Into the belly - Laredo 245RL

[gkainz]

Had a leak last weekend under the trailer ... at least I think I did, since we were camping in the rain and snow ... saw some drips falling from the belly when hooking up, and had some drips running down the exterior of the sewer drain pipe when I went to dump.



Dropped the coroplast today, and there was some water in there, the so-called insulation was wet in a few spots, but nothing obvious when looking around under the trailer.



I only got the waste tanks and drain valve assemblies exposed, as the gas line goes across from side to side just ahead of the axles, and I didn't have the energy or time to fight those screws loose as well as the coroplast screws around and near the spring hangers that block the impact wrench. I may go after them with an extension and a wobble joint tomorrow ...



Anyway, nothing obvious - poured 20 gallons of water into the toilet, and ran another 2 or 3 bowls full using the foot flush. No leaks underneath.



Ran the shower for the equivalent of 2 Navy showers (simulating what we used this weekend) - no leaks underneath.



Last think I can think of is perhaps filling the fresh water tank leaked along the fill or vent lines, and of course, I don't have those exposed so can't see those lines.



My wiring is the typical "throw it in there and the coroplast will hide it - heading back under with zip ties tomorrow.



The so-called polar package, heated tank joke was interesting. A small heat duct pinched between the frame and waste dump line, then back up and over the line with a Tee pointed at the black water dump valve and then continuing on to end pointed at the gray water dump valve. I re-routed that to eliminate the vent tube pinching between the frame and pipe, and also between the pipe and coroplast. At least 1 thing accomplished, but no closer to finding the leak.



Edit - those photos are horrible ... sorry...

[gkainz]

Oh, and another head-scratcher ... The black and grey waste lines run uphill between the dump valves and main drain line. Great.

[sourdough]

I doubt this could happen but is there any way in the rain and snow that the water could come down the sides/front/rear of the trailer and somehow come in above the coroplast?

[dirt33]

Hope you find the leak gkainz. Thanks for posting your info and photos, I have never had my coroplast down and have wondered "how bad it might be in there...?". Interesting to hear your accounts.... Sounds about like what most people probably would have expected. You sound like the type that will make some improvements while you are in there, prior to sealing it back up. I intend to do the same thing, some day.

[Nagrompj]

Sounds like it was cold camping. If you were running the heat and have a heated underbelly some condensation could form. It was also raining so lots of moisture was available.

[dirt33]

Originally Posted by sourdough

I doubt this could happen but is there any way in the rain and snow that the water could come down the sides/front/rear of the trailer and somehow come in above the coroplast?

Of all the possible ways water could get in, I certainly wouldn't consider your suggestion "impossible". Two winters ago, we had some ice here. I had not yet installed the longer gutter extensions. As the ice melted, the water from the roof trickled slowly out of the gutters, and down the side of our trailer, right onto the top of a window frame. The water found a way into the window frame, ran down the inside wall of the trailer, and into the "box" that the water pump sits in. There is of course a hole in the floor inside that box, for the water lines to run down through. So, certainly some of that water made its way below the floor and on top of the coroplast. I immediately put the gutter extensions on, fixed the window seal, and made a mental note to never leave the trailer "nose low" again when it sits, so that everything runs out the rear gutters instead of the front. I am convinced that only the very slow melting/running of the ice would have done this, as any rain of any type produces a steady enough flow of water that it drips out away from the trailer, even with the stock shorter gutters on there (or should I say, at least it doesn't trickle down in steady stream right on top of the window frame).

[gearhead]

I'm guessing condensation. I decided to replace the screws holding the chloroplast a few weeks ago. I removed a few and pulled the chloroplast back and got water on me. I thought...oh great..it's poo. No, just water that didn't stink. I saw no leaks.
When you go to screw the chloroplast back up, Fastenal has stainless screws.

[gkainz]

I just filled the fresh water tank to the very top, ran another 10 gallons of shower (gray tank indicating Full) and another 5 gallons into the toilet (no idea what it indicates, as those sensors haven't been reliable since our first outing).

Ran a couple of gallons down the galley drain and no leaks evident anywhere.

I'm going to agree with you guys above that the rain somehow made it's way down to the belly and that was the leak. It rained and snowed all weekend, temps were 30°F at night and 37°F during the day - not REALLY cold, but cold enough. Although I've camped at well below zero in this rig and haven't noticed condensation runoff underneath.

Oh well, I've been meaning to see what's in the belly, and now I know.

Oh, and thanks for the reminder to use stainless screws - I was going to run to Fastenal tomorrow for them, but the reminder is appreciated!

[jsmith948]

Well, it hardly ever rains here in the dust bowl, but we had some water in the underbelly awhile back. We had driven from Elko, NV to Jackpot (about 120 mi) through a really hard, steady rain with lots of water on the roadway - kicked up a great deal of spray. It seems that all of the little 'cut-outs' in the coro-plast around the spring hangers, etc. were allowing water to get into the underbelly. One roll of Gorrilla Tape later and we solved the problem. No more water (touch wood).

[SAABDOCTOR]

I have a question for you since you were in there and i have to dive into mine this week end. your "gate valves" on the grey tanks. Were they closer to the tank or closer to the pipe that pops out of the coroplast? I have remote pulls and my gally tank will not move. tryin to phsyc myself up for this and trying to avoid dropping more than i have too! good luck with your project

[gkainz]

my dump valves are right on the tanks (well, one or two bushing adapters away).

If you zoom in close on my 2nd picture in the original post, you can (sort of) make out the gate valves on the end of each tank.

The biggest problem(s) I see in my installation with those valves and cables - first, the holes for the handles were drilled too far forward (or maybe the tanks are placed too far back?) anyway - I can see why they did it, assuming there was some thought put into the placement. Moving the handles further rearward could make them harder to reach, being almost over the main dump connector. Moving the tanks further forward? No room under there to do that.

So, end result is the cables come thru the frame right into the side of the gray tank and have about 3" to bend down and go under the tank, then twist around and finally end up at the gate valve. So, that first bend I'm sure makes a lot of friction on the cable movement.

Second, the cables are way too long, resulting in lots of twists and turns just to stuff the excess cable up and out of the way.

Final analysis - if I were still under there, and had some more spare time, I would relocate the pull handles into new holes in the frame, so as to line up behind the tanks and directly in line with the gate valves, routing the cables directly and straight in line between the valves and handles. Cut the cables to be "just long enough" should result in the easiest and smoothest operation.

Alas, too short on time to make it "best" so I settle for "ok".

[SAABDOCTOR]

thanks that is what i figured i would find. my camper is now perminent on the site so i really just need to get it open for now then i will reinvent the wheel and make it work.