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Need to get at pipes behind integrated folding basin /toilet ? Help !!


JerryCamper

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Just discovered a big leak in the hot water pipe somewhere in the pipes running under the floor then up the back of the sink unit but can't see how to get at the pipes and no clues on the internet either !    I have a Herald Motorhome with an integrated foldaway basin / toilet unit in the bathroom (possibly a Thetford or a Contessa C400 unit).      I guess that I need to remove the panels under the foldaway basin to access the hot pipe, but how ?    There are no obvious screws, so maybe it has to be torn out ?    Help !!

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A few things you could try. Toilet plunger to see if below sink panels are clip fixed and can be vacuumed off, as it were. Have you checked for any access via a removeable panel behind the sink unit supporting wall. Some sink/vanity units have face fixings well disguised with push-in plugs, takes a beady eye to spot them. 

Posting a pic or 2 may help.

I do know that some of those blown acrylic units were fixed to the wall with screws usually at corners on a deep set perimeter flange. Not that easy to find. These mouldings are paper thin and flimsy very easy to break.

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Just a thought, is the leak running from a fitting along the pipe and dripping to the floor ? Always difficult to access these bits and pieces together a view or wet finger test!

My rationale is that all pipe runs would be one piece from fitting to fitting  to avoid situations like this. I.e. heater to tap as one run , or to an accessible tee piece for another connection to shower or second sink.

Of course, this does not apply, if the pipe has been damaged by rodent teeth, or split due to freezing.

Rgds.

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11 hours ago, Keithl said:

What year is your Herald?

Not just the year, but (possibly more important) which model?

Herald motorhomes were initially built in Poole (in the ex-Autohomes factory) but the company went into liquidation in 1995 and was taken over by Compass, with production of the then-current Herald range transferring to Durham.

Compass subsequently produced its own ranges of Herald models. The attached photo is of the bathroom of a Compass-built 1999 Herald "Squire", but it differs significantly from the bathroom of the 1996-built Herald "Templar" that I owned from 1999-2004 (and that also had a fold-down wash-basin).

I think the Compass and Herald Motorhome Club still exists and - if that's the case - may be able to offer advice.

This earlier (non-Herald) thread may also be of interest

https://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/topic/61832-elddis-washroom-tap-replacement/#comment-708332

image.png.b5dafa0cca6895698c6e810f533fb6fb.png

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Hi 

As Derek has pointed out the year and model is so important due to changes 

I do believe there are changes in the bathroom fittings even within the same model but different years 

Sadly some were glued on and some have covered screws but also some adhesive

Is it a Contessa 400? 

So take some photos and post them here 

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The plastic unit that is above the toilet will not be a Thetford product.

I'm also (pretty) sure that a Herald's bench-type toilet would always have been a Thetford "C" model (eg. a C4) and not the Thetford C400 that came later.

On that basis, if the plastic unit is a "Contessa" design it will have a straight horizontal lower edge as shown in this image

image.png.6de67ba3b0a97ac01c284952902f9789.png

The Contessa C400 version (image below) has a curved lower edge to match the shape of the C400 toilet's top surface.

image.png.a86b63919c673744d54222ce3a03ca62.png

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The installation appears to be similar to that in our 2006 IH TioR.

Soon after our purchase, we discovered water spreading from under the toilet floor.  The vehicle was returned to IH, who are relatively local.

The vehicle was returned with two new features.  These were a circular inspection hatch in the panel below the wash basin with an estimated 150mm diameter hole, and a second 100mm inspection hole in the dividing wall, which is disguised as a ventilator.  It also seems that the whole wash basin unit may have been removed, as the finish of the white silicone sealant was not to the original standard.

Alan

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