We've sprung a leak

With only a week to go until Memorial Day weekend, I decided it was high time I flush out the antifreeze from the water system of the RV. The plan is to start by filling the fresh water tank about half full and use the on board pump to force the antifreeze from the water lines. The pump acts like a leak detector and you will see how it works as I go through my story.

I propped up the rear bed where the storage tank is located so I could keep an eye out for any leaks as the tank was filling. I used our white fresh water hose connected to the spigot and put the other end in the fill hole and turned on the water, I rushed back in to watch the fill process. All was going well while the tank was filling and i didn’t detect any leaks in the tank area. Then came a cry came from outside the camper, “Where is all this water coming from?” My wife had come out just in time to notice a puddle rapidly growing near one of the storage areas. I opened the storage area and could hear and see water flowing into the storage area and out onto the ground. I hadn’t even started the pump yet and we had a leak.

The storage area contained the access panel to the water pump so I removed the cover to the pump area I heard the water flowing even more. After removing two other panels I could see the entire pump and the connections. The leak was coming from an inline screen filter on the intake side of the pump. I tried to tighten all the connections but the leak continued. This line was a direct connection from the tank. The entire tank would have to drain before it would stop on its own. (Make a note to see if there is a shut off valve near the tank for this line. If not install one.) I opened the tank drain line to help drain the tank as quickly as possible.

I removed the filter assembly and found that the threaded area had a crack. I made a call to a local RV and Marine dealer and the person who took my call gave me the assurance that if I brought the part down to them they could probably match it up to something they had in stock. I left for the shop anticipating that they would have to order the part or having someone use some miscellaneous parts to make a substitute. I walked in and showed the clerk my defective part. She took a half second to look at it and walked directly down to the middle of the second aisle and retrieved the exact part! Twelve dollars and 30 seconds later I was on my way back to reinstall the part. I’ll remember that experience.

After installing the part I began filling the tank and after a little more torque on the hand tighten only connections there was no more signs of leaking. When the tank was half full I start the water pump and it began running, I was waiting for the pump to pressurize the lines and shut off. This usually only takes a few seconds. If the pump continued to run then I knew there was water coming out somewhere. Connecting to your city water connection will not give you this advantage. The city water connection bypasses the fresh water tank and the pump and gives you constant on-demand water. Still no leaks around the pump, but the pump continued to run and I could hear water running. Ugg. I turned off the pump and checked under the sinks, the shower, the bathroom area and everything was dry. Then I remembered the outside kitchen our RV has. When I opened the door to the outside kitchen I found that the cold water knob was open and water was running out from the faucet. What a relief. I closed the knob and turned the pump back on. Again the pump kept running. Now where was water being pumped ? I check the same locations and all was dry. I then decided to check the hot water heater. To access the hot water heater I had to open the living room slide and remove a drawer in the kitchen. I could hear water running, but all looked dry. I noticed that the bypass valve was was half open and half closed which was causing water to flow into the water heater tank. I turned the valve so that the hot water heater was being by passed and the pump turned off in a few seconds. Success at last. With the pump off I could rest easy that there was no leaks.

I continued the flushing operation by opening the cold water faucets one by one and waiting for the pink antifreeze to run out and the fresh water to be flowing. I would listen for th the pump to turn off each time. I did the same with the hot water valves making sure to do the outside kitchen and the outside shower. I then opened one of the hot water faucets and the bypass to the hot water tank and it began to fill. Opening a hot water faucet will allow the air in the water tank out and also alert you to when the tank is full. The pump ran for about 5 minutes while the tank was filling. I used this time to recheck all the locations for any signs of leaks. After 5 minutes the water started flowing out the hot water faucet, so I knew now that the hot water tank was full. I closed the valve and the pump went silent. Yes. I opened the other hot water faucets to purge any air from the lines. My next step was to fire up the water heater.

Opening the grate that covered the outside of the water heater I was met by a wasp who had just begun to build a nest. The rest of the area looked great. I lifted the relief valve at the top of the tank and water spurted out assuring me that the tank was full. My unit has an off/on switch here so I turned it to the on position. Went to my propane tank and turned that on, and then to the water heater switch in the doorway and turned that on. By the time I got back outside to the water heater I could hear the sound of a flame thrower heating the water in the tank. The flame was burning a nice color blue. I put the outside cover back in place being careful not to touch the hot exhaust area. The heater ran for a good 10 minutes, then shut down. The water temp from the faucets reached about 120 degrees.

I finished filling the fresh water tank and connected to the city water connection. I tested the faucets and all was working well with no leaks.

After thirty minutes for poking around, rechecking things, and replacing panels I turned off the water heater, turned off the propane, retracted the slide and returned everything to as normal as possible. I spent about three hours on a process that usually takes an hour but that is how RV tasks go much of the time. I hope you were able to gleen some tips from this story.