There I was, minding my own business last night and perusing forums on the internet, when I heard a new noise coming from the front of the coach. So I got up to check what it might be and found water literally pouring out onto the bathroom floor. Woke Jo up (yep it was late) and ran outside to turn off the toilet at the water manifold. We still ended up with enough water on the floor to begin leaking into the underbelly area.
The water supply line that connects to the Dometic Sealand toilet valve blew off from the connection that attaches to the toilet valve. So, today I get to go to Camping World to see if; a. I can get a fitting that just slips on somehow, or b. find a new water supply line to run from the manifold to the toilet. Ours comes straight up through the bathroom floor to the valve and has a right-angle connection on that end. Wonder how lucky I will be? I might even buy two of whatever it is I need.
One thing I am really glad of from this experience. We have a side bathroom, so when Jo was sopping up water with towels, all she had to do was wring them out into the shower, and when I go to working on this problem, I've got lots of room to work in. I'm really glad we don't have a small "toilet closet" with close tolerances for working on plumbing.
I'm also extremely glad that our coach has the water manifold system so that individual areas of the coach can have the water turned off but still have water available in the rest of the coach.
Oh, and I really now like RV toilets. We are keeping a fairly large measuring pitcher in the bathroom sink, so all we have to do to flush is run some water into the pitcher and pour it into the toilet while pressing the foot pedal. Back when we were on the farm and had to do such things, it took a bucket of water.
Terry
Terry and Jo said
04:20 PM Sep 1, 2013
The part we got at Camping World will have to go back tomorrow. The supply line comes straight up out of the floor right at the area of the valve and has a right angle fitting before then having the 1/2" female pipe thread fitting to go onto the valve. The part they had was a good 2 1/2" long and would have really put things into a bind on the plastic part from CW. Rather than risk another break, we did our normal Oklahoma Panhandle "engineering" by buying a 20" hose with a 1/2" female pipe fitting on one end and then we cut the faucet fitting off of the other end. Using a bit of soap, Jo slipped the hose up onto the part of the right-angle that the original fitting was on and we then clamped it down with a small hose clamp.
Having the 20" hose allows us to have a loop in the hose to allow for some flex if it is needed. It isn't pretty, but it's functional and we have toilet water back. If anyone would like to have a laugh at our repair, have a look.
Camping World part was too long to work without putting everything into a bind.
Now, the finished repair, but just without having the valve cover being replaced onto its housing.
Jo is happy again, and I must be off to finish up another minor modification that I've been working on; that being to replace the screws holding the air conditioner return vent covers with something that doesn't have to be taken clear out for each time we want to clean the filters.
Terry
-- Edited by Terry and Jo on Sunday 1st of September 2013 04:33:47 PM
nightsky said
05:52 PM Sep 1, 2013
Sorry this happened, but glad you weren't both at work when the water line broke loose! That would have been a REAL mess to come home to!
Sean said
10:20 PM Sep 1, 2013
Glad you caught it quickly. Hope you found the parts you needed at your first stop and that the fix was an easy one.
igotjam said
10:30 PM Sep 1, 2013
Not sure about yours, Terry, but on our Elite Suite the line to the toilet was the same flexible hose used on the outlet of the water pump. The toilet hose never was a problem, but the pump discharge let go often. We had water cascading down the steps and out the underbelly too....but that was the toilet water valve, not the fresh water hook up. We feel for you...............
Terry and Jo said
10:06 AM Sep 2, 2013
(The following comment is actually in answer to a comment above by Sean and igotjam's last comment and is also a duplicate of a comment I gave to another person on another forum where I participate and they also mentioned that they were glad that we were not at work when the line blew. I just wanted both of them to know I thank them for their comments as they will likely insure that I start shutting off the water if we are gone for any length of time.)
Thanks so much for that idea. I mentioned this to Jo last night and I now think she is officially paranoid about the thought of water running when we are gone. It may very well be that she will insist on me turning the water off to the coach whenever we are away from it from now on.
I do think she is now a happy person that I am a night-owl and am one to go to bed late. She was actually closer to the bathroom and she heard nothing because of the noise of the oscillating fan we keep in the bedroom.
However, I do want to thank you for the idea. We have a two week vacation coming up at the end of the month and won't be taking the coach with us, so I will definitely shut off the water for that period of time.
In answer to Cheryl, I agree with igotjam in that it was likely just a part failure. However, I am certainly glad that we purchased and installed a pressure regulator on our water supply line here at the mobile home park where we currently are. The water pressure here is so high that we were previously getting water leaks at all the faucet connections where the water lines attach to the faucets. Initially, we purchased one of those "inline" things that limit one to 45 psi of water, and it was worthless. We've since bought a Watts pressure regulator and it is adjustable, so our water pressure is just under 60 psi.
Should any newer members be interested in the pressure regulator that we have, here is a link to my blog posting about it. The review makes some comparisons, but they are comparisons between the 45 psi unit and the Watts, not a comparison to the high water pressure that is actually here. I mention this simply because it is possible that higher water pressure would have caused the failure even sooner.
-- Edited by Terry and Jo on Monday 2nd of September 2013 10:07:23 AM
cherylbrv said
02:33 PM Sep 2, 2013
If I could ask.... what would cause something like that to happen and why? Is it a very common problem?
igotjam said
03:36 PM Sep 2, 2013
It appears that Terry's problem was just a part failure. Not usual but it happens. In my case the water valve in the toilet failed. The water valve has moving, wearing parts and will wear out. In 7 years of fulltiming. I've had 3 water valves fail. They fail open so fresh water enters the bowl eventually overfilling the bowl. I always turn off the rv water supply when leaving the trailer. When I'm home, I can hear/see the overflow, but if I was away....................................
There I was, minding my own business last night and perusing forums on the internet, when I heard a new noise coming from the front of the coach. So I got up to check what it might be and found water literally pouring out onto the bathroom floor. Woke Jo up (yep it was late) and ran outside to turn off the toilet at the water manifold. We still ended up with enough water on the floor to begin leaking into the underbelly area.
The water supply line that connects to the Dometic Sealand toilet valve blew off from the connection that attaches to the toilet valve. So, today I get to go to Camping World to see if; a. I can get a fitting that just slips on somehow, or b. find a new water supply line to run from the manifold to the toilet. Ours comes straight up through the bathroom floor to the valve and has a right-angle connection on that end. Wonder how lucky I will be? I might even buy two of whatever it is I need.
One thing I am really glad of from this experience. We have a side bathroom, so when Jo was sopping up water with towels, all she had to do was wring them out into the shower, and when I go to working on this problem, I've got lots of room to work in. I'm really glad we don't have a small "toilet closet" with close tolerances for working on plumbing.
I'm also extremely glad that our coach has the water manifold system so that individual areas of the coach can have the water turned off but still have water available in the rest of the coach.
Oh, and I really now like RV toilets. We are keeping a fairly large measuring pitcher in the bathroom sink, so all we have to do to flush is run some water into the pitcher and pour it into the toilet while pressing the foot pedal. Back when we were on the farm and had to do such things, it took a bucket of water.
Terry
The part we got at Camping World will have to go back tomorrow. The supply line comes straight up out of the floor right at the area of the valve and has a right angle fitting before then having the 1/2" female pipe thread fitting to go onto the valve. The part they had was a good 2 1/2" long and would have really put things into a bind on the plastic part from CW. Rather than risk another break, we did our normal Oklahoma Panhandle "engineering" by buying a 20" hose with a 1/2" female pipe fitting on one end and then we cut the faucet fitting off of the other end. Using a bit of soap, Jo slipped the hose up onto the part of the right-angle that the original fitting was on and we then clamped it down with a small hose clamp.
Having the 20" hose allows us to have a loop in the hose to allow for some flex if it is needed. It isn't pretty, but it's functional and we have toilet water back. If anyone would like to have a laugh at our repair, have a look.
First, the right-angle fitting from which the valve fitting came.
Next, the 1/2" female pipe thread fitting that broke off
This is the valve inlet on the Dometic Sealand toilet valve. In that photo, one can see how close the incoming water line is in relationship to the valve inlet connection. That is why the
Camping World part was too long to work without putting everything into a bind.
Now, the finished repair, but just without having the valve cover being replaced onto its housing.
Jo is happy again, and I must be off to finish up another minor modification that I've been working on; that being to replace the screws holding the air conditioner return vent covers with something that doesn't have to be taken clear out for each time we want to clean the filters.
Terry
-- Edited by Terry and Jo on Sunday 1st of September 2013 04:33:47 PM
(The following comment is actually in answer to a comment above by Sean and igotjam's last comment and is also a duplicate of a comment I gave to another person on another forum where I participate and they also mentioned that they were glad that we were not at work when the line blew. I just wanted both of them to know I thank them for their comments as they will likely insure that I start shutting off the water if we are gone for any length of time.)
Thanks so much for that idea. I mentioned this to Jo last night and I now think she is officially paranoid about the thought of water running when we are gone. It may very well be that she will insist on me turning the water off to the coach whenever we are away from it from now on.
I do think she is now a happy person that I am a night-owl and am one to go to bed late. She was actually closer to the bathroom and she heard nothing because of the noise of the oscillating fan we keep in the bedroom.
However, I do want to thank you for the idea. We have a two week vacation coming up at the end of the month and won't be taking the coach with us, so I will definitely shut off the water for that period of time.
In answer to Cheryl, I agree with igotjam in that it was likely just a part failure. However, I am certainly glad that we purchased and installed a pressure regulator on our water supply line here at the mobile home park where we currently are. The water pressure here is so high that we were previously getting water leaks at all the faucet connections where the water lines attach to the faucets. Initially, we purchased one of those "inline" things that limit one to 45 psi of water, and it was worthless. We've since bought a Watts pressure regulator and it is adjustable, so our water pressure is just under 60 psi.
Should any newer members be interested in the pressure regulator that we have, here is a link to my blog posting about it. The review makes some comparisons, but they are comparisons between the 45 psi unit and the Watts, not a comparison to the high water pressure that is actually here. I mention this simply because it is possible that higher water pressure would have caused the failure even sooner.
Review of Watts 263A Water Pressure Regulator
Terry
-- Edited by Terry and Jo on Monday 2nd of September 2013 10:07:23 AM