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PeteandDeb · 01-04-2018, 05:36 PM

Our new-to-us Diplomat surprised us with a mid-slide leak during a recent rainstorm ... but after investigating, it seemed to me to be coming from the fridge ... could see water drops falling from the interior side wall of the fridge enclosure. Having had a leak in the La Palma from the doggone icemaker water line, I'm assuming that's the cause of this leak. In looking at the outside, I found the solenoid and a valve behind the lower access panel. Can't really see anything in the top access area as there's a metal plate protecting the fins.
I followed the water line under the fridge and found it runs all the way back to the rear of the slide ... but saw no valves anywhere. On the La Palma there was a valve hiding under the fridge, so I'm assuming that the Diplomat will also have a second valve for this line.
Anyone have an idea where that might be hiding??

SPA48 · 01-06-2018, 10:35 PM

On my 06 Dip. if you take the wood cover off with the fins under the frig. you'll fine that valve where the water line connects to. Good Luck!!!!

Steve

K7JV · 01-07-2018, 05:52 AM

The line that goes up the back of the fridge is not under pressure, and is only passing water during the few seconds it takes to fill the ice tray, from time to time. I feel it is highly unlikely that a leak coming down the side wall of the fridge compartment would be coming from the ice maker line.

One exception to that would be if the solenoid has an extremely tiny leak thru the diaphragm. That can cause it to freeze in the ice-maker where it comes in thru the back wall of the compartment. In that case, two things will happen. The ice maker will stop making new ice, and the line up the back of the fridge WILL become a pressurized line whenever the ice maker is calling for more water. When that happens, the likely failure mode is for the line to pop off at the top of the fridge thus allowing the water to "pee" wherever it is pointed.

Good luck finding your leak. Actually, if it was happening in a serious rain, and assuming your fridge is not mounted in a slide-out, I would remove the cover on the roof above the fridge and check all of the caulking integrity around it, as well as around any other roof penetrations near there.

PeteandDeb · 01-08-2018, 08:00 AM

Unfortunately, the fridge is in the middle of the full wall slide. We noticed the wet carpet during a heavy rain, but with the slide cover intact, don't see how the leak could be from the rain. We were hooked up to city water at the time so there was more water pressure than with the pump. Water was coming from midwall of the fridge enclosure so that's why I'm suspicious of the icemaker line. If I can find another valve to get the water turned off, then I can eliminate that line as a culprit (or confirm it).

Steve, that's the first place I looked, since that's where I was vacuuming up most of the water. That's where the valve was in my 06 La Palma ... but no valve in the 08 Dip.

K7JV · 01-08-2018, 09:20 AM

May not be your issue, but I'll share an experience we had. On our '06 Dynasty, we were parked and had a pretty good rain. The slide topper over our long driver side slide pooled water. This is VERY common on slide toppers, particularly on longer slides. The material sagged sufficiently to allow it to "touch" the roof of the slide. As soon as the topper material is touched from below, when holding water, it will almost immediately begin to leak thru the point of contact. It doesn't damage it, it merely enables a path for water passage.

We found that we had the problem when we had water dripping from the light fixture on the wall, mid-slide. The water found its way under the slide seam seal tape, mid slide, then tracked down the end of the cabinet, across the floor of the cabinet, and then dripped into the top of the light fixture, which eventually allowed it to drop onto the side cabinet top. Took a while to find the source.

Not too much later, we replaced that topper, and while it was off, we re-established the integrity of the slide seam seal tapes. No more leaks, YET!! But, on the minus side, the new topper pooled just as much as the old one. So we now try to monitor the water on the topper, and if it gets significant, we pull the slide in to dump it off. Also, I used some 1" PVC pipe to create a long "lifter" that we place lengthwise under the topper when we are in wet environments and planning to be parked for a while. It works, but it's not all that convenient to slide in under the topper. And a long topper like you might have would create some challenges with how to push it far enough under it to do the good, and still be able to remove it.

Good luck in your searching!