Grey Water Tank Problem

[whoofit]

[quote source="/post/9829/thread" timestamp="1429808897" author="@tinkeringtechie"]

[/quote]This is true on the 16DB as well. The sink backs up when full but the showers stays dry.

[charliem]

[quote timestamp="1429815908" author="@tinkeringtechie" source="/post/9838/thread"]Here's the device: http://www.hepvo.com/

I saw it under the shower when I was installing my surge protector. It explains how the shower drain can be so close to the regular floor height. Not much room for a conventional p-trap.
[/quote][font size="3"]Thanks TT and Whoofit,

Well, that makes sense, and probably a good idea. So that means I could have a sink backup without a shower backup, but the SeeLevel would show full. All of my recent gallon tests have been through the shower so I would not have seen the effects. My odor problem, when it occurred once, was under the kitchen sink. Ya think I forgot that old fish sandwich?   (puke)
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[bobbie56]

Ran the "Test" today, and...

Ours has the problem.

Got 19 Gallons in then the bathroom sink started sending up a geyser.

Good news, it is still under warranty, will be making contact with Livin Lite tomorrow as to what to do next.

What would we do with out all the smart people on here.

[clrv]

Hey everyone!
I have a customer that has brought his trailer in to our shop to get this problem taken care of.
I am in the warranty Pre-Auth Process with Don at LL, I was just wondering what you think the flat rate would be to fix this issue.
We are sure that this will not be the only one and I want to cover my grounds before I fully sink in to this warranty claim.
Thank you!
Have a great day!
Happy Camping.
-Kyle

[charliem]

Hey everyone!
I have a customer that has brought his trailer in to our shop to get this problem taken care of.
I am in the warranty Pre-Auth Process with Don at LL, I was just wondering what you think the flat rate would be to fix this issue.
We are sure that this will not be the only one and I want to cover my grounds before I fully sink in to this warranty claim.
Thank you!
Have a great day!
Happy Camping.
-Kyle

[font size="3"]Hey Kyle,

Good to have you check in. It indicates either you and/or your customer and/or Don has been following this thread. Any way, it's good. Of course we can't set you pricing, but I'd start by assuming you'll first run a test to confirm the customer's complaint. Then remove the gray tank completely and cut off the vent pipe to prevent it from protruding too deeply into the gray tank. Remount the gray tank and retest.

Come back soon. We love to have dealer participation on a non commercial basis.  
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[bobbie56]

As mentioned a few pages back it took about an hour for another person to drop the tank measure (twice) and cut (once), re-install the tank.

I do agree with the test first and confirm as I measured 18-19 US gallons (1 us gallon = 3.78 litres) which is short of the 32 US gallons indicated as the grey water tank capacity for the 21RBS. This jives with what many say as they seem to fill up at 1/2 to 2/3 capacity.

[daplumbr]

Kyle, i haven't de-winterzed my 16TBS yet so I haven't run the capacity test. However, if it ends up that I need to drop the tank and cut the pipe, I will definitely figure on at least a couple of hours. I have wiring to the tank monitor to unfasten and refasten; I'll have to rig up a way to hold the tank while I remove the bolts, I will be very careful and take my time with measuring, cutting, and re-sealing the vent pipe; and I don't even know how to disconnect and reconnect the drain line. It will be a big, heavy job. Even though our CL is in warranty, I have to do it myself because our dealer's service dept. would mess it up and I want to make sure it's done right. Here's hoping the test will show our 2015 CL is ok and has full grey tank capacity. 

[daplumbr]

Well, we did the capacity test for the grey tank this evening and all went well up to about 16 gallons. Then the sink stopped draining.   So, we have only about half the capacity because the vent pipe is too far into the grey tank. I sure appreciate the info on this forum that identified that as the problem. But pardon me while I "vent" a bit and complain bitterly that the sloppy or ignorant assembly at LL is going to cause me some extra work tomorrow right at time we are trying to finish getting ready for our first camping trip of the season. l wish this were the only thing I've had to fix from sloppy assembly, but it joins the list of wiring and sealing and cleaning problems that simply should not happen at this price. Ok, rant over. I'll go look at the photos earlier in this thread and drop the grey tank.  

[jerrybeaird]

Hi Merlin.....sorry to hear that you have the same problem.  Just a couple of points to help.  If you have the original tank monitor probe wires, they are tough to unscrew as they put some red junk on mine.  I needed two thin wrenches to unscrew it, one to hold the bottom nut from turning.

The brackets might be screwed in crooked so it would be good to know which one came from where when you go to put them back.

The gray drain valve seals, one on both sides are a real pain and it is best to have more wiggle room to make sure that they are not squished in any way when you re-install. To do this, I unhooked the bracket holding the drain tube to the frame (2 bolts).  I also clamped the two halves to the gray valves together once the rubber seal were in place until I could slide the bolts back in that assemble the valve.

My tank was jammed close to the frame so I really had to wiggle it off the vent and drain rubber boots.  It did not fall down freely after the brackets were removed.
I hope this helps.

[daplumbr]

Thanks for the extra tips. I just got out from under the trailer looking the situation over and that info really helps. 

[charliem]

[quote source="/post/10243/thread" timestamp="1430538270" author="@nd1979"]Hi Merlin.....sorry to hear that you have the same problem.  Just a couple of points to help.  If you have ................................brackets were removed.
I hope this helps.[/quote][font size="3"]This kind of help and feedback is what makes this forum so great.
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[daplumbr]

So I dropped the grey tank, using the excellent steps and notes from Bryce and nd1979. It helped to have my wife on one end to lower it down straight. I measured the vent pipe carefully to get maximum capacity in the tank and used the holes in the pipe method suggested by charliem (?). I was not confident I could saw straight in that somewhat confined space, so I drilled 5 holes using a 3/8 bit with the top edge of each hole right on my line. Re-assembly took 3 hands on the outlet end to get the drain back together and I only had 2 since and my wife was holding up the other end of the tank, so that was tricky. In the end we went from 16 gallons to 29 gallons grey tank capacity, so it was worth doing! I hope the holes don't get clogged up, but if they do someday I'll cut the pipe off. The downside is that I spent all afternoon on the job. Counting getting the tools out, taking a short break for my neck from crawling around on the ground under the trailer, doing all the unfastening, measuring, drilling, and refastening, cleaning up, putting tools away, and doing the re-test, I can't imagine completing the job in less than about 4 hours in a home driveway setting. By the end of the afternoon, I was spitting nails at LL, so they will certainly hear from me about their sloppy assembly work. Otherwise, on to more fun mods. The warm weather has us eager to camp and we're heading out soon. 

By the way, the pipe extended 2 1/2 inches too far into the grey tank. Since the tank is 5 inches deep at the vent, it makes sense that we had about 1/2 capacity as first assembled. 

[jerrybeaird]

Hi Merlin...I know it was a pain but like myself, you know it was done correctly when you do it yourself and with the great help of your wife, I might add!  I am glad that you were able to go all the way to 29 gallons.

By the way, A funny thing happened while removing mine.  I was alone, laying under it and finally wiggled it free....The happiness quickly faded away as the tank landed on my nose...ouch to say the least!

[kycamper]

I want to thank you all for all the input in fixing this problem. I will be taking my trailer back to my original dealer ( 4 hours away !!! ) because I just don't trust a nearby Camping World to do the fix correctly. That's a LOT of hours and miles and gas. I am not real happy about all of this.
Now, I don't want to stir the pot......BUT......do any of you think that the vent pipes are set too deep into the BLACK tanks and maybe the Fresh Water tanks??!!!!
 If the black tank isn't vented properly, then it would only do so when you flush the toilet, letting odors up into the trailer instead of up a vent pipe. Or am I just getting carried away??
We are planning a two month trip this summer, and I don't want ANY surprises.

[jeeps]

Gleamb, Since we fixed our gray tank, we haven't had any more problems.  But we've never filled our fresh tank more than about 75%, and our black tank has never come even close to capacity.  We aren't worried about it.   It has been working beautifully.