Water leak/piping question

[Thomas James]

Hey guys/gals. Got a question for ya. My Patriot is in the shop for a couple of little things before we head out cross country. I have a slight water leak on the outside even when not hooked up to city water. Now the mechanic says that my city water connection is leaking Bad. It must be on the other side of the panel, I guess. Question - Does all that piping tie in together like when I have my water pump on(I leave it on when we're in the coach)? Cause about every few minutes my pump will come on for a few seconds then shut off. I guess it's all tied in together??? Thanks in advance.

[Fred Cook]

 Yep, you definitely do have a leak if your pump runs intermittently. I also had a leak and it turned out to be the icemaker hose. Replaced it and everything is fine. Good luck!

[Thomas James]

Thanks Fred. I just wish there was a print of some kind for the piping. I mean, there should be some check valves or something to prevent back flow. Or at least one would think so...JS

[Gerald Farris]

Thomas,
There are 2 check valves in your plumbing system. One is in the water pump to prevent water pressure from back flowing through the pump and the other one is in the city water inlet to prevent the pump from pumping water out through it. No other check valves are needed.

Gerald

[Thomas James]

Thank you as usual Gerald. But the mechanic said my City water connection was leaking bad. That's what the Lady up front told me. He wasn't there. If I'm running off my tanks and water pump, and city water is off, how does it cause an external leak? That's the part I don't understand. Like I said, it would be real nice to have a pluming print of my coach.

[Mike Shumack]

I have this drawing in my '05 Patriot owners manual. I'm not sure if it is the same for your Patriot, but it may help you understand the flow.
PS. I added the arrows to the drawing myself to help me follow the flow.

Note the "check valve" at the hose reel. If this check valve was leaking, water from the tank/pump could go backwards through the pressure regulator and then through the hose reel and out the City water connection.

I'm still thinking about how the Auto Tank fill works when connected to City Water. According to the manual the "Auto Fill" starts (if turned on) to fill the fresh water tank when the tank level falls below 80% so there must be an electric solenoid somewhere - maybe it is just not shown on the drawing.

[Gerald Farris]

Thomas,
The check valve for your city water connection is internal to the inlet/regulator. So if the city water inlet plastic housing has a crack, it will leak water when the water pump is turned on because the pump pressurizes the line to the inlet.

You coach is plumbed similar to the drawing that Mike posted above, but your city water inlet is located where the check valve is before the hose reel since your coach does not have a hose reel. 

Gerald

[LaMonte Monnell]

I had an issue with my pump coming on every once in a while and thought I had a minor leak somewhere. Upon taking out the screws for the panel that all the knobs for turning water supply off I pulled the cover out and checked the fittings. The one for the washer was not even hand tight and had a wet area below it. I tightened it snug and no more issues.

[Bill Lampkin]

Solenoid for the auto fill is pictured directly below the icemaker filter in your drawing. Its a typical ASCO 12v coil solenoid. Very reliable and easy to replace. My Aladdin tank level board died, since the Beaver does not have a gravity fill FW tank, I had to jumper the auto fill solenoid in order to fill my tank. Easy to do with a paper clip jumper. Used but functional board installed so my tank levels work, so does auto fill. Whew!