'88 Excella water system question

[coair88]

Hello all, I have only dreamed of owning an airstream and am happy to say I recently purchased an 88 excella 25' travel trailer and have gutted it down to the interior walls and subfloor. I plan to make upgrades and renovate the interior to make it a little more modern and functional for the family. I think I have figured out the general electrical, mechanical and plumbing layouts but am a little confused with the freshwater system which seems to have several supply or return lines running back to the freshwater holding tank. I am no expert in RV systems and definitely not with airstreams but was thinking you would typically have just one line coming out of the holding tank through the subfloor supplying the water pump which in turn pressurizes the cold water line to the rest of your fixtures and hot water heater. Would anyone happen to have a water system diagram for this particular model or, better yet, access to the service manual for this year of trailer to better explain this to me. I am new to airstreams and this forum and greatly appreciate any feedback. I also hope to be able to contribute to the forum from what I learn from here on out. Thank You.

[Scotman]

Congrats on your new to you Airstream. I have a 1986 25' Sovereign. The layouts are probably similar. There should be 4 connections to the fresh water tank: 1) the fill hose (big corrugated thing), 2) a vent hose, 3) a drain hose (or pipe), 4) supply pipe to the fresh water pump.

There's also a fresh water connection for "city water" supply that should bypass the fresh water tank. Mine connects on the street side near the bumper. I say "should bypass…" because sometimes owners will build in a valve and pipes to fill up the fresh water tank from the city water supply.

I've spent a lot of time the couple weeks working on my plumbing system. If you post pics about your specific questions (and if our layout are similar) I might be able to help more.

Scott

[coair88]

Scott,
Thanks so much for your reply. I have been in the mountains building a house without internet connection, so was not able to reply to your response sooner. After reading your description, I looked at the plumbing lines more carefully and figured out that all those lines which I thought went back into the tank actually must be drain lines adjacent to the tank exiting the belly of the trailer. At first glance it looked like they were just going into the depression of the tank. Again, I appreciate your feedback. Now I have to figure out why my old dc panel is clicking and shutting down then back on the power to the dc system since I upgraded to a new converter/charger. Since you have a 86, perhaps you ran into similar problems if when you updated your converter/panel?

Thanks again