Turning off water when leaving

John from Central Florida · 05-12-2018, 06:03 AM

There are numerous threads about turning off the water at the campsite when out for the day.

But how many of you turn off the water supply (as well as the hot water heater breaker) at home before you leave on a trip?

We don’t, but I’ve been wondering if we’ve been pushing our luck..

THE MEEKER · 05-12-2018, 06:18 AM

I always turn off the water at the meter and set the hot water heater to "vacation mode" if I'm going to be away for more than a few days.

I have a neighbor who had a water line burst in the kitchen while they were away for a week of camping. The water damage was over $30,000.

REWahoo · 05-12-2018, 06:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John from Central Florida

But how many of you turn off the water supply (as well as the hot water heater breaker) at home before you leave on a trip?

<hand goes up>

I didn't shut off the water until a few years ago when we heard a strange "ploink!" noise from our hall bathroom one evening. The toilet tank had suddenly cracked allowing water to start a steady flow on to the floor. Lucky for us we were home when it happened.

I can only imagine what we would have returned home to had we been on a trip at the time. Now we always shut off the water if we leave overnight.

pawpaw · 05-12-2018, 06:56 AM

With the flimsy way TTs are put together, why would you risk something coming apart while you were away? It's bad enough if that happens when you're there and can react to the problem, but if you're gone.........bad news!
Just my .02
Pawpaw

Bassdogs · 05-12-2018, 08:12 AM

Agree homes and RV's are different animals. Homes don't bounce and twist down the road nor do they go thru frequent cycles of on/off usage like RV's. Its much more likely that poor construction and vibrations and jolts will knock something loose in your RV. After suffering 3 recent water events in our WH, I have become more aware of the potential for problems with the plumbing. The most recent event occurred on a trip south. After stopping at a WWorld for the nite, I turned on the pump, made coffee, and went into the store to get something for dinner. Upon return I found the main salon flooded from under the kitchen island. Turned out that a faucet connection had loosened on the days drive.

My experience is that most things break when you first turn them on so that is when I have become the most vigilant. That was when the tank flush valve malfunctioned and when the fresh water input elbow sprung a leak. Now I turn on the water and immediately put an eyeball under the kitchen island, the bathroom sink [all the input lines are there] and other plumbing fixtures. After that we generally leave the system pressurized if on a city connection w/pressure regulator. If on the pump I usually flip off the switch if we leave for the day.

Did I mention that I hate plumbing!!

wags999 · 05-12-2018, 08:20 AM

Always turn the water off and water heater when we leave our stick and brick. I had a customer that we had just put a new kitchen in their home. That winter they went to Florida for two weeks. It was a tri level home.. A water pipe in the upstairs bathroom froze and burst. Water flowed throughout the home, all three levels. The house had to be totally gutted, including siding, insulation all drywall all flooring. They were out of the house for over 6 months, it was a complete rebuild..

Our water shuts off the house, but allows the outside system to remain on to keep plants alive. Because of the heat here in Az, we turn the AC up but leave it on. As part of our security system we have two freeze sensors (automatically texts if temp falls below 41 degrees), which will tell you the current temperature in the house. No wifi needed.. Last year I noticed one zone was warmer than other zone, had my daughter check and found that AC went out. We were able to take care of it before we even got home.

No downside to turning water off in the house.

bigironcoder · 05-12-2018, 10:09 AM

There is nothing like coming home after working a long frustrating day, pulling in the driveway, and seeing water running out the bottom of the house siding. Just when I wanted to kick back and have a cold one.

In my case, it was a pipe in an outside wall and there wasn't too much damage. Since then I've always turned off the main water valve, even if gone just 1 night. Same goes for the camper, except I don't trust it more than a half a day.

wags999 · 05-12-2018, 10:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigironcoder

There is nothing like coming home after working a long frustrating day, pulling in the driveway, and seeing water running out the bottom of the house siding. Just when I wanted to kick back and have a cold one.

In my case, it was a pipe in an outside wall and there wasn't too much damage. Since then I've always turned off the main water valve, even if gone just 1 night. Same goes for the camper, except I don't trust it more than a half a day.

The bigger problem is not just the water, but the mold that grows when the moisture content is so high. You were lucky it had not run that long and you caught it.. In the house I spoke about they even had to replace all the roof plywood as mold was everywhere..it was more work than just building new.

DNelson · 05-12-2018, 11:24 AM

We also turn off the water supply and heater when leaving the house for a trip. In the summer we also turn off gas at the meter.

At the campground we turn off the campground water supply when leaving the camper. If there is no campground water supply we turn off the water pump. We also make sure the pump is off while towing.

bdreinv · 05-12-2018, 02:20 PM

Never turn it off, maybe thinking differently now after all the threads!Thanks

RogerR · 05-12-2018, 02:27 PM

We winter in Florida and learned to turn off the water before leaving. Our tankless water heater froze and burst while we were gone. Luckily our son dropped by and saved major damage.

We also added a Simplisafe alarm system. They have water monitors available that trigger a water alarm call. Guess what, the very next winter it went off when our sump pump failed. Again our son came to the rescue before major problems. The home protection is worth the $15 a month.

On our RV, I some time remember to turn off the water, hope I don't ever have cause to regret forgetting!!

Parcany · 05-12-2018, 08:45 PM

Either with the Bungalow or the 33RLDS we would turn off the water anytime we would leave them. I have seen too many people not turning it off and the water line leaks and they come home to a mess. For about 10 seconds of shutting it off will save a bunch of grief later if a pipe breaks.

ride2live · 05-13-2018, 12:34 AM

ALWAYS a good idea to turn off water at valve connecting your rig particularly at RV sites. Never know if a change in pressure/condition could cause a leak in your rig where only a few minutes does THOUSANDS in damage.

Atlee · 05-13-2018, 01:25 AM

Hadn't thought about shutting off the water at home, if we're leaving for a week. However, I do try to remember to do that when on the road with the TT. We're usually pretty good remembering to cut off the water pump if we're using water from the FW tank. Not as good remembering, if we're hooked up to city water.

les45 · 05-13-2018, 03:53 AM

Several years ago we came home from a long weekend to find water dripping from the ceiling fan and our whole living room flooded. One of those gray plastic supply lines to an upstairs bathroom sink had burst. Repairs were extensive and took a long time and very disruptive. The first change we made was to replace all interior supply lines with the braided stainless type. Second was to turn off the main house supply line any time we are gone more than a day.

Kenelz · 05-13-2018, 05:03 AM

For the S&B if I'm going to be gone more than a day, I throw the breaker to the pump. I would be limited to damage from whatever is in the pressure tank. After reading this thread, I will turn the valve, a very easy thing to do to prevent any damage.

For the camper, I turn off the water also, I had two times got damage from what was my fault.

michael.g · 05-13-2018, 05:37 AM

We also turn the water off and the hot water heater off at the house when leaving for more than a day.

-Michael

MissLou · 05-15-2018, 12:39 PM

We definitely turn off our water at the meter as well as the hot water heater. Several years ago we were camping and were notified via the sheriff's office that our home was flooding. We rushed home to discover that the hot water hose to the washing machine had burst and hot water had sprayed all over the kitchen and hallway. What damage was not done by the water itself was done from the steam from the water.

ROC-REQS · 05-15-2018, 12:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John from Central Florida

There are numerous threads about turning off the water at the campsite when out for the day.

But how many of you turn off the water supply (as well as the hot water heater breaker) at home before you leave on a trip?

We don’t, but I’ve been wondering if we’ve been pushing our luck..

We turn off the water at home when ever we leave to go camping, if it's a week-end, a week, or multiple weeks. Heard too many horror stories.

We also turn off the water (supply or pump) at the campsite whenever we are gone.

Force · 05-15-2018, 02:39 PM

Never thought about it for the camper, but this thread has changed my mind!

At home I'll turn off the water main if we're going away for more than a day or two. Although even that's plenty of time to do major water damage.

I wonder if there is a device that sits on your floor that if it gets wet it kills power to the well pump...

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