Leaks, leaks and more leaks!!! Long post.

Ever since we bought this RV, just over a year ago, we have experienced leaks and plumbing issues. When we first bought it there was a bad leak under the kitchen sink. We found a loose connection going to the taps so that was an easy fix. At the same time there appeared to be a leak around the sink drain, again an easy fix with some plumber's putty.

Then we removed the large CRT TV from the front entertainment center and discovered evidence of a leak in the cab over area. We took it back to Owasco where we bought the RV, and they re caulked the front end.

We did not use the RV for a few months from December to April, so had no issues during that time. Once we got back to Ontario and moved into it again, we found water coming out from under the divider wall between the kitchen and the bathroom. Back to Owasco who tore out the pantry and the divider wall. They said they fixed a cracked pipe inside the wall. Luckily this was "repaired" under our extended warranty with a deductible of only $50.

Intermittently we still found water oozing out from under the divider wall, which we mopped up. At the same time we heard a funny noise coming from the black tank flush, so back to Owasco and another $50. They tore out the vanity and replaced the flusher valve.

Then we found a leak under the vanity and still saw the intermittent leak. The vanity leak was easily repaired. The technician at Owasco had forgotten to tighten the drain under the basin. We now had to leave on our trip to California, so did not have time to get the leak under the dividing wall looked at.

Now we are in California and we have to find the source of this water. With the help of the wonderful community on the Kodiak Chassis RV forum on Yahoo, we gradually went through steps to eliminate all possible sources. This included removing an outside fender and the wheel well to investigate the bottom of the shower (we had determined that we got the leak every time we showered).  No leak under the shower, which was below floor level anyway. So back inside and the bottom of the pantry was removed. The floor was soaking wet. There is also an access panel behind one of the drawers in the pantry to get to the back of the shower faucets. No apparent leak there either.

We went through a series of "tests" on the shower itself.

Michael blocked the shower drain and sprayed water over the shower enclosure. No leak.
Then he opened the shower drain and allowed the water in the shower to drain out. No leak.
Then he had a shower. Leak.
What had we done differently? We had turned on the hot water heater! Now we were getting somewhere. The leak was intermittent because it only happened when we had the hot water heater on, and we only put the hot water heater on when we shower.

OK! So now where was the leak occurring. I had the idea to put my little point and click camera inside the opening at the bottom of the pantry and video tape was going on in there. On watching the video we saw water dripping off the hot water pipe feeding the shower faucet. Michael traced the water up the pipe and then we looked inside the access area higher up in the pantry and it was wet! The winged flange/nut was loose. A simple turn of the screw to tighten it up and VOILA! the water stopped dripping. Hooray! The end of our leaking problems.....or so we thought.

Access area in the pantry for getting to the back of the shower faucets

This morning the hot water heater was turned on for morning showers and drip, drip, drip. OH NO! This time inside the vanity cupboard. Again the hot water pipe up at the faucet end. The winged nut up at the top of the pipe was loose.

Catching the water from inside the vanity

Winged nuts underneath the vanity basin

That was tightened up and no more leak. We are now praying that all leaks have been addressed. We now know more than we ever thought we would about the plumbing in a Jayco Seneca 35GS!! Hoping that this is the end of the problems, however we will continue to monitor and tighten as needed. One of the people on the forum has advised us to check the fittings in the kitchen slide every so often as they may to loose when the slide is deployed. Good tip!