Well, the bathroom mixer tap failed again. I say again, but the last time it failed was last year. I bought a new one after that, fitted it as soon as we got back home. This time it became obvious as soon as we’d set up on the CL pitch that we had a Very Serious Plumbing Problem (VSPP). The minute I put the water system under pressure, the leak became apparent. I traced the leak back to *inside* the tap itself, up inside the body of the tap where the solenoid switch for the pump is. Except it wasn’t the solenoid switch, obviously. We went through many dog towels trying to keep the flow mopped up, but it wasn’t easy. The leak leaked whether we were using the bathroom mixer tap or not, it was a low-pressure leak and that was that.
Well, this morning the replacement tap arrived. An hour and one broken thumbnail later, I had the sink disconnected from the waste pipe and laid on the floor, the old tap disconnected from the 12v electrics, from the hot and cold water inlets, and also laid out on the floor. Ten minutes later I had the new one fitted into the unit, connected to the hot and cold water inlets, and coupled up to the 12v electrics (it’s a bit bizarre connecting a tap to the electrics, but that’s how this kind of plumbing works). I filled the hot and cold water systems, switched the pump on and water came pouring out of the tap. Water came pouring out of the correct bit of the tap.
Yay! Job done! Or is it? Further down the hot and cold pipes are two joints which I’m not sure about. I’m not sure about them because a) they’re legacy and b) I didn’t fit them, therefore c) someone else fitted them and the quality of their work is immediately suspect. So I’m considering replacing them too.
Oh, and apparently the reason the tap I fitted last year went u/s is, apparently, because the winter frost cracked an internal seal. I’ve been told it’s reasonably common. So when I put the caravan to bed this winter, I’ll be protecting the taps against the cold.
Caravan plumbing: it’s like real plumbing… but different.