Poor Engineering, bent fresh water tank bracket

[yvesm]

I was filling my fresh water tank to go dry camping, then I heard this creaking sound and I looked under the camper and something was pushing through the under covering. The brackets that hold the water tank were starting to buckle! I quickly opened the drain and if you look at the pictures you will see the bent bracket. I will contact Forest River about the problem, but I will most likely fix this myself (like all other repairs!).

[grhodes50]

Too bad about your problem. If you do fix it yourself, at least you'll know it's done right.
Thanks for posting. You may save someone else a future headache.

[yvesm]

Originally Posted by grhodes50

Too bad about your problem. If you do fix it yourself, at least you'll know it's done right.
Thanks for posting. You may save someone else a future headache.

I have done all the repairs on this camper, including major problems. Forest River has sent me any parts that I have needed.

[grhodes50]

Good to hear your able to make the repairs yourself. It's also good to hear that FR has sent you what you need.

[Sticky]

Make sure the small vent hole next to the filler hole is always pushing out air as you fill the tank with water. If there is a blockage in the vent line and excess water/air cant escape around your filler hose quick enough, you will build hydrolic pressure in the tank which can very easily bend metal brackets or break wood supports. I found that on my unit the vent hose for the water tank was not properly routed, it sagged below the top of the tank and was not pitched to drain back to the tank. What happened was that when I filled the water tank to the top it would force water into the vent line once all the air was pushed out, then this water would create a blockage in the vent line. To add to this problem the filler hose also had a sag in it which would not allow the air to burp out the filler hose. So what was happening in my case was the tank was never really getting filled up all the way once I had a water blockage in the vent. I bent my bracket just like yours when I was filling the tank one day and forgot to shut off the hose and built up to much water/air pressure. The water tank should never have any pressure in it whether it be the air not escaping quickly enough (or at all in my case) or filling with water too fast.

Sticky