Soaked floor between stool and shower 2000 Journey 36L

[Marvin-WO]

2000 Journey 36L. Moisture began coming through the carpet. Removed the carpet. The plywood is soaked. There are no fresh water leaks. Pump only cycles when we use water. The shower and sink drain is correct into the gray tank. The kitchen drain is also correct. There isn't any water on top of the holding tanks but the plywood is soaked. Can't figure out from where the moisture is coming. There is at least 4 inches between the tops of the tanks and the floor.

 

[Eagle5]

Hi Marvin,
Check to make sure the shower trap fittings are connected tightly. I bet that is from where the leak comes.
Eagle5

 

[be happy]

This made me think of my water problem in some what the same area. My water came from the corner of the shower stall. The area where the door frame meets the plastic stall. Each shower a little more water would escape. After caulking the inside of frame no more water problem and dry floor.

Good Luck safe travels

 

[Pointyears]

This made me think of my water problem in some what the same area. My water came from the corner of the shower stall. The area where the door frame meets the plastic stall. Each shower a little more water would escape. After caulking the inside of frame no more water problem and dry floor.

Good Luck safe travels

This makes me wonder. Why does every RV (at least that I've seen, including my Vita) not have any caulk between the shower pan and the shower walls, just a black gap? As a tile setter back in my yoot that gives me the heebie-jeebies.

 

[be happy]

I remember reading years back, do not know if still true, but the reason was for any moisture trapped between the shower wall and rv wall would be able to evaporate instead being trapped in wall. The shower pan has a lip that goes up a few inches.

 

[Morich]

Unlike the walls in a house, the RV walls move quite a lot and most any caulk will not hold long. It's only an appearance item at best, so better to leave it looking unfinished if we are not used to the idea than to have a crack in the caulk which looks worse?

For what leaks in the area between a shower and stool? There are lots of potential leakers, so it will need some study to sort which? It's a good move to have noted that is seems to not be fresh water leaks due to the pump not doing a cycle.
If we move the thought over to saying it is a drain or other than the normal fresh water leaks, it still leaves quite number to check.
One obvious would be the seal around the shower door as it can run to spots away from the real leak and come out at a different spot before we notice.
Water from the shower can get in behind the faucet, run down and follow the joint between pan and walls in ways that make it show a long distance away from the real problem at the faucet! Tricky part on that is it may not act like a leak when showering but come out after a bit of time!

A leak at the base of the stool where there should be a wax ring or other seal can be fairly common , depending on what it was done if the stool has been taken out and put back. Lots of folks try to reuse the old seal and take a chance!
Then there are often "air admittance" valves hidden in the wall and they may hang up to let water leak out and be very slow to show as it can be just a tiny bit at a time. Or there are times when this valve gets loose from it's attachment and turns over to create a leak.
A crack in some part of the stool?

Depending on how you use the RV, I might start with checking the shower as a source?
Possibly pull the shower faucet to look/feel behind it for any signs of leaks there? Water getting in for some time will often leave some sign things have been getting wet. Maybe a different way would be to make sure there is a good seal behind that faucet as a way to rule that out?
A tough one to sort but we have to start at some point and remove the questions in some fashion or order!

 

[Marvin-WO]

Unlike the walls in a house, the RV walls move quite a lot and most any caulk will not hold long. It's only an appearance item at best, so better to leave it looking unfinished if we are not used to the idea than to have a crack in the caulk which looks worse?

For what leaks in the area between a shower and stool? There are lots of potential leakers, so it will need some study to sort which? It's a good move to have noted that is seems to not be fresh water leaks due to the pump not doing a cycle.
If we move the thought over to saying it is a drain or other than the normal fresh water leaks, it still leaves quite number to check.
One obvious would be the seal around the shower door as it can run to spots away from the real leak and come out at a different spot before we notice.
Water from the shower can get in behind the faucet, run down and follow the joint between pan and walls in ways that make it show a long distance away from the real problem at the faucet! Tricky part on that is it may not act like a leak when showering but come out after a bit of time!

A leak at the base of the stool where there should be a wax ring or other seal can be fairly common , depending on what it was done if the stool has been taken out and put back. Lots of folks try to reuse the old seal and take a chance!
Then there are often "air admittance" valves hidden in the wall and they may hang up to let water leak out and be very slow to show as it can be just a tiny bit at a time. Or there are times when this valve gets loose from it's attachment and turns over to create a leak.
A crack in some part of the stool?

Depending on how you use the RV, I might start with checking the shower as a source?
Possibly pull the shower faucet to look/feel behind it for any signs of leaks there? Water getting in for some time will often leave some sign things have been getting wet. Maybe a different way would be to make sure there is a good seal behind that faucet as a way to rule that out?
A tough one to sort but we have to start at some point and remove the questions in some fashion or order!

The water coming through the carpet is in the center of the aisle between the kitchen and bedroom. With the carpet removed, the wet area is a strip 2 feet wide by 4 feet long running length wise. No evidence of wet floor near the shower side or stool side. We are on the road presently. We will remove the carpet and water barrier we placed down a couple of weeks ago next week when we get to our vacation home at the Lake of the Ozarks and take a picture. We checked the drain and trap under the shower. No moisture, just cobwebs and dust!

 

[Morich]

ARGH!
One of those where the water just shows up in the middle of nowhere!
Bennett Springs, perhaps?
I worked telephone out of Camdenton and Eldon at one point and it still feels like home!

But where's the leak? Your plumbing drawings are here. Not the nice new interactive but best we have!

https://www.winnebago.com/Files/Files/Winnebago/Resources/Diagram/2000/00_p36l_plumb.pdf

I picked a few suspects to check when around to it. Several points, so not a real big help but some ideas, perhaps?
One is the scary idea that you may have been out in lots of rain and maybe there is a small leak around the vent stack going through the roof? Those can let water in and it run down the pipe to not show until it gets way down lower like where the pipe goes through the floor?

Possible the drain that is on the slide has been damaged or cracked to let it leak? The flexing can work on them at times?

I don't think of these "air admittance" valves as a big problem for leaking because the water doesn't normally get that high in them if the drain is running well. But they can be hard to find if we don't know they are hiding up high and often in a notch cut out of the wall paneling under the vanity, etc. !

But do you have a washer that has a hose stuck down in a drain that might be pulled up too high and run water down to come out somewhere far, far away?

Like I said, it's a real chase to find at times!

 

[Marvin-WO]

Thanks for a very thorough reply. We have checked pipes and connections. We do not have a washer. And the funny thing is, it appears in the middle of the floor, not next to the vent location or the stool location. I have a theory. Could a piece of the plywood floor splintered off and fallen down while still attached. . Then over time, wore a hole in the top of the black tank and is now wicking up to the floor. I will try an inspection camera again with the panel above the LP tank removed to let in more light. I'll update as I progress and post a picture. Thanks for your ideas.

 

[dickb46]

Our '03 has a line from the flushing lever on the toilet up to the back of the toilet and it was weeping (the hose clamp was loose). We have tile floor in the toilet/shower area so it was pretty easy to find the leak.
Possibly that may be your problem and the water isn't showing up where the leak actually is. It was really easy to find I just wiped my hand across the back of the toilet.

 

[thompwil]

Check the vacuum breaker on the toilet too. I had two of them fail in seven years, the second one was last month. It produces a drip that doesn't show up on the plumbing because it drips right past everything onto the floor. It's worth a look anyway.