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Old 08-18-2021, 03:02 PM   #1
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via grey water tank problems

New here to the forum- we have a 2011 via with a macerator pump. The problem is that when we try to empty the grey water tank the pump runs, no water comes out the hose but a steady flow comes from a white pipe under the coach. The pipe looks like some kind of drain or overflow but we can't figure out why grey water would be coming out of it instead of the hose where it is supposed to go. Has anyone had a similar problem? We have had a problem with no water from our water heater(figure a blocked check valve) but that shouldn't affect the grey water drain. Black water drains fine.
Any help would be appreciated.

Bob and Penny Bartsch
Townsend, DE
2011 Winnebago Via
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Old 08-18-2021, 06:34 PM   #2
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Hi, we have the same coach. The macerator pumps into a 1.5" white flexible line that runs along the frame rail and up over the axle then down at an angle where it connects into the main drain pipe 90 degree elbow which is really a 1.5" X 3" X 3" Tee. Either someone cut or otherwise modified yours so they could let gray water onto the ground or it froze and split. Do you have the 25Q? If so the pump is sort of accessible by lifting the mattress and leaning into the trap door to the rear. If the line broke there it is possibly pumping the gray water into the plastic pan under the wet bay and running out of the drain, although it would over flow pretty quickly if that were the case as that drain is small and the pump moves a lot of water quickly. The only reason they had to use a pump is that the axle is in the way for gravity flow to the main drain.

I made some modifications to my gray and I can now dump it directly out of a standard 3" hookup without using the pump and I can also drain it with a garden hose if I want. Can put up pics and details if you're interested.

You do know that the gray water gets pumped over to the same drain as the blackwater right? If the cap is not off the gray will just back up.
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Old 08-19-2021, 08:23 AM   #3
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Via grey water tank problems

Thank you for your reply, it is very helpful. Any pics and info about your modifications would be greatly appreciated. Yes I do know the water is supposed to go to the black water drain, odd setup, not happy with it at all. I do have a 25Q.

Bob and Penny Bartsch
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Old 08-19-2021, 09:18 AM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by noxontown View Post
Yes I do know the water is supposed to go to the black water drain, odd setup, not happy with it at all.
Do you realize that this is how almost all (if not all) motorhomes work?

There is one main 3" outlet and the black flows in from one side and the gray from a smaller 1.5" pipe on the other side. You dump black first. Then grey. That way the gray water cleans out the hose after a black water dump.

Most motorhomes don't have the gray water pump, however.
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Old 08-19-2021, 09:35 AM   #5
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Yes I do realize that is how it is supposed to work, have been camping in various campers for 30 years. Just never encountered this setup with the macerator pump pumping the grey water over to the the black water dump valve (which it is not doing at the moment) that I am not happy with. As I said the grey water is coming out of a pipe about in the middle of the back of the camper and none is coming out of the correct black water drain valve. I think bigb is right that the pipe has broken somewhere and the water is going into a drain pan.
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Old 08-19-2021, 11:01 AM   #6
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I'll get you more info later today when I get home. I'll take some pics showing the routing of the gray water flexible line, and how I modified my setup so I don't have to depend on the pump. Meanwhile if you need to empty the gray you can unscrew the low point drain near the back, place a bucket and open the gray valve. Alternatively you can get a bushing to reduce the low point drain down to 3/4", then thread in a 3/4 close or short nipple with pipe thread on one side and hose threads on the other side. Irrigation places have them. Then you can use a dedicated garden hose to drain the gray.
Meanwhile see if you can post up some pics.
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Old 08-19-2021, 12:58 PM   #7
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Thank you so much for your help with, we solved the problem and feel pretty dumb. We have never had a set up like this with the pump on the grey water. We read the owner's manual but missed the fact that there were two directions-one without a pump and one with a pump. We read the first one and not the second one, Dumb! To make a long story short we missed the grey valve under the fresh water connection box, pulled the wrong valve. Anyway this is a great forum and we appreciate the friendly help.


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Old 08-19-2021, 01:13 PM   #8
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Glad you figured it out! I'll attach pics of my mods and I suggest you do at least the low point drain mod in case your pump fails you will still be able to drain. Just get bushings to reduce the low point drain down to hose threads and put a plastic cap on it. Not only can you drain the gray this way by removing the cap and opening the gray valve but you can also easily drain the elbow for winterizing.
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Old 08-19-2021, 01:22 PM   #9
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Excellent idea! Will do and thank you.
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Old 08-19-2021, 01:29 PM   #10
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Next is my 3" standard drain mod. For this I installed a 3" X 3" X 1.5" street tee. You must use a street tee or there won't be enough room to fit it. Put the street end into the rubber boot, put a 3" to 1.5" offset reducer in the other end with the hole at the bottom and cut your 1.5" pipe back enough to glue it into the reducer. Then install a new 3" valve into the other 3" opening with a female hub adapter as one side and a female camlock as the other side of the valve, there isn't room to build a female camlock with any additional fittings, each side of the new valve can only have one fitting otherwise your valve will stick out too far. The fittings are readily available so no big deal. Finally top it off with a cap that has a hose fitting in it, I have found this is the easiest way for me to empty the gray tank, I carry a gray garden hose and an adapter to fit the camp site drain. We drain gray daily but not black so I only have to drag out the big nasty hose when draining black.

I also added a clamp and a steel cable bolted to the frame to support the weight of my mod. The 3" tee will carry gray water in it all the time up to the valve so I didn't want it to bounce loose from the extra weight. I also bought a bigger heat pad which I have yet to install.
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Old 08-19-2021, 01:36 PM   #11
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Looking forward to talking with another 2011 25Q owner, not too many of us out there. I have been over every inch of mine since buying it last Halloween and done many mods and improvements on both the coach and the Mercedes chassis. In the future it might be best if you post on the Class A section as I nearly missed your post because I don't normally check the tech and tow section.
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Old 08-19-2021, 02:28 PM   #12
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Thanks, didn't know about the class A section, I will look for it. We just purchased ours, going from a Minnie 26ft. We are retired, getting older and the motorhome will be easier. We wanted a narrow, shorter one to be able to drive it to stores, restaurants etc I stead of towing a vehicle. Simplicity! Also wanted a walk around bed and the 25q was the answer. So far we really like it, making adjustments for the small er size. We have a problem with the hot water that we couldn't solve so taking it in for repair on Monday, think a blocked check valve. Yes, want to keep in touch with you, had bumper pulls, toy hauler, class C Winnie, 5th wheels but never a class A. On a learning curve in our 70's�� you have given us a couple of good ideas and I am sure you will be a good source of info.
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Old 08-30-2021, 08:13 AM   #13
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I went with a different approach. I modified the 1 1/2 screw in drain to a 3” drain.
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Old 08-30-2021, 08:37 AM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lov2roam View Post
I went with a different approach. I modified the 1 1/2 screw in drain to a 3” drain.
I looked at that but as it was low to begin with I didn't want to make it lower for fear of it hitting the road when turning into parking lots etc.
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Old 08-30-2021, 08:54 AM   #15
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One thing that seems to be missing in this posting is the excellent info sources that Winnebago does give us for this year.
When chasing a leak, I always want to look at where the most likely "suspect" points might be and in this case we get some really good drawings here:
\https://catalog3d.winnebagoind.com/menu/Parts.htm

Drilling down to the correct RV, plumbing and then drain system we can get this where we can get a good look at the specific parts which are most likely to leak?
Is it in the pump area or the other end where joints might be more likely to get loose?

Much easier to sort the problems by looking at drawings first before crawling all around taking things apart to try to spot the problem.
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Old 08-30-2021, 09:01 AM   #16
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Yes that is a great resource that I had forgotten about, in fact is answers my question I posted yesterday in a thread about my shower drain, it appears that I have a one way valve instead of a trap. Thanks.
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Old 08-30-2021, 09:23 AM   #17
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I looked at that but as it was low to begin with I didn't want to make it lower for fear of it hitting the road when turning into parking lots etc.
I understand, the fitting is 1/2 higher than my auto lever jacks and I can unscrew it by hand if I'm worried about hitting it. So far I haven't had a problem with it going through several dips and turns. It is very convenient and fast to dump!
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Old 11-29-2021, 07:47 AM   #18
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Update: after a 3,000 mile trip I discovered that if I have to level on a sloping pad it was difficult to attach a hose to my mod. So I searched and found that a Valterra 80a would simply match up to the existing gray valve by adding a 3x3 boot. No need to cut or glue anything, simply bolt/screw on the replacement parts!
Hope this helps someone!
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Old 11-29-2021, 08:18 AM   #19
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I had no idea those existed! I spent a whole day on mine! Is this the part you used? https://highskyrvparts.com/new-airst...ssembly-601482
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Old 11-29-2021, 09:44 AM   #20
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It's close, you need a spigot (male) on the valve to mate to the 3x3 rubber hub.
https://www.etrailer.com/RV-Waste-Va...erra/T80A.html
The price has increased in two weeks??? Go figure!

Looking at your mod, I would think you could still install the part. Just unbolt the existing gray water valve, disassemble the valve and the one on the part and reassemble. They mate up as they are universal. Buy a 3x3 rubber boot (Ace, Lowes, etc.) and reassemble the new valve.

The advantage is that you are now using a 3" valve to dump rather than a 1 1/2 valve.....much quicker
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