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Old 12-28-2020, 11:19 AM   #1
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Leak in wet bay

HI
I am hoping that someone else has had this problem and can tell me where it was. I have a teak. The water only drips when I am hooked up to city water. The water runs down the side of the fresh tank and drips down. It is actually clear water but the place it runs down has picked up some dirt. It does not matter if the waste tanks are closed or open. It does not seem to matter how mush water is in the fresh tank either though I have not fully emptied it to check that way.

I had the plastic covers off a couple of months ago and could not see anything but I could not see the parts farther back. I was not in a position to pull it apart at that time. Does anyone have any diagrams or pictures of similar wet bays? I'd love to know what I am looking at. It is a National Tropical but I suspect they vary and many others might be the same. I have done quite a bit of research but so far nothing the same.
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Old 12-29-2020, 02:02 PM   #2
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I am following this....I have same problem....2004 Tropic Cal
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Old 12-29-2020, 02:38 PM   #3
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I removed the panels covering the guts behind. Three are a couple of pics showing the inner workings. I was hoping for a leak in tubing or a joint but in the end it turns out to be a crack in the gray tank. If you look at the picture the crack is where the gray tank overhangs the fresh tank and probably happened because of flexing there. It needed a plate of some sort to relieve that strain and I will put one in. Just a 6x6 or aluminum slid between them and secured with some RTV would have been all that it took. I also suspect that someone fixed it before using silicone or something and it didn't hold. I will need to research the tank repair compounds to see what works. Has anyone used one?

These tanks run the full width of the RV and there is access from the other side by removing some screws and lifting the panel. I hope to be able to slide it out on the repair side even if just an inch to get a clean shot at the repair area. If not then I can slide some splitting wedges under it to get at it. I will report back.

While in there I want to see if I can quiet the pump a bit. It is screw to a 1x8 piece of pine which is held to a piece of steel with one screw. There are no rubber mounts anywhere. That is so lazy! I hope to find a vibration damping mount to put under it. I also found that some of the supports are unpainted steel that is just being consumed with rust. I need to clean it off and paint it properly or it will fall apart. Why do folks who build a coach that must have cost a quarter mil do this terrible work?
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Old 12-29-2020, 03:51 PM   #4
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After a lot of research, paying particular attention to those that reported success after time has gone by I have decided on Permatex along with some bracing to relieve the built in stress that caused it.



https://www.permatex.com/products/sp...nk-repair-kit/


It's a crapshoot in reality bit what the heck, so is a used tank. If anyone here has effected a repair that lasted at least a year please chime in.
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Old 12-31-2020, 03:14 PM   #5
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Because the crack is over the seam and not easily accessible I hoped to slide the tank a couple of inches to the drivers side. I removed the screws that held the access hatch on the curb side. It is hinged at the top and held by 2 screws on each side. The front 2 are easy to get to, the rearward two had to have the heads drilled off because they had corroded. The hatch is lifted and temporarily secured upright with a bungee. There is a note inside which I can't translate.
Looking at this side I can see what keeps the tank solidly in place. The 2 black pipes on the forward (gray) tank will need to be cut to slide it outward on the wet bay side. One is the kitchen, the other may be a vent.

Another interesting thing is the flex heating duct sticking down. I am happy to see that I have more than enough heat going into the bay to prevent freezing. Enough to soften the gray tank so it sagged in the center! I think I may add a diffuser to it to direct some of this heat to the other side of the wet bay and even it out a bit.
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Old 12-31-2020, 10:43 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kahoona View Post
I removed the panels covering the guts behind. Three are a couple of pics showing the inner workings.

While in there I want to see if I can quiet the pump a bit. It is screw to a 1x8 piece of pine which is held to a piece of steel with one screw. There are no rubber mounts anywhere. That is so lazy! I hope to find a vibration damping mount to put under it. I also found that some of the supports are unpainted steel that is just being consumed with rust. I need to clean it off and paint it properly or it will fall apart. Why do folks who build a coach that must have cost a quarter mil do this terrible work?
While you have it open could you take a photo of where the water pump is located...............thank you
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Old 01-01-2021, 07:30 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by National 350 View Post
While you have it open could you take a photo of where the water pump is located...............thank you

I will take some in more detail but for now, if yours is the same x marks the spot. Remove the plumbing hardware on the upper center panel. Unscrew the panel and remove. Look behind the panel and you will see it. There are two unpainted rusting metal angles loosely screwed and bolted together to hold the tanks in place behind the center support. There was, in my case, a 1"x6"x 10" plain board held on to the unpainted steel angles with one small screw. The pump is held to the board by 4 regular wood screws. These things explain the loud rattling noise when the pump comes on.


I might suggest being prepared with some 1" ply or anti vibration board to replace the 1x6 and some dampers like these.


https://www.amazon.com/Yosoo-Health-...511202&sr=8-51



I was thinking of replacing the board with a 1/4" piece of aluminum but not sure if it would add vibration. Ill add the process at the end of this thread.
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Old 01-01-2021, 04:56 PM   #8
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I have to apologize for not taking pictures of the repair. I had to have it finished in time for my better half to get the New Years dinner in the oven and forgot about pictures. Please forgive the long post but there is a lot to describe.



Here is how it went.
I thoroughly cleaned black and gray tanks.

Jacked up the curb side so that they would drain.
Cut both of the 1 1/2 ID pipes coming from the sink/shower and the kitchen to the gray tank about half way up.
I made a second cut half an inch higher up thus removing a half inch section to

make it easier to get the coupling on later.

I also cut a half inch off of one end of the coupling for the same reason. All cuts were sanded to make them slip together.
I cemented the couplings to the lower pipe sections with the trimmed side up.



On the drivers side
Turn off all water.

Retract the jacks and then raise the drivers side somewhat avoiding overextending air bags. This gets any water away from the end you will be working on.

Because the tank outlets had been cemented to the drains I had to take the Y pipes off at the blades.

Remove all nuts and bolts from both blade valves and slide the blade sections out of the valve bodies. You can now lower the Y connector and remove it.

At this point you can now slide the tank towards you until the pipes hit the frame giving you enough room to work on the crack. I also slid some shims under the tank to keep the work area dry.

I used paper towels and a long pliers to get to the inside and clean the slop off of the inside of the surface as best I could. I wanted to patch the inside too but I could not. I heated the outside of the spot to be repaired to dry it.
Follow the instructions on the package and sand well before cleaning with the pad. Have everything ready ahead of time including the glass mat cut to fit.This self mixing package works great but realize that from the time you break the seal to the time the glue is unworkable you have less than ten minutes. Closer to eight. Follow the instructions.


While the patch cures get a piece of steel or aluminum somewhere around 8x10 inches and 1/8 inch thick. We wire brushed the surface, rounded edges and used a fast frying primer and paint. I also put dust tape around the edges to keep them from wearing through.This will support the repaired section and keep it from cracking again in the same place. I loaded it up with a good quality caulking adhesive from loctite and slid it under the tank. I wanted it to provide a bed for the repaired area and provide a second line of leak defense in case the repair. failed.
After sliding it under I had someone slowly slide the tank back to its original position while I maneuvered and cemented the cut pipes. I then went inside and half filled the tank with hot water to help the underside bed onto the plate.

I have a second plate on order to slide under the black tank.



All is well now. I will post if it fails. I will also be solving a problem with the water pump which was very poorly installed. I will link to it here when I get it started.


This is a kind of a half arsed repair on a tank that failed due to an existing bed design that ought to be replaced but can't be found. There is some evidence that it was replaced at one point. The drain pipes were cut and coupled once already and the gray side valve had shiny bolts while the black were old and rusted. I think the Permatex has the best chance and I think that putting a plate under both tanks will help. If you subscribe and leave the subscription active you will be notified in case it leaks.
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Old 01-15-2021, 04:06 PM   #9
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https://www.irv2.com/forums/f54/quie...ml#post5597111


Is the link to the pump mounting improvement.


The tank is still dry. Fingers are crossed. Will report if it leaks.
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