Wet spot on carpet: Where's the leak? :(

[MichaelMc]

hey all, i just discovered a wet spot on my carpet about six inches from my left closet door in the walkway. the water doesn't smell like anything so i assume it's fresh. the closest plumbing i could find is what appears to be an abs cap under the closet side bed (you know, 2" with the square black head), but it's bone dry. this is a '90 excella 29', rear twin.

i'm fulltiming and hooked up to city water. i discovered this issue while temporarily camping for a month last march hooked to city water with slightly higher pressure (the hose was much shorter then; my hose is twice as long now -- 50').

another clue leading me to suspect city water pressure seepage is the fact that it has shown up again in the last week or so, right after i fixed a leaky water heater drain plug. i felt a slight increase in water pressure, and now i've got this wet spot.

is there a sub-floor pipe that runs across the walkway just behind the bathroom? is there something else i'm possibly missing?

i'm about to pull up the whole rear carpet and i'm already preparing for trouble.

one other thing to mention which may or may not have anything to do with this is the fact that my toilet seal isn't perfect so it won't hold a bowl of water for more than a minute or so, but i don't think that has anything to do with this, do you?

it's also remotely possible that this is a result of collected rainwater, because this issue has reared its head just after a rainy season for the second time now (this time it rained cats and dogs for 4 straight days and i eventually noticed a roof leak), and the fact that i live in los angeles and don't get rain the other 11 months out of the year might perhaps explain the spot's disappearance, but again, i don't think this is the problem.

thanks in advance. clearly i have some work to do.

[memgrove2000]

Welcome to the forums MichaelMc, I am not an expert by any means but The square black 2 inch line should be waste water OR a vent for the waste plumbing. I would get a ladder out and check the rubber seal around he vent stack. They dont last verry long but are easy to replace. take a flashlight with you and look into the protective housing for the rubber to be missing or cracked. Good luck, it can be hard to find the source of wet spots.

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by MichaelMc

hey all, i just discovered a wet spot on my carpet about six inches from my left closet door in the walkway. the water doesn't smell like anything so i assume it's fresh. the closest plumbing i could find is what appears to be an abs cap under the closet side bed (you know, 2" with the square black head), but it's bone dry. this is a '90 excella 29', rear twin.

i'm fulltiming and hooked up to city water. i discovered this issue while temporarily camping for a month last march hooked to city water with slightly higher pressure (the hose was much shorter then; my hose is twice as long now -- 50').

another clue leading me to suspect city water pressure seepage is the fact that it has shown up again in the last week or so, right after i fixed a leaky water heater drain plug. i felt a slight increase in water pressure, and now i've got this wet spot.

is there a sub-floor pipe that runs across the walkway just behind the bathroom? is there something else i'm possibly missing?

i'm about to pull up the whole rear carpet and i'm already preparing for trouble.

one other thing to mention which may or may not have anything to do with this is the fact that my toilet seal isn't perfect so it won't hold a bowl of water for more than a minute or so, but i don't think that has anything to do with this, do you?

it's also remotely possible that this is a result of collected rainwater, because this issue has reared its head just after a rainy season for the second time now (this time it rained cats and dogs for 4 straight days and i eventually noticed a roof leak), and the fact that i live in los angeles and don't get rain the other 11 months out of the year might perhaps explain the spot's disappearance, but again, i don't think this is the problem.

thanks in advance. clearly i have some work to do.

I think your describing a "sewer vent pipe" cover gasket.

They only last 2 to 3 years.

You will need to remove the covers and check those gaskets.

Andy

[Aage]

Hi and welcome to airforums, Michael.

As for the wet spot, ah, do you have a dog or cat?

[MichaelMc]

haha well my girlfriend has a bunny!!! i think it needs a prompt talking-to. the black abs cap i speak of is under the driver's side bed, poking up out of the floor. it's only about 3 inches high. this isn't the sewer vent pipe cover, right? i assume that's what's in the corner of the bathroom behind the toilet running up the wall to the roof, yeah? i'd think i'd clearly see a drip if a vent cover leak was causing that spot on the floor. this is like a mysterious seepage from underneath. that said, i'm sure that vent pipe gasket is compromised and needs replacement for sure. i'm really trying to visualize this before i start digging.

thoughts?

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by MichaelMc

haha well my girlfriend has a bunny!!! i think it needs a prompt talking-to. the black abs cap i speak of is under the driver's side bed, poking up out of the floor. it's only about 3 inches high. this isn't the sewer vent pipe cover, right? i assume that's what's in the corner of the bathroom behind the toilet running up the wall to the roof, yeah? i'd think i'd clearly see a drip if a vent cover leak was causing that spot on the floor. this is like a mysterious seepage from underneath. that said, i'm sure that vent pipe gasket is compromised and needs replacement for sure. i'm really trying to visualize this before i start digging.

thoughts?

Stewed "Rabbit" for dinner? Whoopie, this weeks goumet dinner.

Last week we had a Hawaiian "meowluau"

Andy

[MichaelMc]

More on that leak: I yanked up the carpet. It was time to go, and since I'm laying laminate, I need to get to the bottom of this. Here's what I found: so, I live in Los Angeles and the last good rain was like a month ago. I think it rained lightly once a couple weeks ago. The amount of water in the below pics is too much for that time span, yeah? I'm thinking this is an internal leak, but none of my plumbing is wet. I'll check it again in the morning. What do you guys think?

[AirHeadsRus]

Hi MichaelMC. I have the same 90 Excella 29 Twin and have had three leaks in the same areas. The city water inlet fails and leaks between the skin and surfaces where ever it can. It could be the problem. You can take it off, cap and hook to water hose to see if it leaks. My pump head had a leak, but only when it was running. I replaced that. I also had a water line leak in the same area as the pump which I replaced with PEX. You can do a search on my post and see my pics if you like of all three leaks.
Good luck and hope the rot is not too bad.
Joe

[MichaelMc]

ok i think i've found the leak. it's a sloowwww drip at the t-fitting behind the pump in the above pic. i could swear up and down i dried it with a paper towel 24 hours ago, but it's wet to the touch now. here i am marking my word. i just dried it with another paper towel. if it's wet in another 24 hours, i'll be able to explain that little spot on the carpet.

good news for my pergo which has been feeling lonely all boxed up in the front.

now, assuming that's the leaky spot, what h.e. doublehockeysticks do i do? can i get all those fittings and hoses from a hardware store, or do i gotta cruise up to the local rv resaler?

[MichaelMc]

yup, didn't even need 24 hours. it's dripping very slowly from the t-fitting. can i just replace the flex hose or should i replace the whole tee?