Wednesday, May 11, 2011 - Bushnell IL

Lazy Daze Structural Repair, September 22, 2007

Oh shit... part 4

See Monday's and Tuesday's posts for parts 1, 2 and 3 of this messy story.

I've been thinking some more about that slow drip drip drip from my patch of the ground away front edge of the black tank. You can see in the picture above that the front edge, where the patch is, is a couple of inches above the outlet - there must be quite a bit of stuff still in the tank to raise the level high enough to leak from the patch. That jibes with the 15% reading on the tank level gage. Hmmm.... how can there be that much stuff still in there?

Looking for supplies and options

I spent the day bopping across rural Iowa and Illinois with an eye peeled for a hardware store where I could replenish my stock of emergency repair supplies, in particular an RV dealer who might have a roll of that incredibly useful Eternabond roof sealing tape in stock and some advise on how to deal with this leaky tank.

Eventually an RV dealership rolled into view in Bushnell IL. They weren't very helpful but they did have a partial roll of Eternabond tape to sell me, and when I described my situation, suggested I stop at the radiator shop down the road. They do plastic welding on radiator tanks and might be able to help me. So I head off to the radiator shop, a place that gives me feelings of competence in a get-it-working rural farming community kind of way. The proprietor says yes, maybe it can be done, but that he needs tank out of the rig to stand it on end so he can dry the area inside where the weld will be. He can't guarantee it - it might or might not work. Could he end up making the tank leak worse than it does now? Yes, and suggested a new tank might be a better way to go. He'd be happy to help me any way he could.

It looks like I have some research to do so I thank him and head off to the local campground to think this through. Taking that black tank out looks like a big messy job at best and I'm not sure I want to go there right now if success is in doubt and maybe, just maybe a new tank can be had.

Once I get settled in amidst a violent blow from a passing thunderstorm I call Lazy Daze to see if they have any experience with welding the plastic tanks and to see if a new tank might still be available for this 19 year old rig. And to learn how the waste pipe from the toilet is joined to the tank - something I need to know before I tackle the job of dropping the tank.

Vince tells me the waste pipe joint is a simple slip fit into a flexible flange, just like the vent pipe. And no, they have never seen a tank successfully welded. He suggests a new tank - they still use the same tank on the current mid bath model but the locations of the holes for the flanges have changed. And no, they don't have a record of where the holes would be on my old rig. Will he install the flanges in a new blank tank for me if I send him the dimensions? No, he won't trust that - he wants the old tank side by side with the new one. Right...

An internet search didn't turn up a stock tank that has a sloping section to reach back over the wheel well and catch the incoming waste pipe from the toilet. Gawd how I dislike custom components - reminds me of the old BMW motorcycles I used to ride - everything was custom and even simple broken parts were unobtanium on the road.

So, welding is iffy (personally I think it can be done - and that I can do it myself if I have the tank out and have the time to gather the tools and learn the tricks) and a new tank is problematical but doable - given some time. I need time. I think I'm going to skip this welding opportunity and make do for a while - the temporary tank support seems to be solid and the leak is slow. I can live with it a while.

Night camp

Site 30 - Timberview Lakes Campground, Bushnell IL

• Verizon cell phone and EVDO service - good signal
• Locate Timberview Lakes Campground on my Night Camps map
• Check the weather here