RV Plumbing Leak Troubleshooting & Repair – Practically For Free!

Hi Bob! Always great to hear from a fellow Newmar owner. Unfortunately we're sorry to report that last we checked, Newmar did not have those valves available any more, and they've ben replaced with a similar, but not identical part. We just happened to have a couple of spares in our spare parts bin, because we removed the water filter under our kitchen sink when we installed our Acuva system. The bypass for that original filter included a couple of the exact same valves, which we'd kept. So it was just a fluke that we had them available for re-use. We'd suggest contacting Newmar's parts department to see if there's been any change in availability, and if the replacement part they offer will work for you.

Hi Shirley & Marv! First off, so sorry to hear that you're having this problem, especially with such a new unit! Tracking down the source of water leaks can be a bear, as the water can flow and follow hoses and wires and show up someplace pretty far from the source. The fact that the fresh water tank is empty, certainly eliminates that from the equation (assuming it's intentionally empty... and not because all the water has leaked out of it! ?). Simple question... but since you're on city water, it bears asking... are you using a pressure regulator for your city water connection? Hooking up directly to a spigot could mean that you are over pressurizing your RV's plumbing system, and the water could be coming out of a fitting somewhere that can't take the pressure.

Unfortunately, we don't have anything more specific to tell you to do other than to try drying things out and seeing if you can find where the source is coming from. Barring that, since your unit is less than a year old, it should still be covered by warranty... so maybe you can find a local Jayco dealer who'd be willing to take a look at it (not that you want to spend time from your camping trip at a dealer, but if they can fix it, it might be worth it!).

You could also try posting your question in the Jayco Owner's forum over on iRV2.com ( http://www.irv2.com/forums/f113/ ). It's free to join, and free to post, and it's your best bet to find out if there's a known issue with your particular floorpan/year/model that maybe someone else has already dealt with, so they could give you some more specific direction on where to look!

Sorry we can't be of more help, but please keep us in the loop as the repair unfolds.

Hi Jeffrey & Kim. Always great to hear from fellow Newmar owners. We're sorry to hear what you're going through. Water leaks, whether from outside or from the plumbing system can be really challenging... and damaging. We have had three total experiences with leaks, one of which equates to yours. The other two are the ones we've featured in videos, and not the same problem your having. The first was a drainpipe leak, featured here, again not your issue. The second was the leak in this post. But that was an internal leak within the valve, which was allowing water through even when it was closed. Obviously, your issue is more serious in that it's allowing water to leak out of the system into the RV.

So... that third leak we've dealt with is more like yours. We didn't do a video about it because it was such a challenge to deal with it that we simply could not be distracted rolling cameras. It went like this... We were working on something under the refrigerator on a project completely unrelated to plumbing. We had the mesh cover off that hides the area under the fridge, and happened to notice a VERY small amount of water on the floor in there. Of course there shouldn't be ANY water... so we investigated. Since there was so little, and the area is on the wet wall in the shower, it was easy to see that it was coming from the shower. We couldn't tell if it was the plumbing or the drain yet, but we knew it was the shower. A look under the shower floor (through the round vent hole below it) revealed bone dry conditions.... dusty dry. So not likely the drain or the seals around the shower door.

We removed the silicone sealant around the shower control, and removed the control so that we could see the hot and cold plumbing connections in the shower wall. Here's where we discovered a very disturbing reality. The gray plastic fittings that connected the PEX to the shower control were in obvious decay. It's as if the plastic had been slowly breaking down over the years, simply eroding away. Sure enough, one of those gray fittings had decayed just enough to finally allow a pinhole of water to seep out. It was surely on the verge of becoming a really serious issue, and we were incredibly lucky to have spotted it by chance in its infancy.

We replaced the plastic fittings with brass ones and have had no problem since. Maybe it was just a defective batch of plastic fittings? Who knows.

Not that this is your problem, but it does give you an idea that the most likely point of failure in the system is the fittings/connection points. PEX is extremely robust. The only way we can imagine a failure of an actual PEX tube is through abrasion over time. More likely, you have a single bad fitting/connector/elbow somewhere. We say "single" because the odds are that it's less likely that you happened to spring two leaks at the same time... although possible of course.

Here's what we'd do.... you have to sleuth out the source of the leak, obviously. Look for the wettest area. The carpet has almost certainly wicked water all over the place, making it hard to find the source. If you've had the water off long enough now for the carpet to dry out, that can help you find the source (if not, let it dry, maybe with the help of a fan or two, which will also stop mold from growing, too). Once its dry, turn the pump back on (using the pump instead of city water will let you confirm how fast water's leaking by listening for the frequency of the pump cycling). If it's cycling faster that it was before, your leak is getting worse. That could be a blessing in disguise, since that might help you locate it faster. Based on one cycle every 20 seconds, you already have a pretty substantial leak.

Once things are as dry as possible, a keen eye kept on the situation (before the water gets wicked all over the place again) can help you pinpoint where the wet is starting from. You need to home in on it. Use a flashlight and a borescope to look into as many crevices as you can (or use other methods of seeing into hidden spaces that we outlined here). Trace along the plumbing lines. Remove panels as needed/possible to follow the lines. Once things are dry down there overall, ANY new water will help lead you to the source of the leak.

Hopefully you can not only find it, but access it. Those are the two challenges of course, in that order. If you can sleuth out where it's coming from, and it's accessible, the third step... the repair... is the easy part, as long as you can get to it. Best of luck, and please let us know how you make out.

Hi Allan! Thanks for the nice note. We do have a lot of miscellaneous tools that see a lot less use, so most of the more obscure ones haven't make it onto our favorite gear page yet. We do have two strap wrenches (large & small), similar to the type you mentioned, except they're rubber instead of nylon. They're still very strong, and they work great for anything other than the most extreme situation. The only time the large one failed to do the job was removing our air dryer, which was stuck on like a rock! They're similar to this one: http://amzn.to/2zYNBTp We don't use the large one very often (we have a dedicated oil filter wrench for that purpose), and we keep the smaller one in the kitchen for opening jars. ;-)