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BillTex · 04-27-2007, 05:54 AM

Hi John, thanx for the link...I haven't had this problem, YET, but think I will get a spare petcock as the age of our AS is just about right...

But I swear I did not see any drain plug on ours when I was under there last week.
Do they all have a drain plug?
I just open the petcock to drain our tank...

It is raining too hard right now to bother going out there to look some more!

Thanx, Bill

85Sovereign · 05-01-2007, 08:05 PM

Great information. I replaced my petcock about 2 years ago. Now I've noticed that after filling the fresh water tank there is water dripping from the bottom of the tank. Seems to be concentrated around the inspection plate. I was thinking this was some giant disaster I was going to have to face. Is there only a large drain plug under the inspection cover? Looks like it is a pretty straight forward repair. My Sovereign is an 86 model.

Thanks for the help and information,

Greg

golddigger · 05-01-2007, 09:06 PM

If you're down there tinkering, you might consider installing a cover plate in front of the valve that extends perpendicular from the frame and out. I took my valve out with a rock last summer. I had the factory install a shield in front of it. I replaced the broken one with a spare part from a general RV store.

Dwight · 03-09-2008, 05:47 PM

My drain valve broke today. Can I replace the valve by just removing the screws or do I need to get in the access panel?

john hd · 03-09-2008, 06:20 PM

dwight

perhaps, how is that for an answer?

once the mounting screws are removed you can try to unscrew it. most likely you will need to open up the panel to get a wrench on it.

john

EXCEL88 · 03-09-2008, 08:34 PM

Sorry to hear about all the leaks. Had a small one from the big drain in the bottom of my fresh water tank. The plug is yellow plastic 1-1/2 NPT (I think) with a 3/4" hex socket in it. Applied teflon tape. No good.

Finally dried off the plug and hole, applied teflon paste to plug. Screwed plug in tank using a 1/2" bolt with a 3/4" head, held with a visegrip. After plug was well seated. I put a 2-1/4" (I think) screw type radiator hose clamp around the outside of the tank's drain. Not too tight, just enough to squeeze the drain around the plug. That hose clamp has a lot of squeezing power.

If the plug is screwed in too tight, it could crack the drain. Big trouble.

It's held now for a year.

LARRY

john hd · 03-10-2008, 05:25 AM

larry

yes those plugs are prone to disintergration. as noted in post number 2.

the hose clamp seems like a good idea to prevent it from cracking.

john

rmscottrds · 07-06-2008, 01:27 PM

In Aprile we had the seal replaced on our 88 Excella. This June we flushed and sanitized the tank only to see that the tank is dripping (at the seal). We note that the manual says it needs a large allen wrench hex key to open it. Does any one know what size the wrench is? Thanks.

Mexray · 07-06-2008, 02:06 PM

When I went to repair the fitting from the bottom of the freshwater tank that the pump intake hose hooks too...I thought I'd flush the tank out...

To my amazement, I couldn't find any drain petcock! The manual says to pump the water out when winterizing! What engineer designed that!

I removed the cover plate where the large threaded drain plug is located, but found that the plug is only partially accessible - like the tank has shifted slightly so you can't get a wrench on the plug! The plug is in good shape, and looks like new...maybe they were using a better grade plastic 30 years ago!

Some days you 'win' some and some days you don't....

hutch309.2 · 07-15-2008, 07:37 AM

Hi everyone:

I have a 1983 34 Limited and my problem is the 1 1/2 elbow that draws water from the tank. It's cracked and Airstream do not have them anymore. They referred me to Camper Repair in AL 205-665-2531. They were not very helpful call several times and he said he didn't have any where he looked and said he had 5 warehouses and as much as said didn't have any.

The elbow is grey (discontinued) the hose is 1/2" ID and the thread is 5/8" OD fine. Can any one tell me where to buy this.
James

hutch309.2 · 07-15-2008, 12:16 PM

On my previous thread it shows 5/8" thread and it should be 3/8"

EXCEL88 · 07-19-2008, 07:04 PM

Fresh water tank problem resolution.

Try McMaster-Carr for the fittings you need. They are a giant hardware store for industry. They'll sell the smallest item to anyone. They stock almost a half million different items in many quantities.

They have threaded plastic elbows, nipples and bushings. They also have an 800 number you can get on the web to get more info or to order.

WWW.MCMASTER.COM

hutch309.2 · 07-20-2008, 10:41 AM

Thanks Excello 88!
Thanks for the info, I have e-mailed them with what I need and hopefully they will them in stock.

alisande · 08-03-2008, 03:49 PM

Thanks so much for the advice on the freshwater tank plug. We thought we had a huge repair job before our weekend camping trip, but it was quite simple and cheap. The former owner of our Excella had just plugged a leak with silicone on the outside tank. Apparently, he didn't check the Airstream Forum!

Thanks again,
Al & Sandy

wppii · 02-28-2009, 03:13 PM

The petcock on my '04 28'CCD is leaking around the mounting flange.
Is the petcock mounted to the tank or is it mounted to an external cover? Because if it is a cover then I have a leak into the space between the tank and the cover.

rogerdodger · 04-13-2009, 08:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EXCEL88

Sorry to hear about all the leaks. Had a small one from the big drain in the bottom of my fresh water tank. The plug is yellow plastic 1-1/2 NPT (I think) with a 3/4" hex socket in it. Applied teflon tape. No good.

Finally dried off the plug and hole, applied teflon paste to plug. Screwed plug in tank using a 1/2" bolt with a 3/4" head, held with a visegrip. After plug was well seated. I put a 2-1/4" (I think) screw type radiator hose clamp around the outside of the tank's drain. Not too tight, just enough to squeeze the drain around the plug. That hose clamp has a lot of squeezing power.

If the plug is screwed in too tight, it could crack the drain. Big trouble.

It's held now for a year.

LARRY

Thanks for the help. I had the exact same problem with a leak, had to make a tool to get the plug out, then I gooped it up, put it back in. Will check for leaks tomorrow.

john hd · 04-14-2009, 03:37 PM

glad to see folks getting use out of a thread i put up almost 6 years ago!

john

Julian H · 05-07-2009, 08:03 PM

I noticed a leak in my '92 tank and found it was coming from the original plug- yellow with a hex socket for removal. I took it out and it appeared sound, but did not fit well in the tank opening. After reading this post and a trip to the local hardware store, I think my plug has shrunk in all dimensions!!! It is loose in a new 1 1/2 inch PVC female threaded fitting, and the thread pitch has changed in a manner that makes the threads closer than they should be. When I tried to screw the plug into the tank, it got tight, but not because of the taper, but because of the improper thread pitch. I purchased a new 1 1/2 inch plug and it was tight in the tank drain hole. I think this could cause a very insidious problem- plug looks good but is actually dimensionally to small to ever seal properly. I will be getting a new plug with the hex fitting since the standard hardware store plug with the raised square wrench fitting will not allow the cover to be replaced.

HiHoAgRV · 08-06-2009, 09:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by john hd

glad to see folks getting use out of a thread i put up almost 6 years ago!

john

6 years and still going huh? Tonight I filled the tank on our new-to-us '91 excella by using the auto fill feature. Stepped outside into a small lake of water dripping from the pan

.

My first thought was sheer dread thinking the tank was above one or two of the axles

. Some pokin' and I find it should drop out from between axle 2 and 3 so I decided to look around here on the forum and see if any one has dropped one. Now I find this thread and will be keeping my fingers crossed that it's a bad drain plug and I don't have to pull the tank. Perhaps I will be able to sleep tonight instead of worrying about dropping that huge tank.

mookiedog · 05-31-2010, 05:03 PM

I need to bring this thread back from the dead again...

My white nylon freshwater petcock is fractured like so many others on this forum (and this thread). I have removed the two screws holding it in, but the petcock refuses to come out of the tank. I can rotate it a bit, but that's all. What am I missing? Do I need to pry it off with a large screwdriver or is there some trick to removing it?

Thanks for your time.