Shower leaking onto floor

[AverageEverydayNormalGuy]

We have a 2022 Volante 32FB. My wife and son both took a shower and everything works great however water is getting out of the drain pain and into the wall then onto the floor.

Attached are pictures of where the water is getting out. It appears as though water is getting behind the surround. It then travels to the front of the shower and down the side. I've attached photos of bottom of the shower as well as a picture with lines showing the direction of the water flow. I thought perhaps it was the slight tilt of the trailer but I spent a fair amount of time leveling it out a second time and still had the same problem. Water that gets on the wall ends up under the bottom of the surround and then flowing to the front and out onto the floor.

We were told the bottom should not have sealant by design. Should we be putting sealant there to close the gap and keep the water in the drain pan?

It should be noted that this is not a problem with the drain. The water was not backing up more than expected and never reached the upper edge of the drain pan.

[Lloyd]

Have you talked with the dealer? A 2022 should still be in warranty yet. I think that is something they should take care of for you. The sooner the better. Water running around loose is a very bad thing in a RV. That cheap material in there will be rotten in no time if you don't get it fixed.

[AverageEverydayNormalGuy]

Originally Posted by Lloyd

Have you talked with the dealer? A 2022 should still be in warranty yet. I think that is something they should take care of for you. The sooner the better. Water running around loose is a very bad thing in a RV. That cheap material in there will be rotten in no time if you don't get it fixed.

During the walkthrough the better half did ask about the lack of sealant at the bottom and we were told it's that way by design. I honestly can't remember why. We are planning to take it in for other work however the soonest appointment is in 6 weeks and it's prime camping time. I guess we'll just have to avoid the shower until they can take a look at what's going on.

[Wingerdinger]

In your pictures you don't show how you keep the water from splashing on the floor, like a shower curtain. Normally, the curtain would keep it from getting on the floor, unless the pan is just that un-level.
If it were mine, I'd add those shower-tub splash guards. Even if your shower didn't have that issue, these keep the water from splashing in general.
Here is a link;
https://www.simsupply.com/categories...xoC1rsQAvD_BwE

[Lloyd]

Originally Posted by Wingerdinger

In your pictures you don't show how you keep the water from splashing on the floor, like a shower curtain. Normally, the curtain would keep it from getting on the floor, unless the pan is just that un-level.
If it were mine, I'd add those shower-tub splash guards. Even if your shower didn't have that issue, these keep the water from splashing in general.
Here is a link;
https://www.simsupply.com/categories...xoC1rsQAvD_BwE

Good idea, and well worth a try.

[dlakeman]

I'd caulk the seam/space between the sidewall panel and pan. I've had to do that on my current and last travel trailer. That should solve your leak.

[Wingerdinger]

Originally Posted by dlakeman

I'd caulk the seam/space between the sidewall panel and pan. I've had to do that on my current and last travel trailer. That should solve your leak.

He said it was dripping down the outside of the tub from the tub lip, caulking it would not prevent that.

[dlakeman]

Originally Posted by Wingerdinger

He said it was dripping down the outside of the tub from the tub lip, caulking it would not prevent that.

Then I misunderstood his last pic which shows water in the seam.

[dlakeman]

Originally Posted by AverageEverydayNormalGuy

During the walkthrough the better half did ask about the lack of sealant at the bottom and we were told it's that way by design. I honestly can't remember why. We are planning to take it in for other work however the soonest appointment is in 6 weeks and it's prime camping time. I guess we'll just have to avoid the shower until they can take a look at what's going on.

Normal Guy,
I waited until I could reply on my laptop before providing possible additional help, other than my 2 other Posts.

First, you get to make a choice, (1) wait 6 weeks for the dealer, or (2) do some troubleshooting yourself. In my trailer water leaks I chose #2. Let me say, I am an aircraft mechanic. When I was working my life was finding causes and applying corrective actions. Now that I'm retired and have owned 3 travel trailers, I'm doing more finding causes and applying corrective actions.

I'll assume you have a shower curtain (doesn't look like you have a glass enclosure), and that when using the shower the curtain is placed in such a manner that water is not getting around the curtain either on the sidewall or the shower base top. When I had my shower leaks I brought my trailer home (parked it in the street in front of my house), hooked up a water hose from my house, and took a shower like I would when camping. Even washed my hair! I had my wife stand outside the shower and look for leaks. When she spotted a leak I turned off the water and investigated. I saw where I thought from where the leaks were coming (I had more than one). I bought some GE Bath and Tile caulk (it's somewhat flexible). I caulked. I waited for the caulk to dry. Because I thought the leak was isolated to a certain area I tested by pouring a bottle of water around the area. Wait, what, still leaking! I asked the lead mechanic at a local dealer (not where I bought the trailer) for his opinion. He asked if I had caulked the seam between the sidewall and the shower pan. No I had not! He said water could be splashing up the seam, or the seam could be too wide (improperly installed sidewall and shower pan) so water is running down the sidewall and into the seam then out the sides. I went home and caulked all around the seam. Waited for caulk to dry and took another shower. Problem solved! That was my first trailer.

I bought my second trailer recently. Before I went camping, I brought the trailer home, and took a shower. Guess what, same leaks! So, being relatively smart, I caulked around the whole seam. Problem solved!

I believe the reason you were told not to caulk the seam is to allow for expansion and contraction between the sidewall and the shower base. Ok, good thought, however are you not going to ever use your shower! The reason I used flexible GE caulk is to allow for some possible and very minor expansion and contraction, if at all.

If you'd like to go camping, and take a shower while camping, try some troubleshooting. What have you got to lose!

[AverageEverydayNormalGuy]

There is a shower curtain that is very long, not a glass door. The better half and little one prefer more pressure so I had the water pump turned on in addition to the city supply (the tech told me during the walk through that this can put undue stress on the water supply lines. Does anyone have thoughts on that?).

After reading all of the great responses I tried a shower myself with the pump off and with the lower pressure + wrapping the curtain completely around the bottom it seemed to improve the leak. I did however put a cloth down to capture any excess water and while it didn't get soaked it was still damp. Seems like it is a combination of an improperly used curtain + a leak along the seam at the bottom.

Like you dlakeman I'd prefer to not wait to get the problem fixed. The original issue I was going to have them fix was the backup camera "pre-wiring". I couldn't wait so I just took it apart myself and found the "pre-wiring" was not actually connected to anything. I connected it to the power from the clearance light just above the mount and it's working like a charm. At this point I'm thinking of waiting until after the summer to take it in.

Now that you mention the expansion between the wall and base I believe that was what the technician was talking about. I'm going to give the GE caulk a try in addition to the splash guards wingerdinger suggested. I could try coaching up the family about making sure the curtain is properly wrapped but sometimes designing a system to account for human behavior is the more reliable method of resolving an issue.

Thanks for all of the great replies! I'll keep you all posted!

[Lloyd]

Good luck with getting it solved.
My advise would be for you to get it fixed sooner, rather than later. Water leaks in an RV can turn into a disaster in a hurry when let go.

[AverageEverydayNormalGuy]

Originally Posted by Lloyd

Good luck with getting it solved.
My advise would be for you to get it fixed sooner, rather than later. Water leaks in an RV can turn into a disaster in a hurry when let go.

Agreed! I've always found it an oddity of life that we need the sun and water to survive and they both do the fastest and most severe damage to a home/RV.

Caulk is applied. Splash guards go up tomorrow. Once they set I'll caulk the corners and we'll be ready for another test run.

I'd like to add a dumb question to this thread

Sensors for grey + black water tanks are notoriously unreliable (at least in my limited experience) and so in our old trailer I used to let the grey water tank fill up so that when I emptied the black water tank, I would have a large volume of grey water to flush out the drain hose. Instead of counting on the sensor, I used a backed up sink as the indicator that the grey water needed to be drained. The strange thing is that even though the shower in the old trailer was lower than the kitchen sink, the shower NEVER backed up.

Old habits die hard and I kept on with the method of draining the grey tank when the sink wouldn't drain. The problem is that in this new trailer the shower is definitely the low point and is the first thing to back up. Thankfully it did not even get close to overflowing but seeing food bits in the bottom of the shower was not something the better half appreciated.

The old trailer didn't have a black flush and there was a right angle coming out of the drain so I couldn't even use one of those flush adapters from the drain point. This meant a hand wand and the grey water method. The new trailer has a black water flush so I'm thinking that the old grey water method is no longer required.

The dumb question continues with frequency of flushing the tanks. We don't flush the black every day just cause it's not full. But should I be? It would mean more of those treatment packets but is that the right thing to be doing? Empty the black tank every day or two and run the flush till it's clear? Then drain the grey on a completely separate schedule? Daily perhaps? Should I flush the black tank only at the end of the weekend or every time I empty it?

Both black and grey tanks are 6gal

[dagst1]

We empty/flush the black tank at the end of the weekend but if on a extended stay we dump when it gets about 2/3 full. We have a gray and a galley/gray so they get dumped as needed or at the end of the weekend after the black tank. All 3 of our tanks are 40 gallon.

[Bobdando]

Not sure if you got this fixed but we had the exact same issue. We put a second shower tension curtain rod up and let it run long on the back and the front so it wrapped around some. Then placed two command hooks front and back for the extra holes in the shower curtain. i then caulk the area between the shower wall and tub with good quality silicone. I also added Magic tub slash guards and caulk them as well. Happy to report that we have used the shower several times with no leaks or water running onto the floor. Hope this helps