Welcome to Lake Big Horn

[hogan]

Up front, I admit it was my fault, but yesterday morning as we started loading up for our journey from Texarkana, Arkansas back to Tupelo, Ms, I found a nice size lake in the floor of the basement storage area. The lake was well centered indicating I had performed well when leveling the unit. Luckily about the only thing that suffered from the soaking was a new 25# bag of charcoal.

Thinking that I had an internal plumbing link, I removed the access door to the area behind the UDC. Turned out that my hose connection to the coach fresh water inlet was slowly leaking and seeping from the corner of the UDC box into the storage area. I have been having trouble getting this connection to seal off completely and this time, it got me.

Project- Re-caulk the UDC box and provide drain holes. This needs to be done anyway; I always spill some water when disconnecting and hooking up the black tank cleanout.

 

[jbeletti]

Sorry to hear about your mini-flood Hogan.

No help for you, but at some point this year, on LM/BH and probably BC, we began using a new UDC floor that provides drainage.

I'm looking forward to using is as I can never get my black tank flush to seal perfectly.

Jim

 

[jmgratz]

Be sure to re-caulk around the top and sides of the basement doors. I found that is where it leaked on mine which caused the same thing.

 

[JohnDar]

Suggestion: Install a 90-deg. brass fitting on the city water and black flush inlets. Once you get it secure, leave it there. It's a lot easier to attach a hose to the 90-deg. leg than trying to tighten it at the UDC inlet with your wrists bent awkwardly. Since this photo, I've added one to the black flush and removed that hose valve.

View attachment 11177

 

[hogan]

Thanks to all for the tips. I think the 90 degree fitting is in the plan.

 

[Richard of Idaho]

I found that those 90 deg fittings put some strain on the fitting going into the rig. I use those quick disconnect fitting from Home Depot. They stay attached, and all you to is stick the male part of it in, no turning required, and very fast. Just a thought.
Richard of Idaho

 

[ihsolutions]

JohnDar,

I love the UDC manifold you designed. Brilliant. Why didn't I think of that?

I too am getting tired of doing black flush and then ending up with the UDC having water at the bottom. Fortunately mine does not leak anywhere, but when it runs out the access hole at the bottom the water does come in contact with the exposed edge of the plywood. Your design takes care of that, the only thing I might do different is coil up some extra hose so that when I reach my destination, and hookup, the water connection is outside (below) the UDC preventing any possibility of leaks or water intrusion.

Thanks for sharing...

 

[JohnDar]

Thanks, Jeff, but I didn't design it. I adapted it from another member's photos some time ago.

As for the 90-deg. adapters putting a strain on the UDC fittings, that may be, but the stiffness of most white water hoses is even worse when bent and under pressure. With the manifold and the 90-deg., the strain from the hose is removed. Haven't had any leaks. What you see running from the bottom of the manifold is a 4 ft. section of water hose that connects to the output side of my filter box. I hadn't thought about leaving it connected to the manifold and curling it back into the UDC between hookups, but then we've only been on a seasonal site since we got the rig.

 

[TXBobcat]

I use this 90* quick disconnect and never unscrew the connettion. The connectors on the trailer are plastic and if you keep screwing them on and off you will run into a problem.
RV Water Filter Store Down near the bottom...

Kwik Link Connect System - 90 degree
Attachs to your RV's water inlet for faster hook-up and a leak-free connection. New design high impact copolymer body with stainless steel male fitting, they come with a Parker female coupler, a dummy plug to protect hose end, and a dust cover.
$24.95


BC

 

[moose53]

I had a crack in the plastic pipe behind the part where the rubber washer seals the hose, where the clip held the fitting into th UDC.

 

[KENNY COCHRAN]

Go to lowes/homedepot and get a brass 4 outlet hose connection. Put the quick connect brass couplings on it and also on the end of your white inlet hose. Piece of cake to hook up in 5 seconds. It has valves on it and you can put a short hose to the black water to flush it too. Install a backflow preventer to stop germs and etc. I'm still here after 2-3 years of using this system so it works.