hot water tank fitting leaking into 5th wheel basement

[Mokulele]

Discovered water leak from hot tank. Drained hot tank till I can get mobile service. Can I set up Nautilus so I can send water from city water to cold fixtures and bypass drained HW tank until get help?
Thanks

[FT4NOW]

Discovered water leak from hot tank. Drained hot tank till I can get mobile service. Can I set up Nautilus so I can send water from city water to cold fixtures and bypass drained HW tank until get help?
Thanks

Can you access the water heater? If you can see the leak, you can then see if the fitting needs to be tightened or repaired. Typically the red valve on the Nautilus is the heater bypass. Never tried to use the system like that, but it should be similar to winterize mode.

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[Mokulele]

I figured out red handle in horizontal position isolates HW, so at least we have cold.
We are in Voyager RV Park (Tucson)- been here for a week.
This a 26 RL. We've had for it for 3 years, no issues with HW til now. I carefully tried to snug up the fitting on the backside of the tank, but no joy- the drip slightly increased. Any idea what the possibilities might be?
Thanks,
Peter

[FT4NOW]

I figured out red handle in horizontal position isolates HW, so at least we have cold.
We are in Voyager RV Park (Tucson)- been here for a week.
This a 26 RL. We've had for it for 3 years, no issues with HW til now. I carefully tried to snug up the fitting on the backside of the tank, but no joy- the drip slightly increased. Any idea what the possibilities might be?
Thanks,
Peter

There is a rubber washer inside the fitting, it most likely needs to be replaced. As long as the leak isnt from where the flexible hose connects to the fitting you can fix it. I dont think they sell just that washer, but if you goto a hardware store it is a female 1/2" x 1/2" pex swivel fitting. You can probably remove the washer from the new one and swap it out to the old one.

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[TJCamp]

We had a Lance for many years before the Grand design. We had the same problem with the Lance hot water heater. We went out and got a brass fitting. It seemed like the plastic fixings get too hot and it becomes a problem. Just sharing our experience with hot water heaters.

[Mokulele]

We had a Lance for many years before the Grand design. We had the same problem with the Lance hot water heater. We went out and got a brass fitting. It seemed like the plastic fixings get too hot and it becomes a problem. Just sharing our experience with hot water heaters.

Thanks TJ. Would that require any special tools-I've never worked with PEX. I may farm this out-if I hear back from the tech I called!

[Mokulele]

Thank you! I'll look for one this morning?

[boyscout]

Thanks TJ. Would that require any special tools-I've never worked with PEX. I may farm this out-if I hear back from the tech I called!

Working with PEX does kinda require at LEAST a specialized clamping tool to install the cinch clamps.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/3-8-in-1...1096/202640984

Of course you need some 1/2" cinch clamps too - they are not re-useable.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/The-Plum...1250/303478010

It's usually a WHOLE lot easier to just cut fittings out of the system and put new ones in, being mindful of course about shortening your PEX lines so much that you can't fit them back together. It's also best to replace the cheap plastic PEX fittings used in our trailers with new brass ones. These parts are not expensive - it's worth doing it easily and right. However if you do want to remove cinch clamps and wrestle fittings out of the PEX to re-use them this tool is made for removing the cinch clamps:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Apollo-P...PCRR/301923898

It's also possible to remove the cinch clamps with end-cutter or side-cutter pliers by peeling up the end of the tab on them until they let go.

As for cutting PEX itself, a sharp utility knife will do but as is so often the case the right tool is easier to use:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/SharkBit...701A/202685929

All are likely to be used more than this once. GD uses a fair bit of soft hose in our trailers because it's easier for them to install, and they improperly clamp it onto PEX fittings. These are infamous for leaking problems and over time should be replaced. Unless you're comfortable with always farming out these tasks to mobile pros, one or more of the tools will be an investment.

Good luck.

[FT4NOW]

Great advice from @boyscout , I carry pex pliers, pex cutters, some spare pex and various fittings with me. One of those leaking could ruin a trip, and it's easy enough to fix if you already have parts and tools on hand. The cost for a mobile tech to come out once and repair it should cover the same cost as buying the tools once and some spare parts.

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[Juiceman]

I had a number of the fittings leak in the basement. The issue was that many of them were touching the heating ductwork. The extra heat from the metal ductwork was just not good for either the PEX or the Flex pipes. I ended up cutting the drain lines (which were pushing up the pipes too high) and re-attaching them to the existing fittings. Good for the past few winter months!

On the Flex hoses, I am not using the PEX clamps. I bought old-school screw on clamps for those and I feel they can be tightened after use. I waited until shower-time to tighten them the last bit once the lines were hot and more soft and pliable.