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  1. #1
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    Water leak in 2020 solitude 390rk

    My wife and I made the jump into full time living in an RV. We sold our home, paid in full for a new solitude 390RK fifth wheel. We found a very nice RV park and have enjoyed the change in lifestyle. However we had our first potentialpus incident. I found water pooling on the floor in our forward storage compartment. We keep reusable purified water containers there and one of them was on its side so I assumed that it had leaked water instead of just being empty. While cleaning it up, I noticed that there was still water seeping from under one of the wall panels. I thought I should look and see how much water had flowed through to the other side of the wall and clean it up. I removed a panel and found the one way valve hooked to the hot water outlet dripping water. The scary part was that the inverter and a switch device were fastened to the floor back there close to the water heater leak. I was fortunate to find the leak before it damaged those two electrical units. My concern is that when I removed the one way valve that was leaking I found that it was a plastic piece of crap. The threads had a place that had broken through and that was the cause of the leak. I ordered a new one on amazon and interestingly enough the replacement valves I looked at were all brass. I am shocked that such a poor quality valve was used in an area where a water leak could cause major damage beyond just a wet floor and wall panels. Since the discovery I have temporarily replace the valve with just a 1/2 inch connector until my brass fitting arrives and I bought a water leak alarm box and placed it underneath the water heater in a catch pan I put under the previous drip site. I expect the new valve tomorrow and will put it in soon. It might be worthwhile for other RVrs to check this out and if they have the plastic valve, replace it.
    Thanks

  2. #2
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    Quote Originally Posted by rferrell79562 View Post
    My concern is that when I removed the one way valve that was leaking I found that it was a plastic piece of crap. The threads had a place that had broken through and that was the cause of the leak. I ordered a new one on amazon and interestingly enough the replacement valves I looked at were all brass. I am shocked that such a poor quality valve was used in an area where a water leak could cause major damage beyond just a wet floor and wall panels. Since the discovery I have temporarily replace the valve with just a 1/2 inch connector until my brass fitting arrives and I bought a water leak alarm box and placed it underneath the water heater in a catch pan I put under the previous drip site. I expect the new valve tomorrow and will put it in soon. It might be worthwhile for other RVrs to check this out and if they have the plastic valve, replace it.
    Thanks
    Welcome to the water-leak club! FYI, there's another one of these check-valves for the fresh water inlet port just behind the Nautilus panel. This one isn't as notorious for failing as the water heater valve. Good idea on the water leak detector!

    Do some searches on the flex water lines and PEX fittings. The flex lines ID is slightly larger than the OD of the PEX fittings; the connection is relying on the PEX clamps to close that gap and hold the lines in place. Not a good design and prone to failure over time. Some may never fail, others could develop over time. I was a bit over the top and replaced ALL flex lines with PEX. Took some time, but I feel a bit better about the water leak potential.

    Best of luck. Below is a picture of the back of a generic Nautilus panel, yellow circle around the other check valve for reference.
    Click image for larger version. 

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    2018 Solitude 344gk
    2021 Ram 3500 SRW

  3. #3
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    I had the same problem with the plastic check valve off the hot water heater on our 19 377mbsr. I felt it cracked right at the tank due to thermal expansion difference between cast iron tank and plastic valve. Made it about 1 year full time. I just replaced it with a brass one from an rv dealer near by and used pet tape about a year and a half ago with no issues since.
    Thanks for the info on the nautilus panel valve..something tells me ill be seeing that down the road :/

  4. #4
    Site Team Second Chance's Avatar
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    You've gotten good advice on the leak issue, so I'll just say welcome to the forum!

    I recommend that anyone who has not already done so create a signature block with your RV and tow vehicle information (see mine below). That way you won't have to repeat that information whenever you post or ask a question. You can create a signature by going to:

    Forum Actions (on menu bar) -> Edit Profile -> Edit Signature (under My Settings on the left)

    Rob
    U.S. Army Retired
    2012 F350 DRW CC LB Lariat PS 6.7
    2020 Solitude 310GK-R, MORryde IS, disc brakes,
    Sailun LRG tires, solar, DP windows, W/D
    (Previously in a Reflection 337RLS)
    Full time since 08/2015

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