Water leakage

[MikeR]

Hi Ant,

I purchased a W registered Romahome (Citroen Berlingo 1.9 diesel) last October. The van seems fine but whilst we had some extremely cold weather in early December I decided to see if I could drain the fresh water tank. To do this I turned on the sink tap (there is only a cold water supply). The tap ran for a minute or two but I noticed that the carpet on the floor area at the back of the van (between the fridge and the sink) became extremely wet. Water stopped coming out of the tap but the pump was still making a noise. I switched the pump to the off position on the Zig unit and the noise stopped.

I examined the pump but there did not appear to be a leak from it. Water stiil appeared to be seeping out onto the rear floor area so I reversed the vehicles position - our drive is on a slope and originally the front of the vehicle was lower than the rear. Now the front is higher than the rear it appears to be ok when stationery. However, when we take the vehicle for a run, a small amount of water appears in the same area, particularly along the lower edge of the carpet on the step up to the higher part of the internal floor.

If I turn the pump switch to the 'on' position on the Zig unit, the pump makes a noise even though the sink tap is turned off. The vehicle came with a 12 month warranty but when I phoned them they said that until the fault was diagnosed they were unable to tell me if it was covered.

As I am totally ignorant as far as technical matters go, please could you advise me what this fault could be and do I need professional help.

Many thanks.

MikeR

[Graham]

Hello Mike

Welcome to the forum, I am sure Ant will be along soon but I have just read your post and I wondered if you have checked under the sink that the pipes from the sink drain are connected properly. We had this happen to us in our Duo just after we had taken delivery, it obviously wasn't checked at the factory.

When you switch the pump on at the zig unit it will make a noise even with the tap off as it is trying to prime the system. Hope that helps.

[Ian.C.S]

just under the sink is a nonreturn valve in the line to the tap,if this is stuck in any way the pump pressure blows it out of the line and water floods down just as described,find the nonretun,replace with a new one fro an accessories shop,two new jubilee clips ,tighten firmly .Next open the locker to the water tank there is a second nonreturn about two feet from the pump it may be hidden behind the panelling which can be unscrewed.do the same to the second NRvalve and now you should be ok.

[ant]

Hi MikeR.
If there is no obvious leak at the pump and the water stopped flowing from the tap just before you noticed the wet floor I suspect the supply pipe to the tap has fallen off. This is quite common when the tap is allowed to splutter during the recommissioning process. If you look under the sink you'll see a hole cut in the side of the locker under the tap, put you hand in, you should be able to touch the pipe in question as it goes to the tap. If there's no pipe, it's fallen off! Unscrew the the tap unit,( 4 screws in the corners of the unit sometimes under blanking caps), with the aid of a torch and a bent coat hanger you can hook the pipe up through the hole in the top of the sink unit and reattach it to the base of the tap. take care not to over tighten the clip on the pipe you risk craking the tap spigot. After fitting the pipe I like to cable tie it on around the clip and tap base to stop it slipping off again!
Thanks
Ant

[MikeR]

Water leakage

Many thanks gentlemen. I am working this weekend but will have a look as soon as I have a day off. Having only just discovered this forum, it is a treasure trove of information. Hopefully I will be able to contribute something useful one day.

Kind regards

Mike

[rubberrat]

Were you watching the sink during the drain-down? I just say as when I did my winter drain-down, I just - and only just - noticed that the sink will fill faster than the drain can clear it. I jut spotted the first cup-full of overflow and leapt from side locker to sink! The resulting spill wet the carpet.
If i'd had my head in that locker for longer then it could have been a real pain.
If not I'd suspect a leak on the drain side leaking into the cupboard bottom or a leak on the supply pipe from pipe to sink. If no obvious sign, take off the aluminium plate below the rear door to see the pipe runs.

The pump will run with the tap off if there is either no water in the system to give pressure or a large leak - both prevent the pressure switch from sensing back pressure and shutting the pump off.

[MikeR]

Water leakage

Hi,

Sorry, I have been out of touch for a week or so. I examined the connection to the sink and apart from a very small drip of water, everything looked o.k. I filled the fresh water tank and by positioning the van in various situations on my drive (i.e. front end facing up the slope and then the other way around and on the flat) I tried to get it to leak again. Unfortunately no water appeared and the supply of water to the sink seemed fine. I will try taking the aluminium plate off as suggested by Rubberrat and see if I can spot anything. If not i suspect I will be contacting Ant to take the van in to trace the problem.

Many thanks.

Mike

[Granny G]

Water Leakage

Hi MikeR.
If there is no obvious leak at the pump and the water stopped flowing from the tap just before you noticed the wet floor I suspect the supply pipe to the tap has fallen off. This is quite common when the tap is allowed to splutter during the recommissioning process. If you look under the sink you'll see a hole cut in the side of the locker under the tap, put you hand in, you should be able to touch the pipe in question as it goes to the tap. If there's no pipe, it's fallen off! Unscrew the the tap unit,( 4 screws in the corners of the unit sometimes under blanking caps), with the aid of a torch and a bent coat hanger you can hook the pipe up through the hole in the top of the sink unit and reattach it to the base of the tap. take care not to over tighten the clip on the pipe you risk craking the tap spigot. After fitting the pipe I like to cable tie it on around the clip and tap base to stop it slipping off again!
Thanks
Ant

Hello Ant et al,
I'm having the same problem but my local garage are unable to locate the problem. The mechanic removed the tap unit but there wasn't enough slack on the pipe for him to hoik (?sp) it up. Is there another method of investigation - he hasn't tried removing the aluminium plate as suggested by my fellow Norfolker.

[ant]

Hi Granny G.
If your mechanic had trouble hoiking the tap out it would suggest the pipe is still attached to it.
Some vehicles had a join in the pipe, sometimes a one way valve others just a bit of tubing, this can be found by looking behind the the Aluminium plate below the door. Just pull the door rubber off the base of the opening and bend the Ali' plate enough to see behind it. somewhere on the sink side you'll see the join if it's got one. Run the pump and see if any water appears.
Thanks
Ant

[Granny G]

Water Leakage

Thank you Ant for your prompt reply. I've booked the van into the garage on Friday so fingers crossed! Best wishes and greetings from sunny Norwich.