Removing underbelly cover to fix leak?

[microm3gas]

After our Freeze was over here in Tx I pulled my trailer out of storage to prepare for a trip. It looks like I may have failed my winterization sadly. I blew out the lines but did not use antifreeze, so now I am dealing with a leak.

I have a 2450 RL and is leaking underneath the kitchen area, where the lines seem to run to the sink. Or it could be the line running to the outside water connection, but seems to be further back than that. I have a call in to mobile techs who are scheduled to come out.

My concern is should I drop the underbelly for them so they do not cut a hole in it? I know there was water running so should I expect to replace insulation? Is therea good thread to read through? I am searching around but haven't found that yet.

 

[packman055]

I just went through a similar problem with my 2017 Imagine 2500 RL while on the road. The 90* fitting on my quick connect separated. Luckily there is an access hole right where the loose line was and it just leaked the water into the belly area. To compound an on the road issue, one of my gray tank valves was stuck.
I cut access to the valve and drained the water that had settled on the low spots on the coroplast. When finished, I used Gorilla tape to reseal the "panels" when finished. Zero issues in the 1000 mile trip since.
When you open up the belly, however you end up doing it, be aware you may have more of a birds nest of wiring and hoses than is easy for one person to easily button up.
It appears that these units are truly built from the ground up and much of the wiring, etc. is just laid on the coroplast under belly during construction/assembly.
And there was minimal insulation under mine, mostly around the corners of the tanks.

 

[jkwilson]

You aren’t likely to find any insulation under there.

Dropping the coroplast to work on the middle of the trailer can be a big job. You end up having to move a lot of coroplast because what you have dropped is in the way. Every penetration is foamed or siliconed, so you need to break those loose and then reseal them later. So if you do it, you’ll save the tech a lot of time.

Some others have put a seam across the belly near the middle of their trailer. I have a framing member across the trailer near the middle and will probably make a seam there when/if I have to get into the middle. I’m thinking of attaching aluminum flat stock on both sides of the cut that overlap the seam and screwing through both of those to the framing member where the coroplast is currently attached. This would give me a good physical attachment and an airtight seal.

 

[powerscol]

After our Freeze was over here in Tx I pulled my trailer out of storage to prepare for a trip. It looks like I may have failed my winterization sadly. I blew out the lines but did not use antifreeze, so now I am dealing with a leak.

I have a 2450 RL and is leaking underneath the kitchen area, where the lines seem to run to the sink. Or it could be the line running to the outside water connection, but seems to be further back than that. I have a call in to mobile techs who are scheduled to come out.

My concern is should I drop the underbelly for them so they do not cut a hole in it? I know there was water running so should I expect to replace insulation? Is therea good thread to read through? I am searching around but haven't found that yet.

I would go ahead and drop it. Off is easy - putting it back on can be frustrating. To get it on, use a board placed front to back in the center and jack up the belly fabric. With it tight against the trailer in the center you can get the old screw holes to line up. Work from side to side. Do 1 or 2 on one side, the go over to the other

 

[microm3gas]

thanks, that's a helpful tip for getting it back on for sure.

 

[Kevin harman]

I opened up my 2800bh tonight - it’s pretty open under there -> the wires and piping laying around is interesting. The odd part was the silver insulation blanket -> it was all crumpled and not secured -> is that space blanket supposed to be secured or how is it laid out under the trailer - it seemed to just be bunched up and didn’t seem to be installed with much sense -> I opened the front of the trailer -> just below the master bed after the storage area

 

[wudwork]

When I replaced my tank valves, I took out all cloroplast screws from axles to rear. I then rolled up cloroplast, kinda tight, and put that over the rear axle. That left the entire back section of trailer open and made it easy to access valves. I also tie-wrapped the dangling wires and made sure the tank sensor wires were loose.

About the silver insulation bunched up. I did that exact thing when I was chasing a leak. Once resolved, I pulled it back into position, taped it then put cloroplast screws back in.

After you have bottom all screwed in:

Cloroplast:

• HERE is the spray foam GD uses to seal around pipes
• Best if you use THIS gun.
• HERE is the "scrim" tape I used, just wipe bottom with alcohol and this sticks very well.

 

[Kevin harman]

Looking for some picture of the space blanket installed in the underbelly - any pictures a member can share? Ideally a few in order if that makes sense

 

[wudwork]

When I got my leak issue resolved (black tank valve, gasket problem) I "just" dragged out the blanket (from over the axles) and pulled it to each rear-most corner then taped it with scrim tape. That was just to hold it in place. I then taped a few places along length of trailer. I then put the cloroplast back up. I found it really helps if you can use a bottle jack. If you can, take a big piece of plywood and balance it on the jack then pump it up. If it goes well, it will hold the cloroplast up in the center. Now you can put screws back in. When you are done, the blanket simply lays on top of clorplast.