Suspected water leak behind wall.

[JASONRN97]

Hi everyone,

We have a 2014 Dutchmen Kodiak 291resl. On our last two camping trips I have noticed water where the wall meets the floor in our bathroom. It is the wall the toilet is on, but a corner where the wall meets the shower. I do not believe it is coming from the shower, as we have not used in on the last few trips. I have no other signs of buckling/dimpling or water stains on the wall or ceiling. I am guessing it is potentially a crack in a supply line for the toilet, or some other part of the toilet water supply.

My questions are 1) does anyone know of a diagram on how the water lines run behind the toilet in this model camper? I am probably going to have to cut into the wall, and have no idea how high to go, or where to start. Someone suggested possibly cutting a square behind the toilet and create an access panel that would stay. If I didn’t do that, does anyone know if you can purchase replacement wall board for your camper? I imagine that would be mighty expensive from the manufacturer. I am including a few pictures of my bathroom. Again, the water is closer to the shower than behind the toilet, but does run appear along the wall. You can see it is starting to cause some flaking of the wall board.

 

[sundancer 87]

When you say camping can we assume it's dry camping? If dry camping do you hear the water pump cycle on when there isn't water flowing?
If you don't hear the pump cycle when no water is flowing you could possibly rule out a water leak behind the wall.
You might want to pull the caps off the toilet bolts and see if they may be just loose enough to leak water when there is a flush. Water could be leaking underneath the floor covering and coming out where you see it. Flush the toilet and check the foot valve for leaks also.
Take the easy route before tearing out walls and such.

 

[JASONRN97]

With both camping trips we were hooked to the usual power and water on the campsite. I do use a pressure reducer.
I did not have the water pump on/in use on either trip.
Good idea on taking the easy route first.

 

[sundancer 87]

With both camping trips we were hooked to the usual power and water on the campsite. I do use a pressure reducer.
I did not have the water pump on/in use on either trip.
Good idea on taking the easy route first.

Might just turn on the pump without connecting to city water and see if you hear the pump cycle on.

 

[Thom]

Did you flush your black tanks prior to finding leak? Many a happy camper has had a leaking flush system that shows up on bathroom floor. Generally caused by a bad crimp on pex fitting.

 

[JASONRN97]

Did you flush your black tanks prior to finding leak? Many a happy camper has had a leaking flush system that shows up on bathroom floor. Generally caused by a bad crimp on pex fitting.

No, no flushing of the black tank prior. Just hooked up to water with pressure reducer. We sat up camp Friday evening, and as we were cleaning up to leave Sunday around noon I noticed the water behind the trash can in the bathroom.

 

[wahoonc]

Is there any water hookup fittings on the outside wall near that point? Outside shower, black tank rinse, etcetera? I would suspect either a leaking water line due to a misplaced fastener or rubbing wear through. Possibly a bad crimped fitting on a Pex line.

Aaron

 

[dsol]

I would guess supply line to the toilet. I had a similar leak that showed at the bottom of my shower in my last trailer and thought it was either a leak in the drain line or where the shower bottom met the wall. However I cut an opening beneath the shower (drilled a pilot hole with a small drill bit then used a small pointed saw to cut an opening) and realized it was leaking where the water pipe connected to the faucet. I redid that connection and leak went away. The opening I cut slipped back in perfectly and I just put some clear glue in a few spots to hold the piece back in place. If you looked close you could see the cutout but it was low near the floor and not obvious so it didn’t really bother me.

Anyway, my guess is a really slow constant leak because of constant pressure in the water line but not sure how you can tell without seeing it somehow.

Good luck. Finding leaks behind a wall or under the floor are not easy.

 

[JASONRN97]

Is there any water hookup fittings on the outside wall near that point? Outside shower, black tank rinse, etcetera? I would suspect either a leaking water line due to a misplaced fastener or rubbing wear through. Possibly a bad crimped fitting on a Pex line.

Aaron

The city water, and black tank flush hook-ups are located right beside the slide. They are kind of close, but located away from where I am seeing the water along the wall behind the toilet. If I can get the diagram to upload, the connections are in red, and the wall where the water is appearing is in yellow.

 

[JASONRN97]

I would guess supply line to the toilet. I had a similar leak that showed at the bottom of my shower in my last trailer and thought it was either a leak in the drain line or where the shower bottom met the wall. However I cut an opening beneath the shower (drilled a pilot hole with a small drill bit then used a small pointed saw to cut an opening) and realized it was leaking where the water pipe connected to the faucet. I redid that connection and leak went away. The opening I cut slipped back in perfectly and I just put some clear glue in a few spots to hold the piece back in place. If you looked close you could see the cutout but it was low near the floor and not obvious so it didn’t really bother me.

Anyway, my guess is a really slow constant leak because of constant pressure in the water line but not sure how you can tell without seeing it somehow.

Good luck. Finding leaks behind a wall or under the floor are not easy.

That is my guess. I am just trying to figure out where to make a pilot hole/cut-out so I potentially only have to cut once! LOL
That is why I was wishing for some diagram of how the supply lines went in the wall.

 

[Franktafl]

I have a soft floor in that same area. I have been attempting to see if it has been a water leak there but the floor behind the toilet where the water comes into the toilet is OK and so is the wall. Good luck!

 

[grapeguy]

Recently fixed my shower supply

I had a similar issue with the bathroom floor near the shower in my 2011 Kodiak. Water leaking from underneath and coming out near the wall or under shower door depending on how my unit was sitting. Here’s what I found.
The supply for the shower ran behind the toilet covered by a panel. It ran though an access hole cut in the shower pan mounding and then up the corner gap to connect to the shower faucet. Midway up the wall they put a male adapter to attrach the flexible hose from the faucet. That connection is impossible to tighten and will leak especially on the hot water side. With enough time, the water eventually runs somewhere depending on your slope.
I finally gave up and removed all the plastic pipe behind the shower. I replaced it with 6’ stainless supply lines like what are used with dishwashers. I cut the original plastic pipe behind the toilet and used good quality sharkbite brass male adapters for the connection on that side. On the faucet side I installed 90 elbows so that the new lines don’t put a strain on the faucet fittings.
I thought about putting in an inspection port in the shower wall to tighten the existing pipe fittings, but decided against it. First of all the shower wall is very thin. And secondly I figured it would always be a future source of a leak. Now it is a straight run from the faucet and I have an external shower connection that I can easily inspect. The stainless hose was not hard to fish through the gap behind the shower. No leaks so far. Total cost of the project was about $75. Hope this helps.

 

[Franktafl]

I had a similar issue with the bathroom floor near the shower in my 2011 Kodiak. Water leaking from underneath and coming out near the wall or under shower door depending on how my unit was sitting. Here’s what I found.
The supply for the shower ran behind the toilet covered by a panel. It ran though an access hole cut in the shower pan mounding and then up the corner gap to connect to the shower faucet. Midway up the wall they put a male adapter to attrach the flexible hose from the faucet. That connection is impossible to tighten and will leak especially on the hot water side. With enough time, the water eventually runs somewhere depending on your slope.
I finally gave up and removed all the plastic pipe behind the shower. I replaced it with 6’ stainless supply lines like what are used with dishwashers. I cut the original plastic pipe behind the toilet and used good quality sharkbite brass male adapters for the connection on that side. On the faucet side I installed 90 elbows so that the new lines don’t put a strain on the faucet fittings.
I thought about putting in an inspection port in the shower wall to tighten the existing pipe fittings, but decided against it. First of all the shower wall is very thin. And secondly I figured it would always be a future source of a leak. Now it is a straight run from the faucet and I have an external shower connection that I can easily inspect. The stainless hose was not hard to fish through the gap behind the shower. No leaks so far. Total cost of the project was about $75. Hope this helps.

It's a pity that the factory design folks could not have done it that way...

 

[chily3]

Can't tell from the pictures, but has anything been screwed into the wall near where the leak is. If so could be that screw reached a water line sine you are dealing with paper thin walls.

 

[JASONRN97]

I had a similar issue with the bathroom floor near the shower in my 2011 Kodiak. Water leaking from underneath and coming out near the wall or under shower door depending on how my unit was sitting. Here’s what I found.
The supply for the shower ran behind the toilet covered by a panel. It ran though an access hole cut in the shower pan mounding and then up the corner gap to connect to the shower faucet. Midway up the wall they put a male adapter to attrach the flexible hose from the faucet. That connection is impossible to tighten and will leak especially on the hot water side. With enough time, the water eventually runs somewhere depending on your slope.
I finally gave up and removed all the plastic pipe behind the shower. I replaced it with 6’ stainless supply lines like what are used with dishwashers. I cut the original plastic pipe behind the toilet and used good quality sharkbite brass male adapters for the connection on that side. On the faucet side I installed 90 elbows so that the new lines don’t put a strain on the faucet fittings.
I thought about putting in an inspection port in the shower wall to tighten the existing pipe fittings, but decided against it. First of all the shower wall is very thin. And secondly I figured it would always be a future source of a leak. Now it is a straight run from the faucet and I have an external shower connection that I can easily inspect. The stainless hose was not hard to fish through the gap behind the shower. No leaks so far. Total cost of the project was about $75. Hope this helps.

Thanks for posting. I did have leak last year in the shower that I repaired. I evidently didn’t do a great job winterizing, and water froze in the mixer section between the hot and cold water. Just a hairline fracture, but naturally when I hooked the RV to water it leaked behind the wall. $29 fix for that. Even though I checked and double checked to make sure it wasn’t leaking before I remounted the knobs and caulked I need to make sure it is not leaking and running underneath the shower pan.

 

[JASONRN97]

Can't tell from the pictures, but has anything been screwed into the wall near where the leak is. If so could be that screw reached a water line sine you are dealing with paper thin walls.

No, nothing has been screwed into the wall that would have potentially tapped a line.