Massive undercarriage water expulsion

[simonpacis]

Hi,

I recently bought a 1988 Winnebago Warrior (420RG) on the Chevrolet chassis. Filling her up with water works fine with the low point valves closed, but when I turn on the pump it expels a ton of water out through the bottom. It’s not a leak as the water Ezra through some PVC, see attached picture. Anyone have any idea? Nothing about this in owners manual, and can’t find any place to close a valve or something.

Thank you so much!

[machias]

Originally Posted by simonpacis

... but when I turn on the pump it expels a ton of water out through the bottom.

I am nearly certain that what you're showing in the picture are the pressure valves that are part of the water lines. They are integral to your water lines, run along the floor of your RV, and port out through the floor to the outside. There should be more than one, so that's why you're seeing the leaks in several places at once.

What I cannot answer is why it's happening. It's either because (1) the valves themselves are failing, or (2) because the water pressure is too high and they're doing their job.

Because you just got the rig, first check the pressure rating listed on the pump. It's possible that the previous owner (or yourself, if you replaced the pump) installed a new pump with a too high of a pressure for the water lines, so the valves are releasing the higher pressure. Next, check the pressure settings on your pump if it's adjustable (most are).

Your original pump is rated at 45psi so I'm guessing the valves aren't much above that, likely 50 psi +/- 5. If someone replaced it with a 60psi pump then that's probably your answer.

If the valves are failing, then you have a couple of options. The first is to try finding replacement valves which may prove difficult. It would either need to be new-old-stock (NOS) that's been sitting on someone's shelf for 25+ years, or parts salvaged from an old rig.

The reason I don't know about replacing the valves is because I removed mine. I discovered the cold water line to my lav sink started leaking due to a crack along the length of the tubing, so I completely re-piped my rig with PEX.

I first tried to find a direct replacement for the original gray water lines, but they are not really available because there was recall/lawsuit against the manufacturer who went out of business. That grey plastic eventually fails just like mine did, along the length of the tube so there's no way to patch it. The fittings can also crack and fail and all of this happens fairly quickly and without much warning.

And that's why I took the time and effort to re-pipe with PEX. The PEX can also take much higher pressures, so I can easily drop-in a 60psi pump. If you're running at a higher pressure you're obviously putting those aging lines at even more risk of cracking.

Finally, there doesn't seem to be much consensus about why the failures happen so there's no way to prevent it. The prevailing belief is that it's the chlorine in tap water. So re-piping your rig is the only guaranteed fix, if you want to make the investment of time and money. I did but it's a project for me. If there's any good news, it's that people have had/have this same tubing throughout their homes that needs to be removed and replaced.

Good luck!

[Morich]

What I think I see is just a basic water leak but that has some questions involved as to exactly what is going on when it leaks.
We are pretty sire it doesn't come out of the wire loom even though it is wet! But does the water come out the two tubes or at the joint which is wet?
If through the tubes we need to look for valves, etc. but if it is leaking from the joint, then it looks more like a line is leaking and pouring water out above the floor and it runs to the crack to come out.

But then one of the big questions would be if it leaks when hooked to pressure water as well as when the pump is turned on.

We don't get the super drawings to see where and how the lines are connected like we might on newer, so we have to go with what "might" be expected and do some guessing.

Do you have a hose connection where you connect the hose and a valve to switch one way to fill the tank and the other way to use inside like normal or do you have a tube called a "gravity feed" where you stick the hose to fill and another place where you would connect the hose to use inside?

Newer have like this drawing but I'm not sure when they switched to that way.

Give some more info on what you have and we might begin to get some better ideas moving.

Right now, I might guess that you have not connected the hose and it might also leak if you did, ---but lots of guessing there!