Hidden Water Leak

[DRosedale]

New member, somewhat new to RVing, have had a couple of pull behinds, but never a motor home. Just purchased a new (2011) Coachmen Concord 300TS with a hidden water leak looking for help. I would take it back to the dealer, however dealer is 350 miles from my home. Hoping it is something I can fix before having to make an 8 plus hour drive. Now to the problem. On the passenger side of the coach, about 18 to 24 inches behind the rear wheels I noticed water on the concrete, I keep the coach in a totally enclosed location, so I knew it was not rain water. Upon further inspection I noticed water dripping, not fast, but fast enough to cause a puddle in this location. I crawled under the coach and found the drip, but could trace it back to the source. The inside of the coach is dry and the only water on that side of the coach is the shower. The shower is about 4 feet or so from where the drip is located. I know water will run to the lowest point so I guess it could be coming from the shower. The water appears to be running on the inside of the outside wall of the coach and below floor level, since there is no water in the coach. I hope this makes sense, if not, please let me know and I will try to explain a little better if I can. I would appreciate any help or suggestions.

We have had the coach two weeks and I have already had to replace the converter and now this. We have only spent 1 night in the coach and DW is giving me some dirty looks and making comments about lemons.

Thanks

[Jim Stewart]

Try putting some food coloring in the water in the drain of the shower and check again. Then try each drain one at a time. This may help you determine if it is a drain. If it is a drain, the drip should stop after a while.

Even if it is a water line, it should stop after a while as the pressure is released from the lines by whereever it is dripping. If you think it is a water line to the shower, you probable have an access panel on the wall outside of the shower that you can check.

[Fencebuster]

I'm not familiar with the Coachman's configuration but we had a very small leak underneath as well. It turned out to be a drain tube from the gray water tank. They were able to tighten it up and put some goop on it to keep it that way. Leak is gone. We just must have shaken something loose - it is still pretty new and hasn't been out that much.

Good luck to you. Please post back what you learn.

[DRosedale]

Thanks Jim for the information. I will try the food coloring down the drain. I forgot to mention a couple of things. The coach is NOT hooked to shore water, the only water is the fresh water tank. There is waste in the black tank and some in the grey tank, but since the water dripping is clean, I assume it is coming from the fresh water tank. The one night we spent in the coach it was hooked to shore water and I noticed water on the parking pad in the same location it is now. Not knowing any better and since I had used the air conditioner, I assumed the water was from the air conditioner. The coach has been parked now for a little over a week and the air conditioner has NOT been on. I dried the area of water earlier today and bleed the water lines by turning on the faucets. I will check tomorrow to see if the spot is wet.

[4Knights]

May be way off but I have to ask, how full is your water tank and is there a temperature fluctuation where it's parked? It could be a simple as an overfull water tank that is venting excess water. hope that's it.
Ron

Ron & Wendy 94 Pace Arrow 454

[DRosedale]

Thanks Fencebuster for the information. Can you tell me the location of the hose on the grey water tank. There is a tank on the passenger's side of the coach in the area of the leak. There appears to be a 1 inch black PVC pipe coming out the side of the tank, but I didn't see any other hoses or pipes. I did check around the tank and the pipe and it was dry.

I am at a loss as to the problem. I even checked the refrigerator drain and the area behind the frig, all is dry. Tomorrow I am going to check behind the two inspection plates at the shower, the low one for the drain and the upper one behind the faucets. I am also going to call the dealership and see if I can talk to one of the techs to see if they have any suggestions. They were not very helpful when I was trying to find the problem with the converter. Ended up calling the converter manufacture and talked to their tech. He had me do a couple of things and then said the board was bad, sent a new one, which I got in a couple of days. Had the old one out and the new one in, in about 30 minutes and I was back in business. Dealership has yet to call me back.

Thanks

[DRosedale]

4Knights, the fresh water tank is about 1/2 full or half empty depending on how you look at things. The temperature here has been in the 70's during the day and 60's at night. If the tank was venting, where would the vent be located?

I don't think that is enough temperature variance to cause venting, but if there is a vent on the tank I can check that also.

Thanks for the help

[Hooligan]

You may already tried-but:
You can check the pressure lines by turning the water pump on, with all faucets closed, pump will stop when the pressure is up. Leave the pump on and see if it cycles (burps) every few minutes, this indicates a leak in a pressure line. Usually at a screw on connection (faucet or valve) or a fitting.
A water leak can travel quite a ways before dripping.

Good luck.....

[DRosedale]

Hooligan, thanks for the infor, I have not tried this, will try tomorrow. Just another thought. The day we got the coach we spent the night at the dealerships camp ground, the coach was hook up to shore water, water pump of course not on, the next morning there was water on the pad. I assume the pressure from the shore water connection could cause the leak, but it has not been connected to shore water since March 8th. There is about 1/2 tank of water in fresh water tank and I have used pump once or twice since we have been home. (used restroom a couple of times while at storage location) Today I opened all faucets and let them drain dry, I then dried the area of drip and will check tomorrow to see if we have a wet or dry spot. I guess my question is this, with pressure and water still in the pipes, even with water pump off, wouldn't drip stop once water got lower or past the loose connection. This has been going on since March 9th. With the exception of the couple of times I did turn on the pump no water has been used. I just wonder how much water could still be in the lines. I was thinking the water lines were empty after opening all the faucets, but maybe not since the water lines are all below the floor and the faucets are above it and water can't flow up hill without pressure. I just wonder how much water is still in the lines and how it can drip for 11 days, of course I did fill them back up twice when I used the restroom. How in the world am I ever going to find this leak. Not sure if it is causing any damage under the floor in the coach since I can't seem to find it. I have checked the entire coach inside and nothing is wet.

I know I can fix it if I can find and get to it.

[DAN L]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DRosedale Hooligan, thanks for the infor, I have not tried this, will try tomorrow. Just another thought. The day we got the coach we spent the night at the dealerships camp ground, the coach was hook up to shore water, water pump of course not on, the next morning there was water on the pad. I assume the pressure from the shore water connection could cause the leak, but it has not been connected to shore water since March 8th. There is about 1/2 tank of water in fresh water tank and I have used pump once or twice since we have been home. (used restroom a couple of times while at storage location) Today I opened all faucets and let them drain dry, I then dried the area of drip and will check tomorrow to see if we have a wet or dry spot. I guess my question is this, with pressure and water still in the pipes, even with water pump off, wouldn't drip stop once water got lower or past the loose connection. This has been going on since March 9th. With the exception of the couple of times I did turn on the pump no water has been used. I just wonder how much water could still be in the lines. I was thinking the water lines were empty after opening all the faucets, but maybe not since the water lines are all below the floor and the faucets are above it and water can't flow up hill without pressure. I just wonder how much water is still in the lines and how it can drip for 11 days, of course I did fill them back up twice when I used the restroom. How in the world am I ever going to find this leak. Not sure if it is causing any damage under the floor in the coach since I can't seem to find it. I have checked the entire coach inside and nothing is wet. I know I can fix it if I can find and get to it.

you should always use a water pressure regulator when hooking up to a shore water line. shore water pressure can run well over 100 psi and can cause serious damage to an rv water system in a short time period.
some folks adapt an adjustable home water pressure regulator for their rv's. i will probably get around to that in the future.
for now, i use the camco brass rv water pressure regulator pn 40055 from wally world, about $9. it limits the pressure to 40-50 psi. after about a year, my camco pressure regulator starts restricting the flow too much. i just bought my third (and last) one. imho minerals plug it up eventually. soaking it in vinegar does not help.

[DRosedale]

Thanks Dan L for the info. So far the only time it has been connected to shore water was at the dealerships camp ground, you would think they would know better. Anyway I have purchased a regulator and will be using it in the future.

Thanks again.

["007"]

First off welcome to irv2 DRosedale.
If you did a PDI with your dealer using this PDI list some of your problems may have shown up, you can use if return to dealer is necessary.
If your problem is not easy to fix you may need dealer because you are under warranty.
If you have used the water pump with water in fresh water tank all your water lines will have slit pressure in them even after pump is shut off. It may take a few days to release the pressure but water will still be in pipes even up to shower faucets or washing machine outlets.
When you have the water line hose hooked up to coach does the puddle have any more water on ground than when just using your fresh water tank?
Have you checked all water lines in compartments that you can see for leaks?
Under most showers they have a vent opening on fiberglass wall near floor that can be removed. Than with a flashlight take a look under your shower you may see a P trap with the usually pipe fittings that maybe loose allowing water out of trap.
Worse case scenario your water fixture for shower may have a water leak off pipe fitting behind your shower wall.
Some fixtures can be removed from wall so you can check the fittings.
If the shower wall backs up to a closet you may have a panel you can remove inside closet to gain access to rear of your faucet.
Where is your water heater in relation to the water leak?

[FDNYdave]

Plumbing system water leaks R either "waste" leaks ( from the drain pipes of your sink tubs etc), "Supply" leaks From the water piping or " use " Leaks (forgeting to close the shower curtin all the way. When trouble shooting, a leak that is constant is usually a "supply " leak, "Waste" and "use" leaks only occur after using a fixture, in RV "Supply" leaks should B easy to confirm, Turn on your Water Pump and listen for 10 to 30 Mins to see if the pump Cycles on, if it does you have to trace every water line and check for leaks.

[jeepfreak]

If you suspect it's the fresh water lines to the fixtures , there should be a low point drain valve. Mine has one for the water tank , hot water lines and the cold water lines. Maybe you could drain them (or it) and see if the leak still drips.