Category Archives: Retirement

The other leak

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In a previous post, I spoke about repairing the black tank valve and mentioned needing to fix a freshwater leak.

I could see water dripping from the belly pan but the location changed depending upon the level of the trailer. Tongue high, drip further backward – tongue low, drip forward. I checked the floors inside for any moisture. Nothing. I looked under the bathroom sink as it is easy to access. I didn’t see much. The next option is to look at the water heater which also has an easy-to-access panel next to it. I opened this up before with another fix, the electric portion of the water heater.

I peered under and around, finding a leak dripping. It was coming from under the water heater! I felt the water and it was warm. Ugh. Leaking water heater. There were no other leaks anywhere else on the water heater. It must have corroded. The tank is aluminum and they don’t normally corrode with regular flushing. That was the problem. I had only flushed the tank once and then a LOT of water scale came out. It was years of running hard water through it in Arizona and Texas.

The old one didn’t look too bad and was still operational:

I called Toscano’s Airstream in Los Banos and talked to Bobby in service. I have always been happy with their dealership and service and trusted them. We discussed the options. I knew that I did NOT want an on-demand version as I feel they don’t work that well in an RV water environment (and maybe I am just too old to change my ways). I would love to find a direct replacement but Toscanos couldn’t find one from their suppliers. I really also did not want to find an equivalent.

The model was a GE9-EXT. This means it is technically a 6-gallon heater but the 9 means how many gallons it will put out. This is because of a mixer on the back of the heater. This one heats the water to a higher temperature than is really safe. It mixes it with cold water as it feeds the trailer with hot water. This mixing stretches the 6 gallons to 9 gallons. I like that feature.

So I looked around for a direct fit but I also was keeping an eye on delivery time. I found some GE9-EXT models, some very pricey, many out of stock. I also found, on Amazon, a GEH9-EXT model. Hmm, has an extra ‘H’ in it. What does that mean?

This model was designed to be used in a motorhome and the ‘H’ means it connects to the engine of the rig like a heater core. This allows the engine to help heat the water heater. I checked with Toscano’s and they have seen Airstream send out some units with the ‘H’ model installed. Must be whatever you can get. I agree with that and ordered it from Amazon.

The concern I had with the ‘H’eater option was that the tubes invaded the heating tank and it could leak. However, the tubing is only welded onto the tank and does a heat transfer through the metal, not commingling the fluids. I put caps on it anyway:

Time to swap them out. Remove 20 screws on the outside, disconnect the hot and cold lines (with lots of towels to catch the excess water), disconnect the 110V lines for the electric heater, disconnect the 12v lines for running the computer, and disconnect the LP gas. I had to do some pulling, twisting, and breaking the seal around the outside (caulking and butyl tape). But I got it out:

Above is the hole left with the removal of the old heater. You can see all the piping (water and propane), into the bathroom (toilet), and into the bedroom. You can also see part of the blow dryer that I used to dry out the drip area. Also, there are wires to strip and connect to the new unit. In my last repair to the old heater, I had to replace the wire nuts that burned all the way through. This was not a good thing and I was looking for a solution that did not burn through again. I found a new wire connector then and used it again here:

These connectors are made by Ideal. Supposedly they will hold on to the wires and motion does not affect them. The above is for the 110V connection to the electric heater element. Ideal also makes an inline connector that I used for the 12V connections:

I prepped the mounting hole with some butyl tape to help seal the opening. I also marked, on the painter’s tape, where the screw holes are to help line things up:

With a bit of wiggling and some alignment, the heater fits great. The propane line gave me a bit of an issue getting the right angle on it to fit the connector. It leaked a bit at first but some elbow grease on the wrench tightened it up. After everything was connected, and the tank filled, I fired it up and got a nice blue flame:

Now, since the new heater is working well, I can do a forensic exam on the old one. I took off all still working parts (electrical and otherwise) for backup. I exposed the tank and saw this:

The bottom had evidence of leakage (arrows) and also you can see all the deposits from the scale buildup. Note to self: flush the heater at least once a year!

Now that both leaks, fresh and black, were fixed, we were getting ready to hit the road again. One more thing, I had to close up the belly pan to protect the valves from the road. This is what it looked like before:

I got a piece of galvanized metal and cut it to fit. Secured it with some self tapping screws, making sure NOT to puncture any of the tanks hiding under the pan. The finishing was to use some aluminum tape on the edges to keep it nice and smooth underneath:

The final touch was to support the sewer output. It kind of hangs out there on its’ own with little assistance. I decided to add a bit:

Oh, I also got a new, clear cap for the sewer.

Whew, now all those liquid repairs are done, hopefully to never happen again!

A stinky job

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Back in June of 2020, I noticed dripping from the belly pan on the trailer. Upon further inspection, it was coming from where the black and grey tanks join before the sewer hose connector. In conjunction with this, the black valve was becoming increasingly difficult to close and sometimes would not close completely! The drip was obviously not any type of clean water but also a bit smellier than the grey tank, seemed like black water.

I contacted Vinnie of Vinnie’s Airstream Repair to get his take and to see if he might have an opening in October/November (like that would happen). He responded back suspecting it was the Calder coupler, a rubber connector to allow flexing in the assembly:

The Calder coupler is #4

I put up with the leak for a while, sometimes it was copious but at times it was almost non-existent. The black valve would close completely at times but I could also get a surprise taking off the sewer cap!

When we got to Grants Pass in September, I thought I would tackle trying to fix the valve not closing. The suspicion was some toilet paper stuck in the valve. I looked at many solutions, where I didn’t have to do any trailer work. I purchased this valve:

I can attach this to the sewer output with a elbow connector that shoots water back into the tank. By closing this, it allows me to fill up the black tank (or grey) with water. Theoretically, this should allow water to fill the tank to a level that covers the internal valve. This should also help anything stuck in the valve to release and float away. This is how I set it up:

I think it may have helped a little bit. I could really slam the valve handle and it seemed to shut completely but it still leaked out the pipe. I resolved myself to see what was REALLY going on when we returned to California for the holidays.

Fast forward to the holidays, I pulled the trailer with the curbside on the curb and a 4 lego block on the other to give myself ample room. I saw the leak up close:

I removed the panels on the pan to get a better look:

I could now see exactly where the leak was coming from (the black valve):

This means the valve needs to be repaired or replaced. I opted for replacement. I ordered all the needed parts. One part I was unsure of was how the valve attaches to the black tank:

The valve is made of 3 parts, valve flanges on either side and the slide valve in the middle. The valve flange on the black tank slides inside the black tank opening and is tightened with a hose clamp. If you refer to the first image I posted here, I have to replace all the parts encircled in red.

I contacted Vinnie with the newfound information and laid out my plan. He graciously called me back and discussed the repair and gave me tips on what to watch out for. Armed with that knowledge, and tips, I was emboldened to try the repair. However, being the way that I am, I waited about another 3 weeks to cogitate a bit more, and get up the courage to perform intestinal surgery on our trailer.

The removal was a bit more difficult than I thought it would be. Airstream installs these components while the frame is upside down but we have to fix them while WE are upside down. I had to completely cut through the Calder coupler, which was OK as I had a replacement. I also had to cut through the sewer outpipe.

Since I had to physically glue one of the valve flanges to the Y connector, I wanted to ensure that it was at the right angle as the old one:

Old setup on left, new on right.

Notice the yellow circle, which will come into play a bit later. The shaft on the valve is threaded but has a hole drilled into it. That is where the shaft extension attaches. One of the Vinnie tricks was to silicone the gasket on the valve flange before installation. This keeps them in place when you try to sandwich everything together.

Next, I cleaned up the black tank outlet, this is where the other valve flange goes. It is a snug fit but not watertight (or some other fluid). The clamp helps, but the Vinnie trick was to use plumbers putty between the outlet and the flange.

Black tank outlet ‘cleaned’ up
The valve flange pressed into the black outlet. Notice the plumbers putty pushed out.
Excess plumbers putty has been removed. The valve flange is loosely attached but ready to tighten with the hose clamp.
This is the grey tank outlet, ready for the assembly to be put back. The replacement rubber connector goes on this output.

Time to put in the Y assembly that has the black valve flange attached and also the rubber connector for the grey tank. When putting this in, you have to slide the middle valve component between the valve flanges that are on either side. This is WHY you want those gaskets attached tightly. It took a few attempts and some further modifications to the pan.

Above is the new black valve assembly, all three pieces together. It fit well, the real pain is trying to get to the two bolts and nuts on the top part of the valve. Took a lot of time, patience, and a few choice words!

Above is the grey tank connection to the Y connector. This is the new rubber connector. It required some shortening to fit well.

Above is the output of the Y connection, this is where all the waste will come out. This is before adding the extension where the sewer hose attaches. this also shows another Vinnie trick. He recommended cutting the pan up high enough so you can easily get the Y connection in. Worked great.

Now to re-attach the dump handle extension. Here is a picture of the valve connection peeking out of the pan. It is shorter than the original. The second picture shows the attachment point. Compare that to the previous picture where the original valve had a threaded shaft with a hole drilled.

This difference required me to change the bracket that holds the extension and move it a bit more inboard. It was only three rivets so it wasn’t too bad. Here is the finished ‘product’:

I did a post-mortem inspection on the black dump valve. It was in such bad shape, the flange broke apart when I tried to remove it from the black tank (1st picture). The second picture shows both the ‘item’ that stopped the valve from closing and also shows the part that facilitated the leaking:

But the proof is in the pudding, as they say. Initially, there were no leaks! A week later there was no leakage from the valve or when I opened the pipe. Very good.

Now, I have to find the water leak <sigh>.