Fresh Water Drain Tap

After filling the fresh water tank on our 2010 Auto Sleeper Broadway I have noticed the drain tap drips when in the closed position. I haven't been able to look closely at the tap due to the weather so I don't know how the tap actually works! I'm not sure if there is a seal inside that may have perished or if the whole tap should be replaced.
Can anyone suggest what might be wrong? (I might replace the waste tap at the same time)
Many thanks

Yes I have the same problem. From my research on the forums it seems to be a common problem with these taps. It appears that the plastic is quite soft and any grit causes it to score and then drip. Some people are recommending replacing with a different type of tap, but I am going to replace it with the identical part which I have sourced from Peak Motorhome Accessories. I am just waiting for some nicer weather and will let you know how I get on. I also have a drip from the inspection cover on the freshwater tank and I am planning to do both jobs at the same time. I got a quote from Marquais to do both jobs, but they wanted £130 and two days to do it, so I decided to have a go myself.

Thanks for that. I have noticed from the various posts that others have replaced broken taps with ball type taps which is something I've thought about.
I will be interested to see how you get on, best of luck with the weather!

Hi,
I replased the last one with a slightly more expensive plastic barrel tap (£6.00 I think) from a home brew shop, instead of the long plastic lever which usually snaps off after a while.

The new one has a knob (for the want off a better word) on the tap like your taps at home, which is a quarter turn and works better in my opinion.
Pete

Thanks Pete. Sounds like there's all sorts to try I'll wait till the weather warms up before I have a look at the best one to go for.
Andy

I took advantage of yesterday's nice weather to replace the freshwater drain tap. The job was very straight forward and I didn't have any problems. The tap from Peak Motorhome Accessories was an exact duplicate to the original, so everything was in the right place. All the fittings are push fit, but as they had been previously sealed with some black gunky stuff, I cleaned them all up and re-sealed with some CT1 sealant as recommended elsewhere on this forum. Because of the old sealant it was necessary to take off the length of pipe as well as the tap and then re-seal both joints. You need to be careful that you don't disturb the fitting on the tank. Anyway best of luck Milhouse. I am now trying to solve my other drip problem, from the tank, but I don't think that is going to be so easy.

Well done you, I still haven't decided which fitting to use yet still researching! I might get chance to look at it this week as we are going away shortly so hopefully the weather stays good.
Thanks for the info about the tank, I will let you know how I get on.

On my 2011 Nuevo the fresh water drain tap was the plastic beer barrel type which was held in place by a metal sring clip. This was as it was from the factory and not at all satisfactory.
The trouble was they had made a cut out so I bought one of these stainless steel covers for the hole on a bird box which was just about right after enlarging the hole a bit and bending it a bit. I then fitted a proper ball valve after cutting a bit off the lever and refitting the plastic sleeve. Two of the holes in the plate were in the correct position so I only had to drill 2 more and fit it with stainless steel button head machine screws.

The pop rivets showing above the plate are where the spring clip had been fitted by A/S.

Quite pleased with the result and here are the photos.

Neat job mm and a good flow, judging by the 2nd photo.
Just wondering, are the machine head screws only into the skirt or have you reinforced by using a backing plate of some sort?

nuevoboy wrote:Neat job mm and a good flow, judging by the 2nd photo.
Just wondering, are the machine head screws only into the skirt or have you reinforced by using a backing plate of some sort?

Hi nuevo boy the machine screws are into the skirt but the skirt thickness is quite good and I have put big penny stainless steel washers behind with spring washers and nuts. Behind there is an aluminium bracket which supported the original spring clip and I simply bent this upwards out of the way to fit the washers and nuts. Once it is all fitted it is really strong and there s no movement on the skirt when the lever is moved.
The stainless steel bird box plate is surprisingly thick.

The plate I got on eBay and just noticed they do 28mm and 32mm hole. I cannot remember which one I got but may have been the smaller as I had to file the hole bigger. Just measure the diameter of the ball valve first! Link below.


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/28mm-Diameter-Entrance-Hole-Stainless-Steel-Bird-Nest-Box-Cover-Plate-/370799263280?pt=UK_Home_Garden_Garden_Plants_Bird_Bath_Feeder_CV&hash=item56555bbe30

Or

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/32mm-Diameter-Entrance-Hole-Stainless-Steel-Bird-Nest-Box-Cover-Plate-/360640663732?pt=UK_Home_Garden_Garden_Plants_Bird_Bath_Feeder_CV&hash=item53f7dbd0b4


The top 2 holes in the plate I drilled out to suit my machine screws and the other end with the point I bent the point over and flattened it then I bent it again before the tapers at 45 degrees so it more or less matches the underneath line of the skirt. Could not have been better for the job. I did find that the existing pipe was a fraction short so had to fit a new piece and took the opportunity to replace the jubilee clips with stainless steel ones.

It does have a good fast flow of water when you release the valve!