2014 21 C chasing a water leak

[Shadious]

Hi all, I’ve tried to search this question but came up empty. We just bought a 2014 (older body style) 21 C that reportedly leaks when hooked up to city water. I want to trouble shoot the problem by hooking up to city water and see where the leak starts. However, I’ve not been able to see how to gain access to the space behind the city water fill. It appears that the refrigerator is right in front of the water hookup area. Do I need to pull out the cabinets to see behind the city water fill? If so does anyone have any suggestions for how to go about removing all the trim and cabinets?

Thanks!
Shad

[alanmalk]

Originally Posted by Shadious

Hi all, I’ve tried to search this question but came up empty. We just bought a 2014 (older body style) 21 C that reportedly leaks when hooked up to city water. I want to trouble shoot the problem by hooking up to city water and see where the leak starts. However, I’ve not been able to see how to gain access to the space behind the city water fill. It appears that the refrigerator is right in front of the water hookup area. Do I need to pull out the cabinets to see behind the city water fill? If so does anyone have any suggestions for how to go about removing all the trim and cabinets?

Thanks!
Shad

No suggestions on carpentry - unfortunately. But I will be watching this thread due to a possible repair to my water inlets, and need the same information. But meanwhile - if you don't have a reasonable suspicion that the hookup area is the source of the leak it might be easier to first check under the bed where the majority of the plumbing connections live. If for no other reason that you have "easier" access and visibility. Another thought is to use a RV style pressure regulator on your city water inlet on the chance that the leak was due to excessive pressure one occasionally finds at a campground.

[Fazer8]

You need to remove cabinet panels to get to it. I just removed the side of the lower cabinet underneath the fridge to fill a hole around the water fill. You can see the blue city connection in the back of this picture.

[Shadious]

Thanks so much, that’s what I was looking for! Are the panels just screwed in or do they use staples? Taking a casual look at things, it was not obvious to me where the panels would be attached to the main structure.

[Fazer8]

Originally Posted by Shadious

Thanks so much, that’s what I was looking for! Are the panels just screwed in or do they use staples? Taking a casual look at things, it was not obvious to me where the panels would be attached to the main structure.

They are stapled on. I used a thin crowbar to carefully pop the panel off without cracking it. I’m thinking about taking several of them off and expanding storage into the wheel well area like others here have done.

[brroberts]

Some are staple, and some are staple and glue. Mine were glued with construction adhesive.

[Ron in BC]

Originally Posted by Fazer8

They are stapled on. I used a thin crowbar to carefully pop the panel off without cracking it. I’m thinking about taking several of them off and expanding storage into the wheel well area like others here have done.

Any damage done if the adhesive pulls the back layer off won't show if ypu re-install the panel.

In my 2014 Gen 1 19 there was also a long, full length of the counter, hidden space over the wheel well. I opened it up from the door end for the storage of, umm, long objects. On Gen 2s the shelf extends out to the exterior wall and there isn't the same long hidden space over the wheel well.

Ron

[brroberts]

Originally Posted by Ron in BC

Any damage done if the adhesive pulls the back layer off won't show if ypu re-install the panel.

In my 2014 Gen 1 19 there was also a long, full length of the counter, hidden space over the wheel well. I opened it up from the door end for the storage of, umm, long objects. On Gen 2s the shelf extends out to the exterior wall and there isn't the same long hidden space over the wheel well.

Ron

In my gen 2 it is full length.

[Shadious]

I bought a scope camera off Amazon for $30 a couple days ago and today I started playing with it. I was able to easily see behind the cabinet and when I hooked up city water, I checked for leaks at the connection and all around that inlet area. Weird thing was, there were no leaks! I then went under the bed near the water heater and looked for any signs of water- guess what? That’s right, no leaks! I left the water turned on (with a pressure reducer) for about an hour and there were absolutely no signs of a leak. I did flush and fill the water heater and checked the anode. The anode was fine, but there were lots of porcelain flakes coming out. I used the scope to check the inside of the water heater and there is lots of damage/rust. However, still no leaks. I’m sure I need to replace the water heater, but still curious about where the water leak is/was. The fresh tank is full right now as we are sanitizing it, but when we ran the pump yesterday, there were no signs of water leaks.

My next post will likely be: How do I replace a water heater

[trekker6]

Shadious, it only leaks from the pressurized water line, the water leak was in the driver side settee which led me to believe it was leaking at the water inlets, which are attached with rivets. There is a strip of plywood in the corner which should be easy to remove and expose the corner, I believe the water fills are two feet from the end of the trailer right over the drivers settee, my thought was the leak was on the tubing attachment to the water fill, otherwise it would be from the waterfill to the floor.

[Shadious]

Originally Posted by trekker6

Shadious, it only leaks from the pressurized water line, the water leak was in the driver side settee which led me to believe it was leaking at the water inlets, which are attached with rivets. There is a strip of plywood in the corner which should be easy to remove and expose the corner, I believe the water fills are two feet from the end of the trailer right over the drivers settee, my thought was the leak was on the tubing attachment to the water fill, otherwise it would be from the waterfill to the floor.

Interesting- we did not see any evidence of a leak. Are you saying that it was draining from the city fill to the back of the trailer? The scope camera did not show any leaking water after about an hour and a half. We did use the pressure regulator

[iamunique127]

Originally Posted by Shadious

Interesting- we did not see any evidence of a leak.

It sounds like you are in luck and it fixed itself. You gotta love when that happens.

[trekker6]

Maybe it was just an issue with a bushing or a washer, that would be great, I didn't attach the hose, my sister dId.

[Shadious]

Originally Posted by trekker6

Maybe it was just an issue with a bushing or a washer, that would be great, I didn't attach the hose, my sister dId.

I was trying to figure out what could be leaking and all the connections seemed to hold fine. The water heater tank is the only thing I could find an issue with, but it’s not leaking, just needs to be replaced at some point.

While I am excited that withers were no visible leaks, it still has me a bit worried, since things don’t generally fix themselves, especially with campers! I’ll give you a call this week in case there are any other details I may have missed. Did you get your new camper yet?