Split water hose in bathroom

[Greg A]

Laura's home and will head to ETI shortly so Reace can figure out what blew and repair it. She shouldn't need to be running anything in the trailer for now.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by NW Cat Owner

All I know is that it split. It's clear, plastic and if I remember correctly it has a blue color line running through it. It does kind of look like it's braided. It's definitely not white. I'm not in the trailer right now to double check it. Both of the hoses going from wherever to the bottom of the sink are this type of hose. It's very flexible as in I can mash it in with my fingers.

Great description
That is not PEX tubing, and is likely vinyl. While officially "tubing", I think most people would call this "hose". In any case, it is suitable for water at residential pressures.

Although PEX can handle a lot of pressure, as Dave explained, so can the hose. Any RV pump should have sections of hose on both inlet and outlet sides, and my understanding is that Escape is currently doing that.

This is an example from Lowes: Watts Reinforced PVC Braided Tubing (note: "PVC" means polyvinyl chloride, also informally known as "vinyl")
The pressure specs provided by Lowes are inconsistent and therefore useless, but the Watts spec sheet says that if you get the 1/8" wall thickness, the working pressure at 70°F is 250 psi... far more than needed. The concern might be that high in the operating temperature range (which goes up to 125°F / 52°C), the allowable pressure might be substantially lower... and it is the hot water line which split. This is much more of an issue than it would be with PEX.

Perhaps these lines should be steel-braided faucet supply risers, which are expected to be used with hot water?

[gocamp]

OP can you get an update on the belly band check you mentioned when you talk to them. What models and production dates that are affected, thanks.

[StarvingHyena]

Is there a way to test your water pressure regulator? Must be ....

Tom

[Patandlinda]

Originally Posted by StarvingHyena

Is there a way to test your water pressure regulator? Must be ....

Tom

Was thinking to get a adjustable one with gauge ? Ours is over 30 years . Maybe time ? Pat

[NW Cat Owner]

Originally Posted by Greg A

Laura's home and will head to ETI shortly so Reace can figure out what blew and repair it. She shouldn't need to be running anything in the trailer for now.

Thank goodness! I'm just glad it didn't happen at the beginning of my trip. Although they did have a shower facility there that I could have used.

I was wondering about bypassing that hot water hose if it had happened at the beginning of a trip. I will be discussing that with Reace.

And my comment on shutting off the hot water (electric) heater is due to other comments I've seen in other threads stating you need to turn it off if you're not hooked to city water. I had assumed that meant the water faucet is turned on, but maybe that's an incorrect assumption on my part. That has happened a time or two.

I will hopefully remember to ask on the belly band issue. I had thought an email had been sent on that and I just didn't get one since they checked mine when I was there. Due to all the traveling I've been doing the past 4 weeks I've not been on this list very much and figured the emails had been sent and it had been discussed on here. Assumptions! I know!

[tdf-texas]

Originally Posted by NW Cat Owner

So, has anyone else had this problem? Or am I just the only "lucky" one out there?

Sunday evening I was relaxing on the dinette after having cleaned up with a nice shower. Heard this loud boom/bang and then water gushing like crazy. What the *)#$#*$#$#

Discovered water gushing along the wall under the sink. Turned off the water at the outside faucet (and the electric water heater). Water inside stopped. Mopped up the walls and all that. Used the squeegee to get all the water down the floor drain.

Felt around the hoses. Neither of them had come off their connection point, however the hot water hose (next to the outside wall) had split near the top and on the wall side (therefore any photos would be pointless).

Fortunately my shower was over with. Fortunately it was at the tail end of my trip as I was heading home the next day. Fortunately I was IN the trailer when it happened. Fortunately I had multiple gallons of water with me in jugs for drinking and "just in case" situations. Like this!

I've contacted ETI and will be taking the trailer up there Thursday AM. I hope to get up there and back in the same day - we'll see. Reace says it'll be about a 4 hour repair job. He did mention they'll need to remove the storage cubby.

So, any ideas on how and why this happened? Can I expect this to happen again?

The 2017 21' has a new style bathroom surround. Escape decided to use plastic tubing to connect the faucet due to the tight turns needed to connect the fittings instead of using PEX all the way. The plastic tubing is not rated for hot water use and ruptures within months of use. Reese will remove the cubby, cut an access hole in the wall behind the cubby area, and replace the plastic tubing with PEX eliminating the problem.

My hot water tubing burst with just the pump running so the water pressure is not the issue - the water temp is.

Anyone with a 2017 21' should contact Reese - this is not a patch that could be done on the road.

[rubicon327]

Originally Posted by padlin

It's the hot water pipe that's split, just looking to see if there is a way they could continue to use the cold water.

Correct. Maybe someone else on the forum that has read this now knows they can shut off the hot water side of their system with the flip of ONE of the bypass valves if they have a problem on that side of the system. This would apply whether on city water or with pump from the freshwater tank and would allow continued use of cold water at all outlets until a repair is made.

[NW Cat Owner]

Originally Posted by tdf-texas

The 2017 21' has a new style bathroom surround. Escape decided to use plastic tubing to connect the faucet due to the tight turns needed to connect the fittings instead of using PEX all the way. The plastic tubing is not rated for hot water use and ruptures within months of use. Reese will remove the cubby, cut an access hole in the wall behind the cubby area, and replace the plastic tubing with PEX eliminating the problem.

My hot water tubing burst with just the pump running so the water pressure is not the issue - the water temp is.

Anyone with a 2017 21' should contact Reese - this is not a patch that could be done on the road.

Thanks Tom for posting this info. Too bad I didn't know about it when I was up there last month getting some other stuff taken care of. Least now I know it wasn't anything I did or didn't do that caused the problem. Whew!

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by tdf-texas

The 2017 21' has a new style bathroom surround. Escape decided to use plastic tubing to connect the faucet due to the tight turns needed to connect the fittings instead of using PEX all the way. The plastic tubing is not rated for hot water use and ruptures within months of use. Reese will remove the cubby, cut an access hole in the wall behind the cubby area, and replace the plastic tubing with PEX eliminating the problem.

My hot water tubing burst with just the pump running so the water pressure is not the issue - the water temp is.

Anyone with a 2017 21' should contact Reese - this is not a patch that could be done on the road.

Great info for others with the new 21, Tom. I understand Reace's reasoning, but obviously a wrong choice. Was it the regular clear tubing, or the reinforced type?

[H46Driver]

OK, for anyone who is confused as to whether it is a PEX line or not .....

[Jim Bennett]

I wonder if a braided supply tube, like used in sinks at home would solve the problem for Escape. This supply tube could connect in the cubby and provide the flexibility Reace was looking for.

[NW Cat Owner]

Originally Posted by tdf-texas

My hot water tubing burst with just the pump running so the water pressure is not the issue - the water temp is.

Anyone with a 2017 21' should contact Reese - this is not a patch that could be done on the road.

Thinking about this some more. I sure hope ETI starts to contact those owners affected by their early choice of tubing. I don't even want to think about how much damage constant water could have caused to the trailer if I wasn't there to turn off the faucet. It could have happened just after I left in the morning. I was gone that day for over 8 hours and even more the previous day. I doubt anyone in the campground would have noticed water pouring out of my trailer as they were mostly all gone for some college championship baseball games.

ETI would have to do far more repair/replacement work if water had spread all over my trailer.

Or pay someone to do this work if you don't live close enough to bring your trailer back.

Since it's due to temperature of the water, that makes sense why it happened soon after my shower ended. I like 'em hot. I'm just glad I decided to get the doggie smell off me that evening (vending at an all-dog event) and didn't forgo the shower. Then it probably would have happened at the beginning of my next trip. Ack!

Off to see what's under the kitchen sink!

And thanks Dave for posting that photo. Thought it was a blue line, but like I said, I wasn't in the trailer to verify. But, yeah, that's what I have. Until tomorrow!

[Vermilye]

Originally Posted by NW Cat Owner

...And my comment on shutting off the hot water (electric) heater is due to other comments I've seen in other threads stating you need to turn it off if you're not hooked to city water. I had assumed that meant the water faucet is turned on, but maybe that's an incorrect assumption on my part. That has happened a time or two.

There is no need to shut off the electric supply to the water heater when not hooked to city water. I have stayed in electric only campgrounds with electricity supplying the heat for the water heater with no problems.

The concern is you don't want to run the electric element when there isn't water surrounding the heater element. Once filled, the only way water comes out of the water heater is by putting more in (with the pump or city connection).

[rbryan4]

Yep, good info Tom. For anyone with a 2017 21, might be a good idea to change it to all PEX. An ounce of prevention....

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by tdf-texas

... Escape decided to use plastic tubing to connect the faucet due to the tight turns needed to connect the fittings instead of using PEX all the way. The plastic tubing is not rated for hot water use and ruptures within months of use...

Thanks for the confirmation

Originally Posted by Jim Bennett

Great info for others with the new 21, Tom. I understand Reace's reasoning, but obviously a wrong choice. Was it the regular clear tubing, or the reinforced type?

Laura's is reinforced, like the Watts product which I linked, and the other descriptions.

Originally Posted by Jim Bennett

I wonder if a braided supply tube, like used in sinks at home would solve the problem for Escape.

Glad to see we're on the same page, Jim:

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

...
Perhaps these lines should be steel-braided faucet supply risers, which are expected to be used with hot water?

Risers are not all reinforced with braiding, but in material which is highly flexible the reinforcement is needed. Sink risers will all be suitable for hot water.

I don't know how much length needs to be flexible to make the installation easier than with PEX; available riser lengths are limited.

[rubicon327]

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

I don't know how much length needs to be flexible to make the installation easier than with PEX; available riser lengths are limited.

I don't know what the design entails of course, but a quick search shows 30" braided faucet lines are available. That's a pretty generous length to work with.

[War Eagle]

Although not aesthetically pleasing to some eyes, a long hose can usually be looped to connect across a short gap. More to the concern, we've used hot water in the bathroom sink for short duration events such as washing our hands, etc., but we've not yet taken any long, hot showers in our 2017 21'. So is it a long duration flow of hot water, such as a lengthy hot shower, that is weakening the hot water line to the point of rupturing? For what it's worth, we always turn off the city water supply and the AC power to the water heater when leaving the camper for an extended period of time. An ounce of prevention, and such....

[rbryan4]

Seems to me the "proper" way to plumb this is just to use PEX, and use elbows for any 90 degree turns. Why change materials if the rest of the trailer uses PEX?

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[Loren & Cathy]

I couldn't imagine where the line was that broke but now I see. Those lines are not PEX but the ones in our trailer are. Things keep changing and sometimes not for the better. Loren