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tvoneicken · 02-13-2016, 02:24 PM

The fresh water tank on our 2011 23FB started leaking as we pulled into a remote spot in death valley about 50mi from the nearest water source. Awesome timing!

Now that we're back home I unmounted the tank and was surprised that it just sits in the sheet metal pan without straps! Is this normal or did airstream forget the straps on our trailer?

The leak is at the bulkhead fittings for the drain and the pump suction. The fittings break right off. I gather a combination of bottoming out and torque applied by a moving tank. The tank has 1/2" of play front-to-back and I'm sure also some sideways.

Morale: shitty airstream engineering & construction. What's new under the sun...

BTW, the tank came out pretty easily. The two tricky pieces are that the propane line is riveted to the flange of the pan and that the pan needs to be worked sideways to clear the flange of the axle support beam.

Now I get to wait 'til tuesday to figure out how to get a new tank... Can anyone confirm that there's not supposed to be any support straps?

Siegmann · 02-13-2016, 04:14 PM

Don't know about the freshwater tank, but both my gray and black tanks had no straps. Just hung by drains/vents when I dropped the pan. Would have been a real problem if the dump valve had broken in the closed position and a tank was still filled. With that weight, something would probably have snapped. They should have strapped them, in my opinion. Mine are strapped now.

tvoneicken · 02-13-2016, 08:05 PM

Step 1 of the repair seems completed: I welded the fittings that were half broken off back on using plastic from an old rubbermaid food storage container. It's the only LDPE I could find at home (the tank appears to be LLDPE) and no-one in town seems to carry plastic welding rods, sigh. Welds seem good, I need to test them some more tomorrow. The heat came from an electronics hot air rework station, which I could dial in to 280 degrees. Works amazingly well!

Now time to curse Airstream again...

tvoneicken · 02-15-2016, 07:06 PM

I tested the welds by filling the tank about half way and standing it on its end, that puts more than double the water column above the welds. The welds also feel good when yanking at the fittings by hand.

Then the tank went back under the AS. It's not all that bad but still takes time. I changed the drain valves so they're all inside the box instead of below so nothing has a chance to get yanked off by a rock.

Overall it took the better part of 2 days to find the problem, figure out a solution, unmount, weld, test, and remount. I'm sure someone who has done it before can do it in a day, but that's what it took me.

Oh well, at least now I know more about how the fresh water tank is mounted and I learned to weld LDPE :-).

JCWDCW · 02-16-2016, 12:07 PM

I believe the tanks are set into the pan and cushioned by Styrofoam sheeting all round. I have never seen straps on my AS's.
JCW

enived2 · 02-16-2016, 07:05 PM

Overall build quality of the new Airstreams is suffering from demand realities. they can't make enough of them and are cutting corners.

MelGoddard · 02-16-2016, 07:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by enived2

Overall build quality of the new Airstreams is suffering from demand realities. they can't make enough of them and are cutting corners.

That; and questionable design features that are not in line with Industry Standards, leave me to question whether or not I made the right decision to go with a larger Airstream. It is now in winter storage at the dealers'
Time will tell, this year when I pick it up from storage this Spring, on how it will perform in 'the field'..

Keith Gantt · 03-31-2016, 05:36 PM

Same issue on my 2014 23d ,threaded bung for pump broke due to over tightened at factory. Lot of them have had this issue for years but no one seems to address this. I choose to repair, proper insulate and reinstall myself ( even though it's under warranty)because to many I've talked to say they reinstall them same way only to have happen again. I know I am better and have seen many of you that are more careful than a dealer. It was about a day to do the job and used information I read here.
All my repairs in two years have been due to sloppy workmanship.