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Pahaska · 12-08-2002, 11:40 AM

I just had a great 4-night WBCCI rally spoiled by having my trailer flooded. It appears to be another incidence of careless assembly.

I had left the plastic on the carpet in the galley area, plus having a rubber-backed mat in front of the sink. There is evidence that there has been a leak for some time, but it apparently took cold weather to make it completely let go. The plastic threads on the back of the water regulator were apparently gouged during assembly (see photo).

I had shown another couple the trailer at noon and there was no apparent problem. When I returned at about 3:30, the galley area was flooded. I cut away the plastic and borrowed a wet vac which removed somewhere near a quart of water from the carpet.

On reaching home, I removed about another pint with an extractor. Right now, I have an infrared heat lamp on the area plus two cermaic heaters running in the trailer.

Notice the gouge in the threads in the photo below. That almost certainly was made by the bronze fitting being jammed against the plastic.

PeterH-350LE · 12-08-2002, 12:54 PM

Sorry to hear about your leak, John.
Do you have padding under the carpet? If you do and it is foam padding, it will take forever to dry out.
The good thing is that you caught it right away.
Sounds like a warranty issue.

Your situation is a good example why:
1. I never travel with the waterpump on
2. I never leave the pump on when not needed.
3. I always shut off the campground water supply, when I leave for some time.

hex · 12-08-2002, 04:26 PM

Likewise my condolence John.
Are we talking about the water pressure regulator? If so does that mean you were on "city" water? How hard was it gushing when you found it? And was it spread all over the coach? Man I hope not!

Best of luck with the clean-up. No rest for the weary sometimes.

BTW was the rally over at Zavalla by chance? Seems I remember you were gonna teach a puter course or some such. Would enjoy details at your convenience.

Pahaska · 12-08-2002, 05:46 PM

hex

The rally was at Buchanan Lake, about 80 miles from Austin. The computer rally at Zavalla is in late February.

Just the galley area of the carpet got wet. It was the threads on the back of the city water input which has an integral pressure regulator. It never apparently squirted, just seepage, but I had been there 3 days. I would have noticed it right away if I hadn't left the plastic on the galley carpet. It had to get wet enough for me to see it on the plastic before I knew there was a problem.

In a few minutes, I am going out to unscrew the rear dinette seat since it appears to be a bit wet under there. I now have two heat lamps working and they seem to be making progress.

I'll also call the dealer in the morning and see what can be done. I think it is A/S responsibility to dry it out as well as fix the leak.

PeterH-79MH
I fully agree with the first two items, but I don't turn the city water off for a 3-hour absence. In this case, the site valve was buried in insulation and a chore to even get turned on in the first place. If I leave for the day, then I do ordinarily turn off the water at the site tap.

Actually, in this instance, the seepage was going on all the time I was in the trailer, so turning the tap off wouldn't have helped much.

John · 12-08-2002, 06:08 PM

John,

Sorry to hear of your problem, but I'm sure you'll have it back in shape in no time

.

I only turn my water off when I'm going to gone over night. Other than that, it's always on. It would be a drag to have to shut off your water every time you drove-off or took a walk. Airstreams are built to leave the water on and when we have a leak, we fit it just like at home.

Best to you, John

John · 12-08-2002, 06:22 PM

Talk about not noticing your water leak, 3 weeks ago I noticed that the carpeting on the right side of the base of my toilet was damp. I was bending over to pick up something and I put my hand down for balance and thats when I felt the dampness in the carpet.
You see, my right leg is numb and when I'm using the toilet, I didn't/couldn't feel the dampness under my foot. But after noticing this, I step on that area with my left foot and immediately felt the dampness. The guy who replaced my toilet said that it was leaking for some time.
Poop happens!!!
John

john hd · 12-08-2002, 06:55 PM

john

sorry to hear about the leak, sounds like you have it under control.

your heaters are a good idea, in addition a window fan may help speed up the drying process.

good luck

john

Pahaska · 12-08-2002, 07:27 PM

Thanks for the good wishes. I'm running a Fantastic Fan plus the two heat lamps. Unfortunately, it's raining and has been all day, so the humidity is terrible.

I can still get a wet knee if I kneel in one area. Must be from the foam pad, since the carpet in that area otherwise feels pretty good. That area is right where the overlap between two pieces of the threaded plastic apparently dumped the majority of the water.

Here's another look at the area. You can see the notch in the plastic. The insulation around the regulator was wet, apparently from a fine spray from the bad connection. There was a nail about 3" away where the plastic was nailed down through a plastic washer, making a little basin. That was full of water and led me to the problem area.

The only way to get to this area under the bathroom is through an about 10" square opening behind the dinette back. If you can see it, you can't touch it. If you can touch it, you can't see it.

RoadKingMoe · 12-08-2002, 07:57 PM

Dang John... sure sorry to hear about that.

As the victim of two maybe 1" deep basement floods over the years, I'd definitely take this back to the factory and turn it over to the insurance.

Both times they ripped out all the carpet because there was no way to get it dry quickly enough before the mold started growing. They also removed the lower part of the drywall in my basement. Both the drywall and insulation had wicked the water well up in the wall and you wouldn't believe the amount of mold growing inside them so soon. They did a thorough job cleaning the studs and floor and treating them before going back in with new insulation, drywall, and carpeting.

Pahaska · 12-08-2002, 09:50 PM

Thanks, Maurice, I hadn't thought about the insurance. I'll contact them tomorrow to establish the potential loss if A/S doesn't come through.

So far, no smell of mold. The heat lamps seem to be drying it out pretty well, the part I can get to. What bothers me is the part under the bathroom that is also carpeted. I can move the dinette seat (and will in the morning), but I can't move that bathroom and I can't reach most of it.

The dealer will hear from me in the morning.

john hd · 12-08-2002, 10:08 PM

run your ac, it might get more moisture out of the air in the trailer. if it's too cold just run the fan. keep the air moving!

john

Pahaska · 12-08-2002, 10:15 PM

I hadn't thought about the AC. I'll turn it on now.

Thanks

barbwire · 12-08-2002, 10:30 PM

Hi Pahaska,

I just bought a Kenmore wahing machine a couple of months ago. It spewed water the first time we tried it. Turns out somebody pinched a hole in the fill hose. I fixed it myself. We are so far away from maintenance services. I know it is a pain, but get in their face if you are close to a dealer. Otherwise just fix it yourself. Sometimes it is easier. But I will sure think twice about another Kenmore.

Jim

Chas · 12-09-2002, 07:23 AM

Bummer!

Had the same thing happen to me a month or so ago in Arkansas, but my unit is almost 25 years old. I found out "THERE IS A DIFFERENCE" between Pex, Quest, and whatever that grey pipe they used in mine originally. A dissimilar coupling in the rear wardrobe had popped apart and luckily I was inside making my morning cup of java when it blew. Good thing I hadn't sealed incoming water line penetration as well for most of the water drained back out through it. I guess my next big project is to replace all my plumbing, would like to use copper and want to sweat it all together, any thoughts???

It was cold as well so maybe that was the trigger?

Pahaska · 12-09-2002, 07:35 AM

I had unscrewed the rear dinette seat and moved it out of the way last night and left the two 250 watt heat lamps hung on 2x4s about 24" above the carpet all night. I can kneel on the carpet now without getting a damp knee from the pad underneath. Those lights really seem to draw out the moisture.

I have the AC and the furnace both running together at the moment to try to get the hummidity down in the trailer.

With rhe rear dinette seat out of the way, I was able to reach in below the bathroom and remove quite a bit of the plastic over the carpet. It's still pretty wet under there and damp along the bathroom wall outside the bathroom for about 2".

The dealer should be open now, so I'll give them a call and see what they want me to do.

niftypkg · 12-09-2002, 08:13 AM

Run the air conditioner in cold weather as suggested to dry out the trailer??? If the water is shut off at the site and the water heater was running, wouldn't the heater be locked in between two stops?? That is, would pressure build up in the boiler with no place to relieve it?? Tom

Pahaska · 12-09-2002, 11:05 AM

from the dealer with a new city water inlet.

The consensus was that I'm doing everything to dry it that they would do, so it's back in my driveway with the heat lamps going. Running the furnace and AC together this morning really dried things out. I'll do that again later today, but I have an eye appointment and I want to be here in case a breaker pops.

I'm still worried about the wet under the bathroom. I cut the plastic away that I could reach. Soon as I come back from an eye appointment, I'm going to stick the wand of my electric leaf blower in there and turn it on to low speed for a couple of hours. That should get some air moving under there.

I think by tomorrow I can take it back to storage without too many worries.

I did get a couple of minor items taken care of while I was there. One of my, what I thought was minor, other complaints turned out to be a big deal. I'll post about that when I get back later this afternoon.

Pahaska · 12-10-2002, 02:23 PM

I took the A/S back to storage early this morning before the neighbors get in an uproar (covenants). Things seemed to be pretty dry except under the bathroom and rear dinette seat. That's where the leak was.

I visited the storage yard this afternoon and ran the furnace for quite a while. A lot of moisture had seeped out from under the bathroom into the nearby carpet. I reached in under the bathroom with a long scissors and cut a lot more plastic away.

Tomorrow is to be without rain, so I'll bring the A/S home first thing in the morning and spend the day working on drying it out more. I think I'll rig a 4" dryer hose to channel furnace air in under the bathroom where it is most wet.

I'll also test the dealer "fix"under pressure while it's here.

hex · 12-10-2002, 04:45 PM

Hey John, must be a tough covenant. Can I presume your dealer is in Buda? or is it the San Antonio shop? When you find time , would like to hear all you care to tell about either. Maybe you'd care to place those thoughts (if forthcoming) over at the A/S Dealer thread.

Anyway to the subject at hand here.When you say under your bathroom, are you meaning in the "basement" under floor. Wet insulation? Not good!

or do you mean under the tub or the floor covering in bathroom?
what exactly is it you can not reach? I am surprised at carpet in the bathroom anyway if that is what is there. Seems it would always be awater catcher. But surely warm exiting bath. Do you store Sabre D inside or out?

BTW while I am thinkin' about it, what is the story behind the nick Pahaska?
For some reason I see it and think Pashaka.

Pahaska · 12-10-2002, 05:04 PM

Pahaska is Sioux for "White Crane". That was the name of my 25' sailboat about 22 years ago. I just kept on using it on the web by force of habit.

Sabre-D is stored outside about 10 miles from home.

A/S carpets the entire International floor, stem to stern, covers it with clear plastic, and then places all the furniture, walls, etc. on top. Consequently, there is carpet under the shower pan which is raised about 3" off the plywood floor. There is also plastic-covered carpet under all cabinets and even the outside storage. I can get very limited access to the area under the shower pan (see photo).

There is no aluninum belly pan on the International.