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Under Carriage Water Drains


cschlintz

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Trying to determine what is periodically draining. There are 3 hoses under my rig.  2 are blue and have screw-on plugs.  These go to the holding tank and to the hot water tank and I believe are used to drain them for winterization.  The third is clear (with a light brownish sediment), twice the diameter of the other 2, no plug but a screen.  All 3 come out under the rig in the same place.  The clear one seems to discharge a small amount of ?water? a day. That is except for a few days ago when we moved to a new site.  When I checked my tow dolly about 10 minutes into our ride, it was gushing and continued to do so for a long time.  I don't know what this ?water? is, where it's coming from, if it's a problem.  Any information or advice really appreciated!

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Did you check what your manuals say?

1 is probably a low point drain to drain all the lines for winter.

1 is probably a water tank drain.

I have no idea what the 3rd would be for but doubt the water heater, normally you just remove the anode or some other plug.

Also would help if you told us what rig you have...................

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Sorry - new to this... Georgetown XL 378TS, 2012.  

One goes from the fresh water tank (one of the 2 blue ones). The other blue one comes from the direction of the water heater, which is right next to the fresh water tank.  The bigger clear one that "gushed" wraps around in front of the fresh tank and goes further up.  Manuals that I have and the one I found on line shed no light. (There are probably more documents out there somewhere that I haven't found.)

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On your Forest River, the two capped drains are your water systems low point drains (used for winterizing or simply purging your water system). The larger hose with the screen is your fresh water overflow.

You likely have one of two (hopefully not both) issues going on.

1. A leaking selector ball valve.

2. A leaking check valve or diaphram at your water pump.

As the water tank slowly overfills it ejects out of the fresh water overflow, and CAN create a siphon affect. Especially if the overflow hose has been seated too deeply into your fresh water tank it can really turn into a gusher.

The easiest to check first is your water pump. If you disconnect the inlet hose to your water pump and have any backflow from the pump that's a good indication you're in the right place. On the outlet side of your water pump you should have a check valve. You'll want to remove the check valve and test it by blowing through the outlet side. If air is passing then you might be able to clean it and get all the little "cruds" out of it, or you may need to replace it. If NOT, then you'll likely be looking at a water pump cleaning/rebuild or replacement as that would indicate that the diaphram itself is leaking. Most of the time.. a simple disassembly and cleaning will resolve the issue, but a replacement "may" be warranted.

If there is NO backflow from your water pump you'll need to move on to the selector ball valve. Remove the cover over the plumbing in your water station to determine the size of ball valve you will need. If it doesn't already have one (I highly doubt since those generally have plastic valves) now would be a good time to upgrade your ball valve to a brass one. They can be found at most home improvement or plumbing supply stores and would likely run somewhere around $15-$20.

If that doesn't resolve your issue then it get's a little hairy, but 9 times out of 10 one of those two will be your culprit.

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7 hours ago, Yarome said:

The larger hose with the screen is your fresh water overflow.

That would be my guess as well. Was the fresh water connected when the picture in the first post was taken? That looks like what typically happens when you fill a fresh water tank to the point of over flowing. 

Good travelin !...............Kirk

Full-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.
Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure

            images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQqFswi_bvvojaMvanTWAI

 

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What lead me to believe it was a leak issue was that the problem seems to be sporatic. If you are hooked up to shore water and your fresh water tank overflows, it will flow continuously until the shore water source is turned off.

Typically though.. on shore water, you would have set your water selector to bypass the fresh water tank. In the event of a leak though (either in the pump, check valve, or ball valve) your fresh water tank would still fill, gradually, then "burp" out water from the overflow until the tank level drops below the overflow. (The overflow draining the tank faster than the leak can fill it) The tank gradually fills again and the cycle repeats.

I AM making the assumption that you are connected to shore water. If not then there would be no excess water source to cause an expulsion. If that's not the case then there are other troubleshooting that can be done.

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17 hours ago, cschlintz said:

When I checked my tow dolly about 10 minutes into our ride, it was gushing...

Will be watching closely on Sunday when we move to see if it gushes again.

 

If it happens only after travel it could be water that slopped into the potable water tank overflow line, especially if you filled that tank just before travel. With a Ford chassis, your engine is in the front so there is no chance that it is antifreeze from the radiator. Your picture looks like the water was actually spraying out under some force and if that is true, something has to be pushing it. It would be strange for a pressure to build up inside of the potable water tank when not connected to some source of water. I do think that you should catch some of the outflow in something if it happens again and be sure what it is that you are seeing, but I'll be very surprised if it isn't just water. Without knowing for sure what that liquid is, we are only guessing about what it is and where it comes from, although based on past experience, I'll be really surprised if it isn't water from your potable water tank.

At this point, it might be well for us to wait for cshlintz to return and read these unless someone thinks of a different possibility. 

Good travelin !...............Kirk

Full-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.
Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure

            images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQqFswi_bvvojaMvanTWAI

 

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20 minutes ago, Kirk Wood said:

I'll be really surprised if it isn't water from your potable water tank.

I'm very familiar with the Forest River product line and 100% certain it is in fact the overfill hose from the fresh water tank.

What's yet to be determined is what the selector is set to and if the OP's fresh water tank is full intentionally or not.

 

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I think that it is likely overflow from the fresh water tank. (What was coming out was simple, clear water.)  What I don't get is that I filled that tank only 3/4 full about a week before the "gush". I was testing to see if the pump worked and what the water pressure would be (rig is new to us on 5/9). I have added no more water to the tank since! So how's it getting there?  I feel like I'm missing a valve that needs opened or closed or something.  I have 3 separate water inlets: "City Water", Fill Fresh Tank, and flush sewer.  To use each I attach the water supply to the appropriate intake.  I have not filled the fresh since that first partial fill. How did there get to be so much to come out? (Rhetorical question, really.) And the small amount of water that I see once a day could be condensation in the overflow hose dripping out. So the real question is do I have a problem or is this a one-time-thing or is this the way it works?  If something's broken I do want to get it fixed!

Thank you ALL for responding.  I'm still digesting some of what you shared.  I'm so new to this that the idea of an overhaul to the water pump (which seems to work just fine) is quite daunting.

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10 hours ago, Kirk Wood said:

That would be my guess as well. Was the fresh water connected when the picture in the first post was taken? That looks like what typically happens when you fill a fresh water tank to the point of over flowing. 

Not connected at that time.  10 minutes into a day's drive and checking my tow dolly when I saw this.

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9 hours ago, mptjelgin said:

Is it possible that the rig has a water softener or reverse osmosis filter that flushes itself periodically?

No on the softener.  We do have a water filter, but was told it's not RO.  Don't think it flushes periodically but the rig is so new to me that...

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New symptom... We have almost no water pressure on city water.  At the input where I have a pressure controlling fitting it reads just over 40 - which is usually quite good.  But inside when I turn on the water it starts flowing and very quickly slows to a drip.  I turned on the pump and have nice pressure now.  Not sure what it means but pretty sure it's connected.

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Have you taken off the fresh water hose and looked into the fittings? Most RV water hoses use a hose washer that has a screen in it to stop larger materials from entering through the water. I suspect that you have one and it is plugging up with a forign material.  It also could be that if you use a water filter, it is in need of replacement.

                                               61PNp+vrZHL._AC_UL130_.jpg

Good travelin !...............Kirk

Full-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.
Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure

            images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQqFswi_bvvojaMvanTWAI

 

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