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Old 08-26-2015, 06:58 AM   #1
RAH
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Water leak -from fridge or somewhere else?

I have a mysterious water leak. second time this trip.
Water - maybe a cup or so, seems to leak from fridge to floor, getting behind the dinette which this picture is of. When I check the exterior fridge compartment, the drain hose is dry - obviously! the drip pan in the fridge does not seem excessively full.

What is odd is that the floor was dry this morning, I opened the fridge and putzed around the kitchen. 30 minutes later the water was on the floor. It was like a faucet was turned on.

Which gets me to thinking - is the fridge as the culprit here a red herring? Should I be concerned that my leak is from some other source - like a plumbing leak? I am not connected to shore water, using FW tank instead.

Any advice from others who have search for source of leak? Thanks!
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Old 08-26-2015, 07:17 AM   #2
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Since it only happens when the fridge door is open for awhile, I would still suspect the drain hose. Even if it is dry at the rear fridge compartment floor, try and gain access to the drain line from the compartment floor down through the trailer floor and see if there is a leak in that section...or if it doesn't even exit through the floor and belly pan.
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Old 08-26-2015, 08:26 AM   #3
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The drain hose usually has a cap on the bottom end with small holes to allow water to drain but blocks insects from crawling up the tube. Is your cap missing? If so something may have built a nest near the nipple on the back of the fridge where the tube presses on. The drip tray under the fins may be out of position so that the condensation doesn't funnel into the tube. That should be easy to verify. If the drip tray is holding water, that is an indication of a blockage. While looking, try to probe the opening with a thin screw driver or a wire to be sure the path is clear.
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Old 08-26-2015, 08:35 AM   #4
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On my fridge, if the drip pan is out of place, the water will only leak our through the bottom of the door, as the inner panels of the fridge are one piece and watertight....except at the bottom door gasket. Could be a source though.
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Old 08-26-2015, 10:39 AM   #5
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Read my post on water leak,,,,,can be from pressurre from water heater, re do the air bubble.
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Old 08-26-2015, 10:40 AM   #6
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Rather than using a wire to poke in the drain tube, you might consider using a length of string from a weedeater. Much less likely to punch a hole in the tube.
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Old 08-26-2015, 11:58 AM   #7
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Solution to my similar issue:

In my new 2015 model, I found that the condensation collection in the refrigerator was not draining down the drain tube. The collection tray was directing the water into the tube, but it was pouring back out into the fridge. I never had this issue in the 2005 model that I owned previously.

The trailer was level and the tube was not restricted, so I concluded that the issue had to be due to a design flaw. I went to the hardware store and purchased some clear plastic tubing that fit over the drain tube from the water collection tray. I used about 1 ˝ inches, as much as I could push into the drain hole, with a small taper added to the top edge of the tube to make if go in a little further.

Upon testing this solution, I validated that any water collected in the tray would now flow out of the drain tube to the outside of the trailer.

My conclusion is that the leading edge of the drain hole is level, rather than canted toward the back of the fridge.
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Old 08-26-2015, 12:34 PM   #8
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My drain hose was in a knot/pinched off. I didn't have a leak but straightening out the wires and hoses from the exterior hatch. I was looking for a power reset when my batteries died, and needed to restart my fridge
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Old 08-26-2015, 01:13 PM   #9
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When I got mine, there was a black corrugated line SLIPPED OVER (without sealer of any type) the white pipe which exits the AS. This connection was about 2" off the fridge rear compartment floor. As it was slipped over, water would just flow on the outside of the lower white tube and onto the compartment floor. I caught it during my shake down inspection and sealed it with poly urethane. End of story.
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Old 08-26-2015, 02:04 PM   #10
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If my trailer is not level side-to-side and the fridge is on the high side, water in the pan under the fridge (which could comes rom the drain) will come into the living space, not out the exterior compartment hatch drain slot. Even 2" out of level can allow that. If that's happening to you, you can confirm by opening the exterior hatch and looking for water tracks from the drain toward the living space.
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Old 08-26-2015, 02:37 PM   #11
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I have a 2015 FC 30 and had the same experience, I found the culprit was down in the compartment where the water heater is. I had to unscrew the plywood from the dinette to access it but the way the pvc was placed in there, it had pressure from weight of the water heater tank. I tightened up all the joints and moved it over so it does not have direct downward pressure. I think I solved mine. Hope this helps!
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Old 08-27-2015, 07:52 AM   #12
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update on my water leak

Update: I looked at the routing of the fridge drain hose, moved it a little to give an extra inch towards the outside. I poured a cup of water into the drain pan using a nifty L funnel that I carry around for just these occasions. There seemed to be about a cup that came out the other end of the hose. So all of that seems to be working....

And last night, the paper towel I put between the dinette and the fridge was a little damp.
This morning, the water was back - half a cup or a cup?
I will look more at the plumbing and/or hot water heater later today.

Thanks for all of the suggestions!
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Old 08-27-2015, 08:51 AM   #13
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I guess, too, that we all have a tendency to picture our own AS configuration when offering advice.....sooo...from your pic, do I assume I am looking at a storage compartment and the wall with the water "wick" is the wall at the side of your fridge? What's under the fridge as far as components and plumbing?

What is the exact routing of your drain for the fridge?

Last night, was water pump pressure on the lines all night? was the water heater (if under, or adjacent to, fridge) on all night?

Any other water noted as pooling or trail or wicking on other wood components?
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Old 08-27-2015, 09:43 AM   #14
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We had water seepage on floor in front of hall closet, next to refrigerator also on our 2014 RB FC this past weekend while at Placid Lake, MT....has only happened a couple of times, but I am stumped. I will look at the suggestions and see if this is the problem...I was thinking it was perhaps coming from the fresh water fill tube since we had just filled up. Appreciate the suggestions.
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Old 08-29-2015, 11:57 AM   #15
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My city water inlet has a built in pressure reducer, this started leaking. I found wet spots outside under the fender port side. I tightened up the screws that hold it together, but the fix lasted a couple of months. Replacement fix has lasted a year now.
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Old 08-31-2015, 09:36 PM   #16
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I finally found the water leak

After I figured the refrigerator was not the cause of my water leak, I next set my sights on the water heater as a potential cause. I restored the air pocket in the hot water heater, thinking that excess water pressure could cause a water leak. After one day, I thought maybe that had done the trick, as the amount of water was reduced but not eliminated. After a 400 mile drive to Erie, Pennsylvania and a night at Uncle John’s campground, it became apparent that my water leak was still 100% with me. In the morning I discovered quite a bit of water, more than the previous days, but now it was next to the toilet. We keep a pop-up garbage bin there, and it was sitting in water and had absorbed water a few inches up the fabric of the garbage bin. So there was more water, and it was in a new location about 5 feet from where I had found water in the previous days near the dinette. But the timing was the same – I always found the puddles in the morning.

It was beginning to dawn on me that my water leak was not related to the fridge, and not related to the water heater. Somewhere I had a leak in my plumbing, and where the water would show up depended on the leveling of my campsite. If I was slightly nose down, water flowed to dinette. If I was slightly nose up, water flowed next to the toilet. And strangely sometimes I had no water, so I wondered where it was going on those days.

We arrived home the next day, and I parked the AS next to the house. The next morning, I tried to replicate my normal camp morning. Make coffee. Open fridge. Turn on hot water heater. Look for water. Nothing – dinette is dry. Flooring around toilet is dry. I had put down paper towel all over the floor, and it was all dry. Where was my water leak?

I did not relish the idea of taking this to a dealer or even Airstream for repair. Two or three hours, each direction, perhaps for a drop off and a pick up. So even though I had no idea what to do next, I figured I could spend 8 hours looking for the leak, and I would be no worse off. I grabbed a screwdriver and took the dinette apart to get a better look at the hot water heater. It looked fine, as did all of the values, connections, and pipes I could see. I looked at the water pump on the other side of the trailer, which seemed far from my water leaks, but I looked there anyways. It looked fine. Where else to look??? In the small area under the bathroom sink, I could stick my head under the drain and a little ways into the cut out. Oh, I see 4 pipes with screw-by-hand connections. And what do I see if I look at the black plastic along the edge of the trailer? Is that water? Yes it is – a puddle of water. I wonder if any of these 4 screw-by-hand connections could be loose. I try the two that go to the outside shower – each turns about a quarter turn. Is that enough to cause a leak? I try the next one – it is the sewer flush connection – it is tight already. I try the last one – this is the city water intake. It is loose and I can turn it a full revolution before it is tight. Wow, maybe that was the source? I mop up the water as best I can with paper towel. Get it all dry in there. Then I have regret that in all of my excitement, I had tightened all of the connections, and I never really saw where the leak was.

My regret was short lived.

As I examined my situation, hoping the leak was solved, I looked for some time at the city water intake, since it was the most loose of all of the 4 connections. It is still leaking. Drip, Drip, Drip. It is dripping a drop a second. So this is the water leak, along the edge of the trailer, and the water flows depending on the trailer leveling. And if I am street-side down, like I am in my driveway, maybe the water finds an exit from the trailer? But if the connection is tight, why is it still leaking before my very eyes? What, did they not use plumbers tape? I undo the connection entirely, then go outside and remove the entire city water connection. No plumbers tape. I wrap the threads with plumbers tape, reinstall the city water connection. And there is no more leak.

I am not a plumber, but is this a connection that should have plumbers tape? Seems like it to me – a plastic screw connection with water running through it.

Note that when I use the city water connection, I use a water pressure regulator. And in all of my leaks this past week or 2, I was not connected to city water. All of this time I was using the fresh water tank and water pump. But I guess this is still part of the plumbing system, and a leak here will leak as long as there is pressure in the system.

The not-so funny part of this story is that this city water connection was replaced last October at the Airstream service center in JC. Before my warranty expired I had 7 or 8 things that needed fixing, one of which was that when connected to city water, water would spray everywhere outside the trailer. So we just didn’t use city water and had Airstream fix it. There was a missing rubber exterior gasket, but Airstream replaced the entire city water connection – that is what they told me and I noticed that it looked new. Wouldn’t you expect that part of quality control, that after replacing a part of the plumbing, Airstream quality control would run water through it and look for leaks? The repairman knew he had put a new city water connection in – couldn’t he just look there to make sure it wasn’t leaking inside the trailer? It is plainly visible inside the trailer. Ok, maybe not plainly since it is under the bathroom sink and behind the cardboard there, but still if you knew to look at that exact connection it would not be that difficult. Maybe since I knew they had replaced the city water connection, I should have checked it for leaks.

Now that I know where the leak was, I could have fixed it in 15 minutes on the first day I noticed the leak, rather than 10 days later once I got home. But I guess that is the art of problem solving.

Thanks everyone for your ideas and advice – they were all great things for me to try, helped me learn about my trailer, and gave me the drive to keep looking. Thank you all.
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Old 09-01-2015, 06:44 AM   #17
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It's good to hear you were able to solve this yourself and thank you for the follow up. It may be helpful to someone else down the road. If it happened once...
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Old 09-01-2015, 12:20 PM   #18
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Mine leaked at the o ring, black stripe in the middle of the unit. That put the drip into the insulation between the alloy walls.
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