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Old 08-15-2018, 07:40 PM   #1
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Ft. Myers , Florida
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Fresh water tank draining

Good evening everyone. I know it’s too early for winterization. But I am trying to drain my freshwater tank so that I can sanitize and freshen it. I am new to the airstream community. This is my first airstream. I have followed the owners manual to the letter. I’ve opened all the valves (5) and jacked the trailer up and down as far as it will go. No water will come out of the tubing underneath the airstream. What am I doing wrong? I don’t know how long it has been since this airstream has had water in it’s freshwater tank. Thanks again for all your help-this is a wonderful community.
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Old 08-15-2018, 07:41 PM   #2
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My apologies, I forgot to mention this is a 1971 Safari land yacht 23 foot with twin beds.
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Old 08-15-2018, 08:34 PM   #3
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Are you sure there is water in the tank?
What are the 5 valves?
There should be but 1 right at the tank or close by.
Look near the place where the water pump line connects.
I should ask. Is the tank above or below the floor?
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Old 08-15-2018, 08:34 PM   #4
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If the water system was already winterized by the previous owner you may need to check the plumbing to see if you are in some kind of bypass mode with the valves. If you are referring to the low-point drain valves, there needs to be water in the system so you have something to drain out. Fill the FW tank and check for leaks, drips, etc. If no leaks - then turn on the water pump and see what you have then. Do one step at a time and check for leaks or problems after each step and at each sink, shower, water heater, toilet and the pump.


Dan
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Old 08-16-2018, 09:09 AM   #5
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There are 3 red valves under the galley and 2 red valves to the right of the shower, in the closet. I opened all three.
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Old 08-16-2018, 09:10 AM   #6
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Also, the tank is below the floor, near the galley.
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Old 08-16-2018, 09:23 AM   #7
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Did you turn on the water pump, too? In my 1972 Landyacht (previous AS), those valves were the same as yours. But, I also turned pump on to send the water through and out the system.
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Old 08-16-2018, 09:25 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Farmer Dan View Post
If the water system was already winterized by the previous owner you may need to check the plumbing to see if you are in some kind of bypass mode with the valves. If you are referring to the low-point drain valves, there needs to be water in the system so you have something to drain out. Fill the FW tank and check for leaks, drips, etc. If no leaks - then turn on the water pump and see what you have then. Do one step at a time and check for leaks or problems after each step and at each sink, shower, water heater, toilet and the pump.


Dan
The system was winterized I presume, but I don't know of a valve bypass. Would be from airstream; I don't see it in the manual. The tank is full and no leaks. I will turn on the pump today and report the results.
Thanks again
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Old 08-16-2018, 09:34 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by adobehome View Post
Did you turn on the water pump, too? In my 1972 Landyacht (previous AS), those valves were the same as yours. But, I also turned pump on to send the water through and out the system.
I did not because the manual said to turn it off.
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Old 08-16-2018, 09:34 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Seawway View Post
I did not because the manual said to turn it off.
I will try the pump today.
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Old 08-16-2018, 10:28 AM   #11
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Check to see if the drain tube is plugged. Mine was full of mud wasp remains.
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Old 08-16-2018, 10:39 AM   #12
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Quote:
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Check to see if the drain tube is plugged. Mine was full of mud wasp remains.
Ooooh, I hate those things! We have mud wasps (or "mud daubers" as we call them around here), but apparently not as bad as where my Avenue came from. They can get anywhere (even through the 1/4" x 1/4" grid holes in the water heater cover). Probably not his problem, but worth checking out.
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Old 08-16-2018, 01:48 PM   #13
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I'm guessing that the fresh water drain cock is under the trailer. In other words, outside, not inside. Originally, it might have been a white plastic thing that you rotated to drain, but on most trailers of that age, it will have been replaced. Some folks replace it with original type, but many replace it with some different valve or arrangement. Anyway, look underneath the trailer, same side as the pump is on. Wish you luck.
(My apologies if one of the valves you mentioned is below the trailer. It just sounded like you were naming low point drains that are inside.)
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Old 08-16-2018, 06:22 PM   #14
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I tried to run a wire into the drains and air pressure - no joy!!!
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Old 08-16-2018, 06:25 PM   #15
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I looked tonight but did not see any drain cocks under the trailer; only in the galley and head. Could they be under the belly pan? How inconvenient if that is true?!!
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Old 08-16-2018, 07:04 PM   #16
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OK. The fresh water tank is below the floor and above the belly pan.
The bottom of the tank is just above the belly pan.
In order to drain the tank the drain valve must be near or at the bottom of the tank.
Otherwise how would one drain the tank?
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Old 08-16-2018, 07:13 PM   #17
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On the newer AS, the white drain valve is on inside of the the passenger-side wheel well belly pan (on the side of the belly pan). Have you looked there?
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Old 08-16-2018, 08:24 PM   #18
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My 1976 did NOT have a fresh water tank drain valve. There was a round opening in the belly pan with screws holding a round cover in place, and upon removing that, there was a drain plug threaded into the bottom of the tank. In all the years that I winterized the trailer, I pumped the tank as low as possible with the pump and the little remaining water froze but caused no problems. To sanitize the tank, I did as others, using Javex and filling and pumping tank a couple of times. Blow out your lines and install a winterizing kit at the inlet side of the pump. Pump lines full of RV anti freeze and you will be fine.
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Old 08-20-2018, 06:12 AM   #19
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Thanks everyone for all of your ideas. I finally got out to work on it this weekend. And once I put the water pump into action I discovered why it will not drain. There were four holes in the water lines from inappropriate winterization. I can’t tell if the freshwater tank has a hole in it but it seems like it does as well. But for sure it looks like PEX here I come. Thanks again for everyone’s ideas. I’m sure I’ll have to start a new thread for a plumbing problem that I will encounter installing the PEX. When re-plumbing I intend to install winterization drains for the water system to prevent this type of damage in the future.
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Old 08-20-2018, 06:44 AM   #20
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Could we re-group here a bit? Sorry if I missed some details, but permit me to ask what might be dumb questions.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Seawway View Post
My apologies, I forgot to mention this is a 1971 Safari land yacht 23 foot with twin beds.
Is this your owner's manual or similar to it?

https://www.airstream.com/wp-content...0003.0110i.pdf

On p. 20 [PDF p. 24/62], at the lower left, in para. 3 it says "the water tank drain valve is under the floor. (see Illustrations) "

On p. 38 [PDF p. 42/62] is the section on the water system, and at the lower right it says the water tank is forward of the axle under the floor. The illustrations do not show the tank drain access, as far as I can see. Welcome to the world of imperfect AS manuals!

Does the manual linked above match yours? Have you looked for a removable floor panel somewhere, like in a closet, under a bed/shelf/someplace, etc.? Near the pump maybe? BTW where is your pump located? The manual says under the galley sink and also that there is a hole in the floor there for access to the tank drain.

Where is the fill spout for the water tank? The manual says on the exterior wall near the galley. The tank should be right below this location IMO.

Have you looked for the following drain plug per CBWELL's post below?

Quote:
Originally Posted by CBWELL View Post
My 1976 did NOT have a fresh water tank drain valve. There was a round opening in the belly pan with screws holding a round cover in place, and upon removing that, there was a drain plug threaded into the bottom of the tank. In all the years that I winterized the trailer, I pumped the tank as low as possible with the pump and the little remaining water froze but caused no problems. To sanitize the tank, I did as others, using Javex and filling and pumping tank a couple of times. Blow out your lines and install a winterizing kit at the inlet side of the pump. Pump lines full of RV anti freeze and you will be fine.

Sorry for the somewhat jumbled questions, but I am running out of edit time [~10 minutes]

Good luck,

Peter
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