I blew up my black water tank today!

[bikemechanic53]

SO. I screwed up big time this morning. I went to a water source to fill my fresh water tank. Unfortunately, I thought I had previously connected the input water hose to the bottom of the three fill connections. (I've only filled this once, got it about 2 weeks ago.)

I turned the water on (high) and waited. The water system started making strange noises, then BANG and another BANG. Sewage began pouring out the bottom of the trailer all over the place.

Apparently I had connected the city water line to the tank flush valve. This pressurized the black tank and pipes. Something burst, letting the extra pressure and sewage out. It was not the toilet connection, as it is solid. I cannot see any of the other black tank connections.

I don't know what blew out. I'll have to drop the corroplast and examine the underside.

Does anyone know what could have blown. And how screwed am I?
(my wife has told me how screwed I am, but that's a different topic)

Tom

[Laredo Tugger]

Not sure what you blew out.
From experiences I have heard of ( and yes, done once myself) your black tank system should be connected to a vent pipe through the roof.
The overflow should have escaped through the toilet (over the rim) and through the vent pipe with water flowing off the roof.
Possibly a check valve that was supposed to allow the excess water escape failed and allowed the tank over pressure .
The fix?
Pop the Coloplast and find what failed and re-plumb to the best of your abilities. Factory schematics are probably non existent.
Sorry for your troubles .
As for the DW, well honestly she will have fun with this story and laugh about it around the campfire in your future travels . But for now, there's no factory schematics for this one either.
RMc

[chuckster57]

Sounds like the black tank split open. Tell your wife that your not the first one and I’m sure you won’t be the last one so you deserve a break.

Anyway what probably happened was the tank got full and as water tried to go up the vent pipe the pressure got too high in the tank. It’s hard to say what the booms were, you’ll have to drop the coroplast.

Only remove enough screws on the side to take a look.

[notanlines]

What Chuckster ^^^^said. Once the black tank was full it then started up the vent pipe and the pressure started increasing the tank pressure by approximately .6 pounds per square inch per foot. We see this same action when tornados approach a house (not hit) and the atmospheric pressure drops by only 1/2 pound, blowing windows out of the house with extreme force.
Your black tank simply can't always take the kind of pressures working against those seams.
And if your DW is interested in being able to tell those stories around the campfire then she should get on her back on the ground and lend a hand. You'll need her help before this is over.

[jasin1]

Quote [ and bang sewage began pouring out the bottom of the trailer and all over the place ]

Yeah I’d probably wrap some plastic or something around the rv and cover the trailer with leaves, branches and old Christmas boxes and just push it off to the side…never to be looked at again.. “ well hon ..uh …that one is done.. nothing to see here…funny…rv’s don’t last as long as I thought … let’s go to the rv show next weekend…or maybe a boat show”

Seriously though I’m sorry for your troubles..hope you get it taken care of and back to camping soon

[flybouy]

No doubt you'll need to drop the cloroplast and get dirty. I'd suggest you make a label, or use a permenant marker and with a big arrow pointing to that connection atate "open black water drain valve first". May save you from an encore in the future.

[jasin1]

I see that recpro sells replacement tanks…maybe get the old one out and measure and you can find a replacement

[bikemechanic53]

Thanks guys. I appreciate the thoughts.

I'll start on the coroplast probably tomorrow. However, I read somewhere that these tanks are dropped into the frame from the top. So removal may be "problematic".

[jasin1]

It looks like you have a single 39 gallon black tank..recpro has these ..guess you won’t know till you remove coroplast

[JRTJH]

I'm not suggesting an "abandonment", but have you read your insurance policy carefully???

Most RV insurance covers this type of "catastrophic event"... It may be significantly cheaper to pay the $500 deductible and let someone else do the repairs. I'm positive that buying the replacement tank, fittings and tools you'll need to do the job at home will cost you more than that, plus "somebody else" gets the honor/privilege of doing the cleanup.....

[jasin1]

Originally Posted by JRTJH

I'm not suggesting an "abandonment", but have you read your insurance policy carefully???

Most RV insurance covers this type of "catastrophic event"... It may be significantly cheaper to pay the $500 deductible and let someone else do the repairs. I'm positive that buying the replacement tank, fittings and tools you'll need to do the job at home will cost you more than that, plus "somebody else" gets the honor/privilege of doing the cleanup.....

Honor/ privilege/horror..lol. Can scar you for life

[chuckster57]

Originally Posted by bikemechanic53

Thanks guys. I appreciate the thoughts.

I'll start on the coroplast probably tomorrow. However, I read somewhere that these tanks are dropped into the frame from the top. So removal may be "problematic".

Tanks are dropped in while the frame is upside down. You’ll have no problem dropping it out.

[Carrottop]

We just went through this last fall when a neighbor turned on our black sprayer by accident while we were away for two weeks. Ours flowed up over the toilet rim and flooded the trailer for two weeks before we got there. Our insurance company ended up writing off the trailer due to the rotted floors. I would assume as previously stated you probably split the tank or connection to the vent pipe. If you have a camera snake you could put it down the toilet and see what the camera shows. Assuming the camera has a light on it. or as suggested above remove one screw on the coroplast and fit a camera snake with light in that way.

Sorry for your trouble and good luck.

[bikemechanic53]

Originally Posted by chuckster57

Tanks are dropped in while the frame is upside down. You’ll have no problem dropping it out.

Excellent. Good to know. Thanks.

[bikemechanic53]

Originally Posted by Carrottop

We just went through this last fall when a neighbor turned on our black sprayer by accident while we were away for two weeks. Ours flowed up over the toilet rim and flooded the trailer for two weeks before we got there. Our insurance company ended up writing off the trailer due to the rotted floors. I would assume as previously stated you probably split the tank or connection to the vent pipe. If you have a camera snake you could put it down the toilet and see what the camera shows. Assuming the camera has a light on it. or as suggested above remove one screw on the coroplast and fit a camera snake with light in that way.

Sorry for your trouble and good luck.

Good idea. I do have one. I'll try it.

[flybouy]

Tom, while I'm a prponet of using endoscopes as a diagnosric tool I don't think it's going to help a lot. Sounds to me like a catastrophic failure that's going to require peeling back the belly to fix. Best case scenario would be if the drain line blew off. I would start looking at the curb side around the drain pipe and work your way towards the tank. If the defect isn't obvious have someone turn the water on to the sprayer and see where the water is comming from. You might want to get a taryp to cover the ground and buy some disposable overalls. Good luck.

[JRTJH]

In any case, if there is black tank contents above the coroplast, you're going to have to remove the entire "soiled coroplast" to clean and disinfect it and then reinstall it. You'll also need to clean or remove any "S**t stained" insulation, heat ducting, wiring, slide motors and mechanisms, "bubble wrap" or anything else that was originally a color other than brown......

If the black tank ruptured, you can pretty well be assured that the entire trailer belly is contaminated... While you might get by just hosing it out in a dry, arid environment, that won't work on a wet spring day in central Florida after the 2PM thunderstorm and the sun comes out to shine brightly as the humidity hovers at 100% and the temperature does as well.... The trailer will be "ripe with reminders" of what once was a dirty belly......

Do a thorough cleaning/disinfection or trade the trailer while it's cool and dry.....

[bikemechanic53]

Originally Posted by flybouy

Tom, while I'm a prponet of using endoscopes as a diagnosric tool I don't think it's going to help a lot. Sounds to me like a catastrophic failure that's going to require peeling back the belly to fix. Best case scenario would be if the drain line blew off. I would start looking at the curb side around the drain pipe and work your way towards the tank. If the defect isn't obvious have someone turn the water on to the sprayer and see where the water is comming from. You might want to get a taryp to cover the ground and buy some disposable overalls. Good luck.

I will do that. It's currently very windy here, so I'm going to wait till the wind dies down. Probably another 2-3 days.

The tank appears useable. I've run water through the toilet and nothing is coming out the bottom. So whatever breaks are in the system are above the bottom of the tank.

[bikemechanic53]

Originally Posted by JRTJH

In any case, if there is black tank contents above the coroplast, you're going to have to remove the entire "soiled coroplast" to clean and disinfect it and then reinstall it. You'll also need to clean or remove any "S**t stained" insulation, heat ducting, wiring, slide motors and mechanisms, "bubble wrap" or anything else that was originally a color other than brown......

If the black tank ruptured, you can pretty well be assured that the entire trailer belly is contaminated... While you might get by just hosing it out in a dry, arid environment, that won't work on a wet spring day in central Florida after the 2PM thunderstorm and the sun comes out to shine brightly as the humidity hovers at 100% and the temperature does as well.... The trailer will be "ripe with reminders" of what once was a dirty belly......

Do a thorough cleaning/disinfection or trade the trailer while it's cool and dry.....

Luckily ( or not) I'm in Yuma AZ. So it's reasonable temps and dry here. I'll need to do a lot of clean up. I wanted to insulate the underbelly area anyway, so this will be the time I do that.

[Laredo Tugger]

Originally Posted by bikemechanic53

I will do that. It's currently very windy here, so I'm going to wait till the wind dies down. Probably another 2-3 days.

The tank appears useable. I've run water through the toilet and nothing is coming out the bottom. So whatever breaks are in the system are above the bottom of the tank.

That wind may be the best thing you can utilize for your project right now.
Like John said, you will need to air out the underbelly and that wind will help dry things out for easier access and diagnosis
Not sure about your neighbors downwind though.
RMc