holding tanks belly pan

[Plug]

how hard is it to drop holding tank pan on 2005 classic to find where my drip through the weep hole is coming from. is this a one man job without getting in a bind. any helpful ideas would be appreciated

[GCinSC2]

I’d do a lot of detective work before dropping a pan.

What is being used to trigger the leak?

City water connected and turned on.

Fresh water tank full and being used.

If your layout has the water pump in the closet pull the cover and get a good flash light and start poking and looking in that access.

If leak is only when fresh tank is in use the drain valve can be suspect or it’s short hose that connects to tank.

Grey tank? Black tank?

Gary

[cwf]

Dig a pit so you can get under the Airstream or pull it into a friend's oil change place and use that pit..

NEVER get under a load unless PROPERLY secured.

'Dropping' the tank will require removing all the screws around the perimeter with enough clearance to slide it out.. Roughly a foot of clearance from the bottom of the pan to the deck. This means you will need the AS off the ground by using 'legos' to raise high enough..

The pan weighs a lot. lifting back up and securing will be hard..

Maybe you can leave one side of the screws in place and let it drop enough.. just remember, you will need to remove the freshwater drain and any waste water and lower point drain valve access

[Plug]

isolated leak to grey water . someone suggested cutting access window in the bottom of the pan to get to the valve . sounds easier

[GCinSC2]

Plug

Grey tank. Leaks all the time off of pan or thru discharge or only while draining?

Possible seal failure or debris preventing full closing and leaking.

I just finished R&R of both valves on my 2007 Classic.

Suggest diving in and make full access panel for both valves. I just posted on different thread a few of my tips. My .02 is in post 12.

Thetford tank flange leak
https://www.airforums.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=215488

Post 12

Gary

[awkirch]

I had to remove the pan to install new sensors for my tank monitoring system. On my 2007 Safari 25FB, the grey & black tanks are under one pan; fresh water is separate. I removed all the large sheet metal screws, about a dozen of them, and let the pan drop. It will slide out without raising the trailer, but re-install is waaay easier if the trailer is raised as high as you can get it. Also note that the only thing holding the tanks in place are the plumbing fixtures. The tanks will drop a few inches when the pan is removed and will have to be jacked up to get the pan back in place. I cut a large rectangular section out of the pan around the valves for easier future access. I then pop-riveted a flange on the cut out piece so it could be screwed back into place.

[BandLAir]

We just had this problem and had it fixed at our dealer (under warranty, so newer rig). On our 2020 FC 27 FBT, the gray tank is connected to the Y connector for the discharge pipe by a rubber hose. The clamp that holds the hose on one of the ends (not sure which one) came loose. Apparently not uncommon.

[Bill M.]

I have done 2 sets of valves for Airstreams. I suggest cutting an access hole in the pan. That is not a trivial operation but I think it is easier than removing the pan which I have not done. Neither did Jackson center. When they worked on ours they cut the access hole.
I used a nibbler. My friend used a disc grinder. Both will work. you need to use stops on the drill and to be sure to start under the pipes, not the tank. If you do it right your access hole is never under the tank itself. You can start with a little hole and use a flashlight to see how big to cut it.
The beauty of the access hole with a cover is you only have to do it once. It would be nice if the trailers came with a access hole there.