Adria Shower Leak Advice

[velofrancais]

Some advice would be very welcome please regarding a leak that has occurred at the joint between the water inlet pipe (the hot one I think) and the rear of the mixer shower tap in our 2008 Adria Coral Compact. I can't find any manufacturers name on the shower itself, but the pipes are branded Uniquick and are 12mm. I've taken off the cover to expose the rear of the tap and the pipes but cannot figure out how they attach. This is our first motorhome and after only four months of so far enjoyable trips we are now experiencing a couple of minor issues, including this one. Fortunately the leak was into the shower tray so no damage caused. Is it simply a case of a push fit joint that has worked loose, or do I need to replace something? If so, any advice on sourcing/fitting the replacement would also be appreciated. This is the first time in my life I've ever used a forum so I'm hoping this will be a positive introduction. I will hopefully attach a photograph of the offending pipe. It's the one of the left and can be clearly not to be as far in as the other one. I've tried pushing it in but no joy. Many thanks.

[Rayjsj]

Velo, hi and welcome to the Madhouse,

Good picture, It looks to me as though the left hand pipe is not fully 'home' into the Tap body, is the white nylon connector Threaded ? can't see from the picture, If it is then it needs screwing into the body until it matches the Right hand one. The Black Pipe fittings look 'Permanent' and crimped on. Where exactly is the water leaking from ? I'm sure others will add more. Ray

[Guest peter]

Looks like a push fit to me, try giving it a tug and see if it comes out. If it is a push fit there is probably an "O" ring on it that may have split. I cant see that it will be a screw fit as you would have to turn the whole pipework as well, as it is crimped on to the fitting.

[Guest 1footinthegrave]

Looking at your picture at the very bottom it looks like a push fit connection there, not on the tap itself or the top end of the crimped pipe fitting, if this is the case you need to disconnect it from there first, by pushing the collar down against the fitting you should be able to pull out the crimped length of pipe running to the tap, which may well then allow the offending pipe to be carefully tightened into the bottom of the tap, having said that to err on the side of caution I would attempt unscrewing a little first to confirm that it is indeed a threaded connection into the tap,with that confirmed tighten it back up then re-fit the bottom of said pipe back into the push fit fitting ( if that is indeed what it appears to be )

 

Here's a link to the manufacturers site which may help you identify the fittings you have in the van,and in particular the fittings almost out of shot in your picture.

 

http://www.frankana.de/Water-%7C-Gas/Water-supply/Hoses-Tubes-Connections/UniQuick-Pipe-system-12-mm-25474-EN-FRA;jsessionid=B680A09FD1835A2D5DF24D87FCBFFE87

[Derek Uzzell]

I agree with 1foot's diagnosis. It looks like the leftmost connecting 'insert' that screws into the base of the shower fitting has not been screwed fully home.

 

The shower-fitting is probably a Reich product too. There's a photo of the UniQuick connection here:

 

http://rk-reich.com/product_info.php?info=p128_Direct-connection-for-12-mm-plug-in-system--UniQuick--L.html&XTCsid=e13818dbde286bf7cda3263bd61d9e32

[Brian Kirby]

Derek Uzzell - 2013-01-03 10:07 AM

 

I agree with 1foot's diagnosis. It looks like the leftmost connecting 'insert' that screws into the base of the shower fitting has not been screwed fully home.

 

The shower-fitting is probably a Reich product too. There's a photo of the UniQuick connection here:

 

http://rk-reich.com/product_info.php?info=p128_Direct-connection-for-12-mm-plug-in-system--UniQuick--L.html&XTCsid=e13818dbde286bf7cda3263bd61d9e32

I have experienced a similar problem with what looks to be a similar fitting. In my case, all that had happened is that the retaining detent - for want of a better word - had loosened, but not gone AWOL, and merely needed pushing back in. Yours looks as though the detent is missing.

 

Looking at your photo, toward the base of the shower tap body, in the area that is threaded, you will notice a small rectangular hole. Look a bit further behind and below that hole, along the base of the tap body, and you will see what looks like a slot.

 

That slot should have a plastic detent inserted into it. If you remove the spigot that is visibly loosened (just gently wiggle it as you pull it down), I think you will find it is a push fit, sealed with an O ring, as already suggested. With the spigot freed, you should notice a circumferential groove around the push fit spigot, below the O ring (on a second look, I think it is already visible, just below the tap body), that would co-incide with the above hole, so that the missing detent would engage with the groove and prevent the spigot falling free.

 

If I'm right, all you need is a new detent. It will in fact engage with both push spigots, to retain both in place. Either yours was never pushed home fully, has worked loose, or someone forgot to insert it. Whatever, it looks to be missing. Don't know whether such are available as accessories, but if you have a piece of the right thickness PVC or similar (not a soft plastic, not a brittle one, it should be relatively easy to make up a replacement. Leave it a bit long, so that you can extract it again should the need arise in future. Just put a little silicone grease on the spigot and O ring and ease the spigot back into place, check that the other spigot is fully home (I think it, too, has dropped a little), and slide the detent home. The result should be two fully retained spigots, and no more leakage.

 

BTW, well done for getting the photo up first time, you'd be amazed how many are defeated by that alone! :-)

[Keithl]

Brian Kirby - 2013-01-03 2:34 PM

Either yours was never pushed home fully, has worked loose, or someone forgot to insert it. Whatever, it looks to be missing.

 

Or has the detent worked itself out on the opposite side? If I am looking at the photo correctly I think I can see the end of it protruding to the left behind the threaded body. If it has only half come out this may explain why only one hose has come adrift. Worth having a better look.

 

Keith.

 

Edit. Or after a second look maybe not :'( Still worth looking around for it though.

[Derek Uzzell]

Now I agree with Brian!

 

There's a photo here of a push-in connector hose for a Reich tap and, although the hose is not the UniQuick type, the plastic end-connector looks just like the one in velofrancais's picture:

 

http://www.caravanownersclub.co.uk/Shops/Leisureshopdirect/Product/1822497/Blue-flexi-connector-for-12mm-piping

 

This 'barbed' connector for a Reich tap has a similar push-in end and is described as being "held in place by a horizontal pin":

 

http://www.caravanownersclub.co.uk/Shops/Leisureshopdirect/Product/1823021/Red-barbed-connector-Reich

 

An earlier forum thread:

 

http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/Reich-Taps/22569/

 

and a question/answer on the Leisureshop Direct website:

 

Q: The hose connection on our Reich single lever tap has come off, it has a small red locating pin which I am unable to find for sale, any ideas?

 

A: This pin is not available as a spare, if you are unable to find the pin you may need to purchase a new tap....

 

(As Brian suggests, it shouldn't be too hard to produce a suitable DIY 'detent'.)

[Guest 1footinthegrave]

" A: This pin is not available as a spare, if you are unable to find the pin you may need to purchase a new tap..."

 

So that will be about £50 then, why would anyone be surprised, why do these component suppliers consider us cash cows.

 

Just hope the OP finds it lying loose in his van !

 

[velofrancais]

Thanks very much everyone for the responses. I'll try some of the suggested solutions this weekend and update the thread for future. Many thanks again.

[Derek Uzzell]

1footinthegrave - 2013-01-03 7:03 PM

 

" A: This pin is not available as a spare, if you are unable to find the pin you may need to purchase a new tap..."

 

So that will be about £50 then, why would anyone be surprised, why do these component suppliers consider us cash cows.

 

Just hope the OP finds it lying loose in his van !

 

There must be, literally, millions of small-value 'vital' parts that cannot be obtained as singletons and that, if the part fails, will result in a much larger, more expensive item being junked.

 

My neighbour recently asked me to look at his paper-shredder that was making a horrid noise and not functioning correctly. Two of the nylon drive-gears had worn and there was no way to repair them. The shredder was Chinese manufactured, several years old, and replacement gears could not be obtained. So, for the want of a couple of gears costing pence, an otherwise good shredder goes in the skip.

 

From the photo of velofrancais's shower-tap, the 'detent' (pin, peg, tongue?) is plainly a pretty small item, so packaging it individually for sale would be difficult. Although the earlier O&AL thread I gave a link to indicates that the pin can break (and it would seem that, in velofrancais's case, the pin was either never fitted or has fallen out) normally, once the pin has been inserted, there will be no need for a replacement.

 

It might be possible for velofrancais to obtain the appropriate pin directly from Reich if he sent them the photo, but it should be easy enough to make one (I hesitate to use the expression "childs play", but that's really the level of difficulty involved as far as I'm concerned).

 

Brian has described in some detail what's needed. If the tap is to be left in situ, then initially making a pattern of the required pin in wood might be a good idea. For the pin proper, a suitably modified piece of the handle of a disposable plastic toothbrush could be the right size to fit in the tap's retaining slot. Then, once the replacement pin is in place and it's been confirmed there are no leaks, silicone sealant globbed liberally around the tap's threaded bottom would prevent any possibility of the pin falling out.

[Guest 1footinthegrave]

I guess part of the problem is so many things are designed for speed and ease of assembly,like push fit plumbing, with little regard to the end user. Having seen the damage a mouse can do on a number of occasions to domestic plastic plumbing, very often in inaccessible places it can only end in tears, but will the installers or manufacturers give a damn is unlikely.

 

So whilst this is of little consequence to the OP, at least when Motor home taps had a metal threaded connection the absence or loss of a small piece of plastic would never have been an issue. I'm reminded of the top sliding door support on my PVC that has a small plastic or nylon type "hat" that wears and eventually splits, can you buy this 20p item, no of course not you have to buy the entire support arm, £90+ vat, that you know will eventually split as well.

 

Also our LCD TV started playing up, and TV engineer diagnosed a faulty main board, to supply and fit was around £100 more than the cost of the TV originally, although he did concede the actual faulty component would probably cost no more than a couple of quid, but could not be sourced, hence the need for a complete main board, needless to say it went down the tip, oh well progress eh...............