[Fixed] Bad news - FW tank is leaking

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John Canfield

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See the end of the thread for the resolution.

It's been a very long time since I've needed to make a post about my problem, but the good times are over. My fresh water tank is leaking on the end with the drain valve. Either the spun on fitting is leaking (very, very bad news) or hopefully just the drain valve is leaking.

We just had the chassis at Freightliner in Tolleson (Phoenix) for routine maintenance and I asked the tech if he could look for the leak while on the creeper. He did find the area where the leak is coming from but it's a 'cavern' - he could only get his hand up part way.  I've looked inside the bay where the valve is located (covered with a metal plate) but the carpeting seems to be dry.

I'll tear into this next week, we arrive home tomorrow from three months on the road (yea!)
 
huh oh!!!
Might be time for a blue barrel strapped to the roof!  :eek:


Seriously this doesn't sound like a fun job at all - good luck.

Corky
 
John - as Mile High said, "Hopefully just the Valve".

Having to repair/replace the FW tank would be a major job.

Safe travels home and I look forward to hearing your diagnosis and solution to the leak.

- Russ
 
It will be interesting to see what the problem is. If it is the spun on fitting, maybe I can spin on a new one.

Oh, only 405 miles left to run and we are home today. Easy travel here on the western side of I10, very little traffic and straight road.
 
The fresh water tank on my Meridian had an access panel on the side that you could get to the valves and connecting pipes.  With a little luck, maybe yours has one?
 
You can either spin a new fitting in or I have seen ultrasonic welders for repairing roto-molded tanks.  You might want to see if there is a marine repair place that knows of someone with a welder.
 
My FW Tank developed a leak while I was in Forest City for other warranty work. They said they corrected the issue by I think they called it roto welding a new drain fitting on the existing tank. I asked what that meant and they described it as spinning the fitting to melt the tank and fitting together. Maybe you can do the same if it turns out to be the fitting to tank leaking.

This fix has held now for 4 years.

Good Luck,
David
 
The 'roto-welding' is pretty simple - the fitting is spun rapidly by some kind of a drill thingy and the friction creates heat which fuses the two pieces together. Simple and mostly effective. Still haven't dug into the leak yet.
 
John - Maybe I can help you for once (or at least give you a positive outlook on your issue).  I had the exact same problem about a year ago. As you know, my caoch is one year older than yours, so the timing is impeccable. My issue turned out to be the valterra slide valve, and after accessing it thought the metal panel in the storage bay (looked a lot harder than it turned out to be), I was able to remove and rebuild with a kit from Amazon.  Took me a short afternoon, and it is now like new.
 
John,  They also make rubber seals that are made to go in a hole and then a piece of PVC is slid thru the seal, expanding it and sealing the joint. We used them on holding tanks on the boats in place of spin weld fittings.  They are called Uniseals.
 
- it was the drain valve -

Okay, I put this job off for a few months but we need to use the coach next month and I've run out of excuses and time. Getting to that corner of the tank wasn't as bad as I thought it would be but I got contorted into some weird angles. I'm sure I'll feel that later.  After removing the access cover there it was, a T (two tank sections) leading into the 1.5" Valterra cable operated valve. The valve outlet just penetrated a sheet metal panel ultimately leading to the ground.

Apparently it has been leaking for some time since there is a bit of rust (now coated with Ospho) by the valve. Good old Amazon - they had the Valterra in stock for 50 bucks, now on the way. I think seals are available but there was no way I was going to reuse the valve body. Too much effort to gain access.
 

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Good news John! The fix sure could have been worse. I dread the day our FW tank springs a leak. Getting to it is going to be so much fun! I think it's going to require using a crane to lift the house off the frame.

Kev
 
My FW tank dropped to the hiway a couple of weeks ago. After dragging it approx 40 miles (before noticing it), the entire front panel was grounded off. Winnebago will only replace the tank since it fell off warranty 10 months ago. The reason it fell was due to the fact the rear tank brace was never secured to the frame, thus allowing the tank to fall to the road.

 

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