After many attempts to stop the holding tank from leaking, I finally decided to pull it and either fix it or replace it. The dedication of the Barth installers made it an easy decision. The two gray water and single toilet pipes were mounted in flanges that were mounted to the top of the tank, with everything being glued and sealed to space shuttle specifications. So now the tank is out and of course totally destroyed and I have to order a new tank. Does anyone know how to set up the intake pipes with a rubber seal or something so that when I install the new tank i can raise it into position and make satisfactory connections to the pipes without gluing them? My next stop is to a dealer who specializes in holding tanks and I'll ask him the same thing when I order the new one, but I thought I'd throw it out to you guys also.

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Dan & Suzy Z
'81 Euro 28

I had to drop my black water tank to access a leaking fuel filler hose. Had to cut the bottom out of the tank compartment, jimmy the tank out, replace the filler hose, repair some cracks in the tank, & stuff it all back in. Easier said than done.

My toilet flushed straight into the tank, so that was removed to ease access & replacement. The vent was another matter, as it was inaccessible from inside. When replacing the tank, I had to jigger the tank around until I was sure the vent entered the hole in the top.

As it was, the vent pipe depressed the top of the tank some, with no way to push it back up. The toilet was simpler. Both the toilet pipe and the vent pipe went througn rubber collars. I lubricated them to make 'em go in easier, and liberally sealed the pipe from the toilet.

Though I couldn't do anything to seal the vent, it seems to be working, but it will stink when the tank is nearly full.

It's not over-engineering, it's just your standard design it to make it easy & quick to build, and never consider that some day it might need to be repaired. It's what they call planned obsolescence.

I haven't done a Barth tank, but maybe this might help: On previous RVs, I dropped the old tank, removed the toilet and loosened the clamps that held the vents and pushed them up. Sometimes, I had to remove some bathroom sink plumbing. I painted the ends of the vents or drains that I had pushed up with slow drying white paint. I then raised the new tank into position, allowing the painted ends to mark their positions on the tank top. I also painted ends of similar sized pipes to stick down and mark the bathroom toilet, sink plumbing or whatever. I then removed the tank and cut the holes for the pipes and the rubber seals.

Then I pushed back down the pipes I had pushed up and chamfered the edges so they would slide in the new seals. I like to cut a collar from a coupling to make a sleeve for the vent tubes and glue them one inch above the end so they don't go in too far. Then lube everything up and install the tank, then the toilet pipe and whatever else goes in afterward.