Plumbing Water Leak

[HangDiver]

It took me a while to find this.... I found a crack in a drain pipe to the grey tank which was located under the shower tub. The crack in the pipe is right at floor level and hidden out of view. If I didn't pull the access panel off the shower tub wall and do an inspection I never would have found this. Obviously the floor "horse collars" the drain pipe while plumbing from every direction above the crack levers the pipe while going down the road. Its a stress crack that, in my mind, is a design flaw that will be difficult to fix. Water draining from the bathroom sink spills out of there. Ugh!

[crunchman12001]

New leak or same as last week?

[HangDiver]

Ha! Same as last leak. When I first posted I had the antifreeze valve in the wrong position. I heard the water pump drawing air and started searching for a leak. Thats how accidentally I found a wet floor under the shower tub, courtesy of the bathroom sink drain. I've since twisted the antifreeze valve into the proper position and everything is great - except for this accidental leak discovery.

Thanks for checking back...
Rich J.

[BooHyde]

Yes, that's a bad place for a crack. There are patch kits for ABS out there. I have no personal experience with them, but may be worth a try.

[HangDiver]

Yea thanks Boo. I've got some epoxy to apply to the crack but thats only a temporary fix. A more permanent fix would be to drop the grey tank, replace the drain pipe and start over, but I have a feeling thats not going to happen.

[BooHyde]

Instead of just the epoxy, look for a kit with a patch. Looks like a piece of mesh cloth. Like I said, I have no personal experience, but it seems that the patch would hold better, especially if the pipe is under stress.

[BooHyde]

I have used similar patches for fiberglass and they work well. Helps keep the crack from opening back up.

[HangDiver]

Originally Posted by BooHyde

Instead of just the epoxy, look for a kit with a patch. Looks like a piece of mesh cloth. Like I said, I have no personal experience, but it seems that the patch would hold better, especially if the pipe is under stress.

That makes sense. Especially since thats what they did for my hernia. Same thing!

[Thurman]

"HangDriver": Keep in mind that this plumbing is not for any pressurized water, just a drain line. Yes, there are kits out there specifically for the black ABS piping. Some kits have just epoxy formulated for ABS plastic and will bond well. As stated there are other kits which include a type of mesh so one can patch a larger area than just a crack. My experience with ABS is to "gouge out" the crack, but not too deep, so that epoxy can get down into the crack better. A small rough file will do this IF you can get your hands in there to do so. You can actually use an "ABS pipe cleaner" to clean out the crack, whether gouged or not, to help the epoxy bond better. After filing out cut out as much of that old black expanding foam as you can for better access. Good Luck

[ben31]

Try epoxy putty sticks. I used it on my original trailer's drain line, in an area, where it was very difficult to do any work without taking a lot of the back end apart. I applied it and it never leaked again. The drain lines are not high pressure, so you don't have to worry much about pressure causing any further leaks. As the epoxy cures, it sticks to the ABS. It should work fairly well for you.

[Semperfi24]

Ive used the fiberglass pipe wrap before, to repair a crack (not in an rv application, but should be the same), but my only concern about using that is that the crack may start in view, but could travel down the pipe beyond what you can see. Then the wrap is useless.


If you pull away that sealing foam, and don't see the crack continuing, the wrap is the way to go. But if you do still see the crack continuing or you just aren't sure, you might be better off cutting it, pulling it out, enlarging the hole a little to prevent a repeat, and then replumb it yourself, and finish with that foam to close all the gaps