Annoyance outdoor shower

The exterior shower in the Grand California can cause problems: leaking bayonet catches lead to water leaking into the vehicle interior. Learn more here.

There are many breakdowns with the Grand California, be it bathroom walls that crack or brake lights that leak. The outdoor shower is another classic.

The problem

Suddenly and without any action on the part of the user, water runs out of the bayonet lock of the outdoor shower. In the best case, you will notice this fault quite quickly; in the worst case, the entire contents of the tank and lines will leak through this bayonet into the interior of the Grand Californias. What that does to your stuff and the furniture construction, you can imagine, right?!

Even more annoying, if the cap is broken, there is no way to stop the water. Okay okay, of course there are two variants for the emergency.

The showerhead of the outdoor shower remains permanently connected and thus takes over the sealing.
All water is drained from the system manually.

Both variants at the beginning of a vacation would be unattractive.

How does the leak occur?

The best question to ask in this context. How does the leak occur?

There are some theories about this on the web. Some say it is due to the permanent pressure on the cap as soon as water is used in the vehicle. In fact, the port is under pressure as soon as the pump is running. If you’re wondering how this can be because you don’t use the shower at all, the explanation is quite simple. This is how the complete water system of the Grand California is constructed:

The tank contains the water pump. When this is actuated, for example by opening a faucet, the water flows through a pipe to a distributor. This lives up to its name, it distributes the water to all possible connections. Thus, there is pressure on all lines as soon as the pump is running, including the lines of the outdoor shower.

But is that the reason? After a bit of research 🧐 we found an explanation, but one thing beforehand: the problem is not Grand California specific, but a problem of the connection of the Reich company. Means this also happens with other RV manufacturers who install this outdoor shower.

Enough of that talk, the port is not designed for use with water at all. These are compressed air connections. Yeah, total breakdown right?! Someone came up with the idea 💡 to use these parts for water. This works well for quite a while, but if water flows through this bayonet, deposits are created by the water, among other things. Frequent plugging and unplugging of the shower is also not conducive. In the bayonet is a small O ring, this takes damage and already we have the salad…

The solution

We like to use the word solution for a chapter heading, but unfortunately in this case it becomes sobering. There is no permanent solution to this problem.

Well maybe so, the outdoor shower should never be used, because that way there is also no chance of deposits, frost damage or other problems with the O ring.

This port is simply not made for use with water.

Once a leak has occurred, the only option is to go to a Volkswagen partner, right? During the warranty period, this may be a good idea, there is then completely sustainable -not- the complete outdoor shower replaced because of a small O ring.

However, this ingenious tip will not help you on vacation or after the warranty.

The good thing is, the bayonet catch is available as a spare part. The part is replaced within 15 minutes and the vacation can continue. We have made a video for you on how to change this bayonet:

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