Sunday, May 28, 2023

Water, Water Everywhere!

About a week ago I ran the generator in the motorhome and realized the water system was still winterized. I do not use antifreeze but instead I drain the water tank, the hot water heater and all the pipes. It is easy to do, is cheaper than using antifreeze and it very seldom drops below freezing here anyway. Just in case I have an electric heater inside the rig that turns on at 40 F. I've never had a problem.

I filled the water tank after closing all the various shutoff valves, went inside, opened all the taps and turned on the water pump. It went on and started pressurizing the system. But it didn't stop after I turned off all the taps. Then I heard water running! I opened the cabinet under the kitchen sink and water was coming out of the underside of the taps! I turned off the pump and cleaned up the mess which was not all that bad. I cannot get into that cramped space and even if I could, I cannot see well enough that close to my face. I suspect it is the taps that failed. The fixture was leaking a little before and I had to make sure the hot-cold lever was perfectly centered or it would drip and leak from behind onto the counter, it needed replacement anyway so I went down to Home Hardware and bought a suitable Moen replacement for $110. I bought a household model, not one for RV's. The RV ones (in my experience) are not as well made and cost more. Next I called my local plumber, a smaller guy who installed the last one and got a promise he would call first and be here sometime this coming week. Hopefully a leaky tap is the only problem which was probably caused by not being used for a long time.