Broken water fill pipe in lower cabinet under sink.

pthomas745

Pictures below show the water tank fill PVC elbow completely separated from the pipe.  I'm not sure when this happened.  I have been on some bumpy roads recently, but I don't remember anything that might have shattered a pipe in this way.  I thought something in the cabinet could have flown around and helped this along, but nothing in there had enough heft.  And, it seems the vent pipe next to the PVC would provide some protection.  The pipe coming down from the water inlet is strapped to the side of the cabinet.  The pipe going down into the water tank, however, has some give to it and moves about a quarter of an inch or so.

Any ideas on an "easy" repair?  I know to do this properly would involve cutting the pipes, etc.  That may be a little beyond my skill set.  I did discover that the water fill from this area is much easier than having to balance a water container over the drippy fresh water tank inlet on the outside of the trailer. 

PS: the discolored cabinet is not water, but the leftovers from the unfortunate Olive Oil Incident from several years ago.

vhollow

A grinder with a cutting blade would work well to tidy up the two pipe ends, and shorten them as needed. A plunge saw (variable oscillating tool) would also work well. Finally, a hack saw, either bow style, or one with just the blade supported by the handle (made for tight spaces) would also work, since you are just cutting plastic. I would get a new 90 degree fitting, and glue two pieces of pipe into it, each protruding an inch and a half or so. I would buy two rubber repair sleeves, the kind that have clamps on each side. One side of the sleeve would clamp to the replacement 90, the other to the existing pipe, times two. I would strap the pipe on both sides, but the advantage of the two rubber sleeves is that they would flex instead of breaking if you have more weird movement in there.

vhollow

Also, you may want to check your water tank. If it isn’t properly secured it could be the source of the trouble.

fstop32

@vhollow beat me to the suggestion about the tank, it's possible that was the thing with enough heft to have snapped it.  Also his suggestion about the rubber repair sleeves will provide some flex at that pipe elbow and prevent a future snap.
Definitely check the tank, it looks like yours is under the floor on your year model where mine is inside that cabinet (2015).  If it is loose enough to cause your broken pipe it might be loose enough to fall off the trailer 
I'm mentally working on a "fix" that would allow you to fill the tank from that cabinet.  As soon as I pull the parts together and snap a couple of pics I'll send it along.  Please keep in mind that I have been accused of over engineering and am prone to Rube Goldberg solutions 

fstop32

@pthomas745, here's my "multi-input" fix idea.  Not surprisingly I had all these pieces laying around in my barn.  Also you might be able to cut your pvc with a pair of pvc cutters.  I have successfully cut 1-1/2" and 2" pvc pipe with them but go softly into that good night...if the pvc is brittle it will shatter and not cut and you don't want that.

Denny16

First, this is thin schedule 20 pipe, not very strong.  I would take a tip from a marine water system, and cut back,the two pipes, add a hose barb adapter to the top and bottom pipe, and use a marine type white or clear (drinking water safe) to connect the two pipes together.  This will allow a bit of flexibility to the connection to prevent a future break like this.  Another option, would be to replace the run with schedule 40 pipe which is thicker walled and less likely to break. 
 cheers