How to remove white water tank in '78 Argosy 24'?

[SnazzyTurtle]

So a few days ago I thought I was almost ready to finish painting, start laying floor, and get the faucets hooked back up from the countertop installations.

Until I pulled the fold-out table away from the wall to remove it until I could take the time to repair it. And found a wet, rotten place on the floor hidden beside the front gaucho. I'm still working on figuring out where it's coming from, but for now I just need to be able to get to it.

I've removed the gaucho and the shelves that sat over and beside it, but I need to remove the fresh water tank to remove the section of subfloor. What are the steps to this? It seems to have two pipes going in from the front of the trailer, and one going down through the floor, but I haven't had any luck disconnecting any of those. Is there a trick I'm missing?

Also, when I take it out, I can tell that it has some water sitting in the bottom of it... presumably incredibly nasty water. Should I shop-vac it out and do the bleach treatment I've read about? Or just look to replace?

I didn't get a chance to take pictures of the pipe connections before I came in to wash the nasty insulation off my hands, but I can try to post them tomorrow if need be. Thanks in advance from an Argosy newb!

[ventport]

I used a heat gun to soften the hoses on my 77 Argosy 24 when I removed the tank and fixed the floor. I would bet the neck on the fresh water tank is cracked. The 3 70's Argosy's I have looked at all had cracked water fill necks on the tanks. The tanks are not fastened to the floor and can mover around a little when traveling. I believe that is what cracks the neck on the tank. The tank can be fixed with a soldering gun to melt the plastic back together. Cut a sliver off of the top of the neck and use as filler when melting the crack back together. If the neck is not cracked then you have a window leak. Good luck, Brian.

[GeocamperAS]

I have taken out and reinstalled the tanks on both my Argosy's. The only thing holding the tank in place, after removing the gaucho, is the fill and drain tubes. Remove the tube (hose) from the drain valve. You may have to push on the edges with a screwdriver. This may fall to the ground but can be push back through later. Leave the valve closed when moving the tank around so as not to get water all over the place. Loosen the clamps on both the upper tubes (hoses). When preceding keep in mind that the fill door plastic is a lot more brittle than the tank plastic so GENTLY lift up on the front of the tank (the side closet to you) to allow the back to slide down pulling away from the tubes (hoses). You may need to wiggle and tug and maybe gently pry the tube off of the tank with a screwdriver.
Both my tanks were nasty stale water. I drained, filled, drained, filled, drained a few times then did the bleach thing. Then drained, filled, drained a few more times.
Hope that helps.

[GeocamperAS]

Oh yah, the floor rot could very well be what ventport said. I also contributed it to 40 years of sweeting. So I made sure to prime and paint my floor before I put the tank back.

[ventport]

My freshwater tank was full of green slime when I bought the trailer. I filled the tank with some water and bleach and dumped in some fish tank gravel which i believe is crushed granite. I put the tank on a 6x6 piece of wood in the middle of the tank and rocked it back and forth. The bleach, water, and fish tank gravel scrubbed the green slime off of the tank walls. I have been using it for 3 years now with nob problems.

[SnazzyTurtle]

Thanks so much guys! So, let me make sure I'm understanding everything before I go back out to tackle this.

The drain tube that goes through the floor, it twists off? Or should I be able to pry it off somehow?

The two tubes coming through the walls, I've already loosened the clamps on those, but because I didn't have any luck prying them off I thought maybe they needed to be twisted. Should I just get the drain tube first and then work on wiggling it away from the fill tubes?

This feels like a dumb question, but when you say the 'neck' of the tank might be cracked..... which part of the tank is that? It might be obvious when I pull it out, but where it's sitting right now it just looks like a rectangular tank with curved back edges. Other than the three hose connections I don't see a neck or cleanup or anything.

Sorry for asking so many questions, but I don't want to accidentally break something trying to get it off! Thanks again!

[GeocamperAS]

Originally Posted by SnazzyTurtle

The drain tube that goes through the floor, it twists off? Or should I be able to pry it off somehow?

Mine was clamped. The clamp was just below the floor level. So I had to raise the front of the tank a little to loosen the clamp. If you don't see a clamp holding the hose onto the valve then it is just presses onto the valve. Push on the top edge of the hose to slide off.

Originally Posted by SnazzyTurtle

The two tubes coming through the walls, I've already loosened the clamps on those, but because I didn't have any luck prying them off I thought maybe they needed to be twisted. Should I just get the drain tube first and then work on wiggling it away from the fill tubes?

The fill tubes don't have enough play or room to just pry off without moving the tank. Yes, get the drain tube off first then wiggle the tank away. You may need to also carefully pry the tubes off as you wiggle the tank away.

Originally Posted by SnazzyTurtle

This feels like a dumb question, but when you say the 'neck' of the tank might be cracked..... which part of the tank is that? It might be obvious when I pull it out, but where it's sitting right now it just looks like a rectangular tank with curved back edges. Other than the three hose connections I don't see a neck or cleanup or anything.

The neck is the round spout part of the tank that the tube is clamped to.