Fresh water leak how to diagnose?

[Jane And Rog]

Denby has started leaking fresh water. I’m pretty sure it’s a leak from the tank - water constantly is dripping out of the back of the van some behind the wheel arch, some from the bottom of the bumper.

My only guess so far is the dump valve not sealing correctly. I’ve added some silicon grease but it hasn’t made a difference.I must admit though it’s very awkward to get to.

The leak must be pretty low as it’s still dripping when the tank is more or less empty.

Any ideas on how to find this leak and, how to fix it on the road?

Adria Twin SGX 2019 btw. Tank is mounted over the rear offside wheel arch.

 

[dazandandrea]

Unless you can actually see the leek its going to be very hard .
Can you remove the tank?

 

[Jane And Rog]

certainly not whilst it’s raining - I’d need to empty the hold - and even then not easily.

 

[Langtoftlad]

Is it bad enough to adversely affect your current trip...?
Can you live with it until you get home

 

[Jane And Rog]

Is it bad enough to adversely affect your current trip...?

Probably : 100l tank drains completely in 24h or so. We could probably manage by being on a site every day.

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[Peavy]

Sorry to read that.
We have a Twin like yours (2022).
We had a water leak also, it was dripping, constantly, but not a lot.
We took it to the dealer and they repaired it under warranty.
I'm not sure what they did to fix it, but you can see in the pictures, they worked around the two drains.
Bellow you'll find a picture before and after the fix, in case it helps to locate the leaking.
In our vans we have two possible drains to drop the fresh water.

You can see from the last picture, the repair was done around the two drains.
Here's a picture from inside the tank of those two drains (the white lever that you manipulate from the bottom and the metal rod which you can manipulate from above the tank).

Empty the whole tank and try to see if any dirt is catch in the lock seating in the bottom of the tank.
Best of luck

 

[dazandandrea]

Just a thought. If you cant fix the leek could you use a heavy duty bin liner inside the tank. Assuming you can access the inside of the tank. Just a thought.

 

[lorger]

Is the pump coming on in small spurts, we had a leak and every now and then the pump would start to keep the pressure up. To get round it while away we just kept the pump off until needed, the issue was the boiler safety valve. I stripped it down and found some grit on the rubber so a quick clean and all ok, it was also an Adria

 

[Jane And Rog]

The pump and all the hot and cold water work fine - whilst there’s water in the tank.

Empty the whole tank and try to see if any dirt is catch in the lock seating in the bottom of the tank.

I’ve tried that and can’t find a problem. Maybe I don’t have long enough arms though. The rain has stopped now so I’ll try and look from underneath.

 

[Winger]

Adria are renowned for using poor water pipe fittings, plenty of info on here if you can find it!

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[Jane And Rog]

We know all too well about Adria plumbing. Investigating this problem I found what I think must be two of the only push fits we haven’t replaced

I suspect it is one of the drains. It probably either needs a new gasket or a better clean than I e managed to give it.

I’ll have a look underneath now it’s stopped tipping down. We’ve also found a mobile mechanic we can get out tomorrow who seems confident he can fix it…

 

[Lenny HB]

Another co/on problem is the vent valve on the Truma Combi. It's a tee fitting near the top I've the tank their is a valve inside the tee piece.
If it is that a tempory fix is to clamp off the pile which runs under the floor. Or take the valve out and soak in hot white vinegar, leak is often due to calcium build up.

 

[berni109]

Had a similar problem.

Thread 'HELP! clean water tank leaking'

Jun 29, 2024

Filled internal fresh water tank until overflow was running then noticed a slow drip under van near the drain pipe. 2 days later and still dripping and 1/4 tank leaked out.
It's not coming from the drain pipe itself.
(The van has had a long unexpected layup without any water in.)
The tank has one of these new fangled drain down devices with a knob/wheel at the top and an internal rod that activates the valve at the base.
Supposed to be quarter turn to leave 25% full. Further turns to empty completely.
I suspect that where this device is fitted to the bottom of the tank that the sealing...

• berni109
• Replies: 8
• Forum: Water and Waste

 

[Jane And Rog]

I’ve been underneath and it looks dry - there’s no dripping now which is comforting and annoying in equal measures.

This is indeed exactly the same tank as Peavy has. It’s got some crap in there and I suspect that new white caulk is just what they put on after the fix.

Hm I wonder if I forgot to move that manual drain handle at the bottom of the tank back flat and that fixed it.

Also: how do I turn italics off on MHF

 

[Jane And Rog]

berni109 thanks. Definitely not a fix to do on the road :-(

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[berni109]

Thought that while posting back to my link.
Mine had just as much silicone gunk plastered around the valve outlet. If you cut that off/out (carefully) you should easily see if it's the seal to the outside of the tank that's come loose and it will drip straight out rather than under the floor.
You may even get a spanner/grips on it to tighten it up.

 

[berni109]

The black pipe you see underneath is an extension pipe that screws onto the bottom of the drain mechanism outside of the tank.

 

[Peavy]

I’ve been underneath and it looks dry - there’s no dripping now which is comforting and annoying in equal measures.

This is indeed exactly the same tank as Peavy has. It’s got some crap in there and I suspect that new white caulk is just what they put on after the fix.
View attachment 961033
View attachment 961035

Hm I wonder if I forgot to move that manual drain handle at the bottom of the tank back flat and that fixed it.

Also: how do I turn italics off on MHF

So, did it stop leaking once refilled?

 

[Boldly]

Press the italic symbol and it will revert to normal

 

[Jane And Rog]

So, did it stop leaking once refilled?

Yeah, it seems to have done. We’ve already booked a Spanish travelling repair guy to look at it tomorrow so might as well go ahead with that and have him check the seal etc.

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[Peavy]

Yeah, it seems to have done. We’ve already booked a Spanish travelling repair guy to look at it tomorrow so might as well go ahead with that and have him check the seal etc.

Great. Good luck

 

[Jane And Rog]

Press the italic symbol and it will revert to normal

For some reason it didn’t. My guess it’s something to do with the photo insertion. Whatever, not my most pressing problem

 

[Jane And Rog]

So it’s fixed.

My/our diagnosis was correct but in the end it needed some professional confidence. Both drain valves have slightly perished seals. The manual one inside the tank was worst and the cause of the visible leak. A couple of wraps of PTFE tape (now to be added to my fettling drawer) have given a good seal.

The other dump valve has a very minor leak which has been bunged to be removed when a new seal is available or we need to drain overwinter - whichever comes first.

 

[Jane And Rog]

The repair chap was fantastic, coming out the next day, and on a Sunday. And the total bill was €65 - well worth it to save our holiday.

He’s brilliant to know about if you’re in NW Spain and said he’d give us phone support for the whole country.

 

[Peavy]

The repair chap was fantastic, coming out the next day, and on a Sunday. And the total bill was €65 - well worth it to save our holiday.

He’s brilliant to know about if you’re in NW Spain and said he’s give us phone support for the whole country.

View attachment 961469

That's not expensive at all. How did you found out about them?

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[Jane And Rog]

That's not expensive at all. How did you found out about them?

Rog did a google search, which is how we found someone just over the border from us, in Spain. We told him where we were and he was initially happy to come out to us, but I suspect he didn’t realise it was actually a village in Portugal, where it seems he’s not allowed to work. So we drove to him.

 

[Jane And Rog]

He has a bazillion 5 star reviews on Google.