Grey Tank Exploded/Dropped

LegionX · 06-27-2021, 05:04 AM

Hello everyone! Just curious if anyone has seen or even heard of this happening. We bought our RV (2021 Keystone Hideout 250BH) just a few months ago and we haven't even taken it out yet - still prepping and getting our house on the market. We did just move into the RV full-time last week.

Well...last night my wife and I started hearing several loud pops/bangs and the slide out shuttered a bit. I did several walk-arounds and couldn't find anything wrong or slippage. And then about an hour later a very large bang, the RV jostled, and water gushing. Went outside and our grey tank was sitting on the pavement. See pictures!

Crossing my fingers Camping World, Keystone, or our insurance handles this - in my mind this was a major safety issue and should never happen.

Anyone experience this? What could've caused it? From simple logically reasoning there should be no way that a potentially full grey tank could break it's support and the PVC pipe! Which means to me it must've NOT been supported or attached properly to the RV frame...

Thanks for the responses in advance!

jxnbbl · 06-27-2021, 05:17 AM

wow, no - I would be (edited) mad. Your full timing in this? What are you going to do in the meantime.

wiredgeorge · 06-27-2021, 05:18 AM

All our tanks rest on metal beams which are screwed into the frame. I suspect they forgot to support your tank and never heard of this happening. I am sure your warranty will cover this as it looks to me like a manufacturing defect. If you are living in the camper, not sure how long it will take them to get a new tank. Best of luck and hope you keep us updated.

LegionX · 06-27-2021, 05:23 AM

Our only bit of luck...we were about to put the For Sale sign in the front yard tomorrow, so I guess we will have to hold off now and partially move back into the home.

LegionX · 06-27-2021, 06:40 AM

UPDATE: I looked at the other tanks and none of them have strap supports (other than the fresh water). The tanks seem to be designed with a lip that sits on the frame. So somehow the tank squeezed and slipped out of the frame rails. And the PVC drain connection was the only thing supporting it - several loud pops and the PVC pipe failed/snapped causing the tank to drop to the pavement. Poor engineering design or bad/misshapen tank...lol or both!

Slapshoot · 06-27-2021, 06:45 AM

We had this happen to the black tank! They aren’t supported well enough. All repairs were done under warranty.

**chuckster57** · 06-27-2021, 06:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LegionX

UPDATE: I looked at the other tanks and none of them have strap supports (other than the fresh water). The tanks seem to be designed with a lip that sits on the frame. So somehow the tank squeezed and slipped out of the frame rails. And the PVC drain connection was the only thing supporting it - several loud pops and the PVC pipe failed/snapped causing the tank to drop to the pavement. Poor engineering design or bad/misshapen tank...lol or both!

Straps under the tanks are kind of rare when it’s an ABS tank. They are rigid and as long as the rails on the sides are far enough under the lip of the tank, it will hold liquid.

I suspect the rails were either not secured or not in the correct position. Definitely a warranty issue.

LegionX · 06-27-2021, 07:10 AM

Yuck! We were barely using the grey tank so it wasn't that bad of a smell when it dropped.

Good to know we aren't the only ones having to deal with this - I will definitely push for this to be covered under warranty and hopefully they don't try to play any games.

Thanks for all the fast replies and comments! Great Community!

notanlines · 06-27-2021, 07:34 AM

Take LOTS of pictures!

LegionX · 06-29-2021, 03:01 PM

UPDATE: So we called Camping World (where we bought the RV) on Monday and explained the problem. They told us to bring it in ASAP. So we unpacked everything (and the cats) and took it up to them. The nice gentlemen said he will try to get it in right away...knowing that we are full timers and about to sell the house. Today they called about noon saying it was all fixed, installed extra straps, and tested for leaks/support....all good!

We are now back in the RV and moving forward with selling the house. I can't thank Camping World enough about getting this resolved so quickly. They did do it all on warranty too!

**chuckster57** · 06-29-2021, 03:19 PM

That’s great!!

wiredgeorge · 06-29-2021, 03:32 PM

Wow! Your dealer stepped up in a fantastic way! Get that house sold!

jxnbbl · 06-30-2021, 04:40 AM

That is great!

Imagine if this happened on the road...what liability.

We once had warranty work done on our transmission (lifetime drivetrain warranty) to our truck and got the same level of service for a followup. That was the good news. The bad news, they forgot to torque down bolts on the transfer case during the repair. About 500-700 miles later the entire thing came off in the middle lane of a highway going 70mph. The drive shaft was acted as a pole vault, ripped off and since it was rush hour everyone was lucky that it never touched a car as it went right down the dashed line and landed between cars.

Long story short the entire drive train, rear end, brake lines, new tires had to be replaced. Our bill $0 - $7-8k of parts alone on a truck we promptly traded in for $10k.

I'm surprised that a tank does not have another underbelly strap just as a backup.

**flybouy** · 06-30-2021, 05:03 AM

The mfg wouldn't spend the money for a "back up" yo prevent what they consider a " non issue" from happening. What happened was traumatic for you but it's not like the tens of thousands of trailers with the same mounting system are dropping tanks all over the highways.I thjnk the average buyer would bulk if told "you have to pay an extra $x amount because a tank dropped out of a trailer".

jxnbbl · 06-30-2021, 05:29 AM

I understand the "economics logic" but there are certainly designs that are minimal in cost. Even a handful of these happening to a vehicle that is "suppose to be road worthy" is a huge liability issue. It isn't as if this is a 'maintenance issue' that can be pinned on the owner. It will be tied to the design for the life of the trailer.

To put it another way, a bumper with bikes on it falls off and there is injury - easily attributed to the owner regardless of how they welded supports on etc or how well they maintained the bumper...one of these tanks falls out on a 10 year old trailer huge liability for the manufacture since they know it happens just sitting still.

Scttw · 06-30-2021, 05:43 AM

Legalizing marijuana is at fault I'm sure!

**flybouy** · 06-30-2021, 06:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jxnbbl

I understand the "economics logic" but there are certainly designs that are minimal in cost. Even a handful of these happening to a vehicle that is "suppose to be road worthy" is a huge liability issue. It isn't as if this is a 'maintenance issue' that can be pinned on the owner. It will be tied to the design for the life of the trailer.

To put it another way, a bumper with bikes on it falls off and there is injury - easily attributed to the owner regardless of how they welded supports on etc or how well they maintained the bumper...one of these tanks falls out on a 10 year old trailer huge liability for the manufacture since they know it happens just sitting still.

Here's why I disagree. There is a difference between a design flaw and an instillation flaw. Compensating for improper intallation by installing "back up systems" is not logical from an economic or a liability stance. So let's say BOTH systems you propose fail. In court, any junior college attorny would have a feild day with the err in logic of installing a back up system to protect a manufacturing error. Logically, the mfg should address the original error, not compensate for it.

Handful of minimal costs? That gets thrown about regularly. YOUR idea of that maybe a few hundred bucks but add that to the other opinions on that and you'll have easy $10K in additional cost. That equates to no sales.

"...one of these tanks falls out on a 10 year old trailer huge liability for the manufacture since they know it happens just sitting still." I'm sorry, but how does that make sense? How can you blame an occurance on the manufacturer and say it's not a "maintenance issue" if it happens TEN YEARS after it's built? Yes, they know it happened to THAT trailer and they fixed it. They also know it hasn't happened to thousands, or likely even hundreds, of the tens of thousands built. IMHO expecting a mnf to go spend money to correct what may be one improperly installed tank is unrealistic. Obviously your opjnion differs.

notanlines · 06-30-2021, 07:01 AM

Legion, in celebration of your good fortune, how about we all meet at Maid-Rite and you treat? Mmmmmm

jxnbbl · 06-30-2021, 04:15 PM

"How can you blame an occurrence on the manufacturer and say it's not a "maintenance issue" if it happens TEN YEARS after it's built..."

In this case there is no maintenance requirements that I know of so the liability will end up with keystone regardless of age.

Its a manufacturers issue period..easy when it is a design flaw. The primary system has to be fool proof and not be subject to a "friday installation flaw/laziness" that is my point. If it depends on only one support system, then fine. No need for a secondary.

Regardless the improvement is not going to cost $100 per unit never mind $10k

**flybouy** · 06-30-2021, 04:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jxnbbl

"How can you blame an occurrence on the manufacturer and say it's not a "maintenance issue" if it happens TEN YEARS after it's built..."

In this case there is no maintenance requirements that I know of so the liability will end up with keystone regardless of age.

Its a manufacturers issue period..easy when it is a design flaw. The primary system has to be fool proof and not be subject to a "friday installation flaw/laziness" that is my point. If it depends on only one support system, then fine. No need for a secondary.

Regardless the improvement is not going to cost $100 per unit never mind $10k

Obviously we are not going to meet on this. The ludicrous example af 10 yrs later being a design flaw isn't worth trying to explain. There are "fool proof" anything in life. If you drive a new truck off the lot and they forgot to put the bolts holding down the seats that's a manufacturing error, not a design error. Lastly, please don't misquote what I said. I said if all the improvements that everyone desires were implimented, not just your wishes. It wasn't all about you, it was a broader disscussion.

Good luck to you and safe travels.

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