Fresh water tank hose disconnected? 2018 Cruite Lite 201BHXL

[salemcruise]

Hi all, feel like I'm posting here a lot lately but can't argue that the community support and information is really helpful!

Anyway, I was just prepping our 2018 201BHXL for the weekend and wanted to just flush the lines from the fresh water tank with a quick spray before we go to ensure everything was working with the pump and lines. Lo and behold, found an issue.


Almost immediately while adding water in to the tank through the side hose intake, I noticed it was basically pouring straight out on to the ground with nothing going into the tank. To confirm, I opened the drain spout on the fresh water tank and no water came out, it was dry as a bone.

From how it was leaking, it appeared to me as though the water was going through the hose itself, and then just dumping on to the top of the tank then leaking down the sides to the ground. From what I can tell, it seems like maybe the hose connecting to the tank became dislodged while I was towing it last. My best guess is the hose clamp just loosened up too much and the hose came off going over a pothole or something.


Anyway, I can't for the life of me figure out how to get to the top of the tank to inspect the hose connection. It looks like the hose runs through the inside of the trailer under the sink from the outside, then back through the floor to the exterior mounted water basin. I've attached 3 pictures to show what I mean, 1 where the hose comes in to the trailer, 2 where it exits through the floor to the tank, and 3 the tank itself mounted under the trailer on the frame. I had my wife put water through the hose while I was looking at it from the inside and I can confirm the water goes through the hose and out through the floor opening without leaking anywhere in the trailer itself. Inspecting the basin itself I don't see any cracks, and the "leak" definitely looks like water running over the top of the basin, down the sides, then to the bottom where it drips off.

My question is: does anyone know how I can get to the actual top of the tank to inspect the hose connection? I went under the trailer with a creeper and the tank just sits freely on top of two crossbars that are part of the frame. I definitely appreciate this design as my old trailer had the tank inside the trailer under one of the benches, and when it burst one year.... well, we ended up replacing half the floor. So I like this exterior mount design. But I can't figure out how to actually get to the top of the tank? Do I need to push it up and tilt it to slide it out from underneath? Or do I cut through the foam in the second picture to see where it goes under through the floor of the trailer and try to reconnect it there?

Any and all tips are appreciated. Thank you everyone as always!

 

[fipntdot]

Hopefully someone with the same unit/year can comment and help. We had a similar problem, but the input hose for our trailer was mounted on the side of the tank and could access it from under the trailer. The hose needed clamped back on.

 

[5picker]

Hard to tell from the photos if the tank support brackets can be removed so you can tilt/drop the tank from underneath.

If not, you will need to dig all that expanding foam away from the fill hose location and hope they made a hole big enough in the floor, (usually it is way oversize and why so much expanding foam) to where you can check the clamp/hose attachment.

 

[bikendan]

Get yourself one of these:
https://www.campingworld.com/water-...ho42KriC4XBgKjjJRshoCj3sQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[salemcruise]

Hard to tell from the photos if the tank support brackets can be removed so you can tilt/drop the tank from underneath.

If not, you will need to dig all that expanding foam away from the fill hose location and hope they made a hole big enough in the floor, (usually it is way oversize and why so much expanding foam) to where you can check the clamp/hose attachment.

Yeah I'm pretty sure the brackets it sits on are welded to the frame, it seems pretty darn solid. I'm considering cutting out the foam as you said, or maybe even just a slit down one side and I might be able to slide it over the hoses and hopefully re-use... We'll see. Appreciate the reply!

EDIT: Just double checked the tank underneath on the creeper.. Can confirm, the support crossbars are welded to the frame, there's no way to just push it up and tilt it out.... I don't know how they expect someone to change the water basin then if there's ever an issue? Gotta dig out the whole floor? Anyway, considering reaching out directly to Forest River support as well to see if there's an easy way to check the hose. Even if I have to dig out all the foam, it seems the only way to get at it is by taking out two drawers and there's still counter space in the way... Efficient design but not very user friendly for self-repair it seems.

 

[salemcruise]

Hopefully someone with the same unit/year can comment and help. We had a similar problem, but the input hose for our trailer was mounted on the side of the tank and could access it from under the trailer. The hose needed clamped back on.

Yeah I've seen those before but it doesn't seem like ours is side mounted from what I saw on the creeper, though might be worth a second look... second guessing myself now...

At any rate appreciate the reply! Glad to know my thought process seems to be going down the right path for the cause of the issue.

 

[5picker]

Yeah I'm pretty sure the brackets it sits on are welded to the frame, it seems pretty darn solid. I'm considering cutting out the foam as you said, or maybe even just a slit down one side and I might be able to slide it over the hoses and hopefully re-use... We'll see. Appreciate the reply!

EDIT: Just double checked the tank underneath on the creeper.. Can confirm, the support crossbars are welded to the frame, there's no way to just push it up and tilt it out.... I don't know how they expect someone to change the water basin then if there's ever an issue? Gotta dig out the whole floor? Anyway, considering reaching out directly to Forest River support as well to see if there's an easy way to check the hose. Even if I have to dig out all the foam, it seems the only way to get at it is by taking out two drawers and there's still counter space in the way... Efficient design but not very user friendly for self-repair it seems.

They (the factory) put all that stuff (tanks/wiring/plumbing/etc.) on the frame before ever sitting the floor/walls to the unit. If the tank braces are really welded, the only option is to cut the bracing and repair/splice them back. I'd be looking from the top under that foam.

 

[salemcruise]

Alrighty, there is an end to this disconnected hose saga.

I've yet to hear back from Forest River support, but decided to have a go at it. I cut through the foam and started pulling it out only to realize the foam was sprayed on top of / throughout a chunk of steel wool, which I figured out when I sliced my thumb open trying to pull out a chunk. So note for any others who may attempt this, if you're going to pull out trailer foam - wear gloves.

Anyway, after cutting through all the foam and pulling out the steel wool I was able to move the hoses around a bit. The hose unfortunately did not go straight down to the tank. It actually ran under the floor towards the back of the trailer then down to the tank - I guess the tank was a little farther back from the foam hole than I expected. Given the small working area under the counter, I wasn't able to redirect the hose nor see the top of the tank through the hole, so that was a no go.

I went under the trailer again on the creeper and - lo and behold - I'd been mistaken initially. One of the two support braces for the water tank did have bolts holding it in, only the other one was welded. I was able to take out the brace and drop the bucket down. That's when the saw the attached picture. The hose didn't just come off, it had actually ripped straight through, only a tiny piece of thread held on. We snipped off the broken part, and thankfully since I had already cut through the foam and steel wool inside I was able to yank a little extra slack from inside the trailer to reach the water basin with the rest of the viable hose. Had to use a box cutter to strip the part of the hose that was stuck to the tank intake and fit the old hose back over it, but once we did we were able to clamp it again and, voila - filled the tank with no leak.

Glad it's working again, but man, the design on how this tank is held in is pretty rough. It's basically impossible to do any maintenance on it without taken out the entire brace. I appreciate it being outside of the trailer in case of a proper leak, but I do with all hose intakes were on the sides and nothing on the top. Maybe if I ever need to replace the tank I'll look for one like that. I imagine I'll probably need to replace the entire hose eventually if wear and tear already caused this rip, but at least I know where it all runs through now and it should be an easier job next time around. Hopefully this helps anyone else with a similar tank style.

Cheers all, have a great weekend and happy Canada Day to the other northerners.

 

[Larry-NC]

There's very little pressure on that line--only when filling. I would have been tempted to replace that tubing with clear polyvinyl tubing. It's much thicker than that thin vinyl stretched across metal coils.

I've had similar coiled construction in black-water drain hoses. When the coils rust through, the sharp ends pierce the vinyl.