Leaky waste tank

[Terry Neal]

Don,

Sounds like the tank material was maybe weakened by the tank heater over
the years? Good to know & certainly something to check for the rest of
us. You should be good for another 25 years now.

Terry Neal
Bozeman, MT
82PT40 6V92TA
74FC34 6V53T



Don Bradner wrote:

> Spent the day removing the tank, just tons of fun! The bottom has 3
> major (6 inches or more) fractures in a somewhat semi-circular
> pattern, and numerous small cracks that don't go through yet. The
> bottom bears the slightly melted pattern of the tank heater, and all
> of the cracks are within that area. I have never used the heaters, and
> hope to never be in a situation where they would be called for.
>
> I sanded the bottom, and the local RV outfit where I removed it will
> fiberglass the entire bottom this afternoon evening. Hope to reinstall
> tomorrow or Friday.
>
> Steps in the process, for anyone who cares:
>
> Remove the sensor wires, disconnect the vent pipe (which is also the
> sink drain) then remove the shroud. I don't know if all such units
> have a rubber coupler on the vent, but that certainly makes it easy.
>
> Remove the rivets holding the door frame, plus 4 screws at top center
> inside and the gas strut, then take the door and frame off. This would
> make the shroud removal easier, but I did the shroud 2 days ago at
> home, and just removed the door today.
>
> Remove the toilet. Mine is an electric Microphor, so there are 4 wires
> going to the control unit and 8 wires from the control. I removed the
> control and jotted down where each wire went then removed them.
>
> Remove wax ring and 8 screws holding the flange, then pull the pipe
> out of the tank. It is held by a hose clamp, and after removing the
> clamp I found that the easiest way to pop the pipe out of the fitting
> was with a nail bar using a 2x4 for the fulcrum and to distribute the
> force over a large enough area. Came free easily that way.
>
> Remove the Dupree valve. On mine there is no way to do that without
> irreperable damage, so first thing this morning I called Stephen
> Birtles and got a new valve body and 2 paddles (the grey needs
> replacing) on their way - should be here Friday. I used an air
> reciprocating saw (one of the few tools I've not found sufficient need
> to buy, so used the RV shop's) to saw through next to the valve body
> on the tank side, and in the elbow on the drain side.
>
> Remove a second piece of shroud. Couldn't get the one screw holding it
> to budge, either before the valve was removed, or after, so used a
> cutoff blade to get rid of it. will drill a new hole on replacement.
>
> Slide the tank out.
>
> After that I cut off the cross-pipe from the curbside about 8 inches
> from the Tee. Everything from there out will be rebuilt with new parts
> - Tee, street Ell, valve body, extended street Ell, and hose connector.
>
>



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