Servicing the Service Panel

My 2011 Serenity has decided to start leaking water from around the fill valve. It appears to be related to one of the plastic fittings that is threaded into the fill valve. Now for the problem... how on earth does one get at those fittings? The fill valve is attached to the plastic service panel with a pop-riveted strap. Even if I drill out the rivets and remove the strap I still won't be able to get into the little space to do any work on the valve. The service panel itself is screwed and riveted to the underbody frame, and the black tank is right behind the panel. Do you drill out the rivets and remove the panel? Do you drop the black tank? This looks like a little job turning into a much bigger job. I am contemplating cutting out the part of the panel that holds the fill valve, but I am worried making it look good afterwards. Any guidance would be helpful.

Thanks
David

Yikes. Always wondered about that. I have found that much of the way the Serenity is constructed has to be undone to get to the first things added. I was asking about removing the AC shroud inside and was told I needed to start by removing the refrigerator cabinet and work backward. So probably dropping the black tank is required.

I did have a leak of my grey water tank and spoke to an RV mechanic who suggested spin welding a new nozzle on. I didn't know how to do that but I figured that black zip ties seemed to be the same material, so I used a soldering iron to melt them into the seam. It took a lot of zip ties, but it seems to have stopped the leaking. Doesn't look bad at all. Just makes me worry about how much effort it would be to unhook the black tank so you could get behind it to fix a leak.

I was afraid that might be the answer. I can see the valve (and the leaking fitting) from inside the wheel well. I am going to try undoing a few fasteners and see if I can loosen things enough to get tools on the right parts. I need the Snap-on version of an arthroscopic surgery kit.

It's all a bit of a nuisance. The fitting that is leaking is on the pressurized side of the ball valve. It leaks whenever the pump is turned on. I never use the rig hooked up to mains water, so I could solve the problem by removing everything and plugging the pipe. Maybe a I can drill an access hole in a strategic location and do a valve-ectomy.

It turns out the the job is possible without major tearing apart. The ball valve is accessible through a gap in the wheel well. I was able to undo things one at a time, each time I undid something it made the next thing accessible.
- Undo the tube on the tank fill side of the valve.
- Drill out the pop rivets holding the valve to the plastic panel
- Undo the screws on the hose inlet fitting
- undo the hose inlet from the ball valve
- Undo the tube on the house plumbing

Viola, the ball valve is free.

Fix and reverse the procedure.

Pics or it didn't happen

The thought of taking pictures occurred just a little too late in the process. Here are a couple of pre-repair pictures.

This image shows the back of the ball valve through the small gap in the rear-left fender well. The closest tube is the supply to the fresh tank. Hidden in behind is the tube to feed the house plumbing system (the one that was leaking on my Serenity). Once I removed the first tube, I was able to move it out of the way to get at the second tube. Hidden in the shadows at the bottom of the ball valve is the water inlet hose fitting. It has a brass coupling with a hex profile so you can grip it with tools.



This image shows the fasteners on the outside. The pop rivets that hold the valve are in the little inset where the valve handle is located. The inlet fitting has a white plastic flange that is screwed to the plastic with Robertson head sheet metal screws. As a patriotic Canadian, I have a full collection of Robertson screwdrivers.


Cheers
David

Yeah, I always get so wrapped up in what I am doing too. Thanks for the good explanation anyway.