plumbing headachs

[cumminsdad08]

Twice now i have had to tighten my plumbing fittings since i took delivery in late Feburary. the first time i ran into the issue i figured it was because the unit was 5 years old and no one ever went over it. just today my wife kept finding water infront of our table with the carpet being soaked. she figured the kids or dog knocked her water dish over and just moved it. later she happend to look up at the ceailing and seen the AC vents were condencating(sp?) so she turned off the AC and cleaned it up again. now tonight it was worse the ever and no one was in the trailer. so i stated diging in my rear wardrobe (this is where the fresh water and pump is located) and discoverd that the main rise from the city conection was starting to fail. ok no big deal just a small drip, i can deal with it tonight and fix it when i get home tomorrow. while i was in there is seen that a ton of water was returing from under the tub. so i pulled the access off and stuck my head in and sure enough its just pouring out from the hot and cold connections. tighten them up by hand and stuffed some towls in there to soak up the mess.

my main question is, do i need to check these fittings more often, i might have a thousand miles on it this year so far, and have alot planed till november. or is there something that i can replace these troubled fittings with that i wont have to worry about it. anyone else with simliar problems?

[JRTJH]

I don't have your problem, but urge you to stay on top of it, the cheap sawdust flooring in most trailers won't take kindly to water for any length of time

Ours is all PEX tubing with clamp compression fittings everywhere except the actual appliance/fixture attachment point. If you have screw on fittings at elbows, tees and such, you might want to look at replumbing the trailer this winter after you get it cleaned out and ready for storage.

Also, if you're just retightening the fittings they may continue to leak, get a roll of teflon tape, as you find a leak, completely disconnect the fitting, clean it and apply teflon tape, that should fill the "voids" and help hold it better.

As for the AC leaking at the vents, that's probably more a condensation issue than anything else. The ductwork needs to be dried out, turn the fan on high, open the doors and windows and run the AC (without compressor) at least all day. 24 hours would be even better. Once the ductwork is dry, make sure your A/C is clean and the filter is in place. You might have a freezup problem, once part of the coil freezes and ice forms, it pretty much shuts off the "drying" effect of the A/C and things go downhill fast. Running the fan only will help remove all that moisture and hopefully get you back on the track to dry cool air. If I remember, you're close to the east coast, no chance of a roof leak developing during the storm ????? Just a thought.

[cumminsdad08]

thanks for the tips, and i checked the roof out really good, and i didn't really sustain any kind of damage from the storm. i seems to be leaking at the connections to the actuall fixtures. after i got her home today, i checked out my leak at the rise, and it is defently coming from the pressed metal fitting right before the screw connection, so it will just have to be replaced, not a big deal at all. i was thinking on putting some lock tight on the connections, but i wasn't sure that was a good idea. i might try the teflon tape idea and see if the keeps them snuged up. i guess they could be bad fittings and just replace them all, hummmm just a reason to upgrade the shower a little bit i guess

[JRTJH]

If you do decide to start replacing the PEX rings and fittings, you can get the crimping tool on Ebay for about $15 (at Ace Hardware it's $70) and you can get the rings at Lowe's or HD in a 10 pack for the same price as Ace charges for 2 rings.

My experience with PEX is that if you cut it off to replace the terminal end, it will be 3/4" too short, so you wind up replacing it from the other end of the run. That gets to be a PITA with more than one or two runs to replace.

If you do decide to replace the screw-on fixture fittings, you may find that you'll have to replace the actual fixture also, if one side of the connection is worn, the other probably is not in the best of shape.

I think that the teflon tape would probably be the best bet, at least for the rest of this year and see if it gets you through. If it does, then you most likely will be OK for next year also...

Good Luck !!!!!

[cumminsdad08]

thanks a bunch!!!!

[hankaye]

cumminsdad08, Howdy;

Don't forget to eyeball the threads on those fittings as well. Could have been misaligned and now be damaged ...

just a reminder.

hankaye

[mikell]

Also might be HIGH pressure do you have a pressure regulator or a gage on the water line

[cumminsdad08]

didn't really think that i needed any kind of gauge or regulator on it, heck i am still working on gauges for the truck, i would have figured that the pressure on campground wouldn't be that much, to even worry about it. but i guess anything is possible. and i will check the threds out, good idea. now i just hope that the thing don't float away, we are getting it worse this week then with that irean thing.

[Johnnyfry]

I had a campground owner warn me that there was 120 psi on the town water and to use a regulator.

They are cheap (under $30) don't take a chance.

John

[JRTJH]

Tourist Park in Marquette Mi has built in regulators on all their hookups. They're set at 90 PSI. I wonder why they even have them??? I use a brass Marshall regulator (not the best volume, but reliable) to reduce it to 45 PSI. We get as good or better volume as we do with the water pump, so it works for us. Bought it at WalMart for $8, so not a deal breaker there.

I'd suggest anyone (everyone) have a regulator of some kind. There's all kinds available from about $5 up to over $100, but something is better than nothing when it comes to hooking up 120 PSI to a plastic water inlet valve on the side of an RV LOL

[cumminsdad08]

so what is an acceptable psi for an rv?

[JRTJH]

Most fixed RV regulators are set at 45PSI. I feel comfortable at that pressure and worry about anything much more than that. We have a well, the water pressure regulator on it is set at 50PSI on and 60PSI off. I use the pressure regulator to connect a hose to the RV even at home.

[SteveC7010]

Nearly 40 years ago, someone passed a piece of advice to me that has really stood the test of time:

Never trust a campground's hookups. Test the electric for proper connections and voltage BEFORE you hook up your shore line. Always use a pressure reducer on the water line, and check the water for odor, taste, and sediment BEFORE you put it into your RV. Even the sewer hookup should be inspected before you connect and dump.

The first corollary to that advice is: Just because your neighbor's hookups are OK, that does not mean that yours are too. Check them for yourself.

[hankaye]

SteveC7010, Howdy;



AMEN !!!



hankaye