silver25 Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 I appear to have a leak in/around my truma drain tap in the underbed area. However, if I unscrew the base plate it stops, so it is only leaking when it is screwed to the floor. Am I right in thinking I need a new drain tap assembly (it is yellow) and if so, where is the best place to purchase and is it easy to fit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepe63xnotuse Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 Hi Is it leaking from the tap itself?.. or from one of the joints?.. Is the pipe/tap under stress,which is then made worse,when it's screwed down?.. Could you leave the screws, eased-off,meaning the pipe/tap would be sitting "unstressed"? The taps are available from loads of places online though.... ...is it this one? http://www.leisureshopdirect.com/caravan/electric/product_25494/Safety_valve_and_drain_tap_for_Truma_Boilers.aspx There's a couple more on here.. http://www.partsforcaravans.com/www.partsforcaravans.coms/info.php?p=6&cat=76265 There does seem to be various types though..I'm sure someone "in the know" will be along soon... ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 silver25 There are two types of Truma manually-operated drain-valve likely to be found in a motorhome. These are pictured as the first and third entries on the following webpage: http://www.miriad-products.com/section.php?xSec=65&xPage=3 Entry 1 (Part Number 70141-02 – Boiler safety drain valve) This drain-valve has ‘barbed’ connectors intended for the type of flexible hose generally used on Continental-built motorhomes. The hose is pushed on to the ‘barb’ and a jubilee-clip is tightened around the hose to make the joint watertight. Removing the hose from the valve's barbs may prove tricky and, in such a case, judiciously warming the end of the hose (eg. with a hair drier) may help. (If all else fails, it may be necessary to cut the hose from the barbs, which may cause problems if existing hose lengths are short.) Similarly, warming the end of the hose should help when installing a new valve. It’s often advised that jubilee-clips are not re-used, so if existing clips show any signs of damage or corrosion they should be replaced with good quality stainless-steel ones. Jubilee-clips should not be over-tightened. Entry 3 (Part Number 70142-05 – ABO J/G drain valve 12mm (new) This drain-valve has push-fit (John Guest) connectors designed to accept the 12mm diameter semi-rigid plastic hose that is often used on UK-built motorhomes. The end of the semi-rigid hose is pushed into the female connector that contains a ‘collet’ that firmly grips the hose and makes a watertight joint. Disconnection of the hose involves firmly pushing (and holding in) the exposed part of the collet (ie, the black ‘ring’ on the outermost end of the connector) towards the valve’s main body and then pulling the hose in the opposite direction. If the existing valve’s connectors have a protective ‘cap’ covering the exposed end of the collet, that cap will need to be prised off before the hose can be disconnected. Each drain-valve has a drain-tube through which the water is led downwards to below the motorhome. It’s good practice to cut the bottom end of the drain-tube at an angle of 45°, ensuring that the angled cut faces towards the rear of the vehicle. This minimises the chances of the tube becoming blocked with road debris. If the tube is already cut to an angle, then make sure that the cut will face in the correct direction after the valve has been installed. The ease of replacing a drain-valve will depend on which valve you’ve got (the John Guest connector valve should be easier to replace than the barbed type) and the available access (probably not too bad when the drain-valve is beneath the bed). As pepe63 says, there are plenty of suppliers (GOOGLE on “Truma drain valve”). You say that the valve only leaks when it’s screwed to the motorhome’s floor. I agree with pepe63 that this may be due to the valve being stressed when it’s screwed down. It’s possible that the valve’s hold-down screws are being over-tightened, or that the valve’s lower ‘body’ catches on the hole through the floor when it’s screwed down and warps the plastic body. There’s no need to screw the drain-valve very tightly to the floor, so if you tighten the base-plate’s fixing screws just enough to hold the valve in place and it doesn’t leak you may not need a replacement. If the valve's lower body interferes with the hole through the floor, you'll need to modify the hole to gain clearance or move the valve sufficiently that its lower body is no longer touching the edges of the hole. Having said that, if you’ve owned the motorhome for a while and know that the valve never leaked until recently, then it would probably make sense to replace it. Mechanisms that were functioning OK, but then stop doing this, rarely get magically better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silver25 Posted January 13, 2012 Author Share Posted January 13, 2012 Thank you for your replies. It is an 08 Autotrail which we bought in August 2011 so it's not that old. I will do as you suggest and leave the screws slightly loose to relieve any pressure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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