Fresh Water Tank Leaking

[wscampo]

2010 Flying Cloud
My fresh water tank is leaking at the screw that secures what looks to be an access panel. I tightened it but did not slow down the
leak. Can anyone offer a suggestion for remedy?
Thank you.

[GenXair]

I would suggest to use the direct water feed port, empty the tank & wait for it to run dry and then caulk the panel.

[dkottum]

I don't think that's the water tank, it's the cover under the tank. The water leak is above it from plumbing or white plastic water tank. The access indicates someone has been in there before, can you open it and have a look?

[CBWELL]

You need to determine if it is the tank leaking or a fitting. Drain the tank and run on external water supply. Check for leaks underneath trailer. Disconnect external supply and fill tank. Again check for leaks. If nothing, turn on pump in trailer and run water. Again check for leak below trailer. It water leaks only when tank filled, you have a tank problem and will have to drop and repair tank, or find out if it is a fitting on the tank leaking. Tightening the screw and caulking the access panel will not stop the leak.

[GenXair]

Thanks for clearing this problem up and offering better solutions than the one I proposed.


Learning is half the battle.
-G.I Joe

[woodfox45]

Take that panel off and look inside , it that the same area where your tank drain is ? the fitting could be the problem

[wscampo]

Thank you. I took the cover off and inspected as well as I could and also from the pump and plumbing access panel inside. I did not find the leak but there could be a drain fitting I did not see or could not get my hand to.
I drained the tank and connected the water supply directly and there as no obvious leak. It's bound to be in a fitting.
Thank you all for your responses.

[clamb]

Did you find out what the cause of the leak was? I think I just developed the same exact problem. 2002 AS. The access panel is near the drain petcocks for the holding tank. I removed 6 screws, but the sheet metal panel is caulked and I don't want to rip it off without knowing what is behind it. Is this where the line to the pump is connected?

[wscampo]

Originally Posted by clamb

Did you find out what the cause of the leak was? I think I just developed the same exact problem. 2002 AS. The access panel is near the drain petcocks for the holding tank. I removed 6 screws, but the sheet metal panel is caulked and I don't want to rip it off without knowing what is behind it. Is this where the line to the pump is connected?

I have not found the leak yet and have not removed the sheet metal housing that covers the tank. I only removed the small access panel and also inspected the tank through the pump access panel inside the trailer. I did not see or feel a leak at any of the reachable fittings. I also drained my tank and connected the water supply directly and there is no obvious leak and agree it's bound to be a fitting.
I plan to remove the cover when I have time and cooler weather. I anticipate it to be time consuming.

[wscampo]

Clamb, Did you find your leak?

[wscampo]

Originally Posted by wscampo

I have not found the leak yet and have not removed the sheet metal housing that covers the tank. I only removed the small access panel and also inspected the tank through the pump access panel inside the trailer. I did not see or feel a leak at any of the reachable fittings. I also drained my tank and connected the water supply directly and there is no obvious leak and agree it's bound to be a fitting.
I plan to remove the cover when I have time and cooler weather. I anticipate it to be time consuming.

Clamb, Did you find your leak?

[clamb]

Yes I did. Now bear in mind this is an '02 AS- yours may be different. When I removed the small access planet on the bottom of the tank cover, I saw a fitting on the tank with a short length of plastic tubing going to the drain spigot. The tubing was too long and was bent/kinked, and had developed a crack (from freezing?) I removed the tubing, removed the tank fitting and temporarily filled the through hole in the fitting with plumbers putty. Later I'll drill out the hardened putty and replace the tubing.

I quite frankly never knew the plastic drain spigot was there! I always used the two metal petcocks on the bottom of the tank cover to drain the tank.

[jnuechte]

So, I noticed my fresh water tank has a "slow leak". It leaks about 40 gallons in 2 days...

It leaks out of the access hole under the fresh water tank.

I removed the access cover and it looks like the two connections on the bottom of the tank, one goes to the drain, and the other must go up to where the pump actually pulls water from. Either way it looks like everything in there is very tight, and some sideways movement in the tank has caused these to crack slightly. I read above someone had their tank replaced for ~ $1000, however I figured before I jump into that it was worth a shot to try and epoxy it.

I found this epoxy online, and figured it might be worth a shot:

https://www.amazon.com/J-B-Weld-5013...ld+plasticweld

Has anyone else ever tried to glue/epoxy a plastic tank? Any luck? Any other suggestions? A picture of the area I am talking about is linked below.

Thanks!

Josh

[clamb]

Before doing repair, you should know exactly what kind of plastic it is. Being associated with drinking water, it is likely to be polyethylene. There is high density and low density (HDPE,LDPE). The epoxy should list this as being bondable. The absolute best way to repair the crack is thermal welding. You can buy plastic welding rod on Amazon, but the hot air gun needed is specialized. It concentrates the heat through a small diameter metal nozzle. Harbor Freight may carry them. You can weld LDPE rod to either LDPE or HDPE base, but not the other way around. You have to heat up the area around the crack until it just starts to melt on the surface, then apply heat to the rod and melt it into the area that is being repaired. It should be done slowly without overheating or burning the plastic. There are probably videos on youtube showing how.

You might find a business in your area that does plastic fabrication- water tanks, etc. They may have someone who could do the repair for you.

http://www.plasti-mend.com/index.php...ir-or-replace/

[clamb]

Another possibility is a hot glue gun. I had to repair a hole in a HDPE pond liner, and this was the only thing I could get to stick to it. You could test it in a different spot first. The base should be heated first, at least with a standard heat gun. Heating the sides of the crack with the glue gun tip may suffice.

Take a look here....
https://www.hotmelt.com/blog/glue-st...ot-melt-sticks

[tomreid]

Does anyone know of a schematic for the fresh water system plumbing. I also have a leak and really need to see if it above the tank or the tank. It is dripping on the door side. The stopcok was leaking but I think I fixed that. What other area above could be the source and where is accessed from inside the trailer? Tom

[Road Geezer]

We have a 2011 27' FC. It just developed a pretty fast (tank drains in an hour or so) leak. I've connected up city water, and there are no leaks.

BTW: on this model trailer there's pretty easy interior access to the one end of the fresh water tank and connected lines. I removed the small doors under the fridge and wardrobe. I can see and touch all the ports and fill lines on the driver side end of the tank.

My questions:

1. Are there other water line connections to the tank elsewhere, like on the passenger side?

I think the leak is where the pump line connects to the tank. I can see and touch it, but really don't have enough clearance to repair it. So, I'll have to drop the sheet metal housing that's located between the axles.

2. Without raising the trailer on blocks, how easy is it to drop the housing? Any suggestions.

3. How likely is it that the tank itself is cracked?
4. How do I tell the type of plastics it's made of, if I decide to weld the crack?

Thanks for your help.

[TomPiper]

Hi,
My tank has a steady drip from the metal piece just below the plastic valve/nozzle. The nozzle seems dry. And as you can see there is discoloration along the lower seem of the tank. Is the whole joint corroded or separating? Please offer any help on how to diagnose the source of the leak. Thanks!

22FB Sport 2011

[GCinSC2]

Tom

Maybe.

Can you see that from the inside of the trailer also? Not 100% necessary but might help. The visual can help diagnosis and access. Isn’t there a plate around that valve on the bottom ? Mine the access was same area as pump.

I suspicious of the short hose and it’s connection to the fittings it clamps too.

Did similar on mine and a new section of hose and offsetting double clamps took care of it.

Now my theory about the leak at least from my rig. Barbed pipe at the valve and a PEX fitting in the tank. IIRC. The PEX is slightly smaller and hose is not as pliable as it was.

Speculation is free results are yours.

Gary

[peterp]

Here's where our leak was. The arrow is the backside of the tank drain fitting. The circle is where the spin welded tank fitting had cracked. With luck you could possibly take a pic where the water hoses go down thru your floor to ID if this is your issue. Good luck!