Community Forums

WIZNVIC · 03-15-2015, 06:45 PM

I have a leak in my shower of my 1996 Itasca Spirit that has been driving me nuts. I checked the shower supply and that's not it. When the shower is being used there is water running out from under the camper. When I first noticed the leak I opened the access panel and found the drain pipes were loose and miss aligned. I straightened things and tightened the fittings and all was good for a while. But now with everything in place and tight the leak has returned. I have felt around the pipes and can find no cracks. I know that you aren't supposed to stand on the drain and have been very careful not to. So any help would be greatly appreciated. I am an electrician by trade and I have been around house construction most of my life and I understand the basics of most trades. But this has got me stumped. Luckily enough the shower is up on a platform with an access panel but as you all know the access is minimal. My next try was going to be removing the shower pan but I realized that would not really increase my access to things. So hopefully someone has been thru this before and can shed some light on the subject. Thanks in advance !

Davdeb1 · 03-15-2015, 07:28 PM

Sorry to point out something obvious, did you take apart drain and use pipe dope?

"007" · 03-15-2015, 07:36 PM

When you are running water into the shower pan and looking with a flashlight do you see anything dripping, than I would put a concrete block on shower drain and look for same thing.
Where ever your faucet is they have been known to leak, loose pipe connection, behind them which maybe draining outside through the outside wall of shower.
Here are some different shower setup's.

jondrew55 · 03-15-2015, 07:43 PM

I can't really see from your photo but I had a similar problem with the shower in my TT. It seems the plastic basin that the floor of the shower is made of was about 1/4 inch above the supporting shelf it was supposed to be resting on. Whenever you would fill the bathtub (for our 5 year old) or stand in there to take a shower, the bottom of the basin would deform and the water would leak out around where the drain cap is screwed into the floor (and yes, I did seal it with plumber's putty as a first try at a fix). I was able to fix the problem by slipping some flooring tiles I had laying around that were just the right thickness to shim up the shelf so that the tub was actually supported instead of just hanging there. It never leaked again.

Just another example of shoddy workmanship by the RV manufacturers. I'm now in a new Class A DP and I'm still seeing examples of careless work. Screws that are too short and obviously do not support what they are being screwed into, brackets for God knows what attached to nothing and holding nothing underneath the coach. Wiring harnesses that are just a rat's nest going all over the place.

I wonder what level of RV you have to buy before you can actually find someone held accountable for this kind of garbage work. Its not just Fleetwood (my coach), seems like its the entire industry.

WIZNVIC · 03-16-2015, 05:49 AM

Hey I don't care obvious, obscure, anything will help. And I did kinda think of that. The leak might be between the shower pan and the drain it's self. How does that come apart ? After you remove the center screw and lift off the strainer what next ? Is there a lock nut on the underneath side of the pan ?

Gary CA · 03-16-2015, 01:41 PM

On my RV the plastic 90 that fed the shower manifold was leaking. This was behind the shower control valve trim. Replaced the $2 part but it took me an hour.. Good luck

jondrew55 · 03-16-2015, 06:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WIZNVIC

Hey I don't care obvious, obscure, anything will help. And I did kinda think of that. The leak might be between the shower pan and the drain it's self. How does that come apart ? After you remove the center screw and lift off the strainer what next ? Is there a lock nut on the underneath side of the pan ?

If I remember correctly (this was a year or so ago) You reach under where the drain comes through the floor and there is a plastic lock piece that you unscrew to take it apart. I think you might also have to loosen the nut at the trap below (I'm assuming there's a trap there). Then you can take the drain piece off that you can see when you're standing in the shower. WHen you put it back together remember to roll up a rope of plumbers putty to stick between the drain and the bottom of the shower. This video is for a garbage disposal, but the idea is the same.

https://youtu.be/Qu5eCcHD6zs

Just remember, if the bottom of the shower flexes when you stand in it, even fresh plumbers putty will leak. You need to be on a solid surface

WIZNVIC · 04-19-2015, 06:37 PM

Hi gang! Everyone was so nice trying to help so I thought I would give you an update on how things went. I checked all the drain connections and everything was good. Same as on the supply side. So I got out most every flashlight I have along with an inspection camera and laid on the bathroom floor while Mama took a shower. The leak was coming from water running down the wall of the shower between the shower pan. Now I never thought the problem would be here because somewhere way back in time someone had told me that you NEVER caulk between the shower wall and the base pan in a Winnebago ( I figured Itasca would be the same ). So I never caulked there but if I had it would have solved this whole thing. Got all this figured out on our first shake down run last weekend. Haven't caulked yet but that is next. Hope everyone is getting to shake off the winter blues and starting to hit the road again.

Mich F · 04-20-2015, 05:00 PM

Glad to hear you found the source of your leak. It can be so frustrating finding the source. I had an ongoing issue with my shower skylight leaking, which was fixed by removing, cleaning the area and reinstalling and re-caulking the skylight.
More recently I've found water in the base of the shower again. It turns out that my 31K has the "option" of water from the kitchen sink backing up through the shower drain. Haven't figured out yet what they did wrong, for this to happen.