Black water tank leak

[dmcgrew]

I was flushing my black water tank and mistakenly left the dump valve closed. I discovered the error when water was flowing out the side of the bottom of my 2014 3402 5th wheel. I assumed it just over flowed and immediately drained the tank and let all dry out. the 5th sat for about 3 weeks prior to using for the next time and when I pulled out water ran out of the bottom again. I assumed that it was just remaining water from the over flow that had occurred. No problem for 3 days then a "bad" odor began to appear. I dumped the tank and drove home.

I removed the plastic underbelly and more water and "stuff" was discovered in the underbelly and front compartment. With the underbelly removed I filled the black water tank watching for any leaks, none were found.

I examined the discharge port located on the back side of the tank along with the toilet connection and vent pipe connection located on the top of the tank near the back of the tank. Is there an additional over flow or vent that is open to the area around the tank?? Has anyone else experienced raw sewage escaping from the black water tank? How likely is it that I over pressured the tank and split a seam?

[hankpage]

Did you check the flush line where it enters the tank?? I would hope that one of the gaskets used to make vent or toilet connections would blow out before the tank wall. JM2¢, Hank

[JRTJH]

If you think bout the way "most" (there's always a factory goof somewhere) black tanks are constructed, the tank sits in the underbelly. There are 4 openings: The toilet entry, the tank flush entry, the slide valve exit AND the vent to the roof. As long as the vent isn't clogged, you can't build up more than 1 atmosphere of pressure plus the weight of the water in the 2" pipe that's 9 feet long. So there's really "minimal" pressure in the tank.

If you think about it, as long as the vent isn't stopped up, if you leave your tank flush running, you won't (never say never, so "shouldn't) over-pressurize your tank and rupture it. What would happen is you'd push the contents up the vent stack and out onto the roof. Call it a "poo-nami" or a "stink-shower", but before rupturing your tank, the roof of your RV would change from white to brown.....

Now, if there's a "leaking fitting" or a bad gasket on one of those openings, it would leak into the underbelly, but you should have noticed that the first or second time you had a half full black tank and towed with it that way.

My guess would be that you "pushed the poo" up the vent stack and it found its way back down the outside of the vent stack and onto the top of the black tank where it "rolled off the sides"

[mjeronimo]

Did you hear a loud bang or pop? My friend did the same thing. He was camping next to me, we both packing up to go home. I heard a load bang-pop, looked over at his TT and water started coming from underbelly. He cracked the tank around the outlet connection, keystone replaced it under warranty(less than a year old) . He won't close the valve and let it fill up any more. He thinks it was under pressure, I don't see how with a vent pipe. The only thing I could think of is-let's say a wad of toilet paper was floating at the top of a full tank and plugged the vent?
Fill it up completely just the way you did a couple of times.
I think it's a cheap tank problem.

[dmcgrew]

I dropped the bottom from under the tanks and found the vent pipe and toilet drop along with the discharge valve. all of these areas were intact with no visible problem. I then filled the tank and let it set over night with no leak.

Next day I crawled under the trailer for another look and with the tank full I pushed on the bottom of the tank. Water spilled out over the top of the tank near the front end of the trailer, opposite end of the vent, toilet and discharge valve.

I called repair facility and they thought that there may be a second vent at the front of the tank, not sure why? Took it to them as I have extended warranty and will let them look at it.

Thanks for all of the input. I will let you know what they find.

[dmcgrew]

Repair facility dropped the tank and found the top of the tank split along the front edge seam. The stated no way could have the tank over pressurized so they feel the failure was due to a manufacturer error. Of course the RV is 3 months out of warranty but the extended warranty will cover most of it.

Thanks for your input and help

[Thbrtmn]

So,
Resurrecting this thread. I have a similar issue. Was getting ready to move 2016 Raptor to a new location. After flushing the tank the night before. I went to fill the fresh water tank and wasnt pay in attention and hooked up the the water to the black flush inlet. Started fill and started to do other things. I realized what I did right as the 3rd dot lit up indicating full. I didnt have time to drop again so we just drove to our destination and got the trailer settled.
We had to wait till the next morning to drop it cause we had to get another hose. We continued to use the toilet figuring we still had a little room. Then we started to smell the smell.
Got a hose, dropped the tank, smell got less but didnt go away.
Couple days later I investigate a crawl space and find there is a sewage puddle on top of the black tank. Angled the trailer and rinsed it off.
Never did see sewage up the toilet inlet.
And it never got over pressured. My thought is the leak happened around either the toilet inlet or vent tube.
Any other thoughts?

[campertime]

I have a 2015 Passport 2400BH on a seasonal site. We have been fighting strange odors for the last 2 years. This year they got so bad we thought an animal got into the underbelly and died. I dropped the underbelly and about 50 gallons of nasty water came spewing out.

Hooked up to city water so I checked all water lines for leaks. Found none.
Added green food coloring to the grey tank, filled it until water came up the tub, no leaks.
Added blue food coloring to the black tank and filled it up to the toilet bowl. Guess what it is coming from the black tank. I checked the valve and the black rinse connection and neither were leaking. So it must be coming from the toilet connection, vent connection, or crack in the tank?

We took our trailer into General RV in Birch Run, MI. where we purchased it from. After 3 days they told us they couldn't find a leak. I insisted the fill the black tank until water comes up the toilet. They assigned the job to a new tech and five days later found that the black tank was leaking from the top. They told us the tank is cracked and needs to be replaced. Total for Parts and Labor $1220 and 6-8 weeks to do the job.

I asked if Keystone would cover it since it has apparently been a problem for the past 2 years and was most likely a defective tank. They said it's out of warranty and gave me the phone number for Keystone. Said I had to deal with them on my own

This trailer has been on five short road trips since purchased, have never traveled with anything in the tanks, and it has been parked on a seasonal site for the last 2 seasons. How could the tank get damaged by us??? We empty it and flush it every time it gets full. With weekend use it rarely ever even gets full. unbelievable!

I have not had time to call Keystone yet and want to make sure I am calm cool and collected before I do, but this is crazy.

[JRTJH]

If you want to contact Keystone (and remain cool) you might consider emailing them with all the information. That way you'll have a "hard copy record" of what you said, what they said, when it happened and there won't be any "he said/she said" to add to the confusion....

That said, 2019 trailers are on the lots, so a 2015 is a 4 year old trailer, even if you might have bought it as a "left over model" in 2016. Chances are "slim to none" that Keystone will approve any repair on a black tank that old, but it never hurts to ask...

It sounds like your dealership is of the opinion that it's "not going to happen" which is why they told you that "you're on your own with Keystone"....

About all I can add is: Good Luck, it's definitely going to be a steep, uphill battle.

[MarkEHansen]

I remember my father-in-law would repair his own holding tanks using a fiberglass patching kit. It included (as best as I can remember) fiberglass sheets (like cloth) and an epoxy mixture. He just soaked the sheets in the epoxy mixture and applied them to the holding tank and then let them cure.


It was a messy job, but certainly better than $1220.


Good luck.

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by MarkEHansen

I remember my father-in-law would repair his own holding tanks using a fiberglass patching kit. ...

Good luck.

The material used to form holding tanks has been changed several times over the years. Older tanks were fiberglass and may have been the material used to make your father-in-law's tank. Tanks 5 or 10 years ago were a "roto-cast" ABS, but were too rigid and many cracked. Today's tanks are a made of Low Density Polyethylene. Some are formed using the "roto-cast" method, some are "vacuum formed" and some are "cast in sections and chemically welded together"... There are still some manufacturers who use the older style ABS tanks and some manufacturers are exploring newer, "high tech" types of resin/plastic for holding tanks.

All of that to say that "fiberglass patches" will work great for some tanks, but depending on the material used to construct the tank, fiberglass won't stick to many current holding tanks. Fiberglass "sets up" as a rigid surface, LDPE flexes, so as the tank is filled with waste, the tank pulls away from the fiberglass repair and it will start leaking again.

Anyone who is considering a "holding tank repair" should first verify the material used in manufacturing their tank. Only then can they be sure of what repair is best or even which repair material will stick to their tank's surface. It's fair to say that such a repair job is not easy, and is a "mess" (pun intended) to do. Having to do it twice because the first attempt didn't work because the repair patch didn't stick to the tank.......

Be sure that what you're using to repair your tank will work on that tank material before "sticking stuff on the outside of a holding tank".

[MarkEHansen]

Thanks, John. That's what I meant to say

[KSH]

I set a timer on my phone when i flush that beeps after 7 minutes. That's close enough to full.