Raptor in the shop again. Tanks not draining

[skydiverchuck]

My raptor has 2 grey tanks and 2 black tanks. I've noticed that 3 of the tanks are not draining. This weekend I took it out spent the weekend in it and went to dump before heading home. It appeared all of the tanks dumped "a little" but didn't completely empty. I went inside and checked the gages, which I know aren't always accurate but the showed all but 1 tank still contained waste.... So needless to say 3 months,,,, 3 trips back to the shop. This is getting old!

[bobbecky]

The only 'gauge' that works on our rig is the fresh water one. The others are a total waste of time, and don't even look at them. If you were only out for a weekend, and with four tanks, unless you had a whole team of kids with you, none of the tanks would have much in them. You probably should get a hose inside and fill all the tanks until water shows in the toilets and sinks or tub/shower drains, then dump your tanks. I doubt you have a mechanical problem with the valves, just not enough fluid in the tanks. And, especially with your black tanks, unless you are at least half full, you risk not getting solids moved out of the tank, which could cause nasty buildup on the bottoms of the tanks.

[notanlines]

Chuck, what Bob said x2. Just spend a little time doing exactly what he said and then get back here and tell us if we were correct or we were "wrong." Damn, I hate that word! We aren't ever WRONG are we?

[Big Boy w/ Big Toys]

Why did Robin Williams and RV come to mind all of a sudden.......:p:D

[roadglide]

Something just isn't right but I don't what it is. All my tanks gauges work fine when drained and the valves are left open. Condensation builds up BS and gives a faults reading. Is there a fix that the dealer can do or just more BS?

[GaryWT]

Have you been adding water to the black tank before dumping, it is a good thing to do. Without knowing how much was in any of the tanks it is hard to judge. As others have said, don't go by the gauges. In time you will learn how long, with how many people it takes to fill the various tanks.

I have heard however that on occation, the cutout to the tank for the pipe gets left inside the tank and blocks the pipe so the tank does not empty.

[SteveC7010]

My raptor has 2 grey tanks and 2 black tanks. I've noticed that 3 of the tanks are not draining. This weekend I took it out spent the weekend in it and went to dump before heading home. It appeared all of the tanks dumped "a little" but didn't completely empty. I went inside and checked the gages, which I know aren't always accurate but the showed all but 1 tank still contained waste.... So needless to say 3 months,,,, 3 trips back to the shop. This is getting old!
The real question is: Were the tanks actually drained all the way and the gauges not reading correctly?

Easy way to figure that out is to fully dump and then close up all the valves. Take a 5 gallon bucket, some fresh water and pour at least 10 gallons into one of the tanks. Now dump that tank and see if you get about 10 gallons out. If you do, move on to the next. You'll have your answer about the draining completely vs. the gauges.

This is one of those situations that says the clear fitting at the dump port is still useful. If the tank is fairly full, the fitting will be full when you first pull the valve. As the tank drains down, the level in the fitting will drop and eventually slow to a trickle. If you get a great big rush of water that lasts a minute or two or three before dropping slowly to a trickle, you're pretty well assured that the tank actually drained. On the other hand, if you know the tank is full, and you don't get that behavior, there may well be an obstruction of some kind.

After a while, we all get a sense of how completely our tanks drain without looking at the gauges. As has been said here many, many times before, the tank sensor systems are not particularly reliable.

Things that can affect how well your tanks will drain include how level the trailer sits at the dump station. My old Sunline really needed to be level or even nose high for the black tank to drain well. That meant that I had to jack it up at some dump stations. Front to rear and side to side level both need to fairly close to assure a complete dump.

[dcg9381]

Pretty much every tank gauge that I've had was relatively inaccurate. There may be some more advanced gauge / sensor types that work better, but if it "sorta" works, you're in good shape with those gauges...

You can get them to work reasonably well, but you need to be diligent about cleaning them and flushing them.

It's one of those things that has been known to drive me nuts...