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Poddy
Groupie
Joined: 22 Jul 2020
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 47
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Topic: slow drip from insulation around low point drains Posted: 21 Sep 2020 at 3:39pm |
Folks, I was blowing out the lines with a shop vac ( i had hot and cold Fawcett taps on inside in the kitchen sink), collecting water from the fresh water tank drain and noticed a small drip coming from the insulation (foam) around the low point drains. There's no way to see whats happening because it's all enclosed. Another question too, why is there two low point drains (hot and cold?).
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2011 RP172
2015 Toyota Tacoma
Newfoundland, Canada
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Poddy
Groupie
Joined: 22 Jul 2020
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Posts: 47
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Posted: 21 Sep 2020 at 3:42pm |
Forgot to mention, i had the caps off the low point drains as well
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2011 RP172
2015 Toyota Tacoma
Newfoundland, Canada
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mcarter
podders Helping podders - pHp
Joined: 07 Apr 2016
Location: Greenbrier, TN
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 3419
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Posted: 21 Sep 2020 at 4:34pm |
Mine drain when caps open. Lines are read and blue, hot and cold low point.
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Mike Carter
2015 178
" I had the right to remain silent, I just didn't have the ability."
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offgrid
Senior Member
Joined: 23 Jul 2018
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 5290
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Posted: 21 Sep 2020 at 5:44pm |
Originally posted by Poddy
Folks, I was blowing out the lines with a shop vac ( i had hot and cold Fawcett taps on inside in the kitchen sink), collecting water from the fresh water tank drain and noticed a small drip coming from the insulation (foam) around the low point drains. There's no way to see whats happening because it's all enclosed. Another question too, why is there two low point drains (hot and cold?). |
Look from the inside and see if there is a leak at one of the tee fittings that feeds to the low point drains. Its unusual for a pex clamp fitting to leak but not unheard of.
There have to be low point drains for both hot and cold since they are separate systems.
How are you connecting the shop vac to your water system?
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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold
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Poddy
Groupie
Joined: 22 Jul 2020
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Posts: 47
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Posted: 21 Sep 2020 at 6:34pm |
How am i connecting the shop vac to the water system? Not really connecting it, just putting the hose at the fresh water tank drain (underneath), the fresh water manual fill opening (on the side), and at the hot water heater drain (anode). Im hoping i didn't put too much pressure on any of the fittings/ lines.
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2011 RP172
2015 Toyota Tacoma
Newfoundland, Canada
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offgrid
Senior Member
Joined: 23 Jul 2018
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Posts: 5290
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Posted: 21 Sep 2020 at 7:55pm |
No way a shop vac can create more than a couple of psi of pressure. That wouldn’t damage the plumbing. I was thinking the opposite, it might not produce enough pressure to blow out the lines.
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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold
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Poddy
Groupie
Joined: 22 Jul 2020
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 47
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Posted: 22 Sep 2020 at 6:08am |
Off grid, well that's a relief. But i will say the shop vac did collect way more water than i thought it would. Had to empty it while in the process (i also dropped the nose of the pod as far down as it would go, i found that helped too with getting "hidden" water.)
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2011 RP172
2015 Toyota Tacoma
Newfoundland, Canada
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offgrid
Senior Member
Joined: 23 Jul 2018
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 5290
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Posted: 22 Sep 2020 at 8:05am |
OK, I understand now that you are using vacuum from the shop vac to pull out water rather than the pressure side to blow out water. That might cause a problem I guess creating a weak vacuum in the fresh water tank because that isn't meant to handle pressure changes like that. I would suggest not applying pressure or vacuum to that in future.
Just use the pressure side of the vac or better an air compressor set to 30 psi or so to blow out the pressure lines of the trailer, leaving a faucet open. That way you're not asking any of the plumbing or fixtures to do something they're not designed to do. A little water left in the bottom of the tanks isn't going to damage anything when it freezes.
Have you determined the cause of your water drip yet?
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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold
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poston
podders Helping podders - pHp
Joined: 28 Mar 2018
Location: Nevada
Online Status: Online
Posts: 199
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Posted: 22 Sep 2020 at 9:54am |
Originally posted by offgrid
A little water left in the bottom of the tanks isn't going to damage anything when it freezes. |
True, but I did not blow out my fresh water tank, and over the winter I developed a hairline crack on the flex line coming from the tank. So, I will be blowing out the FWT this winter!
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Jim
Virginia City, Nevada
2016 R-pod 180
2015 Nissan Xterra Pro-4X
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offgrid
Senior Member
Joined: 23 Jul 2018
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 5290
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Posted: 22 Sep 2020 at 10:27am |
Be careful how much pressure you put on the tank, it is not meant to handle anything more than about a foot of water column which is about 0.5 psi. Adhesives don't stick well to low density polyethylene (LDPE) which is what the fwt is made of, so its easy to blow the fittings out.
If you're concerned about the pump feed line freezing it might be better to just disconnect it than to try to apply pressure to the tank. I'm not sure how pressure would do better than just adjusting the tilt of the trailer and draining the tank anyway.
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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold
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