Filled tank, water pouring out beneath

[mutcth]

When I did the pre purchase inspection of our newly purchased 2007 Safari SE 23', we had partly filled the water tank. (The previous owners never ever used it, using only city water.) All worked OK, but the water pump kept cycling slowly.

After running city water through the system, I got the water pump cycling to stop. Figured it was just air in the system.

So we filled the water tank tonight for this weekend's maiden voyage. Seemed to take a long time to fill, but no water came out the fill spout. After about 30 seconds after turning off the water, water came running out beneath the trailer around the edges of the tank.

My guess is that the tank is cracked. Do these come out from underneath? (Not that I'm fixing it myself, but trying to figure out how much this will cost.) Any other explanations?

I'm rather unhappy right now about this.

Tom

[Bluto]

Tom,
This happened to me on an older trailer and it turned out just to be the plastic water fill hose that is connected to the tank and your water fill hole. Mine was brittle from age and just split about midway. Yours might have split right where it enters the tank. I'd check that first.

[jimbob79]

The valve for draining the tank for winterizing might be open. I have had that happen on our first trip in the spring and thought the same thing.

[mutcth]

Data point #2. I have been draining the tank by the petcock for about 15 minutes. Tank monitor still says 2/3 of tank. Draining from underneath around tank has ceased. Ran pump, shut off normally.

Did I just overfill the silly thing? (But why wouldn't it come out of the fill spout like my old Argosy would?)

The winterizing valves are in the back, so I don't think it's those.

Tom

[DKB_SATX]

A less-painful possibility is that there's a loose or compromised line between the freshwater tank and the pump. The pump sucking air through that would've caused it to keep cycling, putting city pressure in the system after the pump would probably make it stop cycling, and filling the tank all the way might have provided enough pressure in that line to push water past whatever defect is there.

Here's hoping!

[mutcth]

I'm wondering if I overfilled the tank and pushed off the fill hose. That would be better (read: cheaper to fix.)

A cracked tank doesn't totally make sense, especially near the top of it (any remaining water would reside at the bottom). Also, if the PO never used it, there would be little water left in it to crack.

Tom

[Foiled Again]

Possibly the fill tube itself is cracked. Cheap and not too difficult to replace.

The tank also has a drain valve on the bottom - for winterizing. It's a faucet, and very cheaply made. Get down and check it out. If it's sprung a leak, it'll have to be replaced, but here again, not expensive.

To test for the fill tube failure turn on your water pump and open the cold side of the sink faucet - let it run. If water keeps on coming out, the tank IS holding water but the fill tube is split.

Good luck with this, Paula

[mutcth]

The tank is now holding water fine at the lower level.

As far as I can see (looking into the deep dark recesses) the fill tube is still connected. But the connection at the top of the hose (at the inlet) isn't all that secure. Wondering if there is some sort of overflow vent as well that might not be attached.

Anywho, now that the trailer isn't gushing water out of the bottom, we're going forward with maiden voyage plans. What could go wrong?

Tom

[azflycaster]

My tank would leak when full and stop after a few gallons were drained. I found that there were two overfill vents that connected to a "T" and then exited the trailer at the filler location. One of the lines had disconnected from the vent. Once that was connected, no more leak.

[mutcth]

Thanks! I found one vent which seems to be connected - but I'm guessing there is another one. And I admit to not wiggling anything all that hard - I'll let the shop do that Tuesday.

Tom

[azflycaster]

The water tank on my 75 has a cross member that runs across the tank and separates the front half from the back half. There is a vent on each half of the tank to prevent air pockets from forming.

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by mutcth

What could go wrong?

I can't believe you actually ASKED that! Now, if anything does go wrong, all anybody can say is, "Well, he asked for it."

[mutcth]

But I put a smiley face after it! That's like crossing my fingers AND knocking on wood at the same time.

Tom

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by mutcth

But I put a smiley face after it! That's like crossing my fingers AND knocking on wood at the same time.

Tom

Only if your smiley face is laughing, smirking, sticking his tongue out, or winking. Those indicate a lack of seriousness. A standard smiley face comes across as earnestly happy, and it's just tempting Fate to smite thee when thee least expects it.

[mutcth]

Originally Posted by Protagonist

I can't believe you actually ASKED that! Now, if anything does go wrong, all anybody can say is, "Well, he asked for it."

No truer words were ever typed. Here's the list:

- Dealer of my new-to-me tow vehicle forgot to replug-in wire for fuel door release after doing some warranty work. Mechanic friend sorted that one out before I got surprised (read: ran out of gas).
- New-to-me tow vehicle had blown fuse for charge wire. Can't get odd 30 amp double fuse at 8:45pm in rural Vermont (but can get it the next day driving to nearest big town.)
- Charge circuit didn't matter because the previous owner's definition of "new" batteries (meaning "not the original batteries") differed from my definition of new (meaning brand new and actually capable of holding any charge.) Managed with a cooler and portable LED lanterns inside.
- Actually, charge circuit did matter because the dead batteries couldn't lift the power jack. Plugging into tow vehicle worked.

Ironically, the original problem (water leak) didn't have any impact at all on weekend. Trailer held 5/8 of tank of fresh water the whole time.

But we do love the trailer, and I was able to get rid of the original Marathons just before leaving for the trip. Getting new batteries this week, as well as some other upgrades.

Tempting fate with a new-to-you trailer, a new-to-you tow vehicle, and spending a three night holiday weekend boondocking in VT as the very first trip is temptation enough.

Tom

[Gene]

Tom,

If never used, the fresh water tank seals have never had any kind of lubrication. Keeping things wet may cause the seals to swell and seal again. That would be best thing.

The 2nd best thing is that you are an engineer, so you'll figure it out after you think for a while.

The 3rd best thing is you've got the Forum to ask questions.

The 4th best thing is you are in Vermont.

Sorry to hear you are having so many irritating problems. There will be others, but so far they seem more irritating than impossible.

Gene

[mutcth]

I admit, I had a moment or two (or evening) of "What in the hell did I blow $XX,XXX on?" But like you said, after being reminded of Occam's Razor, most of the problems are straight-forward minor hassles.

The main problems seem to be centered around the owners seldom using the trailer, and NEVER using it for boondocking. Both the fresh water system and the batteries (which also weren't stored right) would never have been really used.

The plus side of this is that the trailer was towed for all of 3000 miles and is immaculate. All of the Airstream Factory Original Sawdust! is bone dry under the cabinetry. We scratched up stuff more in our weekend of using it then they did in four years of ownership.

And yeah, camping in Vermont in a riverside site was lovely. Plus it is a dream to tow, and we are thrilled by how well the floor plan works for the two of us. Frankly, camping in the trailer, problems and all, was the best thing we could have done with it.

Tom

[Gene]

Glad to see you've calmed down Tom. We had many "what have we done" moments with our new trailer for the first couple of years. Did you find any hamburger wrappers, screws and other junk yet?

Any bites on your Minuet yet? I'm sure you've kept it in great condition.

Gene

[mutcth]

Plenty of sawdust and screws (which might come in handy.) No food wrappers yet. But ownership is still young!

Have a deposit on the Minuet, and the new owners are scheduled to pick it up in early June. Had lots of serious interest, which we're happy about. The Minuet is really a lovely trailer with lots of care given to it.

Now all I need to do is sell my 1995 Miata and the Odyssey to pay for the 2011 Durango. (And to help pay for the mods to the Safari...)

Tom

[Bill M.]

My experience would indicate that it well could be the fill hose. I bought a trailer that the owner told me had frozen. I got the huge flood when I filled the tank. I took it to Airstream for other work and asked them to check the tank. They found that the fill hose had a split and replaced it. No more problem. Airstreams original estimate for replacing the tank was $500. No way of telling how much they actually charged for changing the hose.

I have the same problem in my other trailer. Going on a caravan next week. So today I decided I could fix that. I do not agree that there is any thing relatively easy about this job. 3 hours later I finally got the clamp loose and cut the hose off the barb. One small slit in the hose from the clamp and the clamp was rusted up from the leaking water. Hard to see that much water coming out of that small slit. And all the other plumbing down in that hole has decided to move over on top of the water tank barb for residence now. Problem I have now is I can not find a new line. Going to try the RV place tomorrow and then order some if I have too. Not sure there will be room for the new hose stuff that I see listed. What is in mine is 1.5 inch flexible drain line that both the local Lowes and Home Depot do not carry. Yet in Jan I saw it in a couple of stores in Florida so I did not check here ahead of time. Guess I will fill the tank from under the cabinet and put a cork in it for the caravan if I do not find it this week.

On mine there is another small rubber tube hooked to fill fitting, but not into the fill line. Possibly and air vent. Guess I will try to trace that down.

My tanks hold an awful lot of water. Hard to bring yourself to fill it all the way when it is leaking bucketfuls. I have had water coming back out the top though. One way to rupture a tank is to fill it really full with a hose jammed into the fill line.

Back out to the trailer for a quick look. The vent hose comes out of a fitting at the top of the tank. 1/4 inch rubber hose. fairly easily accessible to check on mine.