In prepping for a long trip I crawled under the RV and saw some screw that had popped through the thermal cover down there, causing the cover to sag in places. The small washers originally installed at the factory had ripped though and I replaced them with bigger ones. Toward the rear of the RV was the lowest, biggest sag and I saw only one hole where I surmised the washer had also worked its way through but when I felt with my finger there was only a hole in the crossmember, no screw. I slipped a fender washer through a screw and installed it. No more sag but - water!Water rushing out in a few places of the thermal cover. I cut a 5 inch square hole through the cover where I had placed the new screw only to discover with a flashlight that I had screwed through the crossmember and into the fresh water tank.Any idea how to fix this? Is there some sort of plug that will keep my 136 gallons of freshwater in?Draining the tank now ...

Depends on the tank material, you can buy repair kits on Amazon,or you might be able to use an Expanding Plug but you'd have to enlarge the hole. Tank has to be made of moderately heavy plastic for that to work.If you can get to the inside of the tank you could use a fender washer with a piece of rubber underneath, and another like set on the outside, tie together with a machine screw and nut.Or for a quick fix a golf tee can work, sand the outside to remove paint, tap it in and as it absorbs water it will expand and seal the hole. These can last quite awhile, you may want to snip off most of the tee on the outside to keep it from being dislodged.All of this stuff comes from what we did in an industrial setting.

Eternabond tape works for that and is permanent

Click For Full-Size Image.I put the screw back in hoping it may seal itself but no luck. Water is running along the crossmember and dripping down elsewhere.

agesilaus wrote:Or for a quick fix a golf tee can work, sand the outside to remove paint, tap it in and as it absorbs water it will expand and seal the hole. These can last quite awhile, you may want to snip off most of the tee on the outside to keep it from being dislodged.All of this stuff comes from what we did in an industrial setting.That actually sounds doable until I get back from my trip

Kober wrote:agesilaus wrote:Or for a quick fix a golf tee can work, sand the outside to remove paint, tap it in and as it absorbs water it will expand and seal the hole. These can last quite awhile, you may want to snip off most of the tee on the outside to keep it from being dislodged.All of this stuff comes from what we did in an industrial setting.That actually sounds doable until I get back from my tripWe'd use tees in pipe leaks and such until an outage was scheduled when it could be welded. That might be over a year sometimes so they can be durable. 'd carry a few extra tho just in case.

Dumba$$ | Good Sam Community

37 Replies

dougrainer
Nomad
May 21, 2018
Ranger Smith wrote:
Eternabond tape works for that and is permanent

NOT EVEN CLOSE to being true. This is not what Eternabond does and can do in a wet area on the adhesive side. Doug
dougrainer
Nomad
May 21, 2018
Drain the tank. Then tilt the RV to make sure NO water can get to the area of the bolt. Remove the bolt. Use a Hair dryer for a few minutes to make sure the area is dry. Then, using a longer bolt, put a generous amount of JB weld for Plastic inside and up and on the bolt threads and install the bolt. Let dry for 24 hours. Odds are it will seal OK. Just try to remember what you did to fix it in case you need to remove the tank in the future. Doug

PS, You may have NOT drilled a round even hole in the tank per the Pic. It may have gone up the corner and side area, which means the JB weld bolt will not work.
agesilaus
Explorer III
May 21, 2018
Kober wrote:
agesilaus wrote:

Or for a quick fix a golf tee can work, sand the outside to remove paint, tap it in and as it absorbs water it will expand and seal the hole. These can last quite awhile, you may want to snip off most of the tee on the outside to keep it from being dislodged.

All of this stuff comes from what we did in an industrial setting.

That actually sounds doable until I get back from my trip

We'd use tees in pipe leaks and such until an outage was scheduled when it could be welded. That might be over a year sometimes so they can be durable. 'd carry a few extra tho just in case.
Kober
Explorer
May 20, 2018
agesilaus wrote:

Or for a quick fix a golf tee can work, sand the outside to remove paint, tap it in and as it absorbs water it will expand and seal the hole. These can last quite awhile, you may want to snip off most of the tee on the outside to keep it from being dislodged.

All of this stuff comes from what we did in an industrial setting.

That actually sounds doable until I get back from my trip
Kober
Explorer
May 20, 2018

Click For Full-Size Image.

I put the screw back in hoping it may seal itself but no luck. Water is running along the crossmember and dripping down elsewhere.
Ranger_Smith
Explorer
May 20, 2018
Eternabond tape works for that and is permanent
agesilaus
Explorer III
May 20, 2018
Depends on the tank material, you can buy repair kits on Amazon,
or you might be able to use an Expanding Plug but you'd have to enlarge the hole. Tank has to be made of moderately heavy plastic for that to work.

If you can get to the inside of the tank you could use a fender washer with a piece of rubber underneath, and another like set on the outside, tie together with a machine screw and nut.

Or for a quick fix a golf tee can work, sand the outside to remove paint, tap it in and as it absorbs water it will expand and seal the hole. These can last quite awhile, you may want to snip off most of the tee on the outside to keep it from being dislodged.

All of this stuff comes from what we did in an industrial setting.

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Dumba$$

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