1988 Prestige 16x60 water pipes leaking

[homebuff]

My 1988 Prestige 16X60 v-roof design moble home has had numourous leaks occur at five differant places under the floor. All were on the hot side from deposits inside the pipes. Generate's small cracks at the joints from vibration from the washer & dishwasher.
Is there a gauge I can install in my main line coming in to monitor my pressure's?
Don't notice the leaks till it tears open the underbelly & run's out side the trailer.
One good thing about this is I don't have to pay the water bill. My landlord pay's for it on all the trailers in the park.
Read about the Shell lawsuit which expired in 1997 which most likely leaves me out of the picture I assume.
Been repairing those leaks & tearing open the belly in many places. Taking my time out from my job to repair those lines. Wanting to know if theres a way to get the pipes redone properly without having to pay for it under the lawsuit.
Spent a lot of money & time repairing them myself.
I repair them with that plastic hand screw on compression fittings which works rather well as long as it's a permanant fix & not a temporary fix.
Is it worth the effort to try to get it fixed free or just keep on fixing them myself?
I'm sick & tired of repairing those lines.
I'm 62 & disabled & it's tough on me having crawl under the trailer to fix those darn pipes.
When will it end?
Hope to get some kind of comments.
Thank's for taking your time out to read this!
David

[Greg]

Well David, there is no easy way to solve the problem. Personally I would bite the bullet and change over to PEX. It would take some time doing a section at a time but it would be done and over with. The fittings & crimp rings are not that expensive, but just being a mechanic the tools get you. Greg

[JD]

I don't think there is any chance of getting in on the Shell/Cox class action suit. That is all a done deal. You might be able to sue Shell as an individual, but I certainly would not like my chances at something like that. I think the suit's cut off point was 1995.

I agree with Greg. If you are having that much trouble with the PB pipe, you are probably better off replacing all of it. The floors, insulation and underbelly damage adds up quick and big. I would not use the plastic compression fittings though. Either copper crimp ring, stainless clamp ring or ProPex expander rings is the way to go. I use the Oetiker stainless steel clamps. A lot of forum members use the copper crimp ring system. Tool investment is lowest in the Oetiker SS clamp system.

JD

[homebuff]

Thank's for that important info. I guess i'll just bite the bullit as Greg mentioned. Sueing Shell corp. would be a pain staking thing.
By the time the settlement went through "if it did" & It would be highly unlikely, I would be over the hill by then & not worth it. At least If I did change over to Pex tubing, which the guy at the mobile home repair told me would be recomended I can at least remove the compression fittings all together easily. The three 1/2 " T's I installed a long while back are still holding strong.
One more thing I decided to do was put in a shut off valve on my electric water heater while I was in the process of flushing the tank out. It's a large white Roger's & I might have installed it on the wrong side of the water pipes. I installed it on the left side pipe (No labeling on the top) which was a very flimsy grey 3/4" type pipe. Stamped on the pipe was Vangaurd Plastics NSF-PW 319-87G 180 degree. I installed a $27.00 plastic shut off valve where you insert the pipe & pull back on it to lock it into place & has a locking ring & all you have to do to release it is push in on the ring to unlock it. Didn't really like that type of valve but that's all they had.
Have to keep an eye on that valve for a while to make sure it doesn't start leaking.
One more note. There's a sure fire way to know when you have a leak. My toilet for a while was filling rather slow.
You guy's didn't mention if there was a place I could install a gauge in a easy readable place to monitor it.
I guess i'll just watch the toilet from now on to see if I get another leak. Which I know there will be more later.
Thank's for your input guy's.
David

[Harry]

Hi

If you go with the Oetiker system you may want to check out the clamp ring buster tool. I makes removing a ring easy.

Harry

[Greg]

Sorry, I didn't catch the gauge part. If you use a pressure gauge, you would need to shut off the water ahead of the gauge to make sure the system is holding the pressure (Just like a radiator tester) . The only other way, and more money would be a water meter that you could monitor from inside the home.

Do your self a favor and use only Brass or Stainless shutoff valves. Plastic seems to fail when you need them most. I prefer 1/4turn ball valves for main shutoff and Gate valves for inline use. Greg

[homebuff]

Thank's Greg!
You've been so helpful.
It is a 1/4 turn ball type valve & is really hard ot turn.
I'll check n a brass or stainless valve that will fit that type of pipe if they make them.

[homebuff]

Gretting's Greg.
I read about the under belly topic here from another poster & all the material I have cut off has not caused any problems of freezing pipes in the last 5-6 years or more.
I never had freezing problem's ever since we've owned this trlr.
I have a electrical thermal tape strip over the main plastic water pipe & has been there since we moved the trlr here in Sallisaw back in 1994.
They eventually burn out I assume?
I have good thick insulation panels made of metal & foam I cut to fit myself.
Their about 2 1/2 inces thick.
My concern is with the moisture barrier also.
My wife always complains about smelling weird oders & experiences itcing, sneezing & do see mold particles on some of the insulation that got wet from past repairs I did under the trlr.
Little black specs embedded in the insulation.
Mold does dry out over time & doesn't hurt?
Is it recommended to let all the insulation dry out for a long period before replacing it ?
Thank's for any input you might have.
David

[Greg]

Once fiberglass insulation gets soaked it looses most of its R value and should be replaced. If you have insulated skirting panels you may make up some for the loss in the belly insulation. Mark has insulation in his and claims that the space under his home never goes below freezing And in south Dakota that takes a lot.

Is your skirting vented? you want good air flow during the warm weather to keep moisture to a minimum. Greg

[homebuff]

For now it's vented for the panel's removed for repairs.
But know it's not vented except for some small drilled holes in the panels made for peep holes.
The panel's were old doors.
I'll have to get me another camera soon & send some pics of my layout of my surroundings.
I know the insullation loses it's R value from being wet.
It's only common sense.
I'll get around to relacing some of the wet insulation & belly tape some day.
Most liikely this Fall when it's cooler.
I'm waiting till all the joints have been replaced so I don't have to back under there ever again.
The cats love prowling around there, maybe they will scare up some mice which we havn't had for quite a spell thank ggodness.
Still trying to get rid of those small roaches which we,ve had since those druggys moved in a long time ago & brought them with them but now they moved away & left them behind for us to put up with.
They've invaded all my electrical appliances & rae really hard to get rid of & have treid everything you can imagine 6to kill them out.
Thank's for your info on the insulation tips.
Have a great up coming weekend.
David
This trlr. was a lousy made trlr with all cheap hardware.
Going to go ahead & replace that heat tape since it's so old.

[homebuff]

Hey Greg.
I found out what that bad smell was that my wife didn't like & was making her sick.
Looked down in the floor register's & found alot of substance that looked like cat droppings with what looks like mold all over it, but don't see how the cat's hanging around our house can get in those vents over the years.
I can tell the grey looking stuff has to be mold cause it looks like it has a fuzzy coating over it.
It smells worse when the fan is on.
It's too bad for me to clean up so I guess i'll have to call a professional cleaner to get it cleaned out.
Don't have the equipment or even know what to use to do it myself.
Unless someone here has any tips how to do it myself.
The vent register's are in the floor & there are four of them all through the house.
Their spaced too far apart to get a hose long enough to reach each one.
What would be your recommendations?
Thank's!
David.
The smell is really bad that even I can't stand it but don't get sick like my wife.

[Greg]

I am not sure if you could use a shop vac and add a few hoses together or not or even if you would want to. It sounds like a good job for a pro to me. I think I would get them sealed up until they get cleaned. You could try clear packing tape or duct tape, but it may be harder to clean up. Greg

[Yanita]

Hi,

What type of duct work do you have, aluminium or flex pipe? Thouroughly research whomever you hire to clean these ducts, They can get tore up real easily. To see how much of a mess is in there you can put a bright flashlight in the first duct, go to the second with a small hand mirror and look back through the duct.

A long time ago someone had a great way of cleaning these ducts but I have since forgot the entire process and items (from around the home ) that was used. Hopefully Robert will see this and chime in.

Moisture barrior, I swear by them regardless of were you live, not only does it hold back evaporating ground moisture but also bugs that tunnel up from the ground...providing the install is meticulously done. As Greg said, venting is also key under our homes.

Yanita

[homebuff]

Thank's to both of you responding back. I don't allow cats in my house so they don't have a chance getting in the vents that way.
They may be able to from under the trlr. though cause of the webbing being torn in many places from past water leak repairs i've done.
Havn't got around to fixing the under belly yet.

Actually the color of the substance is a blue grey color mixed with small little balls forms with most likely lint & dust particles attached to them about the size of cat droppings.
I'll just leave it to the professional when I locate one here in town.
The holes are so small & the it drops down about 6" below the floor surface & makes it hard to get anything hard like a vaccum pipe in it.
Hopefully Mark will have a comment later on.
Thank's for ya'lls tips & comments.

[Brenda (OHIO)]

How it could be cats....
one of your heating ducts boots could have disconnected from the subfloor. this leaves a gap a cat can get on top of the duct if the underbelly is open, and come up into the mobile home.

It can give you quite a start to see a cat jump down the hole in the floor and into the heating duct when you open the front door!

the other thing the lumps might be are mouse nests.... and they stink a lot...

If you cannot find a professional to do a duct cleaning, or the cost is high, you may want to try my method....

use the mirror and a strong flashlight method. I lay the flashlight in the next room in the duct directed toward the duct opening I am starting at... use a mirror to see how much stuff is laying in the duct. the flashlight backlights the junk beautifully.... take the flashlight out of the duct.

take a shop vac with the 3 or 4 inch flexible hose... vacuum the duct with the hose, tube and nozzle on the machine directly under the duct opening... a lot of stuff lands very close to the opening, the nozzle and tube give you good suction.

remove the tube and nozzle and connect another flexible hose onto the first hose. with the vacuum turned on, vacuum as far as you can push the hose in both directions from the floor opening. move the hose from side to side while vacuuming to cover as much area inside the duct as possible.

go put the flashlight back in the next room, and check the section of the duct you cleaned. you may have to check it from the next openings in both directions.

do this for each section of the duct.

if there is still a lot of stuff left in the duct... the next thing I do is I get a ceiling fan brush that comes with a pole. they look like an overgrown old fashioned toilet bowl brush, wire bristle that can be bent somewhat. form the brush so it is just a little narrower than the duct.

I use an 25 foot electrical fish take to a nylon rope from one floor opening to the one in the next room. have the rope be about 3 x the distance between the holes.

tie the brush onto the rope, and make a circle of the rope. stuff the brush into the duct through the opening. do a small test pull to be sure the brush will go down the duct (while it is still in reach to get pulled out of the duct and reshaped lol)

pull the brush from one opening to just before the next one using the rope. If you had to feed the rope out a door way and back in , you may need a second person to help feed the rope circle as you pull.

stop, vacuum out the junk that came to the opening...do the mirror test... you the get the brush out, move it back to the first duct and pull it through again if there is still stuff...

repeat until the duct looks clean.

turn on the fan briefly, let it run a few minutes and see if more material moves into the duct from parts unknown.... vacuum out the new junk

be ready to briefly leave the house.... spray diluted odorxit into the duct from each opening... run the fan briefly to circulate the deodorizer.... turn off the furnace and go somewhere for a while . you may want to open the windows when you get home if the fragrance of odorxit is overwhelming for you.

This process is a lot of work... I had to do it for two different homes... one was a bank owned that a child stuffed tin can (including empty pet food cans) into the ducts as a game. the other home had a mouse problem and numerous mice nests in the ducts.

Brenda (OHIO) who was Brenda (OH) but the website locked me out