Shower Drain Leak Repair

[Camper_bob]

So on our trip last week, I was walking around the rear of the trailer just checking things out (I do this quite frequently). I discovered that the undercoating on the back of my trailer (the tarp-like material that holds the insulation up) looked a little weird, so I pushed on it, and it was obviously filled with water. The park we were in had extremely high water pressure, so I started inspecting all my water fittings for leaks (even though I had a pressure regulator attached). I came up dry on all my fittings. So I took off the access panel under the shower and discovered that my shower drain had popped loose and some shower water was leaking into the insulated area under the floor. I fixed the drain pretty easily for now, until I get a better replacement, but the insulation in that area is pretty wet.

I cut a couple small holes in the tarp material to let as much of the trapped water drain as I could, but I could feel the wet insulation through the holes. Being that we were 1000 miles from home, I wasn't going to tear the bottom out of my trailer.

As of this moment, I have not opened it up, we just got home yesterday. When I open it up, I'll know more about what the repairs entail. I'm hoping for a little luck that it had not been happening for long, and that I just need to let it all dry out and replace the insulation. But my luck's not that good generally, so we will see.

My primary concern right now is how to open it up, knowing that I will want to seal it back. I don't know that I want to cut the lining right up next to the frame, because there's no way I could "replace" it that way. But I want to get at all the affected areas for repair. My second concern is how to close it all back up when I'm done. Of course, I don't want it to look like I've torn into it when I'm done. I suppose I could cut a sort of "access panel", pull the sheeting aside, do what needs doing, and then tape it all back together? I would probably use Eternabond (black) for that job. My trailer doesn't have the upgraded insulation package, so at least there's that. But I have easy access to all the chloroplast I could want, so I could replace with that if I wanted to.

Any ideas/pointers out there on this type of repair?

[JeremyFr]

I don't have insulation on my rig, but I do have the full undercarriage panels. Mine is simply held in place by self tapping screws with soft washers. It was pretty easy to drop out on my rig when I installed an aftermarket tank flush.

[Marcm157]

I would cut open what you need for easy access and reseal with gorilla tape. Eternabond may be problematic if you have to reopen for any reason.

[Camper_bob]

Originally Posted by JeremyFr

I don't have insulation on my rig, but I do have the full undercarriage panels. Mine is simply held in place by self tapping screws with soft washers. It was pretty easy to drop out on my rig when I installed an aftermarket tank flush.

This has me thinking I might just get a piece of chloroplast and put it up there. It would technically function better than what's there, and would be easier to work with. It would look significantly different than the rest of the undercarriage though, so the "repair" would be pretty obvious.

Originally Posted by Marcm157

I would cut open what you need for easy access and reseal with gorilla tape. Eternabond may be problematic if you have to reopen for any reason.

I'm hesitant to use Gorilla Tape for this particular repair given the environment this repair has to live in. This area of the trailer takes A LOT of abuse during transit. I LOVE the stuff, TBH it was my first thought, but I'm not sure it's up to the task under the trailer like this in this location. But you raise a good point about the Eternabond; if I ever have to go back in, I will have to just cut a different area or cut through the Eternabond itself? That plastic sheeting does offer quite a bit of protection from water intrusion, so I want to make sure it's sealed up nice and tight when I'm done...

[Camper_bob]

Perhaps I'll just get the actual repair product designed for this type of repair:

Scrim Shield 4" x 180' Roll of Under-Belly Tape - Seals, Tapes & Adhesives - RV Maintenance

I bet if I shop for it, I could get it in less than 180' roll!!

Though, from what I understand, black Gorilla tape has been known to work quite well...

[Marcm157]

I get your hesitation. I've used gorilla tape in some pretty intense places and yes after some time I did have to reapply or touch up some but it did the trick.

If I had an enclosed under belly I would split a roll of the real stuff with you. We could just mail it back and forth to whoever needed it...

[Wannabe]

I used gorilla tape to seal the slide motor access panel underneath my camper. It was just a square piece cut out affixed with a few screws. It has held up great for 5000+ miles over two years.

[ALJO]

The plumbing drain fittings can come loose during travel. To avoid this use a piece of flat metal and contour it over the nut and pipe and put a clamp around it. It will never come loose again.

[vcbice]

Try going to an RV repair shop and ask if you can buy a few feet of the stuff from their roll.

[Murff]

Originally Posted by Camper_bob

Perhaps I'll just get the actual repair product designed for this type of repair:

Scrim Shield 4" x 180' Roll of Under-Belly Tape - Seals, Tapes & Adhesives - RV Maintenance

I bet if I shop for it, I could get it in less than 180' roll!!

Though, from what I understand, black Gorilla tape has been known to work quite well...

Under Belly Tape is what our dealer recommends!

Murff

[t18skyguy]

I would get the wet insulation out right away. The problem is it won't dry before serious mold sets in. Mold starts in only 48 hours. I won't even go into how I know this issue, many times over. Good luck with the repair.

[Summitstev]

I have used this tape before underneath at TT - worked well and comes in a 5 yard roll
Intertape Polymer Group 3 in. x 5 yds. VersaTape Underwater Tape-99688 - The Home Depot

[Marcm157]

Originally Posted by Summitstev

I have used this tape before underneath at TT - worked well and comes in a 5 yard roll
Intertape Polymer Group 3 in. x 5 yds. VersaTape Underwater Tape-99688 - The Home Depot

Looks like a very viable option and something I may just add to my emergency road kit...

[Camper_bob]

Originally Posted by Summitstev

I have used this tape before underneath at TT - worked well and comes in a 5 yard roll
Intertape Polymer Group 3 in. x 5 yds. VersaTape Underwater Tape-99688 - The Home Depot

I might take a look at this stuff. It's available RFN down the street (I found a smaller roll of the other stuff on Amazon, but it'll take some time to ship here), and it even lists "Poly sheeting" on the application guide.

I used some Gorilla tape in another application, and while it did not fail, it didn't take long for it to look pretty bad. Removal of the tape for application of a different product also didn't go so well; the adhesive on the Gorilla tape became loose and sticky. I'd like for the appearance of a repair to be as minimal as I can get, so I want to use the correct materials.

I was going to wait until I had all the materials on hand to begin tearing into it, but the point about mold is a good one. I might just go ahead and open it up tonight to get the drying process started.

[Camper_bob]

Originally Posted by ALJO

The plumbing drain fittings can come loose during travel. To avoid this use a piece of flat metal and contour it over the nut and pipe and put a clamp around it. It will never come loose again.

Tell me more about this. I can't envision what you're saying.

ETA: I found a completely flexible drain trap at Home Depot last night that attaches with just clamps on both ends. I didn't take measurements to see that it would work for this application, but it looked REALLY close. Once I get a few other issues under control, I will re-visit that fix.

[mikefos]

Originally Posted by ALJO

The plumbing drain fittings can come loose during travel. To avoid this use a piece of flat metal and contour it over the nut and pipe and put a clamp around it. It will never come loose again.

Can you please post a picture of this? Thx.

[Camper_bob]

I tore it open yesterday evening. Damage is not as bad as I thought it would be. The wood stayed mostly dry save for one spot on the curb side. That spot leads me to believe this has been happening at some level for a while, it just got bad enough to be visible from the outside during this trip.

I opened up a smaller access hole further up the frame to inspect any potential damage and found little/none there. So that leads me to believe the bulk of the moisture was isolated to the rear curb-side corner with some moving toward the street-side in the very rear last section of the underbelly.

That insulation they put down there is some nasty stuff. It's really cheap fiberglass batting insulation. I knew it was fiberglass, so I went in with gloves (I have some experience with fiberglass insulation), but so much of it sluffed off into the air, I had to get DW to get me a mask too. I came out of it relatively unscathed, but if anyone is going to tackle a repair like this, just know you need at least some basic safety gear. I got some insulation wedged in the crook of my elbow and got an irritation almost immediately.

It's all opened up and drying now while I have the tape on order (going to order from Amazon today). I'll pick up some insulation later this week/weekend to replace the wet stuff I removed and seal it all back up when the tape gets here.

After that, I will begin taking measures to ensure this never happens again. I put it back the way it was originally designed when we were out on the road (primarily for lack of time and resources), but I HATE leaving something as it was originally designed in cases like this. It's just silly to leave it that way if I can improve it.

[Camper_bob]

Buttoned it all back up over the weekend. I bought a roll of the pink, backed insulation and cut to fit the places where I pulled out wet insulation. It went in pretty well.

After putting the new insulation in, I sealed up the openings with the "special" tape designed for underbellies. It went on pretty well, but it was somewhat difficult to work with. I got it figured out by about half way through the second opening. You can obviously tell it's been opened up, but it is also put back together properly (though perhaps not as pretty as a pro would do), so I hope that helps come resale time.

Now I just need to figure out how to make it not happen again. Perhaps another thread for that fix...