Re: [A/S] Leaking Tank!

["Harvey Barlow" <harveybarlow@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Don,

I'm only relying on my questionable memory but your RV mechanic's diagnosis
doesn't sound right.  I vaguely remember seeing a large polyethylene plug
somewhere on the water tank I replaced but it was sealed closed and not in
use.

The water tanks are not a real good design.  Instead of being a basic
rectangle, the tank has a large section cut out of the side of the tank to
clear a plumbing fixture protruding from above in some trailers or some
previous installation.  It is hard for me to explain but you could think of
it as cutting one small square piece out of the side of a cake baked in a
shallow, rectangular cake pan.  The rest of the cake represents the water
tank.  Or, another way, the notch is like cutting  about six inches out of
the long side, from top to bottom, of the tank.  The edges of the cut away
section, where the sides join the top, are not well supported and if the
tank is stressed, that is the point that fails.  If you or a prior owner
have filled the water tank by inserting the male end of a garden or fresh
water hose into the fill connection and turning the water on full blast, you
probably overfilled the tank just enough to flex and expand the tank at the
top.  When that happens, the tank expands into the notched area, a weak
point, and it splits along the joint.  It is a common problem but not one
that A/S likes to talk about.  I speak from experience.  I did that several
times.  I would start filling the tank, then walk away, and before I knew
it, the tank was full and water under pressure was gushing back out of the
fill neck.

My suggestion is to drop the metal cover and the tank and inspect it.  The
tank cover is attached to the frame by about 12 to 16 bolts that are
inserted through holes around the lip of the tank cover.  When the tank
splits at the top and leaks, water drips down the sides and appears at the
bottom and drips from the access plate.  I think you'll find a split tank.

Charlie Burke can probably get you one and may be able to explain or discuss
the problem better than I.

Harvey