Fresh Water Tank Drain Valve Issue - Please help!

[Andyo]

Hi there,

New to this community today.

We recently purchased a 2021 Grand Cali 600 but haven’t been able to use it yet. Firstly, I noticed a leak beneath the bathroom cupboard, which has now been addressed. Further to that, I’ve filled the water tank and noticed it won’t fill beyond ~20L.

It looks like the black rotary wheel on top of the water tank may have been overturned at some point as it’s just turning loosely in both anti clockwise and clockwise positions. I’m guessing this means a stripped thread somewhere in the section where the metal rod connects at the bottom of the tank. I have searched the web but can’t seem to find the part I need to replace. Looks fairly bespoke.

We’re due to go away on a tour of Scotland in 2 weeks so need to get this fixed asap. Can anyone please advise? Any help much appreciated.

Thank you

 

[maxtorque]

i "think" that the 20l fill is a weight limitation thing. The 600 is right on it's allowable weight limit and i seem to remember there's a sticking on the tank that basically suggest you must open the tap before driving to ensure the tank is only 20l full. Not totally sure on this, sure oneone else can chime in who knows more.

Anyway, i suspect you won't be able to replace just the drop valve on it' sown that easily, not sure who makes the tanks in the GC, probably stamped on them somewhere, but VW would almost certainly replace the entire tank, which would be expensive and a real PITA to do. If you are in a hurray, i'd just physically block the outlet or inlet to the drain tube, use a balloon or rubber cap (you can buy silicon pipe caps on ebay / amazon etc of various diameters)......

 

[maxtorque]

"sticker" on the tank, not sticking! ie a label on the top next to the valve wheel

 

[Hammer]

the emptying valve on the water tank has two levels, if the start with fully closed valve no water should drain, if you then open the valve until you fell a small amount of resistance this is the 20% level. if the then keep turning it will then dump all the water.
Firstly check the valve is fully closed clockwise, if water still leaks ever the seal has gone or there is something blocking the seal. Maybe try opening and closing the vale few times to see if it clear it.

 

[Andyo]

The valve insert has failed.

After a lot of faff, I managed to remove the failed valve insert from beneath the spindle housing shown in previous pic. It turns out Reich supply the valve inserts to VW but apparently you cannot purchase the item on its own, it comes as part of a drain valve assembly from Reich, I’ll post below.

I have ordered one and will strip out the insert when it arrives, hopefully this should be a push fit item that fits into the bayonet thread at the bottom of the fresh water tank.

Took a lot of time and photos posted to Copilot & Chat GPT to get this far but hopefully this works. The ‘fix’ appears to be quite consistent across both platforms so let’s see

I couldn’t take another long lead time via VW. This part costs less than £20 too so low risk.

I’ll keep you posted. Images show failed insert (minus o rings and spring - these were loose within the spindle housing) and the replacement part I’ve ordered which apparently contains a suitable insert replacement from Reich. Hope this doesn’t happen to anyone else. My arms are long and even I struggled to reach and remove the insert from the bottom of the tank - needed long pliers to pull & engage some tension on the bayonet to enable screw to turn anti clockwise..

Wish me luck

 

[Andyo]

PS excuse the condition of this water tank. It’s not my mess as I haven’t used it yet but will be fully sterilising the tank and pipes as soon as this is sorted

 

[Andyo]

i "think" that the 20l fill is a weight limitation thing. The 600 is right on it's allowable weight limit and i seem to remember there's a sticking on the tank that basically suggest you must open the tap before driving to ensure the tank is only 20l full. Not totally sure on this, sure oneone else can chime in who knows more.

Anyway, i suspect you won't be able to replace just the drop valve on it' sown that easily, not sure who makes the tanks in the GC, probably stamped on them somewhere, but VW would almost certainly replace the entire tank, which would be expensive and a real PITA to do. If you are in a hurray, i'd just physically block the outlet or inlet to the drain tube, use a balloon or rubber cap (you can buy silicon pipe caps on ebay / amazon etc of various diameters)......

Thanks for the advice. Not a bad shout to bung the outlet with a stopper as a last resort but I never give up that easily.

No problems, only solutions

 

[PaulGC680]

Hi Andyo
Scotland is one of our favourite destinations so I am sure once you get the tank seal sorted - you will have a great time.
Thanks for not only reaching out but doing so with lots of support information. Once you get your new Reich valve, keep us all posted if opening it up and getting the required seal out, is the solution.
And then, of course, a Scotland trip follow up.
We are off to Oban area at end of April.
Paul

 

[Andyo]

Right!

So that Reich uniquick 12mm valve arrived and I didn’t even open it as could see straight away that Chat GPT and Copilot had (inadvertently) sent me on a bum steer. It was clearly too small to house the required white drain valve insert cartridge. Had a quick look on Reich’s website to see similar items and raised a query with their customer support but no message back as yet.

Also, spoke to a smashing guy at VW Commercial parts in Liverpool, Tony. He was quite helpful and I’ve ordered a replacement part on 7-10 working days. It comes as a complete drainage kit for around £73 (I think), including the spindle etc., which I don’t really need. This probably won’t arrive in time for our trip but I figure it’ll be a handy spare otherwise.

In the meantime, I’ve actually managed to repair the failed item. Within the black spindle housing, I was able to recover the o-rings and a spring, as well as a busted E-Clip following the part failure.

See image of busted E Clip and replacement (I had a set lying around - note these are also commonly used on Dometic wind out awnings ). Anyway, I managed to repack the drain valve as follows: Coil spring, white plastic bottom end from spindle housing, black and white o-ring seal, metal ring, compress all this together and then insert E Clip into the small channel to hold it all in place. I’ve refitted this, connected up the spindle housing on top (twisted back onto its bottom end) and reconnected the spindle. Filled tank with water and hey presto, as fate would have it, she’s holding water

Sorry I didn’t take a photo of the repaired drain valve before refitting as I was skeptical I’d rebuilt it correctly..

I hope this doesn’t happen to anyone else, do be careful not to overturn your black rotary valves they’re not designed for high pressure. If it fails, you may be lucky like myself and a simple E-Clip replacement to hold the spring and O-rings in place might do the trick. Otherwise, ping me a message, I may still have the spare set I’ve just bought to sell on as a quicker solution than VW. I can’t bring myself to cancel the VW order just in case my repair work fails at some point.

Best wishes camper fans

 

[PaulGC680]

Great you fixed it.

When you have a moment the it would be great to have the part number of the VW ‘drainage kit’ you have on order.
Thus when our local parts person, less knowledgeable or less helpful ( or both !) we can just order it.
Paul

 

[Andyo]

Great you fixed it.

When you have a moment the it would be great to have the part number of the VW ‘drainage kit’ you have on order.
Thus when our local parts person, less knowledgeable or less helpful ( or both !) we can just order it.
Paul

Hi Paul,
I’ll confirm as soon as I know it. It’s not noted on the email I’ve received but I’ve requested Tony at VW Parts to confirm.

Cheers

 

[PaulGC680]

Hi Paul,
I’ll confirm as soon as I know it. It’s not noted on the email I’ve received but I’ve requested Tony at VW Parts to confirm.

Cheers

Thanks
I imagine the part number will be on the invoice, when you get the part.