Shower drain leaking

[RichardW]

I have a 2015 International 27FB. For several months I had periodic dripping from the exterior (curved lower) side panel of the Airstream, from the wheel well seam above the black/gray tank dump (not from the belly pan). I finally found a leak in the exterior shower plumbing along the inside wall (bad elbow ring crimp). I was able to surgically cut the PEX pipe out and fix this. The pipe drip stopped, problem solved, right? NO. The dripping from the side panel continued, although less so and more occasional. I finally realized that my internal shower drain was also leaking and running out the in the same place in the side panel! What are the chances of that? It looks to me that the best access to fix the shower drain is to remove the laminated wall panel in the front bedroom. The drain is about 4-6 inches inside of this wall. Does anyone have any advice on this? I really don't want to damage the wall when I pull it off. This looks like it will be a bit of a hassle. There are a couple of screws on the exterior wall side of the panel, TV mount wall mount (may not have to remove that), light switches, thermostat and furnace vent. I'm not sure how the wall connects at the interior corner - no screws apparent on that side.
Thanks for any insight.

[ShinyPete]

We have a '14 Flying Cloud 27fb, and have had both the black tank flush inlet (if used) and the city water inlet leak in the past. Both of these showed up as dripping outside between the skins in the same area your seeing a leak.....

Are you sure it is not one of these and that it is in fact your shower drain leaking? You can open the access panel under the forward-most hall closet door and see the connections that leaked on ours with a flashlight....

Just a thought before you remove a wall. Hope this helps.


Sent from my iPhone using Airstream Forums

[KJRitchie]

Do you have the heater vent in the lower corner of the bedroom shower wall? My shower drain was leaking slightly and I was able to access the P trap but removing the heater vent, pushing aside the heater hose. I was able to get my hand on the P trap and unscrew it. On my Airstream the washer is a flat washer and couldn't get it to stop leaking until I added some clear bathroom caulking. Getting a pair of channel locks to tighten it was a challenge.

I thought about taking the wall down but since I have carpet in the bedroom it wouldn't come out due to the carpet tack strip.

Kelvin

[RichardW]

Kelvin and ShinyPete,
Thanks to both of you for your excellent suggestions. Accessing the P-trap from the furnace vent was brilliant! What a hassle this saved me! It also became obvious once I had a good view of the shower drain that it was definitely NOT leaking! When I viewed it (awkwardly) from beneath the closet, there seemed to be a "wet glare" beneath the drain (also in the picture I took from my iPhone). When viewed up close from the furnace vent opening, it was completely dry.

Soooo, I went back and looked closely at the city water inlet (which we are currently connected to). From the access space beneath the closet, I could see (and feel) the connection to the city water (I also checked this several times before). I could not see or feel any water leaking. However, when I poked my finger in the insulation space (around the water pressure regulator), the insulation was soaking wet!! Bottom line is that the PEX pipe connections are fine. The water seems to be leaking from the water pressure regulator at the city water connection. This will probably need to be replaced as it may be cracked or something. I am in the process now of taking my closet apart to better access this (I made some custom shelving in the closet that is making this a somewhat more difficult project).

I will follow up later when I get better access to the water pressure regulator. Thanks again for the great help on this!!

[RichardW]

After taking my closet apart to access the city water inlet, I was able to take the water inlet off to look at it. The connection to the back of the water pressure regulator was clearly damaged, i.e. there was a nick in the threaded plastic connector against which the special ferruled rubber o-ring provides the seal. This little nick also damaged the o-ring when the connector was tightened. I am replacing with a new Shurflo city water inlet (P/N 183-029-14; note that this is the Shurflo aftermarket replacement for OEM P/N 183-020-14 - I have no idea why they changed the number for the exact same part).

In closing, it looks like my leaks are FINALLY fixed. As I said earlier, this has been going on for several months, likely since it was new but didn't notice it for some months. I bought this Airstream new in Oct 2014. It didn't help that I had 2 confounding leaks dripping from the same spot. I've had to work out several bugs in my new Airstream over the past couple years, which is disappointing considering the premium price. I've also been disappointed in the shoddy work done on a few repairs at 2 different dealers. I'm more comfortable fixing whatever I can myself. I don't do shoddy work.

Thanks again Kelvin and ShinyPete for your help in resolving this.

[pcskier]

Quick question I thought I'd heard that the city water pressure valve can be accessed by removing the inlet flange from the trailer exterior? Based on your exploration--is that not true any any potential leaks need to be accesses from inside? Thanks.

[RichardW]

The city water valve is screwed in from the outside. However, because of the elbow on the connector and PEX piping (at least on mine), you can't pull it out far enough to really inspect it. I had to check it out from the inside, behind a cover in the lower part of the closet. My valve was leaking in between the wall, out of site on the insulation, and dripping down on the side panel. By unscrewing it on the outside, I could push it out from the inside far enough to get my finger in to feel the wet insulation.