Water in underbelly Big Horn 3670

bucketman · Oct 1, 2016

I noticed that when parked the trailer on an incline, water came out of an opening in the under belly. It had settled there because I would push up on the bottom more water would come out. Don't believe it is any waste water as it was clear and I don't believe it was from the fresh water tank as the pump doesn't lose prime and doesn't run all the time. My feeling is that it is rain water either from sitting still or from driving in the rain. Any ideas where it may be coming from?

Jim

For20hunter · Oct 1, 2016

Have you travelled in any heavy rains lately? If so it could be as simple as the rain water leaking in someplace between the chloroplast and the frame, or it could be a water leak from a connection or a cracked tank or hose. The only way to truly know for sure is to have someone or you drop the chloroplast down and start running water to see.

Rod

bucketman · Oct 1, 2016

For20hunter said:
Have you travelled in any heavy rains lately? If so it could be as simple as the rain water leaking in someplace between the chloroplast and the frame, or it could be a water leak from a connection or a cracked tank or hose. The only way to truly know for sure is to have someone or you drop the chloroplast down and start running water to see.

Rod

I tried taking one bolt out of the chloroplast and it snapped right off. I think that most of them will snap off as they are pretty rusty. Just bought this unit in July and I noticed that the suspenion is extremely rusted. Just wondering if previous owner had alot of water accumulated in underbelly and didn't notice. I believe they wintered in Texas on the coast. I will put a slit in choroplast and drain and check again after driving in rain and after camping for a while. Thanks Rod for your fast response.

danemayer · Oct 1, 2016

bucketman said:
I tried taking one bolt out of the chloroplast and it snapped right off. I think that most of them will snap off as they are pretty rusty.

You'll do better with an impact wrench. And if you need to replace any, just get a comparably sized self-tapping screw and fender washer from the hardware store. A good 1/8" drill bit will make it easier to get the new screw in place.

rxbristol · Oct 1, 2016

danemayer said:
You'll do better with an impact wrench. And if you need to replace any, just get a comparably sized self-tapping screw and fender washer from the hardware store. A good 1/8" drill bit will make it easier to get the new screw in place.

Dan, will an impact driver work just as well? I'm contemplating between buying the driver or wrench.

danemayer · Oct 1, 2016

rxbristol said:
Dan, will an impact driver work just as well? I'm contemplating between buying the driver or wrench.

Rotational impact is what works.

bucketman · Oct 2, 2016

danemayer said:
Rotational impact is what works.

That is one tool I don't have and always thought about getting one. This gives me a great excuse to get one. What is the difference betwwen a impact driver and impact wrench. I have the one you can hit with a hammer. Is the driver the one you can get either electric or air?

danemayer · Oct 2, 2016

bucketman said:
That is one tool I don't have and always thought about getting one. This gives me a great excuse to get one. What is the difference betwwen a impact driver and impact wrench. I have the one you can hit with a hammer. Is the driver the one you can get either electric or air?

Someone else may have a better understanding of the differences, but I think the higher torque/heavier duty devices are called impact wrenches, and the lesser ones are called impact drivers. There's also a manual impact driver that you hit with a hammer.

For the underbelly self-tapping screws, you don't need the highest torque device. I carry a Sears multi-purpose tool with an impact attachment. It's similar to this B&D and has about 5 or 6 attachments. So I suppose it's an impact driver.

bucketman · Oct 2, 2016

danemayer said:
Someone else may have a better understanding of the differences, but I think the higher torque/heavier duty devices are called impact wrenches, and the lesser ones are called impact drivers. There's also a manual impact driver that you hit with a hammer.

For the underbelly self-tapping screws, you don't need the highest torque device. I carry a Sears multi-purpose tool with an impact attachment. It's similar to this B&D and has about 5 or 6 attachments. So I suppose it's an impact driver.

I will be picking one of those up. Do you think it will break loose lug nuts on a typical car, 100# of torque

danemayer · Oct 2, 2016

bucketman said:
I will be picking one of those up. Do you think it will break loose lug nuts on a typical car, 100# of torque

For lugnuts, I'd think you'd need a 1/2" drive with more torque.

sengli · Oct 2, 2016

You should think of that coroplast as a dust cover, not a water proof sealed area. I went as far as, putting in by hand, 1/4" holes in the lowest areas of mine so that when water does collect there it has hole to drain thru. The water flinging off the tires at 60 plus MPH has a lot of force and will blow by the coroplast pretty easy.

bucketman · Oct 2, 2016

sengli said:
You should think of that coroplast as a dust cover, not a water proof sealed area. I went as far as, putting in by hand, 1/4" holes in the lowest areas of mine so that when water does collect there it has hole to drain thru. The water flinging off the tires at 60 plus MPH has a lot of force and will blow by the coroplast pretty easy.

Great idea, Thanks

JohnD · Oct 2, 2016

Do you travel with more than a half tank of fresh water?

I've found that when I put more than half tank and travel (not very often), or when I fill up the fresh water tank to sanitize it, when water comes out of the overflow tubes I'll get some water inside of the coroplast.

It seems that the water dribbles out of the overflow tubes, then runs along the hose and into the underbelly.

I'm thinking about adding a shutoff valve on each overflow to prevent this.

jnbhobe · Oct 2, 2016

JohnD said:
Do you travel with more than a half tank of fresh water?

I've found that when I put more than half tank and travel (not very often), or when I fill up the fresh water tank to sanitize it, when water comes out of the overflow tubes I'll get some water inside of the coroplast.

It seems that the water dribbles out of the overflow tubes, then runs along the hose and into the underbelly.

I'm thinking about adding a shutoff valve on each overflow to prevent this.

My overflow lines come thru the cloroplast

bucketman · Oct 2, 2016

JohnD said:
Do you travel with more than a half tank of fresh water?

I've found that when I put more than half tank and travel (not very often), or when I fill up the fresh water tank to sanitize it, when water comes out of the overflow tubes I'll get some water inside of the coroplast.

It seems that the water dribbles out of the overflow tubes, then runs along the hose and into the underbelly.

I'm thinking about adding a shutoff valve on each overflow to prevent this.

I just did my first trip the other day and the tank was empty. This water could have been in there for months,,I only discovered when parking in driveway on a steep incline. It is drained now, so I will find out if I have a problem driving to Florida next month. It always rains on the way to Florida and back. HA HA

Mase · Dec 30, 2016

We took possession of our 2010 3670RL on Dec. 2, 2016. I am a full-timer and have been at a full hook-up campground since then, so I haven't used the 12 volt water system system yet. Today, I noticed water dripping from a small hole in the chloroplast under the basement area, which was very much sagged. I pushed up and that made the water slosh around. I made a larger hole with a screw driver at the lowest point and water began to pour out. The water was not clear, but only slightly cloudy and there was no smell. I thought about doing a taste test - NOT! I turned off the supply water and waited for all the water to drain out of the chloroplast. After letting it drain completely, I began testing by turning on the city supply and then running the sinks and shower, one at a time - no leak from hole in chloroplast during any of these tests. This must be a long term problem, maybe not even noticed by the previous owner, as the chloroplast remained very significantly sagged, even after the water completely drained out of the hole I made. So, here is what I am left with, without taking off the chloroplast:

1. One of my grey tanks is leaking. Does anyone know which sinks, etc. drain into Grey #1 and Grey #2? Do the grey tanks have an overflow at the top of the tank? I am of the school of leaving the grey tanks closed, so that I get a strong flow after draining the black to clean the sewer hose. My old 99 Sunnybrooke had a top overflow on the grey and it would overflow from the top once it got full.

2. Fresh water holding tank leaking or supply to holding tank leaking.

3. 12 volt water pump system leaking.

4. Leak in washer/dryer water system - supply or drainage.

5. Leak from black tank Sani-Flush city water supply plumbing.

6. As mentioned earlier in thread, it could be rain water as we did have significant rain over the Christmas weekend in Parker.

Regardless, none of the above is an emergency. I guess that I will have to take the chloroplast off to know for sure. I have the right tools and know how to do this. I already bought some extra self-tapping screws and washers. Any advice is appreciated. Does anyone know if there is fiberglass batt insulation above the chloroplast? Has anyone else experienced this problem?

Thanks, Mase

danemayer · Dec 30, 2016

Mase said:
We took possession of our 2010 3670RL on Dec. 2, 2016. I am a full-timer and have been at a full hook-up campground since then, so I haven't used the 12 volt water system system yet. Today, I noticed water dripping from a small hole in the chloroplast under the basement area, which was very much sagged. I pushed up and that made the water slosh around. I made a larger hole with a screw driver at the lowest point and water began to pour out. The water was not clear, but only slightly cloudy and there was no smell. I thought about doing a taste test - NOT! I turned off the supply water and waited for all the water to drain out of the chloroplast. After letting it drain completely, I began testing by turning on the city supply and then running the sinks and shower, one at a time - no leak from hole in chloroplast during any of these tests. This must be a long term problem, maybe not even noticed by the previous owner, as the chloroplast remained very significantly sagged, even after the water completely drained out of the hole I made. So, here is what I am left with, without taking off the chloroplast:

1. One of my grey tanks is leaking. Does anyone know which sinks, etc. drain into Grey #1 and Grey #2? Do the grey tanks have an overflow at the top of the tank? I am of the school of leaving the grey tanks closed, so that I get a strong flow after draining the black to clean the sewer hose. My old 99 Sunnybrooke had a top overflow on the grey and it would overflow from the top once it got full.

2. Fresh water holding tank leaking or supply to holding tank leaking.

3. 12 volt water pump system leaking.

4. Leak in washer/dryer water system - supply or drainage.

5. Leak from black tank Sani-Flush city water supply plumbing.

6. As mentioned earlier in thread, it could be rain water as we did have significant rain over the Christmas weekend in Parker.

Regardless, none of the above is an emergency. I guess that I will have to take the chloroplast off to know for sure. I have the right tools and know how to do this. I already bought some extra self-tapping screws and washers. Any advice is appreciated. Does anyone know if there is fiberglass batt insulation above the chloroplast? Has anyone else experienced this problem?

Thanks, Mase

Hi Mase,

It sounds like you've got a good handle on the possibilities. On your rig, the likely arrangement is the washer, bathroom sink and shower drain into gray #1. Kitchen sink drains into gray #2.

The gray tanks do not have an overflow, but if you overfill them, it's possible to flex the tank. If the drain pipe fitting is loose, you could get overflow. The front section of the rig is probably a drop-frame and probably has the gray #1 tank above that section. Gray #2 is probably just behind where the frame raises up. The fresh tank is usually close to the axles.

So it could be gray #1.

If you have tank heating pads, and the previous owner ran them on with empty tanks, the pad could have burned a hole in the tank, causing the leak. Don't ask me how I know this.

You can inspect the water pump connections and fittings without taking down the coroplast. The pump is behind the rear wall of the pass through storage, near the Universal Docking Center (UDC). That'll also give you access to most of the Pex fittings to see if you have a leak there. Carefully check the water heater output. A 2010 unit will probably have a plastic check valve on the top. It's not unusual to find a cracked check valve.
When you go to remove the screws that hold the coroplast, you'll find it pretty easy to tear off the heads if using a ratchet/socket wrench. An impact wrench will do much better.

Circle back around and let us know what you find.

mlpeloquin · Dec 30, 2016

I had gray water leak in the under belly. Drained it. It turned out to be the gray water valve. It was above the coroplast and was dripping from in between the valve seals. Replaced the seals which were smashed down from the gate valve. Problem solved.

Mase · Dec 30, 2016

danemayer said:
Hi Mase,

It sounds like you've got a good handle on the possibilities. On your rig, the likely arrangement is the washer, bathroom sink and shower drain into gray #1. Kitchen sink drains into gray #2.

The gray tanks do not have an overflow, but if you overfill them, it's possible to flex the tank. If the drain pipe fitting is loose, you could get overflow. The front section of the rig is probably a drop-frame and probably has the gray #1 tank above that section. Gray #2 is probably just behind where the frame raises up. The fresh tank is usually close to the axles.

So it could be gray #1.

If you have tank heating pads, and the previous owner ran them on with empty tanks, the pad could have burned a hole in the tank, causing the leak. Don't ask me how I know this.

You can inspect the water pump connections and fittings without taking down the coroplast. The pump is behind the rear wall of the pass through storage, near the Universal Docking Center (UDC). That'll also give you access to most of the Pex fittings to see if you have a leak there. Carefully check the water heater output. A 2010 unit will probably have a plastic check valve on the top. It's not unusual to find a cracked check valve.
When you go to remove the screws that hold the coroplast, you'll find it pretty easy to tear off the heads if using a ratchet/socket wrench. An impact wrench will do much better.

Circle back around and let us know what you find.

Thanks alot for the useful info. I now have my first homework assignment. Will let you know what I find - after I recover from the holidays - ha!

Bighorn55 · Jan 1, 2017

I had lots of water in my underbelly. 09 BH 3670. Spent two years trying to find the cause. In the end I got a hose and ran water on the roof watched it come down the back courners on both the curbside and driverside curl under the rig and onto the frame. I placed weather striping there to acted as a stop and have the water drop off. No more water in the underbelly! Hope I have explained well and it works for you also.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

Water in underbelly Big Horn 3670

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