Electrical and Systems
RV Fresh Water Plumbing Repair, PEX Lines and Pump Service
Typical range
$285 to $4,500
Shop hours
1 to 18
Labor rate
$260/hr
The short answer
Fresh water plumbing service covers leaks, split lines, water pump and accumulator faults, city water inlet and regulator problems, and freeze damage repair. Work runs $285 to $4,500, or 1 to 18 hours at $260 per hour plus parts, including pressure testing the finished system.
01
What this work actually involves
Nearly all fresh water plumbing failures in an RV happen at three places: fittings, the pump, and anywhere the line was exposed to freezing. PEX itself is durable, but the crimp and push-fit connections behind walls and under floors work loose with road vibration over years, and a fitting that weeps a few drops a day will destroy a subfloor long before anyone notices a puddle. This is why we pressure test the whole system and watch for decay rather than looking for a visible drip.
Freeze damage is a specifically Southern California high desert problem, and owners are consistently caught out by it. Nobody expects freeze damage in California, so units stored in Victorville, Hesperia, Lancaster, Palmdale, or Big Bear go through winter unwinterized. Water expands as it freezes, splits a line or cracks a fitting, and nothing shows until the system is repressurized in spring, at which point it dumps into a wall or under the floor. We see a wave of these every March and April.
The other common complaint is pressure and flow rather than leakage. A 12V demand pump that short cycles has usually lost its accumulator charge or has a failing pressure switch, and a coach that has strong flow on city water and weak flow on the pump has a suction side restriction, frequently a clogged inlet strainer at the tank. On city water, a coach without a regulator eventually meets a park delivering 90 psi, which is what blows fittings apart in the first place.
Systems and brands we work on: Dometic, Suburban, Truma.
Location: All work is performed at our Yorba Linda facility. We do not offer mobile, roadside, or fleet route service.
02
What the job includes
- Full system pressure test with timed decay to locate hidden leaks
- PEX line repair, replacement, and re-fitting with correct crimp connections
- 12V demand water pump replacement and accumulator service
- Pressure switch, strainer, and suction side restriction diagnosis
- City water inlet, check valve, and pressure regulator replacement
- Fresh water tank repair, fitting replacement, and mounting correction
- Freeze split line and cracked fitting replacement
- Low point drain, bypass valve, and winterizing plumbing correction
- Water filtration and softener installation and plumbing
- Documented pressure test after every repair
03
When you need this service
- Water pump cycling on and off with no fixture running
- Soft, stained, or swollen flooring near a plumbing wall or under a cabinet
- Weak flow on pump but strong flow on city water
- Visible water in a basement bay or a wet underbelly
- A musty smell that gets stronger when the coach is closed up
- System that held pressure before winter storage and will not now
- Fittings that were repaired previously and are weeping again
04
How we do it, step by step
- 01
Pressurize and watch for decay
The system is pressurized and isolated so we can measure loss over a timed interval. A slow decay proves a leak exists even when nothing is visibly dripping anywhere.
- 02
Section and narrow
Where decay is present we isolate the system by section and retest, narrowing the leak to a specific run before opening any wall or floor.
- 03
Moisture survey of the surrounding area
Floor, wall, and cabinetry around the suspected run metered, because the plumbing repair and the water damage it caused are two separate scopes of work.
- 04
Pump and pressure side testing
Pump output, accumulator charge, pressure switch behavior, and inlet strainer all checked on flow complaints, and city water regulator function verified.
- 05
Repair
Split lines and failed fittings replaced with correct crimp connections and supported routing, and freeze split components replaced rather than patched.
- 06
Retest and document
The full system is pressurized again and held, with the result documented on the invoice, and every fixture run before the coach is released.
05
Pricing and posted rates
| Item | Rate or range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Typical job range | $285 to $4,500 | Varies with extent of damage and parts availability |
| Shop hours | 1 to 18 | Quoted after teardown, not before |
| Mechanical and electrical labor | $260 per hour | 2026 posted rate |
| Parts | 100% markup under $100, 35% over | Special order parts require a non refundable deposit at order |
| Deposit | 50% at authorization over $2,000 | Additional 25% when parts arrive on jobs over $10,000 |
| Sales tax | 7.75% on parts and materials | Labor is not taxed |
Insurance billed jobs may be billed at carrier negotiated labor rates that differ from the posted retail rates above. See all posted rates.
06
On the insurance side
A line that split suddenly and flooded a floor is frequently evaluated differently than a fitting that wept for years. We document the failure point, the pressure test result, and the moisture survey so the sudden versus gradual question is decided on evidence.
07
Vehicles we do this work on
Vehicle
Class A Gas Motorhomes
A Class A gas motorhome is a flat-front coach built on a Ford F53 or Workhorse front-engine chassis, typically 28 to 38 feet. Rear
Vehicle
Class C Motorhomes
A Class C is a coach body built onto a cutaway van chassis with a sleeping or storage cabover extending above the factory cab. Tha
Vehicle
Standard Fifth Wheels
A fifth wheel couples to a hitch in the truck bed through a kingpin and pin box, with a raised forward bedroom over the truck. The
Vehicle
Travel Trailers
A travel trailer tows from a ball hitch behind the tow vehicle rear axle on an A-frame tongue, which makes it the most sway-prone
Vehicle
Truck Campers, Slide-In
A slide-in truck camper sits in a pickup bed and is clamped down at four points, so it absorbs the truck frame twist directly. Jac
Vehicle
Camper Van Conversions
Camper van conversions are Sprinter, Transit, or ProMaster chassis with windows cut into the sidewalls, a roof full of penetration
Vehicle
Park Model RVs
A park model is a towable unit up to roughly 400 square feet built with residential windows, roofing, and finishes, designed to si
08
Questions about fresh water plumbing service and repair
Frequently asked questions
How much does RV plumbing repair cost?
Work runs $285 to $4,500, or 1 to 18 hours at $260 per hour plus parts. Replacing a single accessible fitting and pressure testing is at the low end. Multiple freeze split lines behind cabinetry, a new pump, tank fittings, and access work through a finished interior is at the high end.
Do I really need to winterize in Southern California?
If the unit stores anywhere in the high desert or the mountains, absolutely. Victorville, Hesperia, Lancaster, Palmdale, and Big Bear all get hard freezes, and a single night below freezing splits a line. The damage stays hidden until spring when the system is repressurized, and then it dumps into a wall. It is the most preventable RV repair there is.
Why does my water pump run when nothing is on?
Either there is a small leak somewhere in the pressurized system, or the accumulator has lost its air charge and the pump is cycling on its own pressure swing. Those two are easy to tell apart with a decay test. If pressure holds when the pump is off, it is the accumulator. If it falls, you have a leak worth finding.
Do I need a pressure regulator on city water?
Yes, on every hookup. RV plumbing is designed for roughly 40 to 60 psi and campground supply can exceed 90. A single high pressure park is enough to blow a fitting apart behind a wall while you are out for the day. An inline regulator is inexpensive insurance, and we install permanent in-line regulators at the inlet regularly.
I found a soft floor near a plumbing wall. Is that just plumbing work?
No, and it is important to separate the two. The leak repair is plumbing. The soft floor is water damage, and it needs a moisture survey and structural repair on its own scope. We document both separately, because a repaired fitting under a rotten subfloor is only half the job and only half the claim.
09
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Ready to move on fresh water plumbing service and repair? Bring it to Yorba Linda.