Boom goes my fresh water tank....
Leaving on Wednesday for a five day trip, filled fresh water tank half full per tank indicator so we can start preparing and boom the water tanks holding brackets bent and the tank fell out. Wow that...
Forum Discussion
Hi everyone.
Sorry to hear about your tank. I am sensitive to every creak and groan this thing makes thinking it's about to implode at any second. :D
I have learned my FR Cedar Creek 36' 5th wheel pretty well in the past few months. I had a leaking black tank valve that was repaired and started leaking again. On the first attempt to fix the tank the repairman just pulled the chloroplast away enough to get his hands on the valve, pulled it out, fixed it and put it back. Another drip developed and eventually filled the belly of the camper with black water :E and caused the chloroplast to sag to the point I had to stick a knife through it in order to drain the black water in a controlled fashion. At that point, I decided to take matters into my own hands and took both panels of chloroplast from the wheels forward (2 6X8 panels), pulled all the damaged insulation out and inspected EVERYTHING under there. What does this have to do with the original post you ask?
It's not that hard to pull that chloroplast off, roll the insulation back and get a look at what's going on under your camper. You have to get past the DW standing there with her hand on her hip giving you that "Don't mess up our camper" kind of look first. Your warranty is going to run out and you're going to need to know what's going on under there unless you have the kind of disposable income to get it to a mechanic every time.
I really inspected the three tanks I have forward of my wheels, the black tank and the two gray tanks. I made sure all the fittings were tight and put a little silicone on everything that could leak water...you can just peel that stuff off if you need to get to the fitting later.
I also used it as an opportunity to pull copious amounts of wire ends, plastic cuttings, small wood pieces and other******that takes away from my tow weight.
I'm going to pull the two panels behind the wheels and get a look at the fresh water tank one of these days and replace the junk insulation with some good stuff.
Lastly, I can't say enough about FR's warranty department. They covered the repair of the black tank and told me to send them a receipt for the cost of replacing the insulation and they would cover it. I haven't gotten around to that yet, but I will put some good stuff in there.
Something you have to brace yourself for, there are some engineering shortcuts going on under your camper that will make your head spin. It's clear that the mechanics and the engineers don't communicate well. For example, one of the screws for one of my gray tank valves is backed up to a "L" fitting, which is glued in, meaning you can't get a screw driver onto the screw. You just have to stick your finger in there and remove the nut on the other side with a wrench and hope you can put enough pressure on it to keep it from moving.
Get in there and take things apart if you can...I sleep so much better knowing where things are. Putting the Chloroplast back on is a two person job for sure, but get yourself some better screws, the ones with the washer built onto them when you're putting it back in.
If any of you 36CKTS owners have any questions about what something looks like down there, I"d be happy to TRY and take some pics for you. It's not a very accommodating place for photography.
Ed
Sorry to hear about your tank. I am sensitive to every creak and groan this thing makes thinking it's about to implode at any second. :D
I have learned my FR Cedar Creek 36' 5th wheel pretty well in the past few months. I had a leaking black tank valve that was repaired and started leaking again. On the first attempt to fix the tank the repairman just pulled the chloroplast away enough to get his hands on the valve, pulled it out, fixed it and put it back. Another drip developed and eventually filled the belly of the camper with black water :E and caused the chloroplast to sag to the point I had to stick a knife through it in order to drain the black water in a controlled fashion. At that point, I decided to take matters into my own hands and took both panels of chloroplast from the wheels forward (2 6X8 panels), pulled all the damaged insulation out and inspected EVERYTHING under there. What does this have to do with the original post you ask?
It's not that hard to pull that chloroplast off, roll the insulation back and get a look at what's going on under your camper. You have to get past the DW standing there with her hand on her hip giving you that "Don't mess up our camper" kind of look first. Your warranty is going to run out and you're going to need to know what's going on under there unless you have the kind of disposable income to get it to a mechanic every time.
I really inspected the three tanks I have forward of my wheels, the black tank and the two gray tanks. I made sure all the fittings were tight and put a little silicone on everything that could leak water...you can just peel that stuff off if you need to get to the fitting later.
I also used it as an opportunity to pull copious amounts of wire ends, plastic cuttings, small wood pieces and other******that takes away from my tow weight.
I'm going to pull the two panels behind the wheels and get a look at the fresh water tank one of these days and replace the junk insulation with some good stuff.
Lastly, I can't say enough about FR's warranty department. They covered the repair of the black tank and told me to send them a receipt for the cost of replacing the insulation and they would cover it. I haven't gotten around to that yet, but I will put some good stuff in there.
Something you have to brace yourself for, there are some engineering shortcuts going on under your camper that will make your head spin. It's clear that the mechanics and the engineers don't communicate well. For example, one of the screws for one of my gray tank valves is backed up to a "L" fitting, which is glued in, meaning you can't get a screw driver onto the screw. You just have to stick your finger in there and remove the nut on the other side with a wrench and hope you can put enough pressure on it to keep it from moving.
Get in there and take things apart if you can...I sleep so much better knowing where things are. Putting the Chloroplast back on is a two person job for sure, but get yourself some better screws, the ones with the washer built onto them when you're putting it back in.
If any of you 36CKTS owners have any questions about what something looks like down there, I"d be happy to TRY and take some pics for you. It's not a very accommodating place for photography.
Ed
