your house. :W

Pump off and water shut off at spigot whenever I leave the RV. Takes all of 2 seconds as I walk to the toad, vs clean up, ruined trip and repair $$$ bills.

[MitchF150]

I'm also a tank only user... I'm only a long weekend camper, so no big deal.. Been doing this for years and we go to a lot of campsites that have water hookups.

I fill my 30 gallon tank with my water from home, that I know the quality of, and usually have water still in it.

Works for me and since I have a 30 gallon black tank and a 30 gallon grey tank, I know they won't fill up, no matter how much water I use!

Turn the pump off whenever we don't need water and that's what's worked for the past 10+ years I've been doing this.

I've turned off a campers water when they had water flowing out of their rig and they were gone... I was just walking around the camp ground and saw it.. Knocked on their door, no answer.. So, just turned off the water.

They came back about an hour later and wondered what happened. I came over and explained what I saw and what I did and they spent the rest of the day trying to clean it all up. The camp host had a wet/dry vac, so that really helped I'm sure..

I was already doing my tank only thing at that point, and that justified it even more..

Good luck!

Mitch

[imgoin4it]

Guy I know who speaks from experience says not "if" you have a leak, but "when" you have a leak. I listened to him but had a leak while on city water in evening why we were in RV not only do I turn off when not in, but use a battery powered water leak alarm in areas that can leak. I know quite a few people who have "experience".

[ScottG]

I know there are all kinds of one in a million things that can happen.
Still wont stop me form leaving the water and power on. Can't live life worried about those kinds of odds.

[path1]

So your joining to "no self contained mode" gang. You'll like it, get up in morning, fill tank, no big deal. Membership is growing flooded RV by flooded RV.

Also if like us when you get ready to go somewhere and lock door and say to yourself...Dang did I shut of the water pump?

My reminder light...

Run a wire with small (not tiny) LED light from pump switch to some place you can see front of RV as your walking/driving off. If you have room to run a wire add a slice with tiny LED light in bedroom, visible from bed.

Learned our lesson the hard way also.

[BizmarksMom]

I think that's the sort of lesson we all learn the hard way.

[Durb]

I saw the same post and also poo-pooed it. Might change my thinking now.

[Lwiddis]

Old Biscuit, me too. Use fresh water pump and tank exclusively. $6,000...wow. And my pump is off until I need water.

[MFL]

Hey Russ, sorry to hear this happened to you!! After hearing of this happening to others on this forum, I'm a pump only guy, and even that gets shut off when away or at night. The system still has enough pressure to flush toilet several times during the night, after turning pump off.

Just this past week, while walking my dog at local park, near campgound, I noticed park employees checking on a nice Montana FW, that had water running out the bottom. Yep, owner was gone, white hose hooked up, and I'm guessing water turned on.

Jerry

[rhagfo]

Old-Biscuit wrote:
Middle of night a $0.50 fitting on backside of water heater busted (cracked from factory installed?).......city water ran for HOURS

2" wadding pool in kitchen/living room........flowed out under slide outs flooding our site plus 2 others

$6000 in damages/costs....new carpet/new linoleum, complete new subfloor in large slide out, motel costs etc.

Since then......no city water ---run on fresh water tank and pump exclusively
Easy to just turn pump OFF when we step outside, go to bed, leave for the day, go for a walk etc.




Best to check floor under carpet in slide outs.

We thought we had gotten all the water up but missed a corner in slide....then I moved chair at dinette and found soft spot.....slide out had to be removed, turned on its side.....subfloor removed (swollen/crumbing from water saturation)
New subfloor installed , slide out reinstalled then new carpet.
All this while FTng.


YEP....no city water PUMP ONLY for us!

Lesson Learned

I think we got lucky the carpet in slide out got damp, not really wet, we worked for a couple hours with a rug doctor to get as much water out as possible. Even though it was 80 degrees out side we fired up the furnace on electric to dry out the floor ducts.

As to training dogs, well they had not got up on the counter in a long time, for a time we were moving the recliner nearest the sink out and away so they could not get up on the counter.

Old Biscuit, I just may join you in pump and tank only!