Drip drip drip... from a strange place

[BigSxyWhtGuy]

Got a steady drip coming from my tube that holds the sewer line. Basically under the alde system. I’ve checked above the subfloor and it doesn’t seem to be wet anywhere around the vinyl floor. I think I’m gonna need to start popping rivets in the underbelly?

First time for me and wanted to reach out for thoughts on where to start looking so we don’t create more work for ourselves.

Leak only happens when system is pressurized and has been getting worse with passing time.

[BigSxyWhtGuy]

Bumping this for ideas. Just looked at the plumbing and there are no water lines below the belt line. It all leads to the alde system and heads back to the water pump....

So either a drain line from the alde is split and draining into the underbelly or I have a leak somewhere closer to the fresh tank and it’s just running to the front? Maybe tilt the trailer to the rear and see if the water drips from somewhere else to verify?

[casarodante]

We have a 2012 Classic, so no Alde, nor any familiarity with it.

It could be coming from anywhere under the pan and just finding the easy way out where the tube is attached. Is it under both shore water and water pump pressurization?

We have a 31' floorplan but in either 30' or 31' models, the water pipes don't run that far to the front of the trailer, that I am aware of.

Does the Alde system have any color to the fluid?

Perhaps, this is kind of odd, add some food coloring to your water tank and see if it drips under water pump pressure? I don't think you would need a full water tank for this.

Have you been anywhere freezing?

Good luck, I have a leak I have to troubleshoot soon also.

Roger

[BigSxyWhtGuy]

No freezing temps. Drips only come with system is pressurized. I’m on city water now.

No water lines per owners manual, just what runs to the alde system above the floor.

This is all in the front of the trailer, city connections are all on the rear of the trailer. I agree with you that it’s coming from somewhere else and just finding the path of least resistance. Just wish I had more access panels to get into to look.

[BigSxyWhtGuy]

Ha! Leak found!

Coming from the alde flow system. That’s the red guy in this picture, right???

Gonna call truma and look at my options. Looks like the glycol and hot water run through this system, so it’s not as easy as just disconnecting and placing a new one in there. Likely have to drain glycol, reset system, refill, burp, etc.

Anyone have experience on this?

[BigSxyWhtGuy]

Eeek. Truma says it’s a messy job without the right tools... looks like it’s time for me to find a service center. At least I know what the alde flow is now!

[ROBERT CROSS]

Not really...whats an alde?🤔

Glad you found it....good luck with repair.👍

Bob
🇺🇸

[Sparr]

Did you try opening and closing the yellow Alde flow pressure relief/Alde flow boiler drain valve? Looks just like the Alde 3020 yellow pressure relief/Alde boiler drain valve.

[BigSxyWhtGuy]

Originally Posted by Sparr

Did you try opening and closing the yellow Alde flow pressure relief/Alde flow boiler drain valve? Looks just like the Alde 3020 yellow pressure relief/Alde boiler drain valve.

Yes. Had to drain all the water out of the boiler that way and bypass hot water as well. Removed the alde flow bolts to see if I could get into the unit and saw active dripping from the red unit.

Talked to service center, sounds like this may be what they were trying to recall. Hopefully it ends up being a warranty thing with Alde/Truma? Crossing fingers.

[Happy-rver]

Originally Posted by BigSxyWhtGuy

Yes. Had to drain all the water out of the boiler that way and bypass hot water as well. Removed the alde flow bolts to see if I could get into the unit and saw active dripping from the red unit.

Talked to service center, sounds like this may be what they were trying to recall. Hopefully it ends up being a warranty thing with Alde/Truma? Crossing fingers.

You may want to ask about changing the 3010 to a 3020 when it’s all apart and drained. Our 3010 leaked and was replaced with a 3020 under Airstream warranty. Then just before the warranty expired the flow leaked and was replaced.

[Goin camping]

If you have trouble finding a service center to take your trailer.

Give C&G in Bellflower a try. They are and have been an authorized Airstream service center for Airstreams since the 60's.

The other slower but better than anyone place I use is Area 63 Productions. Amazing work but not affiliated with Airstreams in any way.

Best to you two in getting it fixed and back on the road.

[rnm55a]

I am fighting a similar leak in our Classic 33FBT that seems to be Alde 3020 related. Water is coming out of the curved wrap outside of the chassis. I had a mobile tech come out yesterday and found one of the lines loose and the Flow not attached to the floor. Thought we had fixed it but today it was leaking again. It's not constant but an intermittent flow.I talked to Airstream today and the tech on the phone said he'd never heard of it or seen this problem. Did you find out if it was a split line?

[BigSxyWhtGuy]

It’s something inside our alde flow that is leaking. I ordered a new one from Truma direct. They pointed me to all the tools I need to change it out myself as well as some phone support. The alternative was drive 1500 miles round trip to the only dealer that could get me in before January.

I’m just waiting for the part now.

I have replaced a leaking valve on the alde before. Easy replacement. This flow looks to be a bit more challenging but pretty straight forward.

[BigSxyWhtGuy]

Update!

Received the new alde flow today (redbox). Enlisted my wife to help swap it out after Truma talked me through everything and helped identify what tools are needed.

The swap was simple. Took time though, a couple hours total to clamp off the necessary tubes to avoid draining the entire system, disconnect the flow, swap all the parts and reinstall the new flow. Only lost less than a quart of alde fluid in the process and had minimal bleeding of the system once we fired and filled it back up.

No leak anymore and can enjoy a hot shower and the radiant heat again. Thankful for Truma and the phone support they can provide. We aren’t in this alone!

[rewillia]

Can you share the list and qty. of tools that were required to do the job, from your photo it looks like quite a few ratcheting hitch pinch off pliers were required. Also, it also appears you only had to take the top cover off the Adle system and I assume were able to slide the existing Alde Flow unit out and slide the new one in. Was it basically that simple?

Also curious what of the model and approx. cost of the new Alde Flow was.

Great on you to tackle this yourself (and the wife) and share it for others to learn from! Thanks.

[BigSxyWhtGuy]

Two rolls of mechanics paper towels (heavier duty to soak up lost fluid)
6x ratcheting pinch pliers. Probably could have use one more
Screwdriver (flathead and Phillips)
Pliers for the clamps on the rubber hoses
Zip lock bags
***A whole lot of patience***

Worked in a small space. My wife equated it to surgery. She’s a nurse and was just anticipating my needs and catching/cleaning up liquids I was spilling. We opted for not draining the alde system as we didn’t have the necessary pump. She used zip lock to catch glycol as I loosened the clamps from the rubber and removed pipes. I probably would have made a horrible mess if I tried to tackle this myself. In our opinion it is a two person job if you wanna stay clean and keep the floor relatively dry.

Remove the bench and all the surrounding panels. We tried to remove the frame for the bench but the cold water lines block two of the screws, so we worked around the frame instead of shutting off the cold water, draining lines, and removing pex. I don’t have pex tool anyways.

It was fairly straight forward. The new alde flow had some rubber already on it as well as shark bite valves so it was easy to indentify what needed to be removed and where. There is a little shaving of the foam to match the airstream installed one. You end up following the two lines of glycol that run through the alde flow and double clamp to lower your chances of losing fluid. We actually got more water on the ground than glycol (Even though we drained the alde flow, there was still water in the tank). It’s all plug and play from there. There is nothing you need to do with the main alde system (besides bypass water) if you’re just replacing the flow.

Truma was huge support over the phone. When I told them I had to drive 1500 miles round trip to get to a service center, they insisted that they could assist me if I was relatively mechanically inclined. They also took pictures that I sent them and marked them up to identify exactly where they clamp glycol lines. Truma tech said that the flow could have started leaking because of the recall but since it was just leaking water it is more likely that I failed to consistently add the air cushion. Over time, no air cushion will cause the flow to fail.

As in previous post. We identified the flow leaking by unscrewing the two bolts that hold it to the floor and lifting it slightly. We could see a steady drip coming out from the foam, so there was a pin hole that formed somewhere inside.

We are on 3010 unit. The flow works on both 3010 and 3020. New alde flow, a couple backup shark bite valves, and a gallon of alde fluid cost me just over $500 shipped to CA. I believe the alde flow was $430ish.

On a side note, I did rip apart the foam on the old unit to see what is inside the flow. It’s just a holding tank that is all welded together. You don’t have the ability to get inside the tank to see if an internal failed or if it is a pinhole. The foam is all on there to insulate.

We have a heavy duty air mover and dehumidifier running 24/7 to additionally dry the floor and any other moisture that we may have missed. Hope this helps! Let me know if you all may want more detail anywhere.

[rnm55a]

Our leak also turned out to be a crack in the Alde Flow. We ended up dropping the trailer at Airstream of DFW to get it replaced under warranty. Had to spend 5 nights in a hotel though. Argh!

[BigSxyWhtGuy]

Bump for Vicki