Water flush line leaking

[Jason Worman]

Hi everybody,

Hope you are doing well during these crazy times! When I went to turn water to flush the black tank after dumping I noticed a drop way up top inside the reefer compartment. Line is dripping where there is a T joint. Of course it is at the very top where I just can't reach it. I hate to have to cut a hole  in the adjoining cabinet. Any thoughts? For now when I turn on the flush line I stuff a towel to catch the drips. It does not leak at any other time. Stay well everybody!

Jason Worman

[David T. Richelderfer]

In our coach, the separating vertical rug-covered plywood board is held in place with screws.  This vertical wall separates the waste tank bay from the general storage bay.  So, the wall can be moved/removed which should/may allow access to above the waste tanks.  This rug-covered plywood wall may be in two pieces  -  one piece on each side of the inverter with the inverter centrally placed on a vertical framework.  I think access to over the rear waste tank would still be very difficult, at best.  The curb-side access door to the waste tank bay should/may also give access to the ends of both waste tanks.  It's worth a look...

[Jason Worman]

David

Thank you for your response. The water line is inside the cabinet that encloses the refrigerator. Just wish the leak was lower, I can just touch the leaking joint with my fingertips, opening is so narrow.

[David T. Richelderfer]

If your fridge has an ice maker, then the leak could be in the line that delivers water to that ice maker.  A few years ago in our coach, that water line developed a small, 1/4" long crack that sprayed a very small stream at the fridge access door on the outside of the coach.  Fortunately, enough water was getting through the door that I could see a few droplets when I walked by the coach.  I turned off the water line near the water pump to stop the leaking, then I went to Ace Hardware and purchased a female-female in-line connector, cut out about a 1/2" length of the water line to remove the cracked portion, and installed the connector.

A week or two back there was a discussion about that ice maker water line.  It's small, plastic and pretty cheap material... and seems to be prone to cracking.  I suspect the cracking could be exacerbated by the heat generated by the fridge's flame when operating on propane.

Regarding our black tank flush water line - it goes from behind its water bay connection point just below the freshwater valve manifold knobs, then up and over the fore waste tank.  Our fridge is several feet forward of the water bay door.

[Joel Ashley]

There’s obviously a big configuration difference between yours and David’s coach.  Only someone with or familiar with a ‘91 Contessa floor plan like yours could really advise.  If you see no other option, creating an access hole in the adjoining cabinet is your only move.  Hopefully it would be in the inside of a cabinet and not an exposed wall panel.  Then if you can find a small, thin matching wood sheet or maybe Luan, you can use 4 small screws or velcro with it to cover the hole.  1/8” plywood (is there such an animal?) or 1/4” stained to match might work;  I discovered that pine stained cherry was a near grain and color match to the cabinetry in our coach... good enough for shelving at least.  Home centers usually sell cutoffs or small plywood panels rather than just 4X8.

At least you’ll have easier access if there’s a next time.  You might also find a way to intercept the water line before it goes alongside the fridge, and run a new hose to the flush infrastructure via an accessible route.  But bear in mind that flush systems may have a backflow valve somewhere inline that you’ll need to maintain to prevent backpressure source contamination.  It could be in a place higher in elevation than the tank and water bay inlet, thus why the problem hose runs above.

Joel

[Fred Brooks]

   Jason, If the water leak is associated to the tank flush and you can verify that, the leak is probably the vacuum breaker which by code has to be mounted higher than the coach floor. This device is normally open to the atmosphere and closes when they see water pressure. Normally they mount them where you can have access to replace them because they eventually fail. I am not familiar with a 1991 model year, if you can follow the water line from the flusher connection it will take you there. Hope this helps, Fred

[Jason Worman]

Hi Everybody,

Thank you for the help, I think my only option is to cut a small access hole on the interior of the cabinet. The plumbing all needs to be upgraded at some point to PEX,  still have the original grey  stiff plastic lines. For fun I have the complete original plumbing system schematic, it is quite a sight to behold. Nothing has been easy with this coach, this leak is literally about 4 inches further than I can reach to replace the fitting with  PEX and Sharkbite fitting.
Stay safe everyone!

Jason Worman

[Joel Ashley]

If your flush is a Saniflush system or similar, and you have diagrams (which is more than most of us can say), then Fred bolsters what I said;  your external inlet likely heads upward to a vacuum breaker which should be on your diagram (ours is under the bathroom sink which happens to be over the wet bay).  Then the hose should go back down to the tank nozzles.  If your diagrams can help you track the route, maybe you can locate the vacuum breaker and determine whether the leaking elbow is before or after it.  Then engineer a new hose accordingly, as per my prior post, that still includes the breaker.  If necessary, a new breaker may be added to any new line, but as Fred said the existing one should be somewhere accessible, even if the elbow you can see isn’t.

Joel