Plumbing Questions

[rclifton]

Hi Everyone,

  I am the proud owner of a 78 Chieftain 26RB with 28k original miles on it.  I will be starting a topic in the general section with tons of pics later today if anyone is interested but had some plumbing questions I was hoping someone could help with.

  It has been sitting for quite some time but was very well cared for even when not running.  I am assuming most of my problems have to do with the plumbing system being unused for close to 20 years.

  First problem, I filled the fresh water tank probably close to 3/4 full.  When using the information center it shows 0 for the fresh water tank, I've verified that all the wires are connected etc..  Anything else I can do or is it likely that the sensors inside the tank are shot?

  Second problem is major water leak at the kitchen sink from both the hot and cold faucets.  I'm sure it's probably a washer or something but I don't see a way to get the handle off to work on the components below.

Thanks!

[Stripe]

Post a pic of the sink, but I am sure there are plastic caps on the spigot knobs that can be popped off to access the screws holding them in.  And your probably right on as to the washers being shot.
For the tanks are the level meters able to be calibrated/adjusted manually?
On mine I have three built in potentiometers for all my tanks and to recalibrate the sensors I have to fill ALL tanks to full and adjust each independent of each other. also see if the connections to the level meters don't have any hidden rust.  Other than that, you may be able to remove the sensor itself and check it and/or refurb it.
Hope that helps.

CMM500

[rclifton]

May day!!  lol, thanks for the reply...  I think I managed to pop the top off without totally destroying it but..  When I went out there was a small stream of water coming from just above the battery compartment, went inside and the carpet below the dinette is soaked.  Apparently the tank has a leak in it somewhere..  I have no idea how this tank comes out tho, it looks like the fridge was built over it!  D:oH!

[JDxeper]

Some of the water lines probably froze, check low points in the Lines and look for cracks in the line.  Line is easy to repair.

[DaveVA78Chieftain]

Someone may have changed your faucet.  Original 78 26RB had 2 handles.



Pull up drivers side bunk to gain access to the pump behind the converter.  There is a drain valve on the floor behind the converter.  Has a metal ring attached to it.  Pull up on it and turn to lock.  Will drain the FW tank.  Leak could be the lines exiting from the rear of the tank or the tank itself.  The tank hold down screws have metal inserts spin welded into the tank.  Radial cracks develop outward from each attachment point at floor level.  I ended up pulling the tank out and plastic welded all the cracks.  I then used heavy duty tie down straps to remount the tank rather than those old hold down points.  You have to remove the rear dinnet seat in order to pull the tank out.  Leaking tank can cause the floor in the area to rot also.  You will need very long socket extensions to remove the bolts for the metal framework support the seat.  You also have remove disconnect the water fill station in the rear of the fridge compartment.

Do any of the other tank level indicators work?  Most people use ice, water, and a small amount of chlorine to clean the tank and sensors.  You drive around sloshing the mix around to clean/sanitize it.

Lines run from tank (drivers side) to pump to bathroom (under shower).  Access bathroom connections under bathroom sink.  Then on around to water heater (passenger side under bed) and then to kitchen sink.

Dave

[tiinytina]

our meters for black/grey and sometimes fresh don't work... our sensors are actually taped to the outside of the tank checked lines etc..  I've tried the ice, calgon, bleach etc... to no avail.  The grey tank will usually back up into the shower when full. Only filled the black tank when our toilet water inlet went bad.... 

Sounds like water lines froze... split.... These older rigs don't gravity drain so the pink antifreeze needs to be pumped through all the lines or using a special fitting blown out with air.  You can replace the faucet with a regular household version nice inexpensive ones on ebay etc....

Tina

[rclifton]

 
Here is a pic of the sink, I'm pretty sure it is all original.


None of the indicators work at the moment, I'll try the water with ice and some bleach..  Maybe if I jump around it will shake it enough as it isn't running at the moment lol.  Here is a pic of the freshwater indicators.


I think you may be right about the mounting points creating cracks, here is a pic of what looks like a previous repair using silicon.  This is where it appears most of the water is coming from as it is all forward in the dinette area.


By the way, I'm assuming this is the drain valve, although I don't see a metal ring to pull anywhere.


Thanks for the help everyone..

[moonlitcoyote]

On the sink, you can use a pocket knife and pop out the center cap on each handle, there is a screw under it that will take the handle off.

[Stripe]

Yes, What Moon says is what I said earlier, prise the caps off the center of the handles and don't forget the ring around the base of the spout that is what is holding the plastic shroud down covering the innards and also holds the spout in place, lots of times if that is where water is spraying from, tightening that ring will be the fix as it comes loose from longtime use without checking and re-tightening every once in a long while. Once the shroud comes off you will see the screws holding the faucet down.
NOW, if you intend on keeping the faucet and want to just replace all the o-rings and washers, just remove the nuts that are holding valve handles in pull up the bits (carefully) and you will see what needs replacing. The spout itself also slides up and out of its hole as well, usually it has two o-rings, I've seen some with only one, just use a small pick to pull them off and roll the new one/s back on (make sure before testing you reinstall the spout ring nut to hold it in otherwise you can have a wetter mess). Reinsert your parts re-tighten all fasteners (not too tight on some) and test the integrity of the seals.  If they all pass muster put everything else back together.

CMM500

[Stripe]

Now, if you intend to REPLACE the entire faucet, after the removal of the plastic shroud you will see four points that are screwed down. leave that alone as you will need the faucet secured in place to be able to disengage the the plumbing underneath it.
This is where it becomes "fun".
Looking at your setup the sink is going to be your mortal enemy as far as getting to the nuts holding all the plumbing together. That and whatever shelving you have under there as well may make it more difficult to reach up there and do the work. The easy part is looking to see what needs to be removed.

NOW all that may be moot IF the piping to the faucet is actually soft hose as opposed to solid PVC. If it's hosing, then  just undo the anchor screws holding the faucet down, pull the faucet up and do the work from up top.

I hope this all helps...

Fredric (CMM500)

[DaveVA78Chieftain]

Looking at your setup the sink is going to be your mortal enemy...

Yep,  it is tight access under the sink when I changed mine (also a 78 Chieftain 26RB).  Your plumbing system has been redone in the pump area.  They replaced the original valve with that faucet type.  There is also another drain valve on the other side of the rig so you can drain the lines on that side for winterizing.

My first guess for the leak is it does look like you have the same problem I did.  First time I pulled the tank out I tried the fiberglass patch route.  lasted a while but eventually gave way.  If you pull the tank plastic weld it.  Just get a 100 watt weller soldering iron (like used with stained glass).  For the plastic solder, bur a roll of the white polypropolyne tubing used to hook water up to a fridge ice maker .  With tank out you can turn tank upside down so no water remains in the area you are soldering.  I suspect every one of those mounting ears has radial cracks around it.
You can use this welding on the grey and black tanks also however, they have to be basically bone dry.  Any water in the repair area heats up and steams.  The steam bubble comes to the surface usually resulting in a leak area.  A real pain with cracks in the bottom of tank still installed.

Dave

[rclifton]

Thanks for all the help everyone! 

I'm thinking the PO did a lot of mods to improve reliability and convenience. I plan to replace the faucet at this point as it appears to be beyond repair.  Looking up under the sink tho it doesn't look like it will be nearly as hard to change as the one in my old travel trailer lol.  Thanks for the tips on repairing the tank.. I plan to pull it, fill it and then circle all the leaks with a magnum marker or something so I can drain and repair all of them at once.  Fingers crossed there really is only one heh..  On a side note my 2 holding tanks are now reporting how full they are so hopefully that's a good sign that the water level sensor will work again as well.

[DaveVA78Chieftain]

Not to scare you but all of mine had radial cracks at least starting even if they were not leaking yet.  I performed some preemptive plastic welding you might say. 

I have never heard of anyone having automatic lights in the cabinets as a stock option.  I have no clue if it was available.  There is a false bottom in the overhead cabinets for wiring distribution.

Dave

[rclifton]

I see that the drain valve has a small drip, drip, drip leak in it.  I'm going to have to try and track down a replacement.  I found the last new one within a 100 miles of me last year when I redid the one in my old travel trailer.

I'm going to put up some pictures of the plumbing and pose a question..  I checked the plate on the front of the RV and it has a build date 0f 10/77.  Do you think they could have made some changes that would account for the differences between ours?  I have no copper it appears in the plumbing system, it is all plastic/vinyl tubing.  The neatness/routing leads me to believe it is original, especially given all the factory stickers I am finding around it on the other components etc.

Heres some pics.

Under the kitchen counter looking at faucet connections.


Better shot of one of the kitchen faucet connectors


Routing back to the shower area.


Another shot further back.


Tub/shower connection.


Under the rear faucet.


In the rear vanity.

[DonD]

I invested in an airless welder from urethane supply, been very helpful for many plastic projects.  Keep at it, you'll chase down the leaks!  I had some leaks that required replacement of 2 Ts, I used Flair-it brand with great success, got 'em at ACE.

[DaveVA78Chieftain]

Most of what you are showing is the stock plumbing.  It was just in the area of the water pump that I saw differences.  You may see the other style drain valve on the passenger forward of the water heater. Plumbing diagram attached

Dave