Access to shower drain?

[Bill Jourdain]

We are on our first trip in several months and I noticed water leaking from the bottom of the coach while the shower is being operated. I assume we have a leak in the drain but am not sure how to access this. I noticed a panel with no handle between our rear basement door and battery compartment door. Does anyone know if that panel is removable and whether the shower drain and other plumbing can be found there?  Any other helpful advice about this problem would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Bill

[Edward Buker]

Bill,

On the outside of our 2002 Marquis there is a small maybe 6 inch by 1ft door with a standard rectangular push and lock handle. That is an access door to the shower drain although it would not be easy to reach in and work from there. I do not know how widespread this configuration is but it means that there is at least some hope that you have an access point....

Later Ed

[Bill Jourdain]

Thanks, Ed. I'm not seeing a small door like that on the outside of our coach. I am going to try to remove the large panel (same size as a regular basement door) and hope I have acces to the drain there. I'm not sure how to remove it but there are two bolts at the bottom that look like a good place to start.  I did remove the small wooden panel inside the bedroom that provides access to the back of the shower hot and cold handles and there was no sign of leakage there, so I assume the drain is the problem.

Bill

[Edward Buker]

Bill,

Attached photo shows the door above the rear wheel and above the belt line where the door hinges are attached, forward of the rear slide. Not sure if this helps but may.

Later Ed

[Bill Jourdain]

Thanks, Ed. I don't have a similar access door. My shower would be directly over the rear passenger side wheel but I don't see any way to get to the drain. The access panel I mentioned above leads to a piece of white foam material that sounds like it is attached to sheet metal. I also don't see anyway to get behind this. No screws holding it in place. There must be some way to get to the shower drain area, but I'm not seeing it at this point.

Bill

[Bill Jourdain]

Here's the foam panel behind the access door.

[Edward Buker]

I guess a call to Beaver coach sales in Bend would be your best bet. You could send a photo of that access panel and ask what is behind the foam. Looks to me like the tanks are probably behind there. I think what you want access to is probably not behind the panel but it is hard to know, Ask the folks in Bend how to get to the shower drain piping if you had to.

Because the shower base is above the floor on our coach, that places the drain also above the coach floor level. Our door gives access between the floor of the shower and the floor of the coach. My older Beaver used a heater vent grill built into the shower base for access at floor level that if removed gave some limited capability. There may be some panel in the coach just above the floor level around the shower perimeter.... wishful thinking on your behalf.

Later Ed

[Bill Jourdain]

Ed - The drain access was indeed through the vent on the raised floor. The culprit is a cracked plastic fitting that attaches the drain pipe to the metal drain at the bottom of the shower. Now, to figure out Howe to fix that in the extremely narrow space.

Thanks.

Bill

[Bill Jourdain]

Here's the broken piece at the top of the photo.

[George H. Wall]

I  had the same thing happen to my shower. I replaced the affected plunbing with PVC which is much stronger!!  Don't want to do that again.  Henry

[Edward Buker]

It is a whole brave new world under there for someone with big hands.....where is a leprechaun when you need one? ....Probably Travelocity has an exclusive clause in the leprechaun contract that says no plumbing allowed :-)

later Ed

[Karl Welhart]

I had the same problem on my 2002 37' Patriot.  In the cabinet under/next to the desk on the wall behind the shower is an access panel.  You can see it in the back of your picture.  Just take the bottom two drawers out and you can get (not very easy) to the panel.  It was fairly easy to get this apart and replaced from that side of the drain.  I have a much harder time getting the replacement parts.  Found them at a mobile home supply store.

[George H. Wall]

Karl, That's EXACTLY how I fixed mine with PVC!!  Helps to be very small!!  Henry

[Bill Jourdain]

Karl - Thanks for the tip about the access panel. That made it a little easier to access the broken pipe. Repairs have been completed as shown in the attached picture. Ran the water for a while and no more leaks or drips.

While I though about attempting this on my own, I decided to save my sanity and vacation and called Lacey's mobile RV repair to do the job. They had it done from start to finish in about an hour and fifteen minutes. I saved them time by having all of the access panels removed when they arrived and I replaced them after they left.  I am please with their work.

Thanks for all of the advice here.

Bill

[Karl Welhart]

Bill,

Glad you got it repaired by Lacey's...  Were are you? Lacey's RV Service is not far from me in Niceville, FL just north of Destin area.

Karl