Holding tank confussion

richf28 · 05-12-2011, 01:28 AM

We recently bought a 2011 Hornet 28RLS. I was dewinterizing (sanitizing)the unit and running the sinks through and had the grey tank valve open. I heard water running in the bathroom and discovered the sink was overflowing. No backing up in toilet, shower, or kitchen. Upon checking the tank gauges I found the black tank was showing full. Owners manual shows only the toilet going to the black tank. Anybody know how these are plumbed?

**hankpage** · 05-12-2011, 04:27 AM

If the toilet was not backing up WHEN FLUSHED, your tanks may be labeled incorrectly. (your monitor also) Some trailers have the lavatory draining to the black tank but water would be coming from toilet also. When dumping in the past did waste come from tank marked Black tank????

hankaye · 05-12-2011, 06:48 AM

richf28, Howdy;

Did you open the flush valve in the toilet to see if it was full?
That valve will keep water from backing out as well as for keeping some water in the bowl. If the water was not backed up in the commode then you may have a blockage in the drain line ... just a thought.

hankaye

mikell · 05-12-2011, 06:52 AM

Were full timers and last week i closed all the valves and watched the gages. mine were all wrongbut now I think I have it figured out. The next is to try to make the pump work on the battery incase we have a short outage

**hankpage** · 05-12-2011, 07:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikell

Were full timers and last week i closed all the valves and watched the gages. mine were all wrongbut now I think I have it figured out. The next is to try to make the pump work on the battery incase we have a short outage

What pump are you talking about. The fresh water pump which has nothing to do with dumping waste or gray water tanks or do you have an after-market waste ejector pump installed????

rgwilliams69 · 05-12-2011, 02:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikell

Were full timers and last week i closed all the valves and watched the gages. mine were all wrongbut now I think I have it figured out. The next is to try to make the pump work on the battery incase we have a short outage

We had the same issue, all labeled wrong on our 3640RL. Did the "empty one at a time and check the gauge" test and it turns out (from the outside in they are Holding, Grey 1, Grey 2. They are labeled (again from the outside in) Grey 2, Grey 1, Holding.

QA anyone?

hankaye · 05-12-2011, 05:14 PM

Howdy All;

Mine are labled from top down;
Galley
Gray
Black
Fresh
Battery.

I stuck my head in the 'basement' to see where the plumbing ran to see which 'T'- handle worked which tank.
From front to back;
Gray
Black
Galley is a 1 1/2" and runs outside the cloroplast so it's easy to spot...

To see if they are on the proper display I did the fill and drain routine.
I generally keep the Galley drain open all the time. Except when I go to dump the others. I shut it while I do the others (I fulltime and am hooked to a sewer system).

hankaye

richf28 · 05-12-2011, 11:22 PM

I opened the toilet and it wasn't overfull. I can't see the plumbing under the camper just the tanks. I just bought the tt so I never used it to know how it all was filling. My maiden voyage is this weekend so I'll keep a watch. I do know when I pulled the lever marked Black Tank it was full.

mikell · 05-13-2011, 05:47 AM

I wasn't really too worried about the 2 greys but I decided to use the food coloring method and add some last night so I'm going to give it a few days. different colors in different tanks. We dump into a hole thats about 2 feet in diameter so viewing the colors is easy. The fresh water pump is what I'm trying to figure out. were tied into city water but would like to have it working incase I have a hose blow out. Not so bad in the summer but the winter it would be a lot more work and time

hankaye · 05-13-2011, 08:25 AM

richf28, Howdy;

Quote:

Originally Posted by richf28

I opened the toilet and it wasn't overfull. I can't see the plumbing under the camper just the tanks. I just bought the tt so I never used it to know how it all was filling. My maiden voyage is this weekend so I'll keep a watch. I do know when I pulled the lever marked Black Tank it was full.

The black tank is generally under the commode (striaght drop so to speak), and has a 3" drain pipe to a 3" valve. Not familir with your floorplan so I'll hazard a guess (

),IF the drainline from the kitchen goes to a seperate tank it MAY have a 1 1/2" drain line to a 1 1/2" valve. The drain from the shower / lavy MAY have a seperate tank, if so, it MAY have a 3" drainline or it may have a 1 1/2" drainline. My last trailer was a TT only had 2 tanks Black & Gray Black ALWAYS has a 3" to handle the "lumps".

If you can see the tanks they are generally located as close to the supply source.
Your plumbing runs are most likely inside the trailer. Mine were located along the exterior wall behind the cabinates and other stuff along that wall.

Hope this helps, if only a wee-bit.

hankaye

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