Excella water leak - gross

[Schreins]

I am restoring a 1981 Excella 280. I have the fresh water tank out because I'm replacing it. It is winter/spring here in Minnesota. As the snow has been melting off of the rig I have been watching for water leaks. The largest leak is from the fresh water fill tube. I would not have noticed it if the tank was in place since the water would just flow into the tank. That is the gross part. The nasty water running down the side of the rig is going into the tank. I'm really glad I'm replacing the tank or I would never have noticed this. I haven't had a chance to see how the water is getting past the door but I will be sure to fix it.
You other Excella owners may want to look into this too.

[skucera]

I'm a bit of a noob with Airstreams, but every year before we go tent camping we usually washed out our water cans and filled them with a mixture of water and chlorine bleach to kill anything gross in them that might have gotten a foothold since emptying them out in the fall. I suppose that's what I'll have to do with my fresh water tank before we can take our trailer out camping this spring, to flush the pink RV antifreeze we put into the fresh water tank and all the water hoses before winter so we have fresh, clean water for camping.

However, you have a good point. I should probably clean my water inlet before flushing that antifreeze out, so it all gets flushed out at once. I'm thinking we'll be past any chance of a freeze by the end of March, so that's when I plan to bring my trailer out of hibernation.

Scott

[richard5933]

Does your water fill have a cap on it? On mine the door isn't what keeps things from going into the opening, it's the cap.

You mentioned flushing out antifreeze...Did you put antifreeze into the freshwater tank?

[Minno]

Hey Schreins!

We're just down the road from you in Lexington! We reno'd our '72 so if you need any advice, just ask.


Kay

[Schreins]

I looked at the fresh water fill door. No place for a cap. It looks like a small seal on the door should keep the water out . Of course it is dried out and brittle. I'll replace it with a fresh one.

Thanks for all of the replies. On my regular rigs I use anti freeze in the winter and then disinfect in the spring. I just picked up this RV in the fall and nothing works on it. It's a project for me to keep busy. Everything is nasty inside it. Many rodents had called it home. I had to buy new black and grey tanks so I figured I'd replace the fresh water one too.

[skucera]

Originally Posted by richard5933

Does your water fill have a cap on it? On mine the door isn't what keeps things from going into the opening, it's the cap.

You mentioned flushing out antifreeze...Did you put antifreeze into the freshwater tank?

Yes, that is what the manual says to do, as printed in 1982. The trailer is a little funky in some other details too, like directing the owners to dump the fresh water tank by opening a dump valve in the trunk and turning on the water pump to pump it all overboard; there's no dump value on the fresh water tank itself like I've seen on other Airstream trailers.

My trailer uses this style of fresh water fill:


I honestly don't remember if it has a seal around it or not. I'll have to look. I don't remember seeing a seal, though, but it might have one.

Scott