Fresh water tank leak

[jbotti1]

I have a 1988 22' Sunline Satalite with a fresh water tank leak. The leak must be at the bottom of the tank because when I poured in 2 gallans of antifreeze it started leaking. I tried locating the leak by feeling under the cabinet but didn't have any luck. It looks near imposible to remove the tank for repairs. Does anyone have any ideas how to repair?
thanks!
Joe

[henryj]

Joe, a little more info would be helpful. How long have you owned this coach? Have you been camping and used the fresh water without the tank leaking? Where exactly is the tank? inside in a cabinet??

I winterized back in Oct. so am assuming you're in a fairly mild location. Drain the tank to make sure it's not going to leak anymore. Dry things up as best you can and run some heat like the furnace or a forced air electric directed at the cabinet with the tank to dry things up.

Two gallons of antifreeze is not a lot so the leak is going to be in the bottom of the tank, perhaps right at the outlet or the attachment of the water line at outlet.

Once you have everything dried out try and get a paper towel right next to the water outlet. Pour in 1 cup of water and the towel should get wet right away. If not nose around some more to see if you can find the leak. The important thing is not to soak everything again because then you're back to square one. If nothing leaks keep pouring in water one cup at a time and checking until you get up to the 2 gal. you had in the first place.

Wait for a couple more people to respond and then you pick from our various ideas.

Henry

[Honda03842]

Henry is correct in suggesting the connection point. Connections have the highest probability of leaking.

Norm

[Steve Collins]

There should be two outlets on that tank. One out to the pump and the rest of the trailer. The other is the drain to the outside, usually with a small plastic spigot visible outside the unit.

The plastic tubing between the tank and the pump and the tank and the outside spigot can deteriorate over time. It is also prone to breaking if frozen. Those pieces of tubing should be checked before trying to remove the tank. They are fairly easy to replace and the tubing and small worm clamps (if needed) should be available at any hardware store or home improvement center.

Next, there are nylon fittings screwed into the tank for these two outlets. They should have a "barb" on one end for the tubing to fit on, and a threaded section on the the other. These can also break, but probably not due to freezing. More likely they'd break if they were struck by an object. These are also common plumbing parts available at hardware and home improvement stores.

If the leak is in the tank itself, there are patch kits available that will essentially "weld" the crack or puncture.

Looking at the floor plan for the '88 T2260 series, it looks to me like the fresh water tank is most likely under the front couch which is on the front wall of the trailer. If it's there, a couple of screws should remove whatever wooden panel is under the seat cushions exposing the entire tank.

[jbotti1]

Thanks for all the advise. I just bought the camper 4 months ago and ran into the problem when I went to winterize. The tank is located under the kitchen sink. After reading the replies I am hoping it is leaking at the connections. I probably can't do much until the spring but I wanted to collect some info. I printed out the replies and I think they will prove very helpful.
Joe