Removing Our 2020’ Scamp 13’ Bench to Fix a Water Leak
https://scampgrounds.com/wp-content/themes/osmosis/images/empty/thumbnail.jpg 150 150 gavin gavin https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/99f9cd14e6ca957f921a5ace7d1dcdf0fccde566155f0e4da610ff0b7f10e2b0?s=96&d=mm&r=gRemoving Our 2020’ Scamp 13’ Bench to Fix a Water Leak
The fresh water sensor on our Garnet See Level II Tank Monitor stopped working while filling our Scamp 13′ 2020 trailer’s fresh water tank at the end of our latest California coastline adventure. We were in Oakland and used a Camco water tank fill hose attached to a hose to fill the tank. We often prefer to use our fresh water tank instead of having a city water hose connected at all times. This avoids having to turn the city water off at the spigot when leaving the trailer (for safety), avoiding a possible tripping hazard, and making it faster to leave the campsite the next day. During the fill in Oakland, the tank monitor changed from a numeric reading to OPEN. This usually indicates a problem with the sensor (e.g. it went bad or it became detached from the tank).
The fresh water tank in our 2020 Scamp 13’ is located under the passenger side fiberglass bench seat. To access the compartment, the first thing to do is to remove the seat cushions and the compartment access panel. Our tank monitor was firmly secured to the fresh water tank and looked fine. I then felt around on the inner bench seat floor and could feel the floor was wet. Unsure where the water was coming from and not able to clearly see inside the compartment as the access hatch is very small, I emptied the fresh water tank (using a lever inside the compartment which drains the fresh water underneath the trailer). I decided to wait a few days once home to work on the issue to let things dry out and give the tank monitor a chance to dry and work again after getting wet.
I called Scamp Trailers on the drive home and was told that the most likely scenario for the water leak was one of the hose clamps at the ends of the inner fill hose on the fresh water tank becoming loose. Because this area isn’t visible or accessible with the bench seat in place, I was advised to remove the bench. For most Scamp trailers, simply removing eight square #2 screws (5 on the top of the bench, 2 inside the bench on the floor, and one on the passenger door side inside a cabinet) will allow the bench to be lifted away. I used a square #2 impact bit, with a small electric screw driver to do the job (similar to this one). Before removing the bench, I made sure to undue the 12 volt electrical connections between the Propane / CO Alarm and the USB 12 VDC panel I added which are mounted to the bench. To make it fast, I previously installed the wiring using WAGO connectors which allow wires to easily be removed by unclipping each connector. I also used painters tape and color coded each wire so the wires weren’t confused when reinstalling (e.g. all the blue taped wires went to one connector and all the white tape wires went to the other).
I was easily able to remove the 5 top screws as well as the 2 screws inside the bench on the floor. However, the eighth left side screw wasn’t visible. I used a razor blade to scroll along the left side of the bench seat to cut open the white caulking. After all this was done, I tried to remove the bench, but it was still stuck to the left side (where there is a cabinet on our trailer). I looked inside the lower cabinet but didn’t see any screws. I couldn’t break the seal by rocking left and right, but I was successful when I rocked the bench front to back. It turned out that two inaccessible screws were screwed into a wood bar that was epoxied to the underside of the bench. But, there was no access to the heads of those screws. In any case, I removed the bench and moved it into the garage. This left the entire fresh water compartment wide open and easy to work on.
To diagnose where the water inside the bench compartment was coming from, I tried to reproduce the original leak by using the Camco water tank fill hose and a drinking water safe RV hose to fill the tank. The first thing I noticed was that the hose clamps were firmly in place and not loose. Next, I noticed the inner water hose was leaking in the center. After stopping the water, I had a helper inside the trailer inspect the hose while I pushed the Camco water tank fill hose into the trailer. She immediately noticed that the tip of the Camco fill hose was protruding through a significant slit in the inner fill hose. This would explain why filling the fresh tank with city water would overflow out onto the floor of the fresh water compartment. My guess is that the Camco fill hose was gradually wearing down the inner fill hose over the six years of using the trailer, eventually causing a rupture. Having found the issue was a big relief as being able to identify the cause of the problem is probably the biggest challenge in fixing a fresh water leak in a travel trailer. The Scamp Trailer repair tech told me other causes of water leaks in the fresh water tank compartment include breaks or seam separations in the plastic tank itself, cracks in the tank stems, or separation issues with connected pex hoses.
I ordered a replacement for the broken 1-1/4” inner fresh water fill hose online through R & P Carriages Trailer Parts (an Ebay seller which sells trailer supply parts). While I waited for the new hose to arrive, I prepared for the repair. I vacuumed the compartment area, as it hadn’t been cleaned since we purchased the trailer new six years ago. I then epoxied 3M Velcro tape to both the bar to which the two screws were attached and also the underside of the bench. This way, the bar could be pressed back to attach under the bench (since there is no access to the screws inside the cabinet). Lastly, I removed the existing inner fresh water fill hose – which, initially, proved very difficult to pull each end of the hose off their respective connecting flange / water inlet. To make it easy, I sawed the middle of the hose in half and easily pulled each off their flanges.
Once the new hose arrived I used a pex cutter tool to easily cut the hose to the correct length (I measured the old one at 6 ½”). Before installing the new hose, I trimmed a new fresh water fill hose (this one temporarily replaces the fresh water fill cap while filling the tank, attaching in the same place and keeps the hose from falling out). This new fill hose allows for the vinyl portion that goes into the tank to be cut short so it doesn’t contact the inner fill hose (preventing damage to the new fill hose). Installing the new inner fill hose was initially difficult – the hose diameter was very tight against both flanges. However, using a small RV hair dryer made the task super easy. After heating each end of the new hose for about ten seconds, the hose easily slipped right over the flange all the way to the farthest positions at the back of each flange on each end. Make sure to slip on the hose clamps before attaching the hose ends. It’s very important that each hose clamp rests flat against the hose all the way around. If the hose is clamped down and it is not completely flat against the hose then there could be gaps between the hose and the flange which might allow water leakage. Ensure that the hose clamp is very tight.
Once the repair is done and the water fill has been tested again to ensure no leaks, the bench can then be screwed back down into place inside the trailer by aligning the bench snugly against the wall and trying to align the same holes the screws originally went into. I moved the screws around a little until they easily went into the plywood under the bench. Once the bench is screwed down, it should feel very secure with no movement when gently pushing and pulling it from the freshwater compartment hatch opening. I didn’t bother re-caulking the side of the bench near the door as it is covered by the cushion (not visible) and there is a solid floor in the compartment underneath.
Whether your issue was related to a hose or other cause, it feels like a great accomplishment to make a successful repair.
Disclaimer: You will get the same great Amazon price by clicking on the links here compared to buying directly on Amazon, but by buying here you will also be supporting the continuation of this website as we get a small commission from each sale. These are products and procedures we use for our own Scamp that we selected and developed from our own research and experiences. However, we do not endorse any specific product and cannot guarantee that the products we use are exemplary and the procedures we use are complete, accurate, detail the correct recommended procedures, or apply to your model small travel trailer. It’s always best to double check with your manufacturer or operation manuals to ensure you are doing everything right.





























































































