Water flooded kitchen

[Darrel]

Hi,

We had an incident today where the water was not turned off in the sink and flooded the bathroom and some of the kitchen. I’m concerned about water that overflowed into the heater vent. I see water has found its way outside somehow so it was draining somewhere. We got it all cleaned up including what we saw in the vent. The question is if there could be some damage to the heating system because of the water overflowing into the vent. We are considering leaving the gray water dump valve open in case there were to happen again. Granted, we would need to occasionally close it to build up water in the gray tanks prior to dumping the black but that’s better than a flood. We are not sure if one of us people are responsible for letting the water run or if the cat did it. We’re going to blame the cat.

[sourdough]

For the "heating system" there shouldn't be any damage if you clean those heating ducts. As far as the flooring, it would depend on how much water and how long it sat and how well you cleaned it up.

Leaving the gray water valve open.....sort of a toss up for some. Nearly everyone I know leaves them closed. Open when it's time to dump. Between slinky buildups, sewer gnats etc. there is no good reason IMO to leave them open...btdt - unless running the washer.

Remedy IMO is either educate the "folks" on closing faucets etc. and RV usage or curtailing the wayward cat.

[Darrel]

Hi Sourdough,

I appreciate your quick response! We’ve cleaned up every drop of water we could find. We removed the heat vent covers and dried out what we could see. Our big concern was if there is any water deeper in the vents path that we cannot see or get to. I read a post that there might be some hoses to disconnect to allow any water build up to drain. I’ll take a look tomorrow in the light. We are running our fireplace for heat tonight but we’d hate to doing a damage because of our ignorance. Also mentioned in another post was to run the fan alone to dry things out. Hard to find any real detailed information on this topic. We have a 2021 Keystone Montana 3761FL 5th wheel in case your formaliar with it. Do you know if there are drains we can check? I will look tomorrow and for now we are still warm. Again, thank you very much!

[Daryles]

We had a flood in our S&B home. It went down the floor vents and collapsed the duct work in the crawl space. It all had to be replaced.
I would take down your basement walls and check the duct work.

[beeje]

Your heat ducks should be fine, however I would remove the vent covers and let fans blow into them to get them all dried out.

Did the water get to any carpeted areas ? That would be my concern.
If it did then the padding and OSB floor decking under it is wet also. Without removing/pulling back the carpet, it will never dry out and could cause mold to form.

Also, if the water got the bottoms of any cabinetry wet, it could make the (fake wood) swell up permanently. Blow fans around the millwork that meets the floor. You should also run a dehumidifier in the unit for a while to remove as much moisture as possible.

[RMcNeal]

Unless there were a massive amount of water in the floor ducts, it's unlikely that it caused any damage to the furnace. The furnace is mounted above the level of the ducts in most cases. I would think if you were able to clean up most of the water, that any residual would evaporate over time. You may invest in some damp rid for when the rig is stored. I live in a very humid climate, so I use them all the time while in storage. They do work well, but typically only last about 2 weeks before needing drained and/or replaced. I recently switched to the type that take a large tablet with a plastic bin. Found that to be cheaper than simply throwing out the others.

[jimcol]

We never totally mastered it but we try to shut the water off at the spigot whenever leaving the RV. It'll probably piss the cat off but keep the 5'er dry.

[mhs4771]

Darrel it is possible that the Cat did it. We were at Disney's Fort wilderness with our Monty and came back after an evening in the park to see the pad all wet, as we got closer we saw water coming out the door. Opened the door and there sat the Cat with a look on his face saying "I didn't do it". We had left the sink covers on and were just slightly lower on the curb side, so the water ran off the cover onto the floor. Last thing you want to do a 11 o'clock at night after an evening in the part, is to clean up water.

[DutchmenSport]

We had a flood in a previous travel trailer. The underbelly was covered with that tarp material lined with batting type insulation.

I knew the underbelly had water and all the batting insulation was wet, because it was sagging way down, and it definitely was hold water like a bathtub.

First, I punched a couple choice holes with an ice-pick so the underbelly would drain. When done, I simply taped it up.

I pulled pulled the vent covers off the heat ducts and bent the heat ducts so they could blow under the floor. I then put pillows over the vent on the floor and fired up the furnace. All that heat blew under the floor and within a couple hours, the batting was dried out.

If you think you have water in your air ducts, then just turn your furnace on full throttle and let the heat from the furnace dry out the ducts. If your ducts have any leaks where water went through, then air will also go through those same places, drying out anything there too.

Your Montana is made with a Styrofoam floor with a thin sheet of luna type plywood on top of it. I doubt very much the floor was damaged at all. Once dried out, it will be fine.

Just an FYI. We never hook up our water directly to a water source via a garden hose. We always fill the fresh water tank and use the on board pump. We do this for 2 reasons.

1) We never have to worry about the pressure of the water coming form the water source.
2) In the event a faucet is left on, or a leak happens, we hear the water pump running. Sometimes the water pump will come on and we are both sitting there watching television. That's when I remember! OH drat! I forgot to flip the valve from after filling the fresh water tank.

It's just a thought, but if you were running from your fresh water tank, you would have heard the water pump running and knew a faucet was turned on. You would have checked everything and never had the flood at all. It's just something to think about?

[mazboy]

turn your heat on to get rid of some of the water.


if belly if full of water just put some holes in the bottom.


and clean as much as you can.


we leave the gray water open in the bathroom tank, just close it a day or two before we dump...it works for us. i leave the kitchen pull always opened since i am to lazy to reach under the trailer to close/open it.

[WeBeFulltime]

Originally Posted by RMcNeal

Unless there were a massive amount of water in the floor ducts, it's unlikely that it caused any damage to the furnace. The furnace is mounted above the level of the ducts in most cases.

Actually the furnace is mounted BELOW the level of the duct. Refer to picture comment #4. Have owned 2008, 2012, and 2018 Montanas and all were like that.

[Daryles]

We do what Dutchman said. Use freshwater tank and pump. I have read too many flooding g stories and lived through it once.
Just to add... we turn off the pump (and everything else) when we leave the rig, just in case...

[beeje]

Originally Posted by Daryles

We do what Dutchman said. Use freshwater tank and pump. I have read too many flooding g stories and lived through it once.
Just to add... we turn off the pump (and everything else) when we leave the rig, just in case...

Same here, we almost never hook up to city water. We always travel with a full fresh tank.
I can tell instantly (in the middle of the night) if there is leak somewhere. I will hear the pump running when no one is running water.
Also when leaving the camper all you have to do is make sure the pump switch is off. No way for water to keep running if an issue does pop up.

[Darrel]

We just recently used our freshwater because temp was dropping so we disconnected from the source. When we turned on the water pump, it ran for a short time which seemed normal but then when it stopped and started repeatedly when the water wasn’t being used, it became annoying. To the point we would shut it off. We didn’t know if this was to be expected or not so still need to look into it more. What is your experience!

Thank you and to everyone that have shared here. This has been a very positive experience!

[jeffba]

Originally Posted by Darrel

We just recently used our freshwater because temp was dropping so we disconnected from the source. When we turned on the water pump, it ran for a short time which seemed normal but then when it stopped and started repeatedly when the water wasn’t being used, it became annoying. To the point we would shut it off. We didn’t know if this was to be expected or not so still need to look into it more. What is your experience!

Thank you and to everyone that have shared here. This has been a very positive experience!

You the the valve in the fill position. Turn it and it will stop

[beeje]

As jeffba said, that valve should be in the normal position, not the fill position. I suspect it is in the correct position already, but check.

If it is in the normal position, you are either sucking air from a loose fitting or there is a leak somewhere.
With the way it is now, run all fixtures until you notice no air coming out. There could be trapped air in the lines. If after that, the pump still cycles on and off, there is an issue somewhere. The pump should only run when a fixture is opened.

[Darrel]

Hi,

Yes but if it’s not in the fill position the pump never turns off and no water will come out of the faucet. I turned it to fill, turn the pump on and water comes out of the faucet. Am I missing something?

[beeje]

Originally Posted by Darrel

Hi,

Yes but if it’s not in the fill position the pump never turns off and no water will come out of the faucet. I turned it to fill, turn the pump on and water comes out of the faucet. Am I missing something?

When you have it turned to fill and water comes out, does the pump stop when you turn off the fixture.? I'm thinking the valve labeling is backwards.

[Daryles]

Take down your basement wall behind the convenience center (8 screws). Check every fitting back there. Make sure they are tight but do NOT over tighten.
Probably a good idea to do this on some kind of schedule. These units get a really good shaking going down the road.

[phillyg]

The cat did do it. While I doubt the water in the vent will be problematic, if you can, find the access to the furnace and pull the flex piping off that vent to see if any water got in, and dry it all out.