Refrigerator structural support

[Tom Roney]

The refrigerator in my 2007 Contessa is raised over a subfloor where a central vac and HydroHot blower are housed.  The refrigerator leaks rain water into the subfloor.  I believe I have found the source of the leak (the outside wall vent has lost its seal) but I would like to be able to better dry the subfloor area.  The only opening to the subfloor is inside the coach at the cover plate (wall register) to the HydroHot blower.  I cannot even see into the area enough to determine whether or not I can remove the short wall of the subfloor, or if this wall is a structural support for the refrigerator.  Can someone tell me if I can remove the short wall under the refrigerator without compromising the structural support for the refrigerator, and how best to do that?  Are there any issues with refrigerator or freezer, or the central vac connections?  See attached photo, and thanks in advance.

[Joel Ashley]

I'm no expert on the panel in question, but you may benefit from my similar experience.

A couple of years ago the flex pipe kitchen sink drain in the curbside slide (under the stove) failed.  It took me awhile to figure out where the water was coming from that soaked into the filter bag of the Dirt Devil vacuum unit on the opposite side of the coach beneath the fridge, probably like yours.  Boy did that dishwater/vacuum debris mixture smell fine!  The drain water had crossed clear under the tile floor.

BCS reset and regrouted several tiles later, but at the time I removed everything I could inside on both sides, sink area and openings under the fridge - vacuum port and heat fittings.  Also left the outside fridge access and bay doors underneath open and added a fan to help circulation.  I also used a little Febreze down there and removed, disassembled, and deodorized the vacuum unit, but I think it took longer to get rid of the smell of the Febreze than the wetness.  Seems like I directed electric heater fan or hair dryer flow into the heat vent under the fridge, and removed some wood panels low in the proximal bathroom for as much ventilation as I could get.  This went on for several days, but eventually what I could see of the subfloor seemed dry.

I too was tempted to try removing the panel below the fridge altogether, but figured patience was better than risking damage to precious woodwork.  The main vac port and the adjacent sweep port should each just have flex hose attached behind, so unscrewing and pulling out their escutcheon plates a bit may allow enough airflow that a little time will provide results.

Joel

[Edward Buker]

Tom,

There should be a way at the Hydrohot to supply 12V to the fan circuit of that blower under the fridge. I would run that for a few days, the moving air should dry the area. On my Aqua hot with the burner and electric element off I can raise the thermostat and the fans and circulator will come on without supplying heat. Not sure if the Hydro Hot is the same. I have never pulled any Beaver woodwork apart and had an easy time of it.

Later Ed

[LaMonte Monnell]

Joel, I had the same flex drain line tear open last summer. I saw water leaking by my lr slideout and had no idea where it was coming from. I did the sniff test and determined it wasn't fresh water, and it wasn't black tank water.....I found the flex line from under the sink and followed it with a flashlight. The top of the line was rotted out and split allowing the sink water to rush out when draining the sink.....boy, was that fun to get to....If I had 4 foot long arms it would have been so much easier to reach the clamps to remove the bad line and replace it with a new one.... :K) never know what you will find on these coaches!

[George H. Wall]

LaMonte, I replaced mine with radiator hose, as the constant movement in and out of the slide. and the extremes of HOT and cold water, are very rough on the plastic type of accordion shaped original drain. I feel the radiator hose will solve this problem as long as I am around!!   Henry

[Joel Ashley]

I determined that the main cause for my flex hose break was the factory used too short of a length.  When the slide was out, the hose was stressed too much at the bottom near where it fastened to the solid plastic drain fitting.  It crimped horizontally which effectively blocked drainage, and liquid leaked out cracks at the corners of the crimp.

I replaced the flex pipe with the same stuff, but measured carefully and used a piece a couple inches longer so when the slide is closed the hose's bend comes almost right up against the removable wood panel under the stove, beside the pullout pantry.  Now when the slide is open, the extra inches result in less tendency of the pipe to fold in front of that lower connection, and more likelihood of flex instead.

I flirted with a 45 and a 30 degree upward elbow at the bottom, but despite making sense, in actuality neither engineered out because of the extra effective length they added to the fixed portion;  the tube still would have tended to fold up when the slide opened or down when it closed.  The longer hose, albeit compromised by the limited space, was the best option.  I too considered radiator hose, but thought this stuff should work as designed if it was simply long enough to not over stress it's working parameters as the factory install had done.

But I'm kinda gettin' away here from Tom's original question about whether his short wall supports the fridge or is removable.

-Joel
Sorry, the attach system wants to turn my pix 90 degrees - doesn't handle portrait orientation I guess...

[Tom Roney]

I only "thought" I had found the source of the water leak.  I sealed the frame of the refrigerator's outside wall vent, and now, after another rainy evening, I still have water coming in.  The rain was straight down for about an hour during which time no water came in.  However, once the wind started driving the rain, water started coming in from just under the base of the refrigerator.  It drips onto the floor just behind the short wall, from a height of about one foot, and the water eventually soaks the entire area under the refrigerator.  It also seeps under the short wall onto the ceramic tile floor and also drips down the central vac's hose (under the refrigerator) into the basement of the coach.   Anyway, I went outside while the rain was still coming down, and I opened the outside vent cover at the back of the refrigerator only to find that the compartment was bone dry inside.  So how is the rain water getting to the front of the refrigerator?  I then checked the top of the refrigerator compartment from inside the coach and could see that it too was bone dry.  I found no sign of wetness anywhere.  I have checked the molding along the outside of the coach at the level of the refrigerator.  It looks good.  So now I have two issues:  I still would like to know if I can remove the short wall in front of the refrigerator as I want to thoroughly dry the area under the refrigerator, and I also want to look for signs that may help narrow my search for the source of the water leak ... which is the second issue.  The refrigerator is not in the slide.  There is a full wall on either side of it.  My only access option is from the short wall that looks like a structural support for the front of the refrigerator.  I don't know how that could be the case because it would then be impossible to work on the HydroHot blower assembly (and other stuff under the refrigerator) without removing the refrigerator.  But I do not want to guess that this is not a supporting wall and then have the refrigerator fall on me.

[Edward Buker]

Tom,

You might call BCS and see who is the leak expert and if they have run into this one. They must have dealt with a lot of leaks over the years.

I would be probably be resealing with Lexol all of the wall type units within 10 feet of the frig that could create a leak and then be up on the roof sealing anything within 10 feet of the frig with Dicor especially the frig roof vent. Check for cracks in that vent unit. The joint between the roof and the wall and all the fasteners behind the rubber strip would also be a candidate within 10 feet of the frig. Home Depot or Lowes had a lighted extendable swivel mirror that may help you see under the frig as to where the leak may be traveling from as well as what the wood structure looks like.

As far as pulling the frig I would consider doing that as a last resort if I could not eliminate the leak after resealing absolutely everything within range.

Later Ed

[Tom Roney]

Thanks Ed.  I had the roof resealed Oct 2013, but I do plan to get up on the roof today.  And I do plan to call BCS tomorrow (Monday) to see if they can tell me anything about that short wall ... I take it that BCS is Beaver Coach Sales & Service in Bend Oregon.  I am in Illinois and I saw somewhere else online that a place called RV Capitol in Elkhart Indiana (not so far from me) has worked on poorly installed refrigerators ... meaning that water should not infiltrate the coach from this compartment, so likely not sealed correctly.  My refrigerator, for example, does not have a drain hole where one is showed to exist in the schematics.  I don't see a drain hose at all, but I am not sure I know what I am looking for.  The drain hose may be someplace other than where the schematic shows it to be?  Nevertheless, the compartment is bone dry, as mentioned before, and I only get water inside the coach when rain is driven by wind.  Wind alone does not present a problem, so I figure the drain is not an issue.  I have had this problem ever since I bought the coach new (2007 model bought new in 2009), but I bought the coach after Monaco went belly up and so I get no support from them.  The problem with the leak seemed to go away last year after I had built up some dams on the inside of the outside wall vent.  I was pretty certain at that time that wind driven rain was just being forced up into the back of the refrigerator compartment through the vent.  Now I think I have to focus on the roof, as you suggest.

I want to thank everyone for their replies.  Please keep them coming if you have anything to add.

[Edward Buker]

Tom,

Good luck with your hunt, leaks can be maddening to find. As far as the frig drain I am guessing that you have one because melting does occur and you would have a water issue beyond when it rains. If there are basement storage compartments below the frig then the drain is usually routed just beyond the basement compartment in front of the rear wheels. You can see if there is a plastic hose exiting the structure there. I am unsure of your layout so you will have to factor that in on your drain hunt.

Later Ed

[Steve Huber]

Tom,
My top candidate would have been the reefer access door but you've already eliminated that. The next probably (IMHO) areas are the Girard awning and the roof attach screws under the vinyl strip at the junction of the rook and wall. The rivets holing the awning to the wall can leak especially  with a wind blowing water up to them. Use Lexel to seal them and the awning to wall joint. If the vinyl strip is cracked, water is probably getting in there and can access the inner wall via the screws. I try to replace the strip every 5 years or so.
Steve

[Tom Roney]

Just fyi ... this is from Sean Lakin at BCS regarding the short wall under the front of the refrigerator:

Yes that helps support the panel that holds the refrigerator up ,best thing to do would be pull the refrigerator then you could remove the reefer cabinet floor