Sharing a thought about traveling with full dump tanks
 

We spent most of the day today reinstalling a dump tank that had fallen out of a travel trailer. In the event, that sound like a rare event, it is not. Many manufacturers use a flanged tank and the flange tucks up under a metal rail running side-to-side. It looks stout and it is provided you don't run down the road with full tanks. If you do that, the shear weight of the water bouncing up and down deflects the flanges and the entire tank drops right out ripping off the dump lines as it goes.

Really a heck of a job getting it all back together and on this one I had to cut open a wall and then install an access panel to cover the opening. If you have to run with full tanks make sure they are support underneath with straps or better still a piece of plywood strapped up against the tank, would be my advice. :)

Steve

even if there are straps underneath you can still have issues.

This is the fresh water tank getting some sun because they only put tape on the straps and expected that to work.
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...8f7ff90869.jpg


fresh water tank


https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...e5532b8813.jpg


straps for the tank with just tape on it. All the rest of the tanks had bolts

Good advice Steve..It seams really dumb to me that the manufacturers would not do something to keep this from happening. If you are camping somewhere that doesn't have a dump station then you have to drive somewhere to dump..:-huh:-huh

I learned from the pics above when we got this 5er to check those tanks before purchase.

Good advice Steve. Generally, I run with empty tanks. But today, I ran 200 miles home with all 4 tanks about 1/4 full because I didn't want to wait in line at the State Park dump station when leaving.

Won't do that again. I have no idea how my tanks are held in.

I run with a full fresh water tank pretty often, as I camp in places where the fresh water may not be to my wifes taste. I don't seem to have to drive nearly as far to dump the tanks though.

Still, I know I've put a few hours on the road with at least half-full tanks.

I do carry fresh water in this one when traveling. You don't know how often a place that is suppose to have water that doesn't.

Plus we sometimes stay in Walmarts if the weather is nice and it is just us.

But...that is only because I have verified that the tanks are mounted properly now.

Any 5er I would check. TT's sometimes are going to be ok if the tank is inside under a sofa or something.

I wandered over to the Montana forum and found a thread that many folks were complaining about tank failures rather then them falling out though it did seem that there were a couple that came loose. Unfortunately the 4 tanks in our new one can't be easily accessed as it has a full length belly cover - but I seldom travel with much more then a few gallons of fresh water and little or no waste water, doubt I'll have a problem until I get a chance to do a look. The China Bomb tires will bother me more until I can change over to LT's in the spring

A couple years back I was a couple cars behind an older motorhome leaving a NASCAR race when the black tank dropped out and spilled its contents all over the highway. I got about halfway through saying "I hope that wasn't his black tank" before the smell cut me off short. Apparently no chemicals in there either, just used beer.

On a somewhat related note, how many gallons do your tanks hold? I think all three of mine are 40 gallons, but it's a small trailer. I assume some of you guys have much larger tanks.

To add to my excitement, my tank level gauges are acting up, and are no longer reliable. So I'm usually guessing about the levels anyway.

As usual, great advice Steve....

I'm telling you come down here and I can get you LOT's of work !!!!!!!! (Many rv'ers I run into are looking for a good tech!)

and, as usual, 'they' won't let me rep you or I would again !

(guess 'they' grew up in the 'everyone gets a trophy' generation :) )

Bigger then 40 - my tanks are 93 for the two gray and 50 for black(blehhh)

My fresh is 65 gallons (many have much larger tanks. Bring a book along when filling up, it takes forevvvvvver). My 2 gray and 1 black are 45 each.

There are several options out on the net to cleaning the sensors. I usually just have problems with the black. This last dump at the fairgrounds, no one was around so I had lots of time to use the black flush, and finally, after several flushes, it reads empty again.

Check out some of these ideas:
Some ideas

So many ways, do any actually work?

100 gal fresh water, 1 gray, 1 black and one combo...57 for the back and 60 for the grays

Thanks Steve for bringing this subject up. Since you are a professional in the rv business who makes a quality holding tank ? Or should I ask is there a brand to stay away from?
I have an old motorhome and about 8yrs ago I went to a NHRA race and everyone and their brother was using the bathroom. Mind you I have had issues with the tank gauge for years. When on the way home one of guys with me screams "Dude I think you have a hole in your fuel tank." As he points out the back window and cars are passing me giving me dirty looks. So I pull over and it wasn't the fuel tank it was the black water tank. The tank had cracked I am guessing from the tank being full, bad roads and the tank was from 1976. So I am sorry for you and anyone who was driving behind me that day.

That was actually the last real trip I have taken in my old motorhome other than day trips. Well now I am a family guy and my little girl wants to go camping and I have an out of order toilet. So as soon as boating season is over I am going to start on replace all the tanks, water lines and drain hoses. I think I am going to do the fuel tank too. So I will be keeping this subject in mind when I do so.

Sure makes me glad all I have is a fresh water tank in my camper!

Sent from my Telegraph using IB AutoGroup

My Wilderness has what looks to be gas tank straps bolted to the frame, but I still dump them before traveling if at all possible. The freshwater tank is up inside under the master bed, along with the water heater...

No apologies necessary. But it would be nice if someone made a car wash locator app for Android. I would have paid $100 for that app that day. :-X04

I try to travel with just enough 'liquid' to flush the toilet, ~10-15 gallons. Gray water can dump almost anywhere, it's the toilet flush stuff that needs a septic dump station and if you are boondocking, sometimes a problem.

Yep. Brings back some stinky memories.
To your point Steve, the black and one gray or galley tank are held in with L brackets along the base length. When the tank fills, the L brackets flex out. My black tank dropped down after cleaning out with the san I tee flush system. I filled it up too far, knowing you're supposed to only do it with the valve open but I wanted a really good flush. The weight bend out the brackets and the tank dropped onto the generator exhaust system, fortunately not falling totally out. By that time, the mess in the campsite was mostly flushed water.
Both of these tanks are about 4" apart so I built a gusset type wedge between both tanks to eliminate that flexing. I had to pull back the under belly fabric to get it fixed. I bought some heavy weather screen material at Home Depot to replace as once you take this down, there's no way to get it tight enough to put it back.
Now I only haul with minimal amount in the tanks unless I absolutely have to.
Good topic to discuss Steve. Thx for sharing.

Here ya go --> Locator App

will do both truck and rv !

Wait... they warn you so that it doesn't spew out, not that it gets too heavy...
that infers that clear water is heavier than Poopy water ?!? }>

I don't think so :):-hair


in fact, on my previous rv's that's how I flushed...
filled it up say 3/4 full when moving to a new park... let it slosh around and then dump when we got to the new park...

There is often a sticker or? on an RV that states how much a full tank of fresh water weighs. Why? It leads to more questions.
I always travel with a full tank of fresh water from home. No one knows what might happen.
We left camp with a full black tank and two empty grey tanks. Yes, we left camp with a full tank of fresh water for the trip home. The roads to the dump station are not in good shape.

For those that don't have that sticker, a gallon of water weighs ~8.33 pounds per gallon. I'm lazy so just round it down to 8/gallon. Our new Montana has a 64 gallon fresh, 93 gray and 50 black tanks. If all are full to almost overflowing, that's 207 gallons. At 8.33/gallon that's a 1724 pound increase in your trailers weight (or the lazy, in my head calc, ~1650 pounds). That plus your other cargo and toys might just take you over the gross weight sticker on the side of the trailer - axle and tire capabilities, mostly.

Is that a realistic number? You fill your fresh water up to ultimately fill both gray and black, leaving the fresh almost empty. The gross weight therefore doesn't change that much except the difference of the black tank "debris."

I don't know of anyone that fills their freshwater tank up again after filling both gray and black so I'm not that's a good number to base GVW upon.

There are several campground around here that have a water hookup, but no sewer hookup, so I guess if you arrived with a full freshwater tank, it would be possible to fill your grey and black tanks, and still have a full fresh tank.

I think it would be more common to empty the fresh tank as you fill the two dirty tanks though.

Yes, but now your really asking for problems as easy as it is to overfill/flow both of your gray and/or black tanks with that new fresh water.

Someone WILL do this with full tanks - whether you or I would or not, there are always those that will push any limits and for whatever reason.

My intent was to show that a gallon of water weighs ~ 8-1/3 pounds. After that, you are on your own to do the basic arithmetic

with a 100 gal fresh water and 57 black and 114 gray I think I am ok.

I'm sure you'll find some folks out there that will argue with you.

....ain't that the truth!!:-X04

Plus someone will want water weight in Imperial or metric units too:-X17

water weight in metric is super easy. One liter equals one kilogram.

Holding tanks
 

Not sure why we have holding tanks if you can't travel with them somewhat full.

Some are well supported and some are not, but the intention was to offer a means of using an RV when full hookups were not available and then dumping them as soon as possible. Traveling distancing with them full means a lot of weight is bouncing around with the movement of the RV.


It is not common place for them to drop out, but I have seen then crack and I think prudent use might be to not have them full while underway. I don't think using them on the road is harmful as most folks don't fill them while traveling.


I don't think the issue is "full or empty", just not to unduly stress supports of fastener for no reason. :)


Steve

I can't imagine the mess you had to clean up off of your truck and trailer:'(

Steve,

Can you talk about tank cracking a little more. I have a 93 Airstream with the water tank cracked on top. I was told that age was a factor and that cracked poly tanks cannot be reliably repaired. I have not had it fixed yet.

My In-laws have a 79 Airstream and the water tank cracked at the water punp hose suction fitting. They were told repairs could not be made and tank must be replaced. It is a bluish plastic?

Both campers it is just the water tank cracked the others are original with no issues. Thanks

It is difficult to speak definitively to tank failure and I have actually seen more unsupported tanks drop off than crack. I do agree age is a factor, but there are plenty of old tanks out there doing fine.

You can plastic weld any type of tank, but unless you want to try it yourself, I don't think you will find anyone willing to do. When we actually practiced it in school years ago, the statement was that the weld was actually stronger than the original, much like a mended broken bone. There are also patch kits available, although I have never used them and cannot speak to their reliability.

The problem is you have to drop the tank and if the repair fails, the cost of covering the failure with a new tank and dropping and reinstalling is too great a risk for dealerships.

The customer made tanks made of polyethylene by All Rite Custom All-Rite Holding Tanks - RV Holding Tanks - All-Rite.com are really nice, but pricey.

Northern Tool sells the plastic welding kits http://www.northerntool.com/shop/too...6118_200626118 which is basically like a soldering iron that heats the plastic and you use a plastic rod to fill the gap so you end up with something that looks like welding with metal. I haven't done it for years, although I believe there are still some techs in the field who do it. :)

Steve

When I was a kid there was a toy called a "Spin Welder" I think. It looked like a drill but instead of a drill bit it had a plastic piece that got hot from the friction of it spinning against the plastic being welded. You took me back to my childhood. Thanks.

Thanks Steve