Chasing a plumbing leak

October 08, 2012, 07:36:41 pm

A couple of weeks ago we were at the coast for three nights, on city water the whole time with no apparent leaks.
A few days ago sanitized the freshwater system, drained the tank, changed the filter at the sink, then refilled with about 95 gal fresh. Turned the pump on while working around the coach, forgot it and left it on until the next day. Walking by the coach yesterday, the wet bay was open, the drop down door was down, water was dripping-running from the seam between the fibreglass belly and the metal framing at the drop down door. No water in the wet bay itself. There was a little puddle on the floor of the Manabloc bay.
Turned off the pump and went away to think about it.
Today decided if I was lucky the leak was at the Manabloc. Removed the panels at the Manabloc and at the water pump. Can't see any reason to replace them. Did note the fresh tank was down to a little over half, guess about 30gal leaked.
No obvious leak at the Manabloc or around the water pump so turned off all the valves at the Manabloc and turned the pump back on. No obvious leaks yet after about 4 hours.
If no leaks tomorrow, plan to turn on one valve at a time, wait a day for leaks, then turn on another and so on. Is there a quicker/better approach?
Trying to understand some of the plumbing. Attached are pictures of the water pump bay. Is the brass "valve" with the black switch on top the water fill valve? What is the white pvc T to the left of the accumulator (wires at the top)? There is a blue pex line at the back of this bay, runs from above the bay, through the floor and drains out the bottom. What does this drain? To the right of the water pump there is a blue pex line that forms a U, one leg of the U has a shut off valve. Is this to shut off the water when changing the pump?
Sorry this is so long - plumbing is my absolute least favorite chore.

Re: Chasing a plumbing leak

Reply #1 – October 08, 2012, 07:59:43 pm

Quote from: morninghill – October 08, 2012, 07:36:41 pm

What is the white pvc T to the left of the accumulator (wires at the top)?

Fresh tank level sensor.

Re: Chasing a plumbing leak

Reply #2 – October 08, 2012, 09:09:18 pm

"Removed the panels at the Manabloc and at the water pump. Can't see any reason to replace them."

I can suggest a reason to replace the panels. That heater fan shown on the left blows warm air on the water pump, the accumulator and the plumbing. With the panels in place the concentration of warm air will be much greater in the specific areas that are subject to freezing. When the panels are off, the volume of air being directly heated is larger and the colder outside door will result in a lower overall temperature in the compartment. Of course if you never use it in subfreezing weather it would make no difference. This is one place where I think the panels are actually functional rather than just being for looks.

However, if the bathroom thermostat is turned on, the AquaHot is working and the compartment thermostat is functional; nothing in this compartment is going to freeze anyway unless the compartment door is left open. It just appears to me that the panels make the heating of the compartment more efficient. For some, the little bit of efficiency might be less important than easily getting to all the stuff in there. YMMV

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