rubber washers leaking on female threaded H2O connections

Keep the water inside the pipes, tanks, and sinks
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RobertS
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B190 Year: 1992
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Location: Jacksonville, fl

rubber washers leaking on female threaded H2O connections

Post by RobertS »

I need suggestions for replacing the old leaking rubber washers found in the water supply fitting connections?? The supply fitting is the female threaded type that is hand tightened to the toilet, or faucets.
The leaking grey rubber washer appears to be a very specific design to fit inside the female threaded fitting. I am thinking of replacing with a fat O ring. Any thoughts???
1992 B19 E350 460ci
WW White Whale
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skater
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Joined: Thu Mar 08, 2007 1:00 am
B190 Year: 1991
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Location: Annapolis, MD

Re: rubber washers leaking on female threaded H2O connection

Post by skater »

Uh oh. I had one leak in our trailer recently, and I wasn't able to find a replacement - it's an odd shape. And I don't know that you'd be able to physically replace it without damaging the new one. I think I still have the length of pipe that came out of ours - if I think of it I'll try to get a picture so you can see what I mean, in case you can't see inside the one you have. I doubt an O ring would seal.

The plumbing in these is polybutelene, which was discontinued after a huge lawsuit over leaks - the company paid for a lot of houses to be re-plumbed (before going out of business). Unfortunately it didn't do anything for RVs. Now, you can't get replacement polybutelene fittings.

For my leak, I had to buy a couple Pex fittings - a "converter" to go from the polybutelene to Pex, then a new Pex fitting (in my case it was the water pump connection), and a length of pipe. The long term plan is to someday re-plumb the camper using Pex entirely; it's pretty good stuff. But that's probably not a task you want to undertake at the moment.
1991 Airstream B190 - bought, 2005; sold, 2011; bought 2017
1995 Airstream Excella 30' trailer

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RobertS
Weekend Camper
Posts: 26
Joined: Sun Aug 01, 2010 12:00 am
B190 Year: 1992
WBCCI: 0
Location: Jacksonville, fl

Re: rubber washers leaking on female threaded H2O connection

Post by RobertS »

Thank you for the reply. I have removed the worn out rubber washer-seal and replaced it with two O rings. This has stopped the leaking in the driveway with only pump pressure, If this stays dry for the next three road trips, I will celebrate with a cold drink and carry spares, I never hook up to external water pressure because it probably would cause more leaks.
1992 B19 E350 460ci
WW White Whale
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