Filled tank, water pouring out beneath

[mutcth]

Exciting update and resolution. My local shop fixed the leak. Seems the fill hose wasn't really connected too well to the inlet on the trailer's side wall. Filling went OK, but the overflow ran down and out.

Took a few hours of labor for disassembling the wardrobe in order to get access, but much better than my initial fears.

Tom

[Gene]

Glad to see it is fixed and was less of a problem than anticipated.

Gene

[mhebert1256]

Have a 76 Sovereign I just bought, was going to replace the half inch supply hose between the pump and tank, apparently you have to drop the tank cover to get to the connection on the tank? Appreciate your input.
MH

[FreedomRing]

Well I just bought a 73 Airstream and my fresh water tank is leaking badly. From wahat appears to be all around it forward of the axle. Is there a valve I can shut off to not fill the tank. I am simply going to be sitting running off of city water? Any Thoughts...

[mutcth]

Exciting update part #2 (I think I have that count correct.)

Turns out the fresh water tank was cracked near the fresh water inlet. Looks like the previous owner stored it one winter with the tank full, and it cracked up at the top. With all of the construction debris surrounding the tank, it's a surprise nothing wore through the outside. All fixed and cleaned up now.

Surprisingly, the tank wasn't that expensive - but the labor was. (And somewhere, the first replacement tank is floating around in lost-in-UPS-tracking land. Big thanks to whoever at Airstream or ODM sent the second one next-day to help get it fixed.)

Tom

[Gene]

Tom, glad to hear it was fixed. Anyone who gets in the tank area finds construction debris. Sad but true.

Gene

[mutcth]

Thanks Gene. Just happy that the shop actually found an obvious problem, rather than chasing something elusive.

Tom

[2dabeach]

Originally Posted by mutcth

Thanks Gene. Just happy that the shop actually found an obvious problem, rather than chasing something elusive.

Tom

Tom...I saw the link on your thread to the "shop" you brought your trailer to. The guy who owns Classic RV Repair & Restorations in Holmes, NY use to work for the RV Legends Airstream dealer in Waterbury, CT. He is one of the best, honest mechanics I've ever delt with and anyone needing work on their Airstream in the NY, CT, NJ areas should look him up.

[aftermath]

Tom, I enjoyed reading this post. It reminded me of our experience with our "new to us" 2006 25FB. After years of looking we found a trailer that had very few miles on it. As a matter of fact, at 3 years old, it had only been on the road twice. It remained parked at the PO's house where it was plugged in 24/7.

The original converter had toasted the batteries and had gone bad itself(you might want to check yours). The tires were hardly used but old so those got replaced. We had to put some more money into it before it was brought up to a dependable condition. I too wondered what I had done when I started into the fixes.

These trailers need to be used and if parked a long time it only makes sense that there will be problems. At least that is what I tell the wife when I take it out for a fishing trip. Just got back from a whole week in central Washington where the night time temperatures got down into the mid 20's. The furnace does a great job of keeping pipes from freezing up. It got tested.

Enjoy the new trailer.

[tkowalyk]

Originally Posted by mutcth

Exciting update and resolution. My local shop fixed the leak. Seems the fill hose wasn't really connected too well to the inlet on the trailer's side wall. Filling went OK, but the overflow ran down and out.

Took a few hours of labor for disassembling the wardrobe in order to get access, but much better than my initial fears.

Tom

Mike,

Saw that you had found that the tank had a crack and that you had it replaced -- good for you.

On the topic of filling the tank, and problems with the overflow hose... We had problems with a loose fill line on our previous AS. After getting it fixed, we are always very careful about filling the tank.

We always use a fill adapter, and always fill the tank slowly.

I think the most important thing is to never fill the tank to the point it overflows.. rather watch the level indicator (if the indicator is not working, you may be able to hear when the tank is getting full).

We usually keep the water tank full between trips, then drain and flush before each trip (only use bleach in the beginning of the season, sometimes another bleach flush in late summer).

Another consideration is not travelling with a full tank if you will be having city water hookups. This past weekend we headed to Gettysburg with a 1/2 tank as we were going to use city water. We opted to use the water tank at night because the nighttime temperature was dropping in the high 20s.

Good luck with the new coach!

[mutcth]

Originally Posted by 2dabeach

Tom...I saw the link on your thread to the "shop" you brought your trailer to. The guy who owns Classic RV Repair & Restorations in Holmes, NY use to work for the RV Legends Airstream dealer in Waterbury, CT. He is one of the best, honest mechanics I've ever delt with and anyone needing work on their Airstream in the NY, CT, NJ areas should look him up.

Agree 100%. George at Classic RV did this latest repair, as well as installing solar and catching a bunch of other impeding problems (a weathered frig drain tube, lug nuts whose plastic covers were about to give out, a cracked awning claw). I've been very happy with his work and am thrilled to have him nearby - it makes ownership of the AS MUCH easier.

Tom

[mutcth]

Originally Posted by aftermath

Tom, I enjoyed reading this post. It reminded me of our experience with our "new to us" 2006 25FB. After years of looking we found a trailer that had very few miles on it. As a matter of fact, at 3 years old, it had only been on the road twice. It remained parked at the PO's house where it was plugged in 24/7.

The original converter had toasted the batteries and had gone bad itself(you might want to check yours). The tires were hardly used but old so those got replaced. We had to put some more money into it before it was brought up to a dependable condition. I too wondered what I had done when I started into the fixes.

These trailers need to be used and if parked a long time it only makes sense that there will be problems. At least that is what I tell the wife when I take it out for a fishing trip. Just got back from a whole week in central Washington where the night time temperatures got down into the mid 20's. The furnace does a great job of keeping pipes from freezing up. It got tested.

Enjoy the new trailer.

Thanks! We bought it last May and have - finally - worked out most of the bugs. It was immaculate - only towed 3000 miles, very clean - but had some issues. Over the last 10 months and 5000 miles of towing, we did a lot of upgrades, all done through George at Classic RV:

- Trimetric monitor, ultra III converter from Bestconverter
- batteries were shot (and installed wrong!)
- new shurflo smart sensor water pump
- I did a 15" wheel and Nokian tire upgrade, selling off the GYM and 14" wheels (5 bolt hubs meant couldn't do 16" wheels)
- Just had a 95w GoPower! solar system installed
- Fixing all of the water tank hassles (turned out the tank is also all scuzzy inside, so good riddance)

I'm going to upgrade to some oceanair blinds and a fully functioning rear window (instead of the semi-functional emergency window.) Frig fan went up in smoke during the purchase inspection (literally) so I need to wire in a new computer fan.

I totally agree - buying a well-used and maintained unit is key. Ultimately you deal with the hand you bought, and this one was only 60 miles away and was the exact floorplan we wanted. We love the thing.

Tom

[Gene]

I think some of the problems with overfilling the water tank is that people may jam a hose into the filler hole so they don't have to hold it for 5 minutes or so. If the relief tube has clogged, and the overflow can't get past the hose jammed in, then the tank will expand until something breaks or the floor above will buckle upward. If that person is lucky, the hose will blow out first and get them wet so they remember not to jam the hose in again.

Filler attachments are available that screw onto the hose and have at least 6" of smaller tubing at the end. It'll stay in the trailer filler and leave's some space around it to let air and water out. Of course, you can jam the hose connection into it if you want and recreate the problem, but you don't have to.

Not saying you did that Tom. Just in caee some newbies don't know about the filler attachment available at fine stores everywhere.

Gene

[mutcth]

Originally Posted by Gene

I think some of the problems with overfilling the water tank is that people may jam a hose into the filler hole so they don't have to hold it for 5 minutes or so. If the relief tube has clogged, and the overflow can't get past the hose jammed in, then the tank will expand until something breaks or the floor above will buckle upward. If that person is lucky, the hose will blow out first and get them wet so they remember not to jam the hose in again.

Filler attachments are available that screw onto the hose and have at least 6" of smaller tubing at the end. It'll stay in the trailer filler and leave's some space around it to let air and water out. Of course, you can jam the hose connection into it if you want and recreate the problem, but you don't have to.

Not saying you did that Tom. Just in caee some newbies don't know about the filler attachment available at fine stores everywhere.

Gene

That's good advice. It's totally possible it led to some of the initial filler hose problems, along with its less than robust design. Cranking the fill cap too tight can make problems too. The old filler spout on the Argosy was way better.

And even after 4 years of RVing, I didn't know about that attachment! My wife said to buy it on Amazon now, Now, NOW!

Tom