Plumbing Leaks And Repairs

Ocala, Florida

Weather: low 72 degrees, high 96 degrees, partly cloudy skies

The water heater leak repair was the most important item on the agenda today. When I checked how the leak was doing this morning, I found about a gallon of water on the rubber liner that wasn't there last night. Whoa! It was time to get serious about repairing the leak.

I took everything out of the basement and started mopping. Once everything was out, I was able to do some contortions that I thought I was unable to do any more, and managed to remove the plastic nipple that was leaking. The nipple was the cold water inlet to the water heater. I went down to the plumbing store and bought a galvanized nipple to replace the plastic one with. Why do the RV manufacturers use such shoddy materials? I know the answer (cheap!), but it's still frustrating that the shoddy materials fail so soon.

Making sure that no other leaks were present, I waited about an hour to see if the repair worked. Imagine my surprise when I found that I still had a leak, but not from the part that I had replaced. Checking further, I finally found that the hot water outlet on the water heater was also leaking. It was a slow leak, which seeped between the water heater tank and styrofoam insulation and down to the rubber liner. Drat!

Now, when a repair is performed like I was doing today, the power and water have to be turned off to the water heater. Then the water heater is drained. So, that was twice I had to drain the water heater for repairs.

Another trip was made to the parts store, then back home where the additional repairs were made. Another wait was performed to see if the repairs were successful. While I was waiting, I was doing some minor cleaning inside the utility docking station when I noticed water leaking down the wall of the utility compartment. Now what? I found that the outside shower hose had a cracked fitting where the shower head fits onto the hose. My, my, my. What's going to happen next?

A trip was then in order to the RV parts store about three miles away, where the replacement hose was bought. The new hose was installed, and no more leak, at least there.

At the time this post is being written tonight, it appears the repairs are holding, and no other leaks have popped up. I'll check again tomorrow morning.

The whole day was not spent repairing leaks, although it felt like it. In the late afternoon, we went to Doris's house for a nice visit. After that, we went to my brother Roger's house to visit him and his wife Willa. When we were getting ready to leave there, they gave us some home grown heirloom tomatoes fresh from their garden. We had some for supper and they are fantastic!

It was a busy day for us, and the leaks were aggravating, but I would rather find them early so there is no damage. In addition, I like to think I use better materials and do a better job than the manufacturer did.

More later, be safe.

Today's Town - Tampa, Florida: Cigar City

Not all who wander are lost.