Suffering shower faucet!

ScottG

Preseason inspections revealed a small leak at the shower faucet in my 2015 M@x S. When the water is on, a slight drip occurs where the flexible showerhead hose attaches to the faucet assembly (a connection made with a rather flimsy looking little plastic doohickey).

The drip comes from under the escutcheon plate. Removal of the escutcheon plate is not obvious, but I'm thinking it starts with removing the handles, and possibly some underlying retaining do-dads.

Before I set about breaking things, does anyone have any experience or advice regarding disassembly of the shower faucet?

  

Nomad

I understand the term "do-dads" but not "escutcheon" :-)

ScottG

Yeah, I try to avoid fancy words, but in this case I couldn't come up with a better term for shiny-chromed-plastic-decorative-plate-thingy-that-hides-the-plumbing-guts-under-the-faucet-handles-including-something (a.k.a., a doohickey)-that-drips-when-it-shouldn't.

I was just impressed I spelled "escutcheon" correctly on the first try!

Verna

Unscrew it and replace the shower wand
with an Oxygenics shower wand. Longer hose, better quality, more adjustments. Mine leaked also, and I replaced it soon after I got the T@B last summer. 

jkjenn

Verna said:

Unscrew it and replace the shower wand
with an Oxygenics shower wand. Longer hose, better quality, more adjustments. Mine leaked also, and I replaced it soon after I got the T@B last summer. 

That was one my winter mode. They have water saving models, too.

Verna

Yes, it is a water saving model that gives me one more day without dumping the gray water tank. 

Nomad

Got a link gals - So I can bookmark it.

Nomad

I also understand "doohickey" :-)

Verna

http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/fury-handheld-shower-white/83902

ChanW

Scott, there is a 'drain-back' hole in the fitting that's at the base of the hose. I think it's a white plastic piece, don't remember for sure. The hole is intended to allow the hose to empty out completely. Same thing?

Otherwise, I had problems with the fittings on the back of the shower faucets. The wall pressed up against them and made them drip inside the wall. I had to put a spacer so that the access cover on the hole in the wall, for servicing the faucets, no longer pressed against the back of the fixture.

Ratkity

Just an FYI from a long time ago. When the faucets were on, the showerhead was "supposed" to drip to allow the person showering to know the faucets were still in the "on" position. Whether shower heads in RVs are designed that way now or not, I have no clue. It was something a tech pointed out to me in my old Coleman popup that I bought in the 90s. So When the shower is on, I don't worry about a drip when the switch to stop the water flow is in the "off" position and I still see it dripping. Just means there's still pressure going through the hose from the faucets.

If this is happening after you shut off the water flow at the faucets, it's just a little residual pressure and it'll stop once all the water is out of the shower flexible line to the faucets. Nothing to be concerned about. If you don't like this type of feature of RV faucets (and it *is* a plastic one - albeit fairly tough), you can always go to a box store and get a regular shower head. Remember to take out the flow regular in the store-bought shower head. The water pressure is low enough without that in the way.

Verna

@Ratkity, my drip only stopped when the tank was empty. The new shower wand doesn't leak and drip. 

ScottG

Thanks for the tips. The drip is minor, and only happens when the water is "on" at the faucet. I've never even used the shower, so I can't say if this is a new issue, or something I've only just noticed.

It's possible this is the back-drain hole Chan mentioned. It wasn't immediately obvious that the "doohickey" connecting the hose to the faucet simply unscrewed, but it wasn't high priority at the moment so I didn't try too hard. Further inspection is warranted.

Either way, it seems I may not need to remove the escutcheon plate as previously thought. Regardless, I'm still curious how that would be done without damage to something.

Verna

Scott, the drain hole is on the bottom of the shower handle "doohickey" and is easy to see (for me). My wand was leaking from the shower head part and seemed to not be water efficient. The new one, even while using the "Navy Shower" principles, is a refreshing shower. I could only get 3 days of showers and other water use in the 19 gallon gray water tank, and now I can get get 4 showers and other water usage and the gray tank doesn't overflow onto the shower. That's enough reason to me to spend the money on a good water saving wand. 

jkjenn

Verna said:

Scott, the drain hole is on the bottom of the shower handle "doohickey" and is easy to see (for me). My wand was leaking from the shower head part and seemed to not be water efficient. The new one, even while using the "Navy Shower" principles, is a refreshing shower. I could only get 3 days of showers and other water use in the 19 gallon gray water tank, and now I can get get 4 showers and other water usage and the gray tank doesn't overflow onto the shower. That's enough reason to me to spend the money on a good water saving wand. 

How big is your freshwater tank, @Verna ? I have only taken a couple of showers with the new one. If I could squeeze 3 out of it, I would be thrilled.

Verna

Freshwater is 11 gallons, Jenn. But, I didn't say I was getting 4 showers out of one 11 gallon fresh water tank. I can put gray water from 4 showers and other uses in my gray water tank.

I add about 4 gallons of fresh water (give or take) every day to the fresh water tank. Easy because my water jugs are 4 gallons. The 4 gallons is for the sink, toilet, showers and cooking. I can be very conservative and use less than two gallons a day by using the Ace Hardware spray bottle for my shower

jkjenn

Verna said:

Freshwater is 11 gallons, Jenn. But, I didn't say I was getting 4 showers out of one 11 gallon fresh water tank. I can put gray water from 4 showers and other uses in my gray water tank.

I add about 4 gallons of fresh water (give or take) every day to the fresh water tank. Easy because my water jugs are 4 gallons. The 4 gallons is for the sink, toilet, showers and cooking. I can be very conservative and use less than two gallons a day by using the Ace Hardware spray bottle for my shower

Ok, I can usually get 2 showers from my 5 gallon tank. The spray bottle needs to be added to my shopping list. Between washing dishes and the extra "shower", seems like money well spent. I don't drink, cook, or flush with T@b water, generally.

Verna

I only cook with it if the water is to be boiled. I always keep at least 2 cases of bottled water with me. Sunny drinks the bottled water, too. 

jkjenn

I picked up a couple of 5 gallon portable grey tanks. My plans is, in general to spend 2 weeks at a spot, dump, and move to a new location. In theory, I should be able to pull it off with extra water, grey tanks + WAG bags. I may have to adjust.

Photomom

I am curious why you wouldn't flush with T@B water. I seem to recall a few people mentioning that they don't.

jkjenn

Photomom said:

I am curious why you wouldn't flush with T@B water. I seem to recall a few people mentioning that they don't.

Water conservation. A 5 gallon freshwater tank doesn't last long.

Photomom

Still missing something - if you have a container of water to put in the toilet, why wouldn't you just put it in the freshwater tank? Does flushing the toilet use more water than it takes to flush by pouring water in? (if that makes sense.)

Verna

Photomom said:

Still missing something - if you have a container of water to put in the toilet, why wouldn't you just put it in the freshwater tank? Does flushing the toilet use more water than it takes to flush by pouring water in? (if that makes sense.)

Photomom, Jenn only has a 5 gallon freshwater tank, not the 11 gallon. She has to figure out how to do things a bit differently. 

jkjenn

Photomom said:

Still missing something - if you have a container of water to put in the toilet, why wouldn't you just put it in the freshwater tank? Does flushing the toilet use more water than it takes to flush by pouring water in? (if that makes sense.)

If I use separate water, I know just about how many showers I can take before I need to refill it. I don't want to be caught with shampoo in my hair and an empty freshwater tank.

Verna

jkjenn said:
If I use separate water, I know just about how many showers I can take before I need to refill it. I don't want to be caught with shampoo in my hair and an empty freshwater tank.

Keep water in the Ace Hardware spray bottle. Good for those shampoo rinsing emergencies. 

The sprayer is about $10, I think. It saves so much water when rinsing dishes. 

Verna

Nomad

Man you girls use a lot of water - We used to have to shave/bathe with just a helmet full in the service and I can clean my after dinner, non-stick pots/pans with just 2-cups :-)
But, I haven't found running out of water to be a problem since it's usually available somewhere reasonably close. I don't carry nearly as much water as I used to.

Verna

I'm getting better. I just got my T&B last summer. Practice, practice. 

jkjenn

Verna said:

I'm getting better. I just got my T&B last summer. Practice, practice. 

It's true. You learn little tricks here and there.

Sharon_is_SAM

Verna - where did you pick up the hand sprayer idea? 

Verna

There is already a hand sprayer in the shower, but mine leaked and was not efficient on the water usage. Jenn mentioned the Oxygenics name brand and I bought one at Camping World. It's great!