PDA

View Full Version : HELP! My kitchen sink backed up!!


guatdoc
12-26-2011, 09:31 AM
Over christmas weekend (of course) my kitchen sink started backing up. I have checked the traps at both the rear kitchen sink and the little bath sink. they are all open. the shower seems to drain directly into the grey water tank. However some of the drain water from the bath sink may be backing up into the sink lines, not sure.

any one got any ideas here? i am new to RV plumbing systems. Looking at the pipes, there seems to be what may be some kind of vacuum breaker attachment at both the kitchen and bath sinks. could that be the problem.

how do i diagnose it?

jje1960
12-26-2011, 09:40 AM
Are you sure you have the main drain valve open? I know on our SRX, there is a separate grey tank for the kitchen sink.

hankpage
12-26-2011, 10:30 AM
Sounds to me as if your galley gray tank is full. If your main gray water was filled it would back up to the lowest point in the shower drain. What model fifthwheel would help a lot. Hank

guatdoc
12-26-2011, 10:41 AM
Sorry, i should have said. I have a 2000 model Montana, 29', two slides. i just bought it used from a dealer. they only showed me one valve each to empty the grey tank and the black tank.

where might i find another valve for the kitchen tank, although i do not believe it has two grey tanks.

thanks for your help. all the RV dealers are still closed today, so i cannot get help from a dealer here either.

hankpage
12-26-2011, 11:05 AM
From looking at the Keystone web page all three Montanas in 29' range only have one gray 38 gal. tank. If that tank were full it would back up to the shower drain first. When you opened the gray dump valve did any water come out at all????? Under the sink there is a valve that looks like This. (http://www.cashacme.com/prod_backflow_vap.php) If it is stuck or clogged it may not allow the water to drain correctly. It simply screws off .... with it removed the vacuum will be broken and the water should drain. Do not leave it off or sewer smells can enter the trailer. I hope this helps, Hank

jrhaman
12-26-2011, 11:16 AM
Montana does not usually list the 2nd grey tank but the handle should be somewhere around the wheels on the street side. Just a T-handle coming through the frame.

KanTC
12-26-2011, 10:29 PM
guatdoc,

The specs for all 2000 model year 5th wheels show 76 gal for gray water tanks...
and, that many gallons would typically indicate '2' gray tanks. As previously suggested,
look for a 2nd gray tank drain valve/handle.

http://www.keystone-montana.com/index.php?page=specs&year=2000

Hope this helps, and welcome to the forum.

Terri, the Chevy co-pilot & DH Kevin :)

hankpage
12-27-2011, 05:58 AM
guatdoc,

The specs for all 2000 model year 5th wheels show 76 gal for gray water tanks...
and, that many gallons would typically indicate '2' gray tanks. As previously suggested,
look for a 2nd gray tank drain valve/handle.

http://www.keystone-montana.com/index.php?page=specs&year=2000

Hope this helps, and welcome to the forum.

Terri, the Chevy co-pilot & DH Kevin :)

I hope there is a second tank which would make the fix easy, but the first three models (29' range) show 38 gal gray water and would be one tank.

SteveC7010
12-27-2011, 06:28 AM
If there is a second gray water tank, it will be FULL of kitchen waste which is likely to be particularly smelly.

I would treat it as you would black water until it has been drained and rinsed.

A quick look at the drain plumbing should quickly tell if there is a second gray tank. Presuming that the trailer has the master bedroom and bathroom located in the nose of the rig and the kitchen is center or rear, there should be a "tee" at or near the RV sewer drain fitting. One side of the tee should go forward to drain the black and bathroom gray tanks. The other side of the tee should go aft to drain the kitchen gray tank.

If the kitchen is far enough to the rear, on some rigs, there is actually a second RV sewer drain somewhere close to it.

On my Cougar, the RV sewer drain point and the tee and the lines that feed the tee are all below the enclosed belly pan so it is very obvious that there is a drain line going back towards the kitchen area.

If there is a 3" black ABS drain pipe headed back toward the kitchen, just following it should help locate the drain valve. If it is enclosed by the belly pan, it should not be difficult to pull just a couple of screws and peek in there with a flashlight.

KanTC
12-27-2011, 08:58 AM
I hope there is a second tank which would make the fix easy, but the first three models (29' range) show 38 gal gray water and would be one tank.

You're correct, although that info is for the (now orphan) travel trailers.

My reply was specific to 5th wheels, as stated.
The OP previously posted about a Montana 5th wheel, and I -assumed- he/she was now asking questions about that same trailer.

Hunter757
12-27-2011, 09:15 AM
guatdoc, if you have two tanks there will be a second drain handle located street side just after the rear slide toward the back corner of the 5er. Just get on your hands and knees and look around it will look like a smaller sewer drain handle.

If you need pictures let us know and I will try and take some pictures today of mine. If your still not sure due what was suggested earlier and follow your pipes from the sewer hose hookup and follow the black pipe and see if you indeed have two tanks.


Good luck and keep us posted hope is nothing serious. Happy Camping!!

SAABDOCTOR
12-27-2011, 01:13 PM
Hi there and welcome my first montans was an 01 tt about 30 ft. I had a similar problem and there were two handels fordrainage one grey one black. Then when the sink backed up both tanks open sink still full i went crawling under the unit found a small hole in the artic insulation. Droped the insulation and the was a valve and a fitting. Looks like my handel went flying on the first trip. There was eveidence that it was there and it was a qick fix with some threaded rod 1/4" till i got home and made a god handle with a lock nut. So do not give up. Mine was opposite the sink in the kitchen just ahead of the wheels the other two were in the rear. Best of luck barney;)

SteveC7010
12-27-2011, 02:12 PM
Excellent point, Barney!

It is entirely possible that the extension or the cable for the kitchen gray tank dump valve is broken or missing or as originally suggested, just overlooked.

For the original poster, if you are not able to locate a second gray tank and its dump valve and handle by yourself, I suggest that you find a competent RV tech or someone who is familiar with RV plumbing systems and have this checked out right away.

If the gray water is backed up into your kitchen sink, there is the immediate possibility that it can leak out somewhere above the floor of the trailer.

If you try to travel without this situation remedied, there is also the possibility that gray water can be sprayed around the interior of the trailer due to the movement of the water in the holding tank. If at all possible, several gallons of gray water need to be drained before you move the trailer at all.

hankaye
12-27-2011, 03:07 PM
guatdoc, Howdy;

Everyone here has given you good information....
Please lett us know where the handle was.. could help the
person that has a similar problem.

hankaye

f6bits
12-27-2011, 05:35 PM
If there's a second grey tank, shouldn't there be a second readout for how full it is?

SteveC7010
12-27-2011, 06:02 PM
If there's a second grey tank, shouldn't there be a second readout for how full it is?

There should be, but it sounds to me like the dealer did not do a good job of educating the owner in the function and operation of the systems in the trailer.

jje1960
12-28-2011, 02:35 PM
There should be, but it sounds to me like the dealer did not do a good job of educating the owner in the function and operation of the systems in the trailer.
Our SRX has two tanks, kitchen and main, however we only have one indicator light.

SteveC7010
12-28-2011, 03:11 PM
Our SRX has two tanks, kitchen and main, however we only have one indicator light.

Does it have separate buttons for each tank and just one set of indicator lights? My Sunline was that way with just one row of lights (full, 3/4, 1/2, 1/4, and empty) but had buttons for each tank: fresh, gray, and black.

(The Cougar is in storage so I can't look to be sure, but I think it is the same way: Gray, Galley, Black, Fresh, and Battery.)

Hunter757
12-28-2011, 03:56 PM
Mine reads the same and I have Grey, Black, Galley, Battery buttons on my Montana mountaineer. I have two grey water tanks one for the bathroom the other for the galley.

jvclark02
10-01-2014, 07:02 AM
I realize this is an old thread but wanted to thank everyone for their help. Been running snakes through all vents and pipes but island sink remained backed up. Thanks to you I found the 2nd tank :eek:drain lever between the two tires and better half is now happy with her new.... used Big SKy Montana(tx)

Scttw
10-02-2014, 07:01 AM
Cool ..... I just read this and am glad you found it .....

Since this is back NEW ..... can someone tell me why we have the 2nd galley tank? Just curious as to the reason beside to frustrate a new owner of course :D