itsbeertime
Well-known member
My black tank drains great, my grey tank(s) not so. The shower tank especially (the kitchen tank rarely gets used) is really slow draining. Anyone have this problem or have any idea what might be wrong?
Slow Draining Grey Tank
- Thread starter itsbeertime
- Start date
jmgratz
Original Owners Club Member
You will need to flush the gray tanks also. The galley gray tank will get food residue and grease in it which need to be flushed. The soap residue will dry in the bath gray. I use Dawn dishwashing soap and lots of water to rinse out both. You will be amazed how much junk will come out of them. Also if you have your black tank and your gray tanks open at the same time some of the black water can get into the gray tanks. Bottom line is rinse all of your tanks black and grays.
htneighbors
Unbelievably Blessed!
Could be something blocking the line. Some have had issues with the 'hole' cut out during construction falling in the tank.
jmgratz
Original Owners Club Member
That is true, a cut-out came out of our gray tank when I flushed it with lots and lots of water. The other issue that it could be is the tank may not be level. Try raising the front of the RV and see if it drains. I have to raise the front of mine slightly to completely empty mine.
HappyKayakers
Well-known member
My gray 1 was draining slowly. I tore into the underbelly, took apart the valve, and found a plastic cutout wedged in the pipe.
newbie
Northern Virginia
I have the same problem with my gray tank #2. Did you have to cut the ABS pipe to get to the cutout or were you able to disassemble the valve?
Thanks- John
itsbeertime
Well-known member
Thanks for all the input. I'll have to get that looked at too. I'm not tearing it apart myself.
jmgratz
Original Owners Club Member
In order to flush your gray tanks you will have to run water into them from inside the coach by either turning on the water faucet or (quicker) taking a garden hose inside and filling the tanks. FYI when they cut the hole in the tank to attach the drain pipe the cutout from the hole will usually fall inside the tank (unless they have changed the procedure). Then eventually the cutout may work its way into the pipe and if you are lucky out of the pipe or it could partly block the drain pipe. Luckily mine worked its way out of the pipe although I do not know which tank it came from. Probably the black tank as the gray tank pipes are too small for the size cutout that "passed" on mine. It was a 3" size cutout.
mrcomer
Past Ohio Chapter Leaders (Founding)
So I think I could make a bunch of money if I were to invest in one of them there cameras on a cable and go around to all the RV parks and just snake that baby in there to show people what the heck it looks like and what could possibly be blocking their drains. How much would you pay for a service like that?????
"You blockem we snakem" pay me now. LOL
"You blockem we snakem" pay me now. LOL
HappyKayakers
Well-known member
Remove 4 bolts/nuts from valve body. Grab the pipe on either side and apply force in opposite directions. I was able to do it by hand. I heard someone else used a come-along. Either way, no cutting should be involved.
Mark,
Your suggestion is not far fetched. While at the 2009 Escapade in Sedalia, MO, me and a few other Heartlanders saw a company snaking a camera into a RV waste tank through the sewer termination point outside. Maybe they had a leak or maybe the dreaded "black cone of death"
Your suggestion is not far fetched. While at the 2009 Escapade in Sedalia, MO, me and a few other Heartlanders saw a company snaking a camera into a RV waste tank through the sewer termination point outside. Maybe they had a leak or maybe the dreaded "black cone of death"
htneighbors
Unbelievably Blessed!
I've been capturing images, off and on, for over 30 years. Some have turned out quite outstanding, while many others were not at all too good. In fact, at times, I've even wondered what the heck I was shooting, after reviewing my photos. I can honestly say - it has never been a desire of mine to get a picture of THAT!!
mrcomer
Past Ohio Chapter Leaders (Founding)
I don't know why but these holding tanks swell when they are full and my thing is that when they swell, they swell lower than the point of exit of the drain valve therefore I do not believe we are ever completely empty. Along with that you will also find that the pipe leaving the tanks actually goes uphill a bit then down hill to the outlet we hook our hoses to. That uphill downhill piping is the reason so many of us without valves right at the point where we hookup our sewer hoses get so much leftover sewage when we pull off the cap. Just food for thought!!
newbie
Northern Virginia
I got around to doing this on the Augusta this weekend. This is not a repair for the faint of heart.
Taking the valve apart was the easy part. I had two large pieces of ABS glue stuck in the valve.
To put the valve back on was a PITA. I had to remove 4 more screws that hold the body of the valve together and remove the cable. Then I had to place each piece back on the pipe one at a time. 7 or 8 hands would have made this a little easier. It took about an hour of laying on my back with gray water dripping down arm and everywhere else to get all the pieces back together.
I would not attempt this again. I would remove the valve from the tank and cut the pipe down stream of the valve to remove the valve entirely so it could be rebuilt on a work bench- not upside down under the camper!
Then I would use an ABS or better yet a Fernco (rubber) coupling to reattach the pipe.
John
