Water leak

[Russ Abbey]

Hi All,
I have a 1989 Excella 32 footer. I started to try to fill my water tank last summer in Virginia Beach, VA. and it shot out the side of the trailer just below the wheel well on the curb side of the trailer. So I just filled from the hose and forgot about till this year. We were at a campground in Jefferson NC, and for some reason when we hooked to the city water it was doing the same as the fill tank from last year. So, checked the button above the stove on the exhaust hood, turned it on and then back off. Still leaked very bad or should I say gushered? Anyway any ideas where to look? I have checked and find not leaks in the lines anywhere I can see, but something has happened.

Was reading in the manual that there are a couple of relays, but not to sure about this? If they are relays, are the snapin's or mabe soldered in or is it part of the piping and I have to make changes? I have a friend coming over tomorrow (Sunday 5/26/19) to try to lend a hand finding the cupert. However, any help would be greatly appreciated here.

73

[AtomicNo13]

Sounds like you're describing the auto fill function.
There is a solenoid involved in this system.
I'd suggest you look at the plumbing under the cedar closet and check for broken plumbing and leaks. Shark bite fittings are your new best friend!
Btw, the auto fill system is a neat thing when working well.

[Russ Abbey]

Thanks Atomic, I will check for that relay and yes, that is what I am talking about. I know that it has never worked (the auto fill) since I purchased the AS. If this is what it is, is the relay in a socket? Or is it soldered in? I can do either, but would prefer the one in a socket and will convert it over if I need to.

73

[AtomicNo13]

It is not a relay, rather a solenoid plumbed into the line. As I recall it's 2 wires from the harness, and an in and out water line. Pretty easy. It might just have gunk in it.

[Russ Abbey]

Originally Posted by AtomicNo13

It is not a relay, rather a solenoid plumbed into the line. As I recall it's 2 wires from the harness, and an in and out water line. Pretty easy. It might just have gunk in it.

Thank you again Atomic, I have found the solenoid, so will see if this is the problem. I'll pull it out and see if it is clogged up or if I need to replace it. I am assuming that VTS or Airstream has them in stock, but I'll also check with Amazon and others. Like my local plumbing house.

73

[Russ Abbey]

Yesterday (Sunday) a buddy came over and helped me do some trouble shooting. The wires and plumbing are terrible! I have seen my Son when he was smaller and a lot younger do better work then who ever decided to do the work in there. Anyway there is not power to the solenoid so looks like more trouble shooting is in store. I will have to pull the couch to get to the 12 VDC panel (another great idea from someone?) and see if the breaker is bad or just what is back there. It could be as simple as a mouse biting on the wires or something like a major redo os the 12 VDC system. In other words, to be continued.
Thanks for the help on this and I will keep you informed.

73

[Russ Abbey]

Found it! The air tube on the fill cover had slipped off of the nipple it is supposed to be on. It took 2 Saturdays to actually find it, but doing any trouble shooting on my part is dependent on the temperatures. We also found out that the last campground or so had clogged the water filter we didn't know was there so had to be replaced. Of course this may have been a long time ago now, but it showed up on my watch. Anyway a new solenoid is on the way along with a 100 feet of Pex, both red and blue. We shall see how far I get with this. :>)
Also new wire was installed from the breaker to the solenoid by running new wires to where it was needed via the ceiling/walls. Not my idea of how to spend the weekend. I'll be taking some pictures as I pull stuff out and putting in new wiring and plumbing. Right now it looks like we can get new pipe to the bathroom and heater without much problem. The first time I looked it was a nightmare but found another way to do it I hope.

73




Hint: Don't be in a Navy hospital bed in Portsmouth, Va in a full body cast in August when the AC goes out and your body temp goes to 108 degrees F. They had to cut the body cast and load it with ice to get my core back down. The good side of it was I was able to scratch all of the itches till the doctor got there.

[rmkrum]

Yowch! No fun at all.

[Russ Abbey]

We have also discovered so many problems with the wiring! Good grief I am not happy right now.
We replaced the solenoid over this past weekend, and had to do a lot of work on the plumbing. We now have PEX in the area of the freshwater tank, kitchen, pump, solenoid, and fill head. It was a convoluted mess to say the least, there were so many splices in there it was ridiculous. Right now we can at least use the AS, but when we come back I will be doing a lot more PEX work both in the AS and the house now that I have it working right. Next is to tackle the electric, has anyone done the detached cord for the 1989 Excella? I am just not real sure if I should do this or not, but I need to replace a botched job a "dealer" did on this.
I am very very thankful the Folks I bought this from and all previous owners have kept wonderful records of what they had done, what was replaced and why. So, I am continuing this trend in case we run across another AS we want or to upgrade to a AS MH of age.
Thank you to all of you for the suggestions, help, and above all the friendship/comradery on these forums. Now to figure out why the classified section will not let me log in over there.

73