fresh water drain: broke it off. help

[jpar]

barbed end is in line where it enters the fresh water tank. can reach the white plastic barb with pliers. do not want to do futher damage. have replacement valve.

[john hd]

j parks

try unscrewing it, there is another barb with threads where it enters the tank.

if you get lucky you may remove the whole assembly. then you can repair it and screw it back in.

i'll dig up a thread with pictures in it....

john

[john hd]

here is a photo of the valve system partially disassembled.

you can see the valve, short piece of pipe then the barb with the threads. you can see the one i replaced in the background...

[flyfshr]

Funny, all I see is beer.

Brad
FF

[maxandgeorgia]

Okay. This $%*&^%!!!freshwater drain is an impossible fixture on an Airstream, at least for Max and me. Can't reach it (between two tires). Can't turn it. Is there a better fix for this, a replacement with long enough turning "handles" to really get a grip? I'm glad this thread raised the question about the freshwater drain handle because I really want to find a way to get rid of this awful little one and replace it with a better "mousetrap." Thanks for suggestions. ~G

[Dwight]

On another 34' Excella that we had, the drain valve was behind the tire - not between the tires. So I added a length of hose to the existing valve with an additional valve in a location that I could acess easier.

[jpar]

thank you-- I will try your suggestions-- if nothing works easily, i will simply put a removeable plug into the broken end? jparks

[maxandgeorgia]

Dwight-thanks for a workable solution. A case for me of "cannot see the forest for the trees." This sounds doable and sensible.

[aeonius]

Hi jparks, thank you for posting this thread. Where did you find your replacement valve?

Thank you!

[wolverine]

When we replaced our valve we added a small galvanized bracket from Lowe's to guard the valve from being struck by road gravel, etc. which is what busted our valve in the first place. So far we haven't had a recurrence so we hope this will work. For anyone who has had to replace this valve, you know full well how little space you have to operate. Remove an inspection plate from the belly pan, stick you large hands in the small space and try to remove the clamps without leaving permanent damage to your hands. It's a lot of fun! That why we invested some more time in installing a guard. Replacement valves can be purchased at most RV dealers since they appear to be standard in the industry.

[SRoffe]

OK, I'm bringing this up again.

On my fresh water drain valve, it has the rock guard on it. Good! However, it sticks real bad, I am unable to turn it fully open or closed with out pliers, and I am sure that I am going to rip the thing apart doing that. So, I would like to replace it with something more suitable.

From what I gather, the fresh water tank is protected by a pan. From the looks of the photo it would look like the valve is about 4 inches from the wall of the tank.

With out a access panel on the pan, how do you access it? Can I just remove it the valve from the side and replace it? Is there any Gotchas that I need to avoid?

Thanks in advance,

Sam

[Frody]

Originally Posted by john hd

j parks

try unscrewing it, there is another barb with threads where it enters the tank.

if you get lucky you may remove the whole assembly. then you can repair it and screw it back in.

i'll dig up a thread with pictures in it....

john

This blog has been around for a bit but hoping you are still dialed in. I just broke my fresh water drain valve on a 25 ft Safari. Got it plugged OK so we can continue trip. But someone told me I would have to drop the whole take to access and replace valve. I tried to unscrew it but did not want to apply too much pressure in fear of breaking something else that would cause the system to become inoperable. I saw your pics, the valve is the same and we assume there is a hose attached. But beyond that, I am in the dark. Thanks for any help. Regards, Dave

[Ray Eklund]

Dave. Our first trip through Nevada, on a state highway and crushed gravel surface. The first time a stone hit the valve "handle", it opened the valve so our fresh water was draining, unknown to me. About five miles later a stone knocked the valve and "handle" off completely. What I had left was an empty fresh water tank and no replacement part. I noticed a line of water on the gravel road "following me" and stopped both times to investigate the source.

I stopped at an Ace Hardware store in Fallon, Nevada and they had a selection of corks. I found a cork that fit perfectly, screwed in an eyelet (like you use on a picture frame to attach the wires) in the center of the cork and used a philips screwdriver to back out, a few turns, the two screws that attach the drain valve to the outside galvanized water tank container. I needed the eyelet screw in the cork, so I could pull the cork out to drain the tank. I took a section of picture frame wire, wrapped one end around one philips head, tightened it. I ran it through the eyelet screw that was firmly sealing the drain hole from leaking. The other end of the wire I wrapped around the second philips head screw and tightened it. Worked perfectly. I purchased several of these natural cork corks in the event I needed a spare.

I just could not take the chance of trying to attach the replacement drain valve (plastic piece of #@%&) so I used the cork for a year or so. When having warranty work preformed at Jackson Center, Ohio the staff replaced the plastic valve and added additional sheet metal to the front and rear of the valve. Now it had protection from all directions, except you could reach in and with the usual amount of effort, open and close the valve.

This valve, between the two axles, is just a gravel target and it will eventually be hit or sheared off shortly. The cork solution would have suited me for many years, but Airstream added the repair to the warranty work. The cork may have cost 12 cents. The factory should protect the valve with more sheet metal when in production.

There is, on the 23 foot Safari, a metal wing drain valve not far from the plastic fresh water drain valve. It catches some loose gravel, but after thousands of miles, this metal valve has had no problem.