Water coming up through carpet

Keep the water inside the pipes, tanks, and sinks
Eamonn McG
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Water coming up through carpet

Post by Eamonn McG »

Hello all, I posted something about this when I asked about the capacity of the holding tanks but was wondering if anyone could expand on it a bit for me. I had the camper out for 10 days last week ( the longest consecutive trip I've taken ) and about 5 days in I noticed the carpet between the fridge and the stove (right in front of the bathroom door ) was soaked. At first I thought maybe my girlfriend had not dried off all the way because she had just showered, but the carpet stayed wet until I got it home and shut the pump off. Someone mentioned that if the pump came on randomly while not being used that there may be a small leak. I cant remember if this happened or not, I recall the pump going on once very briefly while nobody was using the water but it was after the shower and I assumed it needed to fill the lines. I thought it may have been the holding tanks were full and seeping into the carpet but thats not the case. I have no plumbing diagram to refer to so I was wondering if maybe anyone had any advice/idea's as to whether there may be a pinhole leak having something to do with the shower. (as i said everything was fine until we showered) Is there a water line that runs along this corridor? If so how would I access the lines to assess any leaks? Do the water lines run outside the cabin or under the floor? Any help as always is greatly appreciated! Thanks,
URStruly
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Re: Water coming up through carpet

Post by URStruly »

Eamonn,

The water lines run inside the cabin of the RV from the water tank under the sink to the water pump under the closet. Then it runs across the back of the bathroom inside the wooden trough. Under the bath tub through the wall under the range back through the wall to the shower fixtures.URStruly.
Wakeslayer
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Re: Water coming up through carpet

Post by Wakeslayer »

There is another post about removing the stove to get at the back of the shower fixture. Poke around a bit, and you will find it.
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skater
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Re: Water coming up through carpet

Post by skater »

Wakeslayer wrote:There is another post about removing the stove to get at the back of the shower fixture. Poke around a bit, and you will find it.
I'm pretty sure someone else said that's not how you get to the faucet. I'm honestly not sure myself; never had reason to find out (fortunately).

But, yeah, Eamonn, you need to dig around and find the water lines.
1991 Airstream B190 - bought, 2005; sold, 2011; bought 2017
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Keystone
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Water coming up through carpet

Post by Keystone »

My 1994's plumbing developed a leak behind the shower wall this May during the dewinterizing process. Access was gained and repair was made by pulling the range. RV tech did the work and charged an extra hour of labor, so it is probably not such a big job if that's where your leak is.
Keystone
1994
B190 4x4
Eamonn McG
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Re: Water coming up through carpet

Post by Eamonn McG »

Thanks a lot guys I'll do some digging around this as soon as I can and get back to everyone. I'll try and take some pictures if I do identify the leak and get them up here. Really grateful for this site and all your help!
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Alaskan
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Re: Water coming up through carpet

Post by Alaskan »

1992 rig....

Check shower drain fitting.....on the bottom under the shower floor

Check the floor in the shower for hair-line cracks... !


The only place a water line crosses from one side to the other is at the rear behind the toilet under a wood enclosure. There is a tee in that line at center the feeds water to the toilet....check there and where the line connects the the toilet.

Do all your checks with the water pump turned ON....!

The place you mention where water was detected could be caused leaks in 4 places. (1) Lines on the floor under the sink (s) (2) Leaks at the shower faucet handles,back side or in the wall...(3) Leaks around the hot water tank...(4) under the shower

Time to look closely through the rear-opening, behind the right-rear door, into the area where the hot water tank is located

Open your lower-left door under your oven and check the floor in there...there are two 90-degree clamped water fittings in the gray plastic line there right at the floor...check those.

The area on the floor under the sink has several lines, hot & cold and a small in-line water filter.....this is an area where I've detected small leaks in two of my B190's....

The area around the back side of the hot water tank is pretty busy with water lines as seen here...( tank removed )...any of the clamped fittings seen here could easily contribute to water working its way to the carpet ahead of the toilet...

Image

Rear view.....

Image

Under the shower....(your shower floor support and drain won't look quite like this as its been modified, due to a leak)....up in the right-front corner there is a pair is 90-degree clamped fittings (seen here at center), a possible location for a leak, and that is very close to the carpet in front of the toilet...

Image

Shower hot & cold hook ups...behind left side of oven...not likely to come loose, but they would need to be removed to be able to then remove the faucet assembly....which is a pain as it requires removing the oven first....the rig that this picture was taken in has the two-burner cook top so access is simple here..BTW, that 3rd line heading to the right is not water, its a cover over the propane line to the cook top, also seen in the picture below going through the floor.

Image

This would be directly below the fittings in the picture above...down at the floor, another possible leak location

Image

This would be the floor area under the sinks...several possible leak locations here, all can get the carpet wet...the object with the red label is an in-line water filter, check all those lines & clamps.

Image
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skater
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Re: Water coming up through carpet

Post by skater »

Alaskan, you must have pictures of every square inch of the B190. :)
1991 Airstream B190 - bought, 2005; sold, 2011; bought 2017
1995 Airstream Excella 30' trailer

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Eamonn McG
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Re: Water coming up through carpet

Post by Eamonn McG »

Wow Alaskan thanks so much, I havent looked into it yet in depth because all the water has dried and i cant see any signs of water damage so I'm gonna have to wait until it happens again (which hopefully it wont ) but I'm sure if it does these photos will come in handy. Thanks Again!
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Alaskan
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Re: Water coming up through carpet

Post by Alaskan »

Update....after thinking about this a bit more, CHECK your shower drain first, the BOTTOM under the shower floor...I've had a leak there in one of my rigs....put the plug in, put a couple gallons of water in the tub and then check carefully underneath, over a few minutes....you'll need to pull out the power cord to be able to look in there....you might even wanna reach in the and check for moisture under the shower drain plumbing and forward of it.....

Also....very important, check closely the shower floor itself for very small cracks. They are very thin and Airstream didn't do a very good job of supporting them with the plywood section under the tub/shower floor...in one case with one of my rigs there had been a small crack develop in the fiberglass shower floor...due to the plywood support piece not being tight against the floor of the tub.....major leak of gray water...!

You'll notice in the 3rd picture above, after replacing the tub I then supported the tub/shower floor with aluminum...now a gorilla could stand in that tub.


Skater...Pictures..... Whats this, about our 12th year doing this including the Yahoo Group...? And, we've covered these problems previously therefore my photobucket account has several hundred pictures in it.....
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Buckeye
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Re: Water coming up through carpet

Post by Buckeye »

Image I discovered a leak this May as I was packing the night before our Region 4 Rally and knelt to open the drawer under the couch to pack food, only to find the carpet pretty wet. I don't think I had done anything except dewinterize, turn the by-pass valves to "on," and fill the fresh water tank, up to that point. When I got to the rally site, I discovered the water was even under my driver's floor mat which I initially attributed to driving through a gully-washer of a storm. First, my go-to Airstream fixer thought it was the fresh water tank so we emptied it and he cleaned the outlet valve which had seemed to drain slow. I spent that whole afternoon at the rally with fans running, doors open, and soaking up 2 liters of fluid (dirty brown) with absorbent cloths. Then when I was all done, I saw a little moisture in the rear right corner when I went to close the back doors from the outside. So I lifted up the closet floor and saw the hot water tank was wet on both sides of the cardboard cover. We assumed it was that, so I put in an order for a new water heater through Haydocy Airstream in Columbus, which I'm still waiting for. At the rally, I used city water for the remainder of the rally with no further leaking (and didn't use the water pump or water heater).

So two weekends ago, I took the '96 B-van out for an overnight in WBCCI courtesy parking, Before I left home, I added about 3" of fresh water for toilet flushing and sink bathing in case there was no water available onsite. Again, after an hour drive to my destination and setting up for the evening, I discovered the carpet was damp. But it was only down the middle of the carpet and the wettest location was near the hole where the table base would go. In fact the metal was getting white with calcium deposit. (Which reminds me that I need to remember to go back out tomorrow and check the current situation.) I ran my hands along the base of the cabinetry from the entry door, past the fresh water tank, sink, stove, and around the back where the carpet meets the bathroom vinyl floor strip, on to the refrigerator, couch, and inverter, and it was all dry along the edges where any water "should" leak onto the carpet. So I'm in a quandry of what's really wrong and where the water is coming from. The bathroom floor has been completely dry and I don't use the shower. Another Airstreamer asked me at a unit meeting if my AC water drainage line could be clogged as he'd had that happen to him. In his Airstream, the hose was between the inner shell and wall-pretty hard to get to, to repair. What about ours? I read in an earlier post that there are no water lines under the aisleway and I really don't want to pay Jackson Center $120 hr to "try to find" the cause of the leak. Thanks for putting on your thinking caps for me. :idea:
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skater
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Re: Water coming up through carpet

Post by skater »

Ugh. Mine didn't have an AC drain line - it just ran down the side of the camper. I would check the connections to your kitchen sink; in mine those were loose and turned out to be leaking. Fortunately I was able to reach up and tighten them (by hand) and never had another problem with them.

But if it's not that you need to search for the water lines - they were only slightly hidden in mine - and find the culprit. Using the pump can help because you can turn on and off the pressure easily.
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Alaskan
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Re: Water coming up through carpet

Post by Alaskan »

That hot water tank picture there....under that wet cardboard cover you're find a freeze-cracked aluminum tank...
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mountaindent
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Re: Water coming up through carpet

Post by mountaindent »

And, the water leak continues. Have replaced the faucet complex in the kitchen sink area and that does not leak from the hot water knob/line. The shower area does not leak like Eamonn discusses in his previous posts since I got that taken care of and I bought this rig from him.

I am very suspicious of the Freshwater tank area since it only seems to get the carpet gets wet right under the sink and at the base of the freshwater tank. I have felt all over the connections for moisture but, to no avail. Perhaps, it is a connection to the Freshwater tank? or possibly a crack in the container which seems so darn sturdy! It is a very frustrating mystery but, getting so close to a solution since this leak is significantly less than all the others. Persistent leak and lack of obvious source are making me scratch my head every time I take B out camping.

Tomorrow camper goes in for new side passenger mirror to be put on and then this pesky leak keeps getting diagnosed.
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skater
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Re: Water coming up through carpet

Post by skater »

mountaindent wrote:Perhaps, it is a connection to the Freshwater tank? or possibly a crack in the container which seems so darn sturdy! It is a very frustrating mystery but, getting so close to a solution since this leak is significantly less than all the others.
Either of those are a possibility. The tank wouldn't normally be easy to crack, but if someone let water in it freeze, then it could.

Try stuffing some paper towels under the pipe coming out of the freshwater tank and seeing if they get wet.
1991 Airstream B190 - bought, 2005; sold, 2011; bought 2017
1995 Airstream Excella 30' trailer

WBCCI #13270, Washington, DC Unit
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