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Fresh water leak in rear bath
#1

Hello Gurus. While at the no rally rally last week, my headhunter pump had issues, then worked fine, then had issues again the morning I left.  During the trip home, I was troubleshooting some more and FINALLY discovered a water leak.

It is a decent amount running down into the compartment with the shore power cord and a small amount of dripping on to the tag axle tire. 

There is rust on the roof of the shore power compartment so that tells me it’s been an issue for quite some time.  

Also of note, with the pump running the water pressure from the faucets holds pretty good when using cold water but drops significantly when using the hot water side of faucets.  In the shower it has almost zero water pressure when turned to hot.  So my thinking is that the issue is with the hot water supply and likely in the shower. 

I spent some time turning the valves off to see if I could isolate the issue but that seemed to make no difference. 

Next step I did was to remove what I could under the vanity and on the shower wall to expose the water lines and find the leaker. Everywhere that is visible is bone dry up to the point the water lines go into the sub flooring.

I’m at the point that I think the leak is with a supply line that is in the sub floor which to me is a pretty serious and deep issue.  

Any one ever had anything similar and able to offer any insight?

If not, I’m thinking my next step would be to find a way to get it out to the folks at Newell.  (Need to have one slide out repaired any way due to bad bearings.)

Jeff

Jeff Reed
2003 45' coach #674
2018 Jeep Wrangler
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#2

Jeff,

It was good to meet you at the Rally. You have a pretty coach!

You might try to close all the valves at one time. Then just turn on the outside faucet (hot and cold) so you can see if you can isolate the water pump issue.

There is a possibility that you have two different problems...

1). The joint that joins the rear cap to the coach along the roof was leaking on my coach. Water ran down within the wall to the other side of my coach, but it could exhibit on the drivers side I guess. Also, is there a yard light right above there? Mine was leaking as well. I fixed the roof leak with Eternabond tape along the seam.

2). Could you have a shower drain leak? Pour some water down the drain and use the blue paper towel to see if any drips down under coach. I forget where your shower is located but this same theory would apply to a sink.

Finally, I bet the Newell guys have seen something similar and probably know where to look.

Cheers,
bill

Bill Johnson
Birmingham, Alabama
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#3

It was great meeting you as well, Bill. And thanks for the suggestions.

There’s not a yard light on that side but I’ll get up to the roof and examine that joint with the cap. We didn’t have rain while down there at Bella Terra nor on the way home when I discovered the leak.

As for the shower drain, I pulled the inspection plate and it looked good for what portion is visible.

I’m still leaning toward a supply problem since the headhunter pump won’t hold pressure and cycles back on every 15-20 seconds. (Up to 65psi, cuts off. Then drops to 35ish and cycles on).

After turning off all the valves except outside faucet it still does the same thing. Water pump builds, drops and continues to cycle on and off...and there is VERY low water flow coming from the outside faucet. That may indicate I have a pump problem as well however the 12v pump does the same thing.

I’ll take your suggestion and give Newell a call.

Jeff Reed
2003 45' coach #674
2018 Jeep Wrangler
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#4

Do you have a small closet just forward of the shower wall?

If so, and it takes 8 ft long arms to do this, you can remove the screws that hold that carpeted panel in place. It will allow you to see the backside of the shower mixing valve. Your leak may be there.

A leak in this area would drain into the basement areas and wheel well.

Richard and Rhonda Entrekin
99 Newell, 512
Maverick Hybrid Toad
Inverness, FL (when we're home Cool )
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#5

Thanks Richard. There isn't a closet but there is a slide-out (which has a bad bearing and will only slide out about 80%) The next time I'm at the coach I'll move the slide out a bit and explore that area and see if there is a way to access the back of the shower.

Jeff Reed
2003 45' coach #674
2018 Jeep Wrangler
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#6

We had a leaking shower mix valve on ours. The easiest way to get access to ours was from the front inside of the shower. Once I got the wall plate off it was VERY obvious that there had been leakage. I had to call Newell to get instructions on how to get it apart.
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#7

My shower had a leak, I was able to access it by removing the shower caddy where you store soap, shampoo etc. basically the lines had come loose from the back of the shower faucet and produced a leak i the general area.

Agreeing with Bill, you may have multiple problems. When I purchased my coach, I had no hot water and very little water pressure. Changing the guts of the mixing valve under the AquaHot lines fixed the no hot water, and cleaning hard mineral deposits out of all hot water lines fixed the pressure issue.

Mike & Jeannie Ginn
2000 Newell #555 - sold July 2020
2019 Leisure Travel Van FX model
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#8

How did you clean the mineral deposits out of the lines? I use white vinegar as a pm but it seems like it would take a long to remove very much build up with vinegar.

Doug and Cathy Musick
Coach 370
1994, 45', non-slide
DD60, Allison 741
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#9

I started with using a water softener which I believe broke up the hard ddeposits over time. When they broke loose every faucet was blocking multiple times per day. I flushed lines without any screens on the end, and even blow air backward in lines that were disconnected from the manifold in water bay. The washer hot water was completely plugged and had to disconnect and clean that as well. Takes a while to get the system free flowing again.

Mike & Jeannie Ginn
2000 Newell #555 - sold July 2020
2019 Leisure Travel Van FX model
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