Date:         Wed, 3 Sep 2003 21:37:26 -0700
Reply-To:     Martin Haggblom-Payne <martinhp@PIPELINE.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Martin Haggblom-Payne <martinhp@PIPELINE.COM>
Subject:      water system question
In-Reply-To:  <200309031836.19UGf77jJ3Nl3qa0@aaron.mail.atl.earthlink.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Back from our first trip in the new(1984) westy.  Went down to Big Sur and
Monterey over 5 days.  Had a blast and the Westy performed great.  With one
small exception...  Getting things ready the night before the trip I filled
the water tank and proceeded to finish packing.  After about an hour I
flipped on the battery meter to make sure battery was fine(was using
interior lighting to enable packing) and saw that the water level was down
to the second level???  Walked around side of van thinking perhaps I hadn't
properly sealed the drain plug and noticed that water was leaking out of van
between the body seams--drain plug was properly tight.  Quickly drained
remainder of water, opened all cabinets and windows to facilitate
drying/venting, and discarded all thoughts of using water system during the
trip.

Also, didn't try using city water system as I was uncertain how it interacts
with the tank system and didn't want to mess with any other problems away
from home.  With city water does the water bypass the tanks system and go
directly to the faucet? Are the two tied together only through sharing the
faucet and sink?

Home now and ready to start thinking about a fix for this.  I'm assuming I
have to pull the entire cabinet/tank to see where the leak is?  I didn't see
any obvious stream of water from the tank when inspecting that night.
Didn't seem to come out from the section where all the wiring lives(little
secret compartment).  Can you just pull this section or do I have to pull
all cabinets/stove unit to gain access?  Even if I don't have to pull all,
should I, to ensure no standing water/damage?

Couple of items to note.  PO had not used the interior stove(it's fine-boils
water/perks coffee just great) or water system (according to them ever).
They were uncertain if Fridge would work in 110 or 12V as they had only used
in LP gas mode(works great in all 3).  I had put water in tank just after
purchase, confirmed that pump worked well and then drained the tank as I had
no need to travel around town with all that water.

I would certainly appreciate any help or suggestions from anyone.

Thanks,

Martin Haggblom-Payne
84 Westy
Walnut Creek, Ca