Fresh Water Tank Filler

[Dano57]

I have a 79 Excella 500 with a street side port to fill the fresh water tank. It is labeled with the Thetford brand name. The door is aluminum but the backside piece I believe is plastic. The filler hose and vent line attach to this back piece. The vent line has broken off from the assembly. Do any of you know if this part is available and/or where I try to find one?

Thanks,
Dan

[ayresdream]

You can check with an Airstream parts supplier, like Inland RV. I'm not sure of the exact part, but you can sometimes find the parts in an RV store like Camping World.

Can you post a picture of the part?

[Dano57]

ayresdream,

I have looked all over the net and can't come close to one and I did look at Inland's sight too. I'll get a picture and post it, that is a great idea.

Thanks,
Dan

[Goin camping]

Originally Posted by Dano57

ayresdream,

I have looked all over the net and can't come close to one and I did look at Inland's sight too. I'll get a picture and post it, that is a great idea.

Thanks,
Dan

Dan,

Andy at Inland has a lot more parts than he puts on his website. Call his toll free # and ask. You have nothing to lose but a few minutes. Good luck.

[Dano57]

Hi All,

I finally took some pictures of the potable water inlet. The red arrow points to the area that is deteriorating. So, any suggestions on where to get one of these inlets?

Thanks,
Dan

[overlander64]

Greetings Dan!

My Argosy had a very similar fresh water fill that also posed problems. The interior plastic components degraded and a leak was the result. Ace Fogdall RV investigated the availability of a replacement and nothing remotely similar was available, and the only solution was to install one of the more modern alternatives. Several Argosy owners have had reasonable luck utilizing plastic/fiberglass repair kits to repair the interor portion of the device.

Good luck with the solution to your fresh water fill problem!

Kevin

[Jim & Susan]

That looks like the same one that is on my '73. Let me look thru the shop manual and see if I can find the original part number. Back in a few.

Jim

On edit: Yep, here you go. It's called a "Spout, Water Fill" The original part number is 04210. Many of the original part numbers have changed to a more modern system in the Airstream inventory. Check with a reputable Airstream dealer and they can get ya one if they are still avilable. Yoy might also try Colaws RV, they have several wrecks on the lot. DO a search on the forum to get their number & webpage.

Jim

[Dano57]

Jim,

Outstanding info, thanks.

Dan

[Jim & Susan]

Here's the Colaw website: http://www.colawrvsalvage.com/

Jim

[PizzaChop]

What a coincidence! I just finished piecing mine back together. Mine wasn't quite as bad as yours but it was pretty cracked up by the time I removed it from the Sovereign.

Of course, my kitchen console is removed so it was no big deal to cut away some inner skin to get to it. (I had to drill the factory buck rivets out from the outside.)

Anyway, it must be removed from the inside and probably won't come out in one piece. (A putty knife between the plastic and the backside of the outer skin was used.)

I pieced it together with some marine epoxy and then used some Evercoat stranded fiberglass body filler (the blue/green stuff available at fine auto/paint supply stores) on the entire back of it to reinforce it. I too had some missing pieces but the filler hopefully will "fill in" nicely. It sits next to me on the counter, curing as I type.

Good luck finding another one. I didn't see anything on the web, but if you do find it, let us know!

[Dano57]

Ron,

Mine is on the street side and is under the inner fender skirt. I had to cut a small access hole in the skirt to get to it to try to reattach the hoses. If I have difficulty removing it I'll probably have to cut a bigger hole. I think I might as well go after it and remove it and do as you did. Oh well, let the fun begin.

Dan

[Dano57]

Well folks, I have done some more research, called Thetford and they didn't have a clue what the water inlet is or if they ever made one. They sent me to a distributer that was in the know, well he didn't have a clue either. Off to the Airstream dealer and he said that he has not known of any being available for a long time. He suggest modifying the trailer with the modern version, he showed me one on a 2002 model. Not as classy looking but would work.

I think I am going to remove mine and see if it can be repaired with fiberglass, if not I'll replace with the new version. It appears that I'll have to enlarge the opening in the trailer to do it. If I go that way I'll post my results as it seems more than one of us has this problem.

Dan

[PizzaChop]

Dan,

Carefully drill out the rivets from the outside and then very carefully slide a very thin putty knife between the skin and the plastic housing. It might be best to try to cut away as much vulkem on the inside as possible, to reduce the resistance to removal. Mine was actually affixed to the inside of the outer skin with double-sided tape, surrounded and sealed with vulkem. It is no wonder it came out in about 8-10 pieces.

I carefully saved all the pieces and patiently reassembled the puzzle using 2-part marine epoxy (sets in 50 minutes, gray in color). After complete assembly, I put a layer of short strand fiber reinforced body filler on the back and it seems to work fine.

The only part that shows from the outside is the door and the little bit of exposed housing.

I'll try to post some pics of the finished product.

[Dano57]

Ron,

Thanks for the heads up. Looks to be quite a job for a small part! I am sure that it may be the same on mine as the part looks to be thin and crumbling already.

Dan

[ALANSD]

Ron- that same item is what caused that rusty spot we looked at on my Sovereign. later when I was messing around with adding antifreeze to the tank, I saw some dripping out in that very spot. Seems it runs thru the side and comes out just ahead of the wheel well.
I guess I will have to repair my inlet also, but it is not too easy to get to inside from what i see so far.

[Dano57]

Alan, what is on the inside of your trailer from the water inlet? Mine is under the fender skirt in the closet.

Dan

[Dano57]

Well, if I can not rebuild the one I have I plan to change the design. I just spoke to the local Airstream expert, Griffith RV, and the water inlet door that I am going to try to retrofit to the trailer is an Airstream part number 601194. They will have to order me one and from what they described I'll have to enlarge the hole slightly and then this one will mount to the outside of the trailer. It is gray plastic (I'll try to paint it bright silver I think) with a lock as supplied on the current trailers. It will use the same tubing as the older one.

Dan

[PizzaChop]

Dan,

Here is a pic of the "restored" filler door. I found a cam lock for it at the camper store for $4.59.

It took a little time and patience but I think it will work just fine. The fiberglass reinforced filler on the back is pretty strong and once it is mounted, the aluminum skin will support it as well.

I had to rebuild the filler neck as it was missing a chunk. I inserted a plastic plumbing fitting equal to the ID of the neck with saran wrap over it before I applied the body filler. After it dried, I filed it down to make it smooth.

Alan,

You must have a pretty big hole in the side. If you can remove it, we can rebuild it next month. Just cover the hole with aluminum tape once it's removed. Also, here are some pics of my outrigger repair you might be interested in.

[Dano57]

Ron,

Great pics, I am going to try to remove the old one this week and see if I can do such a repair. I know mine looks to be in worse shape from the get-go but there is hope! I sure hope I can fix it as I like the flush look of the original much better than the new one if I have to retrofit.

Thanks for the pics.

Dan

[PizzaChop]

Dan,

Here are some pics of the water filler in place. Be sure to use aluminum washers or backing plates on the back side of the rivet or you'll be rebuilding it again. (The plastic is just too brittle.)