diesel fuel in fresh water tank

[Short]

Has anybody ever experienced this? Any suggested fixes?

[dalej]

This has got to be a trick question!

I would not think that it's possible that could happen.... no wait, has the taco twins been close to the bus?

Sorry, I don't have a clue how this could of happened.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Ditto what Dale said.

The bus fuel system is tapped into by the generator, the Webasto (or Espar or Aquahot) if so installed, and of course the motor.

We can rule all of those out because none of them ever bring their fuel supply anywhere near or connected to the fresh water supply.

The only bus system cross contamination with the fresh water system is engine coolant or fluid breaching the heat exchanger into the house water system, but since the house water system is pressurized to a much greater amount than the engin e coolant system, the cross contamination would be the fresh water getting into the coolant.

[Ray Davis]

Could someone have put diesel into the fresh water fill spout? Would probably be evidence/stain in that area if that did happen.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

I've never seen a diesel fuel nozzle with a hose adapter. On my coach there is no way to "accidently" get fuel into the water. You not only need a hose connection, but you have to open a valve manually and then press a switch to open the electric fill valve.

As an alternative my bus has an expandible plug at the top that can be removed to add chlorox or even to fill from a hose, but a person needs to get into the bay, open the access door to the inside of the bay, actually know that plug is there, and to remove it which is a bit of a pain.

If fuel is in the system My guess is that step one has to be a full system drain. Second refill and flush with some soap or solvent that will emulsify the fuel so it can be carried away. Then that needs to be flushed with many rinses. But I wouldn't waste my time doing that until I knew the secret to how it got there in the first place.

[Ray Davis]

On Marathons, in the curb-side water bay there is a fresh water gravity fill. It could conceivably receive fuel, but as you've said, it seems a real long shot. I think my fill there is like plastic PVC, and I would think there would be evidence that diesel fuel had been introduced there.

The original post didn't seem to indicate whether there is a LOT of fuel in the water, or not.

[Joe Cannarozzi]

I will assume he has this issue.

If it plastic I would throw it out or sell it as a waste tank

If it is stainless I would search for info for a possible cleaning solution.

[flyu2there]

I would be looking for the prankster, just cannot happen.

John

[Short]

This is crazy to us as well! We just purchased this machine and after a supposedly thorough exam of all systems including the water system which included over 2 weeks of work and constant reassurance that "everything was in good shape now"we were sent on our merry way. Being completely novice and anxious to get going as well we would not in our wildest thinking imagined that they would send us off with contaminated water! When we noticed an awful smell, the owner of the company said, " well you should never drink water from a motor home tank and that smell is just because it has sat for a long time and needs to be flushed out." As we drove home the smell was overwhelming in the coach and of course we couldn't use the water for anything. We drained the tank and kept a jar for testing so we don't yet know the level of contamination, but there is an oily skim on the water and it is cloudy and the smell is very strong.
We wondered if anybody had any idea of what to do next or of an enzyme or anything that would help flush out the oil? Weird, huh?

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Diesel smell is almost impossible to make disappear. Just ask any of us that have had a diesel bath from fuel puking from our tanks during refueling.

If I had the problem I would experiment with almost all products that will emulsify diesel fuel and break it down so it mixes with water. As soon as I found one that would make the smell go away from a container like an old milk jug then I would use that product to fill and flush the water system. I still would want to know how it got in the system. Until I learned that I would not be spending a lot of time trying to clean the system. I would want to be sure that someone hasn't maliciously rigged up a way to cross contaminate the systems.

Never heard of anything so strange. We have had funky water in our tank and system and usually a chlorine sanitizing treatment makes it go away. Are you sure it is not water with an odor? Are you sure the anode in the hot water tank is not creating the odor? Is it diesel fuel for sure?