I bought a 1989 Fireball 5th wheel & finally ran water in to check the freshwater tank.
It leaks underneath like a waterfall. The owner lied to me about there being no leaks. I'm stuck with it and have very little money for repair. Underneath there are 2 big holes in the covering where the water runs out, I felt in there with my hand & can't find a hole in the tank but that is where water is coming out. I live near Seattle any Ideas of where to go or what I can do or names of repair guys? Thank you all so much...Jolowenthal

How about looking in the phone book for an RV Dealer.Most have repair facilities. Welcome to the forum.

Hi,
Thanks for the suggestion. I don't have a truck to haul it to a dealer,
so I am looking for people to come here. Or how to get into the tank
myself to see where the leak is any ideas. Thanks so much for the
welcome & for answering my question.
..Jolowenthal

Our coach had a leak in the fresh water tank. Depending on the size of the hole, you might be able to repair it yourself. My husband used a gas tank repair kit to repair ours. He purchased the kit from a local automotive parts dealer. Just make sure you let it dry real well before you do it.

Try draining the tank until the water stops leaking..... One of our friends had a 5th wheel that would leak if he filled the freshwater tank over 3/4 full. The leak was a crack in the side of the tank and no matter what he tried to fix it with, the tank would crack after a couple of trips. So he just filled the tank about halfway. Another possibility is an overfilled tank. Ours has a relief valve on top so if we over fill it the valve will release the pressure. Water will leak for about an hour if we over fill the tank. The bottom covering and insulation around the tank makes it difficult to locate the leak. Repairs usually require the bottom covering and insulation around the tank to be removed, then find the leak and use a patching compound to repair depending what type of leak. Drain the tank and make sure where the repair needs to be is completely dry. If it's around the fill or drain you'll need to use a fabric to provide a sound repair base for the compound. Usually a good silcone sealant will work and keep the repair flexible. If it's a hole, use some like heavy plastic and fabric to make a patch. I've even seen the patch riveted onto the tank and then covered with silcone sealant.

Most of these tanks are made of plastic so look for someone advertising "plastic welding" to repair it.

Edit: I just realized you said Seattle.  There is a quality RV repair place in Fife just behind the Flying J that might be able to help.  You go down the road the trucks come back out of Flying J and you will be looking at them.  I wish I could remember the name of the place, but they fixed our fiberglass on our old motorhome after an accident.


-- Edited by bjoyce on Monday 24th of August 2009 07:37:30 PM

It does happen that previous owners are much less than forthcoming. It happened to me... Anyhow, you're in Seattle, so there are lots of marine supply houses. Call one, ask about West System Epoxy. Stuff is great! It's meant for boat hull repair, so it did just fine on my old fiberglass Travco.