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Old 03-25-2023, 11:05 AM   #1
2002 chieftain 36w
 
Join Date: Nov 2022
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Grey tank filling when hooked to city water.

With the weather getting warmer I hooked up my hose from my house to my 2002 chieftain 36u on Tuesday. Today I noticed water dripping from the bay where the water pump is and where I winterize. I thought I had a broken water line so I shut off the water. I thought I'd check the grey tank level and it was full which was strange because all I've done in the sinks is run enough water to get the antifreeze out of the line and I took 1 shower. I drain the grey tank and it was over full and the water was very clear after the 1st 15 seconds. My question is is there a way that the water could've gotten into the grey tank without going thru the shower or either sink.
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Old 03-25-2023, 01:19 PM   #2
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Most often this failure fills the fresh tank to overflow. A leaking check valve at the water pump is common for that. Getting to the grey holding tank seems hard to figure for quick looks.
Any chance of confusion?

A stool valve leaking might also fill the black tank but not the grey? Maybe a shower hose valve leaking thorugh if laying down in the shwer?
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Old 03-26-2023, 11:17 AM   #3
2002 chieftain 36w
 
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After looking closer. I think the fresh water tank filled up. Although it's only about 1/4full now. I completely drained it when i winterized. I turn the hose back on Saturday and it doesn't seem to be filling. Grey tank also seems to be not filling. Is it possible if the fresh water tank fill could any water get into the grey tank. If the fresh water tank did fill up causing the dripping water how did it drain down to where it is now.
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Old 03-26-2023, 11:44 AM   #4
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No big deal, the RV is designed to confuse us!

The most common problem when the fresh water tank overfills is a check valve on the water pump. It is designed to let the pump move water in one direction from tank to faucets. But the check valve is meant to stop water from going back thorugh the pump and into the tank when we are connected to pressure water.
But it is not a real complex super duty check valve and it can get somethng in the valve and not fully close. It can be something bigger like a plastic bit from building or as simple as a bit of sand or hard water deposits. Sometimes it just wears out!

There should be no way from fresh to grey tank without going through some faucet, etc to get to a drain. When the stool seal/valve stops working just right, a trickle of water can keep going down there but it goes to black water tank.

No direct connections between fresh and black or grey as that would be a health/safety thing if something failed.

First, easy step to fix is to check a valve where you change from filling tank to using pressure water to make sure it is fully turned the right direction as it might be leaking past if not fully closed.

But the second and more common problem is that there is a check valve problem. One way to deal with it is to try to flush it out by sudden changes in the water flow. On/off with the pump or water pessure a few times and then give it some time to prove out if it is clear.
A way to speed the answer along is to open the fresh water tank drain after doing the flush tries and then when setting on pressure water, watch for more water draining, rather than wait so long for overflow.

If unable to clear the check valve, it is possible that it is just worn out and replacement parts are pretty cheap and easy to do but thay can depend on how hard it is to get the pump out. Some are buried!

So another simple fix can be to just put a second cheap check valve inline with the first and leave the first one!
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Old 03-27-2023, 11:07 AM   #5
2002 chieftain 36w
 
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After checking again when I got home last night my grey was full again. Flesh was at same level as yesterday morning. I drained grey tank and today at noon its full again. Fresh tank level unchanged. I'll filling the fresh tank and unhook my hose to see what happens.
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Old 03-27-2023, 11:47 AM   #6
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Well, there is a real mystery there somewhere!
The drawings for plumbing are here:
https://www.winnebago.com/Files/File...l36w_plumb.pdf

Looking at the drain system we get this drawing for how the drain plumbing runs as built.

Click to get a better view of these snips.

General layout of the drains

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Then a view of the openings on the grey tank

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As built, there just is no opening in the grey tank for any fresh water to get into the grey without going through one of the drains!

So, if it is true that water is leaking into the grey without going through one of the drains, the only idea I would have is somebody may have done some addition or change to connect them???
One idea that "might" be done would be some form of cleanout gizmo connected to the water line and meant to rinse the grey tank and is now leaking?
Possible somebody "invented" one to add and got it on the grey tank instead of the normal black tank rinse setup??

On page 3 of the fresh water supply lines (after the drain section) and down in the lower right corner, there is a drawing detail G of the wet bay as built. Do you see anything extra that might have been added?

That's going pretty far out on a limb to search for a cause that is pretty hard to believe!
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Old 03-27-2023, 12:58 PM   #7
2002 chieftain 36w
 
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I've owed this thing since Jan of 2022. Ididn't have this issue last year. I do have a very small drop in the shower, but there's no way it's bad enough to fill the grey tank in 12hrs. Only thing differentfrom last year when I was hooked up to city water at the campgrounds is I don't have a water pressure regulator on my hose now. There's been no modifications Dobbs to the grey tank or any of the plumbing.

I thank you for your help. This is a strange 1.
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Old 03-27-2023, 02:52 PM   #8
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So to review what we know?
There were no connections from water supply to grey tank other than through drains.
There are no mods since built to make a connection.

I only see two things possible. One is the drip is doing more than expected or the tank filling is actually the fresh water holding tank.

As an example of that, we had a cold spell a while back and a neighbor found that a slow drip left to keep the pies from freezing will run a bathtub over if the drain freezes!
It's one of those wierd things that is slowly catching up to Texas. In a place where water is scarce, the codes don't provide building for cold weather, so they tell folks to drip the faucets.
Meanwhile they are cutting off water to farmers downstream because the lakes are going too low!
Common sense is not too common at times!

That second option is a pretty common one we hear about here fairly often as it can be a simple little check valve on the water pump that is designed and used to keep water from the hose supply from running back through the pump and into the fresh water holding tank. If it gets a bit of something stuck in the check valve, water can run backwards throught the pump, overflow the tank and we get complaints about water running out under the RV!
Sorry, not able to spot anything that fits what appears to be happening, so it needs a carefull look to see what is missing??

As one way to go, I might try putting the shower hose drip in a bucket to get a better idea of how fast it might be to fill the tank. I do know that drips can do a lot more than expected at times if they are just a constant, slow thing going on.
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Old 03-28-2023, 09:52 AM   #9
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AFAIK, the only way for water to get into the gray tank is from a faucet somewhere. Even if the 12V water pump was allowing city water through, it would not go into the gray tank unless a faucet was allowing flow. The only way for that to happen without a faucet open is the fresh tank overflow to be connected to the gray tank.



Even if you had a clothes washer that has a leaking valve, the washer would fill before it could get out the elevated drain hose. (which BTW is a good reason to always turn of the washer supply faucets when unused.)
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Old 03-29-2023, 07:27 PM   #10
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Is there a washing machine, have you looked to see if it is full? ut a bucket under the shower drip and see how much it adds up to overnight.
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Old 03-30-2023, 12:49 PM   #11
2002 chieftain 36w
 
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Well it's been 3 days since I filled my fresh water tank and turn hose off. Grey tank has not filled up. I don't know caused it to fill while hooked to city water. Maybe without the water pressure regulator the shower leak is worse then I thought. I can't believe it would fill the Grey tank in 12hrs though.
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Old 03-30-2023, 04:15 PM   #12
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What is your city water pressure? If you don't regulate the pressure down to about 65 psi, then very hi pressure may be doing something that none of us have ever experienced or read about. Keep the pressure down to 65 psi and maybe the mystery problem goes away.
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Old 03-31-2023, 09:14 AM   #13
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Just a guess????

I don't see a air vent on the fresh water water tank diagram. Is there one? It would need to have a check valve to retain line pressure when hooked to a feed hose and release pressure when using the on-board pump. ( How is vacuum lock prevented when the on-board pump is used?)


Just a guess, but there may be a path between the fresh water tank and the grey tank through the vent pipe(s). When under hose pressure the fresh water fills then spills over to the grey tank through the vent pipe? When on-board pump is used, the vent pipe prevents vacuum lock?


Whatever mechanism is used to switch between pressurized and non-pressurized fresh water tank would be a possibility for investigation. Open the grey water dump valve when on hose pressure, wait till the water comes out of the highest fixture (shower?); turn off the shower, is water coming out the grey water drain?
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Old 03-31-2023, 12:35 PM   #14
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The fresh water doesn't need a stand alone vent as it has an overflow. Water goes into the tank, goes to the bottom and air goes out the overflow at the top.
If we overfill the fresh water tank, the water goes out the overflow onto the ground under the RV.

Fresh water tank with the overflow drain:

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Picture of sewage system, both black and grey:
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There are three drains into the grey tank. One sink, one vanity sink and there is an option for a washer drain as I've marked with blue.
There is also a drain in the shower as I've marked in red and where the OP has said there is a leak.

Unless somebody can come up with an explanation of HOW water is getting from the hose into the grey tank without going down one of these drains, I'm going with the leak filling the tank!
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