low point broken petcock, advice on repair

[twesslen]

had a leaky petcock valve for a the last couple of trips. Went to make sure the handle was shut all the way this weekend and the whole thing came off under very light pressure. I need advice on how to replace this. Do I need to do it from the interior or the trailer by removing cabinetry, etc? Or can the pan be removed and go at it from the underside? Easier methods than both of these would be great. Any advice? I assume that it was struck by a rock at some point and fractured the fitting. 2013 25 Ft International Signature See Attached Pictures.

[GMFL]

Watching.

[Bigventure]

Dave the Pipefitter here. What you have is a street 90 and a valve. You can remove the broken nipple from the street 90. Or just replace it.

I'm not sure what's on the inside. It could be a nipple that would unscrew. I would try to unscrew it. (The piece in the trailer). Since it broke anyway and you got nothing to lose. Jamb a flat blade screw driver in it and tap it in good. Make sure it's the proper width. You don't want it to go though the piece. Just grab the sides. Then put a crescent on the shaft to unscrew it.

If it's a pex adapter it will just spin. And that would mean dropping the tank cover. But it should be a pex tee or a 90 with a short nipple to extend it out.

Or cut a square around it, big enough to get pex tools in. Be aware that there could be pex pipe behind it. Then repair it and patch the hole back in with JB weld or some other epoxy.

[DougnJanet]

Look through this thread.
http://www.airforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=127973

Both of our drain valves cracked and fell off. My guess was from freezing. Moved them inside and have not had problems since.

[dbj216]

Did you ever use these "low point" drains"? I have three family Airstreams in my shop and none of them have a low point drain. I do not trust a low point drain to get all the water out of all the faucets, valves, and piping. I rely on compressed air to blow the water out, and then I pump pink RV antifreeze throughout the system.

My 86 Limited sat outside in Minnesota winters for years and years. We never lost a fresh water component thanks to effective winterizing. We never use the three low point drains built into the trailer. Just this winter I had to replumb the lines to the galley due to a poly tee below the subfloor that rubbed on the frame rail and developed a leak. I eliminated the useless to me low point drain valves at that time.

So I recommend you find the tubing running to this valve, cut it, put in a PEX plug and crimp it tight. End of problem in my view. Access to plumbing in our Airstreams is challenging at times.

If you like low point drains, it can be repaired as suggested here in your thread.

David

[twesslen]

Thanks for all the advice so far. I'm inclined to try to remove the nipple to see what's there. The last pic I posted was to encourage comments on removing the pan. This seems like it could be a can of worms. Is it difficult to remove?

[dbj216]

Hi twesslen: I too had a leak in the low point drain valve plumbing. I had to repair the leak. Airstream conveniently located this plumbing below the subfloor and above the fresh water tank, completely inaccessible by man or beast.

So I started the project to prove them wrong. I had to remove the fresh water tank pan, then the tank to gain access to the plumbing. The pan is a bear to remove when laying on your back under the trailer, but certainly not impossible. The pan holds up the fresh water tank. I don't know the exact "pan" you are referring to. The belly "pan" is also removable, but also a bear. I rather dislike belly pan replacement jobs.

I decided to omit the low point drains as explained earlier I never use them. And the plumbing to them was what was leaking. I think I removed nine "joints" or components in the system that will certainly reduce the chance of leaks in the future. Low point drains are like the appendix in our bodies. Mostly useless and sometimes causes trouble.

Here are a few pictures that may be helpful. Your trailer is much newer and likely improved over my 86.

David

[JCWDCW]

Bigventure's got it right. I would have assumed it is a brass nipple that broke off and it can be removed as noted. I would also plan on cutting the pan to open it up rather than removing it if that becomes necessary. Just make up a new patch with a new hole and pop-rivet it back in place. Several of my belly pans have or had patches.
JCW

[Larry C]

Access panels are easy to make, it's amazing to me that Airstream engineers don't incorporate them into the design for plumbing and electrical. If you have a drain valve, or petcock that comes through the belly pan, it's only a matter of time before that petcock or drain valve fails......
I doubt if the "engineers" who design the systems ever spent a night in an RV, let alone own one.
For whatever it's worth..

Larry

[twesslen]

Again, thanks to all for the comments. I tried tonight to reverse the broken end out from the bottom and the whole thing spun, so I think there is some sort of a fitting there. I did reach down from above in the inside access panel and there seems to be a plastic nut WAAAY down up against the pan that holds the water line low point line. In this case it is the cold water line I assume because in the access panel, there's one next to it that has red tubing which I assume is for hot water. I have fairly long skinny arms and could barely reach it and clearance was tight to try and loosen it. Didn't get it more than a half a turn or so.

I'm thinking that having an access panel would be helpful here. Thinking of going in the side of the belly pan? Any reason to go in the bottom right around the petcock valves? Having not done this, is there a preferred place to cut a nice square hole?

[Wconley]

Exact same thing happened to me, although I was opening the valve for winterizing. It just fell off in my hand when I started to open the valve. I tried removing the nipple from the tank and gave up since the trailer was new to me. Ended up taking it to the dealer. I would advise to align the piece with the trailer rather than parallel to the axel to have less frontal area to hit things on the road.

[dbj216]

I agree with Larry C. Airstream could make better access to likely maintenance items.

Here is a photo of the access panel I made in the bottom of my freshwater tank. The photo is rotated funny. The brass nipple is the freshwater drain line that exits between the wheels (that used to attach to the infamus plastic ball valve), and the grey plastic tube is the freshwater pump inlet line that goes up into the trailer. I also note that Airstream provided another access panel in the middle of the pan which was useless on my trailer. I assume they used this pan for various models of trailers.

And here is an access panel I made in the belly pan of my old 1966 Trade Wind. It provides access to the trailer lights wiring.

You just gotta make sure when making an access panel you are not drilling or cutting into anything hidden above the belly pan.

David

[BillfromWI]

We have 2014 FC25FB. I replaced the plastic freshwater drain cock prior to heading to Alaska. I had to cut an access panel to do the replacement.

I used a router with a pilot bit and template to cut the hole. Unfortunately the bit I had was a little longer than needed and it contacted the valve hose clamp. Nothing was damaged that couldn't be easily replaced but I was a good lesson (and a scrapped bit). If I had it to do again I would use a utility knife--the black plastic tank enclosure is a lot softer than I thought it would be.

Someone mentioned riveting the access panel in place but the plastic enclosure is thick enough to accept self-tapping screws well.

While you're at it you might add an access panel for the drain valve. If you have the white plastic one there is NO WAY to replace it without access from behind.

[twesslen]

So I managed to get the remains of the brass nipple off and cut the PEX up higher and added a press fit plug on the end. Trailer resides in California and we don't really winterize so this may be good for now. Attached is a picture of the whole assembly. From top to bottom: 1/2 in PEX, crimped brass fitting that fits on the inside of the pan and threads extend to outside of pan. The next segment was sitting completely outside the pan. I used a hack saw to saw this part off as it has a little lip on it that secures it. The brass nut on the top and the lip on the bottom section sandwich the pan. Below this, you see the breakage point, which I assume was pretty much toast before I touched it. Attempting to open and close the valve finished off this weak point.

For now, I cut the PEX up higher, and placed a push-in plug. I guess the plug is removable with a little plastic doodad if I need to drain it this way. I've also thought about running a little valve inline straight off the PEX and putting an extension back out the original hole. I might actually do this at some point.

[dbj216]

Very good job tweelsen: I think your tread will help others. I agree with your "temporary" repair as your climate is a lot different than us northerners. I've repaired split copper pipe and cracked plastic fittings on my son's trailer all due to freezing and improper winterizing.

Funny how things change. The low point drain valves were under a galley cabinet in our 86. I think it is better to have the shut off valves inside the trailer instead of hanging down below the belly pan or tank pan.

Now you can focus on your next travel destination.

David

[Opn Rd]

Does anyone know what size to get when replacing these valves?

[ROBERT CROSS]

I installed this 8yrs ago used a 1/4" ball valve instead go the petcock...SFSG

Bob
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