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Old 07-10-2012, 08:16 PM   #1
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Gray Water Tank; Overflow?

It appears I have a leak somewhere at the top of my gray water tank that only presents itself when full. The water all seems to run out into the dump bay, over the top of the tank. I have a leak, right? I figured I should ask before I start looking to fix it.
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Old 07-10-2012, 08:20 PM   #2
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Ouch. It sure seems to point to a leak in something near the top of the tank.

On my "tool guy" wish list is one of those fiber optic snake cameras to be able to look for things exactly like this. But, alas....

Good luck.

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Old 07-10-2012, 08:24 PM   #3
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No you may not, the over flow pipe is doing what its suppose to relieve the pressure of tank sidewalls so it won't collapse.
Leave a air space at top of tank.
The size of your tank will be carrying 8lbs per gallon, do you need that much water.
Does not do good for gas mileage.
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Old 07-10-2012, 08:49 PM   #4
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No you may not, the over flow pipe is doing what its suppose to relieve the pressure of tank sidewalls so it won't collapse.
Leave a air space at top of tank.
The size of your tank will be carrying 8lbs per gallon, do you need that much water.
Does not do good for gas mileage.
I don't think there's an overflow pipe on the top of a grey tank, is there?

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Old 07-10-2012, 09:05 PM   #5
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Just notice that its that age thing again sorry about that.
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Old 07-10-2012, 09:08 PM   #6
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Check the vent pipe on your roof may have worked loose from tank on top, from the good roads we have.
If your gray tank is that full would be backing up into my shower.
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Old 07-10-2012, 09:12 PM   #7
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Quote:
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Just notice that its that age thing again sorry about that.
I hear ya.
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Old 07-10-2012, 09:17 PM   #8
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Quote:
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Check the vent pipe on your roof may have worked loose from tank on top, from the good roads we have.
If your gray tank is that full would be backing up into my shower.
I'd like to see that.
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Old 07-10-2012, 09:24 PM   #9
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Check the vent pipe on your roof may have worked loose from tank on top, from the good roads we have.
If your gray tank is that full would be backing up into my shower.
Yeah, I was sanitizing the tanks and I was waiting for water to come up to the shower drain -- it never happened.

What am I looking for on the roof? A wiggle at the vent pipe? If so is there anything to be done about it? It seems the top of the gray tank is completely inaccessible.
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Old 07-10-2012, 09:29 PM   #10
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I'd like to see that.
That's how it was on my first motorhome, my 5th wheel, my trailer and my truck camper. When the gray water is full it will back up into the lowest drain -- the shower. Wait, as you were... on the camper the black water pops up through the shower drain.

edit: looks like I quoted you too soon
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Old 07-10-2012, 09:32 PM   #11
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"007" said:

'If your gray tank is that full would be backing up into my shower."

That's what I'd like to see.
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Old 07-10-2012, 09:39 PM   #12
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^ Yeah, I must have quoted you before final edit. Sorry for the confusion.
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Old 07-10-2012, 09:50 PM   #13
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Sure does on mine at least. Water will back up in drain pipe from kitchen sink or second bathroom sink and into shower and if someone forgets to shut off faucet may overflow all over the bathroom floor.
If you go up on roof remove the cap off vent and drop a line with sinker or something heavy and see if it drops into tank or stops on the top of it.
If you have a flashlight you maybe able to see down into tank.
If its out and your lucky you maybe able to re-push the vent pipe into a collar seal on top of your tank. You may have to turn and twist to get it seated into collar.
If that doesn't work may have to pull pipe all the way up and check what was on that end of pipe and how far it dropped into tank so you can place some type of sealant at the mark on vent pipe.
The roof fitting may have to be removed so you can maneuver the pipe into hole of tank plus place new roof collar on pipe to hold it from now dropping into tank.
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Old 07-11-2012, 05:58 AM   #14
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007, thank you very much for that information. I will go up this morning and see what I can see.
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Old 07-11-2012, 06:38 AM   #15
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If I'm reading it right, it appears my vent pipe is y'd towards the bottom:

Overview:


Close up:


I'll still get up there and have a look, but I'm not optimistic I'll be able to plug it back in from the roof.
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Old 07-11-2012, 09:23 AM   #16
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From the dump station, I am able to see enough of the top of the tank to identify the leak. It is coming from around the base of the galley drain according to this diagram:
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Old 07-11-2012, 12:42 PM   #17
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Well, after examining it repeatedly and thinking about it all morning, I have decided it's not worth tearing into to try and fix. It'd be a lot of work and I have the potential to mess up two other seals on that tank and then the toilet seal on the black tank (my tanks are stacked). I suppose I can do my part to ensure the gray tank never gets completely full or becomes too stinky and it does seem to just leak out into the dump station.

Ah well, there are worse problems to have.
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Old 07-11-2012, 09:48 PM   #18
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Am I being dumb for not trying to fix this?
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Old 07-11-2012, 10:00 PM   #19
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Sure does on mine at least. Water will back up in drain pipe from kitchen sink or second bathroom sink and into shower and if someone forgets to shut off faucet may overflow all over the bathroom floor.
Shh.... don't tell anybody that I did that!
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Old 07-11-2012, 10:14 PM   #20
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You're a marked man now... hehehe...
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