Wet bedroom carpet - puzzling

Hi,
I'm new here and I've been reading past posts for an hour and haven't found anything like what we have. 

We have had our Minnie for 5 years.  No problem with this until now.  In August we went camping and had park water hookup, and 2 days into the trip, the carpet around the queen bed in back was soaking wet.  We do not have a slide back there.  At first we thought it was from cleaning the roof and water came in from the roof.  We put fans and space heaters back there and after we had been home for a few days, it was dry.  We had also drained the fresh tank under the bed in case it was that.

When it was dry, we refilled the tank, thinking if it was the tank, it would leak again and the carpet would be wet.  Nothing. The pipes run from the tank under the subfloor (which is under the carpet) so if it was a cracked pipe/fitting it wouldn't be reasonable that the pipes would leak and soak the subfloor and the carpet.  That would be a lot of water.  We ran the water with the pump, and we ran the water with the hose hooked up, nothing.

We figured it was just a one time thing, ????

In October a friend used it and the same thing happened.  Hookup in a park, and the carpet again got all wet, worse than before, but that could have to do with the leveling I suppose.  We went through the same tests, and we can't recreate the wetness. 

My husband took the panel off under the shower thinking that maybe it was leaking from the drain, nothing.  We had 2-3 HUGE rains since and nothing, so it's not a roof leak or roof vent. 

So we are stumped.  I did read somewhere to check the hot water tank hoses - ?  Or I was thinking something to do with the toilet.  The hot water tank seems more feasible to me as it would be above the floor level and leak and run back (again, the leveling position).  And their is no sewage smell, so the toilet doesn't really make sense unless it's when we flush and the clean water leaks somewhere along the way.

If anyone has any suggestions, please advise.  We would really appreciate it.  And if it is the toilet, how do you check that?

Thanks in advance,
Holly

The commode can have a fresh water leak at the plastic vacuum breaker on the rear of the toilet, or at the water inlet valve on the bottom side (both locations specific to Sealand Traveler model), and would leak only when the toilet is being flushed. It would also be possible to have a fresh water leak in the valve or connection line that would leak whenever shore water is connected, or water pump is turned on.  The toilet fresh water valve also can stick slightly open and slowly run the commode over, but you would have noticed a commode bowl full of water...

BUT, since the fresh water tank is under the bed, and the leak is in the bedroom, I would be suspicious of it as the source.  When you note the wet floor, is the tank full and perhaps leaking out the top somewhere??  This would indicate a leaking check valve causing the tank to gradually fill when not intended, and to run over/leak a connection on the top somewhere. (mine is not under the bed, but does have a screw in cap that always leaked when the tank was full until I made a rubber gasket for the cap).

Good luck on chasing it down!!

Holly

Both instances of this wet carpet occurred during times when the RV was hooked up to fresh water in a park. Of course you are aware that the water pressure in a park can often be much greater than what you can duplicate at home. Just something to think about.

Dave

Your water pump starts and stops based on the pressure in the system.  If the pressure side of the fresh water system is tight, the pump will run until the system is pressurized and then shut off.  As long as the system remains tight the pump will remain off. But if there's a leak somewhere the pump will cycle back on for a second or two once the pressure drops.

If the leak is big enough to soak the carpet, I'd expect the pump to cycle a couple of times an hour.  Unless you have an accumulator tank, which will skew the results.

You can also wrap a paper towel around any suspect joints or fittings.  Even a small leak will soak a paper towel in a matter of minutes.

Take a close look at your city water inlet.  If you can get to the back of it wrap a paper towel around it and see if it leaks when connected to city water.  Wiggle the hose around to be sure.  The inlet is above the floor (is it near your bedroom?) and might be cracked in the part of the fitting that's only pressurized when the hose is connected.

Hi Holly and welcome!!

Okay - what you are telling us is you have a leak on city water but not when using your tank water if I parsed your post correctly.  If that is the situation, I would download your plumbing diagram (God bless Winnebago for making the diagrams and parts lists available on-line) and get a high-lighter marker and trace out your plumbing diagram.  You need to trace out the city water from the inlet to where it joins the rest of the plumbing.  Then you can have a rational idea of where to look for problems.

I just finished repairing an almost exact condition.  Our fresh water tank and pump are under the bed.  Between the bed and the driver's side outside wall is a box in front of the closet with an access panel in the front of it.  Behind the panel is the backside of the water control valves along with a bunch of PEX plumbing.  We we camped and hooked up to city water with one of those 40 lb regulators you can get most anywhere.  The DW happened to place her bare foot up against the front of this step, near the outside wall and found the carpet sopping wet.  As it turned out, there were 2 flexible water lines (like small diameter garden hose) that were terminated with an ABS threaded fitting.  One came from the pump and the other from the city water inlet.  The hoses had typical automotive style hose clamps to secure them to the ABS fitting.  Anyway, a couple of these hose-to-fitting connections were seepings or weeping, but only under city water pressure.  I thought I would get away with just tightening the clamps, but I wasn't that lucky.  The MH is 10 yrs old and the hoses had swelled over time and would not seal well.  I had to replace the hoses.  In the process, I applied a little silicone sealer to help the clamps out a bit.

UPDATE
Thanks everyone for your helpful hints.  I think we figured it out, it took a while but we found a leak in the connection/tube coming out of the pump feeding out towards the mhome.  It was a process of elimination really, and since it seemed to only happen when hooked up to the hose, we left the hose on all night, with pressure on the system, and yesterday AM it was soaked. 

We tightened everything up and so far no leak.  Just have to dry out the carpet again.  We are also going to use a regulator from now on, just in case.

Thanks again,
Holly

Glad these guys\girls could help out.
Remember to pick up an adjustable regulator for your MH so you don't blow your plumbing apart!

AverageBOB said:

Remember to pick up an adjustable regulator for your MH so you don't blow your plumbing apart!

Click to expand...

Had that demonstrated at La Hacienda RV Resort in Las Cruces, NM a couple of years ago - they have city water pressure of 85 pounds or so.  Noticed a water hose from the city water faucet to a coach water inlet turn into a water-spewing hydra monster snake  ???.  They didn't use a pressure regulator.

hol1985

Your problem reminds me of a similar problem.  When we picked up our new 2004 Journey (built to our specifications) we noted that the carpet around the queen size bed was soaking wet.  Since the unit was still under warranty, they removed the wall behind the bathroom, and found  that the tension nuts around the water tubes were not tight.  Someone was not at their best when they assembled that part of it, and the next guy (girl) covered the plumbing with a wall.  I'm sure they are on a  tight schedule, but that should  not have happened.  All is well, now.  The carpet now is dry and there is no sign of  damage (at least as far as I can see.

Wendell