Late afternoon yesterday at 5 degrees above zero I heard a loud bang and observed a great amount of water pouring out from under the RV. Despite having two 1500 watt heaters and two fans circulating heat in the basement, I'm afraid my fresh water tank has bit the dust. Too cold now to check but I need your help.I am quite certain I will be trying to find a replacement but that may not be possible for a 1999 National Tradewinds 7370. Has anyone any ideas and what about a fiberglass repair? I'm not sure how I might get it out or what the heck I am going to do. This will be a fun project.For those of you who might be interested, I will post solution.Happy travels. Arnold

Most insurance companies will cover water breaks from freezing. If you have full coverage call them and start a claim.

I have done fiberglass repair on a holding tank 4 rigs ago. Its was a crack close to the exit fitting. For me it work very well however as I was working against gravity very messy. I first cleaned the area then drilled a small hole at each end of the crack. That will stop the crack from getting any larger. Than came the fiberglass cloth, hardener etc. It held very well for as long as I had the coach. There are other products out there now that may do as good if not better job. I am sure some folks will help out with that.Good Luck, safe travels

For the amount of work and uncertainty you will go through trying to repair an ageing possibly brittle tank, you would be better off finding a replacement. Measure your tank and do some google work. I did a quick search and came up with this site RV Fresh Water Tanks. For around $200 for most tanks I can't see it would be worth it to even try to repair an old tank.Then again it could just be a broken water line under there. You'll figure that out when you get into it.

Is it actually a fiberglass tank?Most are rotomolded plastic and it's a pain to repair them. If you can get access, probably easier to just replace.

I wouldn't jump the gun. As you said it's too cold to check, but it could just be a pipe or fitting. Don't borrow trouble, check it out and find out exactly what the problem is first.

Help/ Fresh Water Tank | Good Sam Community

Ray_IN
Explorer II
Mar 28, 2021
This may be helpful to you and your ins. co.:
https://www.plastic-mart.com/category/34/rv-holding-tanks
LouLawrence
Explorer
Mar 25, 2021
As mentioned previously, this is likely NOT a fiberglass tank but rather a plastic tank and repairing these is nearly impossible. The good news is that an exact replacement should still be available but likely will require a special order.
Keep us up-to-date as the weather warms up and you are able to discover what blew, a tank or a water line. I am sure hoping it's a water line!
RLS7201
Explorer II
Mar 25, 2021
2 1500 watt heaters would have probably boiled the water in the tank. The loud pop was probably steam pleasure relief.

Richard
howdy35
Explorer II
Mar 25, 2021
An R V Tech came out and discovered there were two forty-five gallon tanks but only one was damaged so he pulled out the damaged tank and replumed the undamaged tank to supply water to the Bus. The damaged tank blew apart and split almost a third of the way down the top. Now I have one 45 gal of fresh water on board instead of 90. That should work fine.
howdy35
Explorer II
Feb 18, 2021
(way2roll) That's a good one. A bit of humor is good for the soul. Thanks for the post. Of all that could happen, we are Blessed
way2roll
Navigator II
Feb 18, 2021
howdy35 wrote:
We are full time in our RV and the fresh water tank was being used in place of the supply hose which froze up. I was not aware the fresh water tank was not receiving enough heat since it is forward of the last heated bay from the steps to the generator.

Anyway, what is done is done and nothing can happen to repair/replace it until it gets warmer. Once it warms up, I can hook up the hose again and try to look at the damage.

My thanks to schlep1967 for the info on replacement tanks. I have started an insurance report and will await their help with the solution.

Just another hiccup. Arnold

Look on the bright side. Now you have a Chassis wash system. ;)
howdy35
Explorer II
Feb 18, 2021
We are full time in our RV and the fresh water tank was being used in place of the supply hose which froze up. I was not aware the fresh water tank was not receiving enough heat since it is forward of the last heated bay from the steps to the generator.

Anyway, what is done is done and nothing can happen to repair/replace it until it gets warmer. Once it warms up, I can hook up the hose again and try to look at the damage.

My thanks to schlep1967 for the info on replacement tanks. I have started an insurance report and will await their help with the solution.

Just another hiccup. Arnold
valhalla360
Navigator
Feb 18, 2021
Executive wrote:
On a side note, unless you're boondocking, and it doesn't sound like you are, why do you have water in the fresh water tank anyway? I'd drain that knowing it's going to get that cold. I'm sure the water lines in the park are heated....best of luck. I hope it turns out to be a simple break in the water line. Shark Bite fittings at Home Depot are the best.....Dennis

I've found that most parks do not have heated water lines. Only a few times have we found them.

Just left a park yesterday with multiple spigots spewing water after they froze leaving no pressure and the city having a boil water advisory anyway. The park we moved to (450miles away) only has a boil water advisory.

So if the water goes out:
- If I have a full tank, I can continue for at least a few day.
- If I have an empty tank, I'm playing bottle water hunger games at the local walmart.

Of course, this presumes you have a means to keep the water tank from freezing.
Executive45
Explorer III
Feb 17, 2021
I, too would suspect a water line to burst before the tank would. That is, unless the tank was compromised earlier. Two 1500 heaters seem like overkill to me anyway. Best thing is assess the damage and then decide what to do. If it is, in fact, the fresh water tank, call your insurance agent.

On a side note, unless you're boondocking, and it doesn't sound like you are, why do you have water in the fresh water tank anyway? I'd drain that knowing it's going to get that cold. I'm sure the water lines in the park are heated....best of luck. I hope it turns out to be a simple break in the water line. Shark Bite fittings at Home Depot are the best.....Dennis
Matt_Colie
Explorer II
Feb 17, 2021
Arnold,

There are some untouched issues here.....

As soon as you can, identify the damaged area. This is called damage control. The effort is not so much to correct the issue but to prevent it from extending to other areas.

I very much doubt that the tank is any kind of fiberglass as none of the resins used in those processes are acceptable for potable water use.

It is highly unlikely that the whole tank froze to the point of failure.

It is very possible that the tank plumbing froze enough to crack and drain the tank. If this is the case, you may be able to repair just that section of plumbing.

Best of luck.

Matt

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