Water Leak at Tee Joint

[amcleod]

I would appreciate your advice!


I have a slow water leak at a tee joint behind the outside slide kitchen on a 2016 24MBH Whitehawk trailer. The leak is from where the hose joins the tee joint. It is the usual pex tubing, a plastic tee joint with the crimped clamps that will need to be cut off. I can think of a few ways to fix it:

• Cut off the crimp and replace it with a normal hose clamp.
• Cut off the crimp and replace it with another crimp (I would need to buy the crimping tool).
• Replace the entire tee joint with a shark bite tee joint that does not require clamps. All three crimps would have to be cut off. I can't cut the pex as there is not enough slack left.

One hose going to this joint flexes when the kitchen is pulled in and out, which probably encouraged the leak in the first place. Which way would you go? Or is there a better fix that I am not aware of? Thanks much!

[Dafrost]

I just made a similar repair last weekend, same spot on my 23MRB outdoor kitchen. If you do not want to invest in a pex crimp tool, You can replace the plastic Pex Fittings with Brass Pex fittings and use 1/2 stainless gear clamps.

I had to splice in 2 short pieces of pex to compensate for the cut out Pex T joints. I found both the hot and the cold were leaking from the flexible hose running to the sink. It seems the Pex crimp clamps were tightened to there maximum, but the flexible hose needed a tighter clamp I found the Brass Fittings were slightly larger and stretched the Flexible hose so the pex clamps would seal securely. The gear clamps would also tighten the joint securely.

[Colorado]

I just fixed a leak under the tub without having to remove it! I used the press connect fitting, there’s a green indicator that tells you the connection is tight. They do require a level of force to connect so plan for that, meaning you can get 2 hands in there. Cut out what you need to fix it AND redo the connection properly. Good luck!

[amcleod]

Thanks much for the advice! Did you remove the slider kitchen or work underneath it? I can see how to disconnect the plumbing, but am not sure how to remove the two air piston things.

[Dafrost]

I removed it. The pistons are easy to deal with. On the ends where the piston connects to the ball joint, there is a little clip on the socket end of the piston. Theres a little notch if you look closely. Lift that clip up and pop it off the ball.

Good luck.

[JimD]

I swapped out my hot water heater and ended up working with flex fittings for the first time. Here are some suggestions.

You can purchase everything from Amazon. My tool would cut the old pex fitting off with no problem.

Removing the hose from the fitting after the crimp was cut was a bit of a chore. I damaged the plastic T by cutting the hose with a razor blade. Found out later that if you heat the hose a bit, say with a lighter, the hose will loosen and the fitting will pop right out.

I replaced the plastic fittings with brass as they seemed to grab a bit better.

Crimping with the tool was very easy and produced a tight seal.

Good luck!

[amcleod]

More great hints! Thanks! I think this will end up as a Spring job. Winter is at our doorsteps in Ontario and the trailer is all covered up. So sad...

[Bob K]

Does it look like the crimp ring is crimped to the proper point? Any chance it wasn't fully crimped at the factory?

You could first try taking a crimper to the existing ring.

I just used this kit. Worked nicely. I'm guessing it's all the same tool sold under different names.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074K6R4D2

Here's the easiest, most surgical way I've found to get crimp clamps off, especially in tight quarters. Use a Dremel tool with a little grinding stone and grind down the little nub that holds the ring together. The nub may look different depending on brand. Then use a slim tool to pry the ear up and the clamp will pop open.


The heat tip is spot on. I heated up the PEX with a little hobby heat gun and the fittings came out with little effort.

[Dafrost]

Yes. We just closed ours up too. While cleaning up under the outdoor kitchen sink I noticed a few drips of antifreeze. Turns out the crimp at the hot supply elbow to the faucet is leaking. I’m coming to the conclusion it’s the flexible pipe is too “compressible” and the crimp does not put enough pressure. That coupled with the movement and the cooler temperatures are compounding the issue.

One thing you may want to consider is replacing the flexible piping from the 90 degree 1/2 plastic supply with braided stainless lines. That will be my final fix in the spring.

[Colorado]

Originally Posted by Bob K

Does it look like the crimp ring is crimped to the proper point? Any chance it wasn't fully crimped at the factory?

You could first try taking a crimper to the existing ring.

I just used this kit. Worked nicely. I'm guessing it's all the same tool sold under different names.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074K6R4D2

Here's the easiest, most surgical way I've found to get crimp clamps off, especially in tight quarters. Use a Dremel tool with a little grinding stone and grind down the little nub that holds the ring together. The nub may look different depending on brand. Then use a slim tool to pry the ear up and the clamp will pop open.
Attachment 64911

The heat tip is spot on. I heated up the PEX with a little hobby heat gun and the fittings came out with little effort.

Bob, I understand your procedure works for you but...
I would NOT grind anything in the camper...a single hot piece of debris could smolder and start a fire especially if there’s a lot of dust in the area. You can remove the clamps by using a wire cutter and simply cutting the crimp in half, go from the top of the crimp and cut perpendicular to the crimp, it will simply pull apart. Use caution because the cut crimp will potentially have sharp edges.

[mjc29]

Go with the sharkbite fitting. I have redone my whole house with them and have no problems after 12 years do far.

[Bob K]

Originally Posted by Colorado

Bob, I understand your procedure works for you but...
I would NOT grind anything in the camper...a single hot piece of debris could smolder and start a fire especially if there’s a lot of dust in the area. You can remove the clamps by using a wire cutter and simply cutting the crimp in half, go from the top of the crimp and cut perpendicular to the crimp, it will simply pull apart. Use caution because the cut crimp will potentially have sharp edges.

Thanks for the tip. YMMV. I have no concerns about the tiny sparks or debris cast off from a tiny Dremel grinding stone. I've not had much luck cutting through clamps with wire cutters in tight quarters, but I certainly keep it as an option.