Fresh Water Tank Sagging

[Bjohns324]

Hello everyone, first post here. I have looked around but cant seem to find much information on this but I am sure it is out there somewhere. I have a 2007 Rockwood Freedom 2280 pop up. I have a 20 gallon fresh water tank that sites underneath the trailer right by the axel. I noticed that my tank is sagging a bit and I am losing about 1/3 of my water to the sag as I am unable to pump all the water out of the tank or properly drain the tank. I am wondering if anyone has had this issue and how you fixed it? I looked under neath to see if there might be a way to brace it up but there is not much I could mount to. My other thought was just moving the the drain plug and the connection for the water pump to directly in the center of the tank where the bulge is the worse. Any suggestions or advice on this would be greatly appreciated.

[SeaDog]

Welcome to the forum its a great place to get your questions answered. I'm not familiar with your rig but did solve that problem on a Wildwood by placing a 1x4 under the center of the tank and moving the pump suction to the drain location. I don't know if this would work in your case but something to think about.

[cabranch47]

I had a similar problem with my HW27SC. I used two metal straps, padded with indoor/outdoor carpet across the bottom (front to back). Problem solved. If it is totally full, I do have some overflow from the vent when walking in the door until the water level lowers some

[Bjohns324]

Seadog when you moved the drain location how did you do this? I was reading that because the tank is polyethylene I cant just move the drain like a normal plumbing situation as the connections are "spin welded" on. What method did you use to move it? I found the same size of connections that I can by for about $6 but im not sure I would be able to "spin weld" them by using just a standard drill and not having high enough RPM's on my drill. Also have heard that you cant use standard glue on polyethylene.

[tzh99h]

Like Seadog my tank was sagging Rockwood 2608 instead of 1x4 I used a 1x1 angle iron and shaved a couple inches off 1 side on each end so the steel could be slipped in under the tank to support it

[clintbonnie73]

Caution: when filling tank with water hose, don't over fill it.. sometimes the air in the tank can't get out fast enough with the pressure of water going in.. This will bow down your plastic tank, weakening the supports.. Just happened to me on my Rockwood 2506S..

[TGR]

When I sanitized my 50-gallon potable water storage tank this year, water started dripping from the trailer. When I removed the belly cover, I saw that my tank had sagged between the two 1-1/2” angle iron supports that ran parallel with the tank the entire width of the trailer. This sagging caused the angle iron to cut into the tank at two corners but did nothing to the sagging area of the tank. I used a Permatex plastic tank repair kit to patch the holes and a couple of layers of EternaBond roof sealant tape to cushion the tank from the angle iron. I don’t have any confidence this will last but it has held up well so far this year.

It looks like a couple of wide straps slung under the tank would provide adequate additional support for the tank that is susceptible to sagging. The two gray tanks and black-water holding tank, 50 gallons each, are built to rest on top of an angle-iron support and show no sign of sagging or deforming. I plan to add the straps to the potable water tank when I have time.

My potable water tank has several fittings and sensors penetrating it that were not spin welded. Instead, there is a copious amount of sealant at each penetration making them watertight.

[Tiggerdad]

I have used angle iron bolted to the lips of the frame. I have 1/2" pipe with ends flattened with holes drilled in ends, large washers and bolts bolted to the frame flanges.

[Cathleen]

Here's my husband's explanation for how it secured the water tank on our 2017 Rockwood Mini-Lite 2503S.

"FYI, if you haven’t already checked this, do so. The Mini-lite fresh water holding tank “floats” on the angle iron chassis. It needs to be stabilized. I did it with a cross piece of wood, 2 x 6 (or 8) on the end opposite the inlet valve. I used self-tapping screws and they went through the soft aluminum easily along with C-clamps to hold the wood in place until I was finished. Then I used 1” strapping with locking buckles to “hold down / or in place” the tank. Run the strapping around the whole tank and angle iron frame; cinch up tight and tie off the tag ends with a surgeon’s knot. I used two straps about a foot in from each end of the tank. Check on occasion to see things are in place. It might not be essential except if you do boonie camping or travel on rough, uneven roads. Now our tank can’t and doesn’t just “float” on the angle iron framework."