gray tank not draining

[HERO Maker]

17 hours ago, Dutch_12078 said:

The blockage may be the piece cut out that wasn't retrieved when the drain line fitting was attached to the tank. It wouldn't be the first time that's happened after working fine for years.

We were just talking about this yesterday with a few of us "old timers", so yes pretty sloppy work for the guy who drilled the hole.  I wonder how many tanks are out there with the cutout in the tank just waiting to create a problem?

[Dutch_12078]

11 minutes ago, HERO Maker said:

We were just talking about this yesterday with a few of us "old timers", so yes pretty sloppy work for the guy who drilled the hole.  I wonder how many tanks are out there with the cutout in the tank just waiting to create a problem?

The bigger problem is probably the time constraints the RV assemblers are under that don't allow for correcting problems that could hold up the build.

[Steve from SoCal]

1 hour ago, Wrknrvr said:

  I have seen that buildup in the 3” drain line when we use a macerator pump over time. I did discover using Simple Green dissolves it with a little time.

 

 this is grease from a ham that we had for thanks giving. The grease was put in the container Friday am and set outside till yesterday morning. Notice how it is sticking to the side of the glass.

 

 so this photo is about 4 hours later. All I did was to add some Simple Green. It has stayed in the same spot since it was sit there. There is only water, pork grease and simple green in the bottle.

 I will take a photo in a little while to see if the thinness has changed.

 

Hope this is helpful,    Vern

Vern,

 

That is very helpful, when I get things back together I will start the treatment.     The pictures are an eye opener, I don't use water based cleaners much.     

Thanks,

Steve

[Dollytrolley]

Steve,

Time out for a birdboy story.....

In my misspent youth and my job of saving the world I was slave boy right seat guy of a couple DC-6'$ and a DC-7 tankers.... Plenty of plumbing.....

Capt was Old-grumpy and had prostate that must have been the size of a water melon but he would not use the pilot relief tube so he spent time back in the back cabin peeing in the APU drain pan drain while I had to hand fly the old crate without a autopilot....

We were out of Seattle bumping our way up the coast to Yakatat and coffee drain time arrives but no Capt to fly the wreck so......we were in and out of clouds with moderate iceing at times but not too bad....so I grab the pilot relief funnel and get my....."plumbing" integrated with the aircraft plumbing......I opened the valve and WOOSH a 280 mph breeze blows the last load back on to me and into the cockpit......

Capt arrives and looks really grumpy....not smiling at all says, "kid NEVER EVER pee when the Venturi is iced up....NEVER EVER.....

My suggestion..... forget plumbing.....get another trailer maybe.......and remember ...... NEVER EVER pee in iceing conditions.......

Drive on.....(plumbing ain't fun.....)

[noteven]

Dolly 🤣🤣

[Wrknrvr]

  Just curious if you have solved your drainage problem .

 

  So that bottle with grease in it sitting on the back of my truck is still there. I did lay it on its side. Then I did just shake it back and forth twice for a very short time.

 Then noticed it has broken up into small pieces and is just sitting there. It does get sun during the day so it does get warm.

 

  I think in its present stage it would mostly flush out of the system.

 

  Just a thought,   Vern

 

[Captain Happy]

I kind of had the same problem with my grey water holding tank not draining. In the morning I had washed the dishes from the night before, water drained as usual. At lunch time I washed the noon dishes, but when I drained the water out of both sinks, it just sat there.

Now the grey tank drain is open as usual, or so it's suppose to be. So I start digging into the problem. First off I figured the rod that pulls the valve open has come apart from the valve itself. So I go get a large tub to catch all the water into. Take out all 4 bolts that hold the valve together. Get the valve out, water still not draining, so that's not the problem. I get a piece of small hose and stick it up the pipe into the tank. after a few attempts I finally get it all the way in. Now water starts to small flow into the tub. So after 30 minutes or so the flow stops. I empty the tub of all the water and haul it over to the parks dump station.  

Now I put the tub back under the grey tank drain pipe and go into the kitchen  and fill both sinks with water. Pull the stoppers, down the water goes. Go back outside and I can now hear the water flowing into the tub. Whatever was stopping up the drain has now been flushed out.

Put the valve back together and put water back into the tank along with some Rid-X. I left the valve closed for over a week so the Rid-X gets to do it's work. After the weeks up I drain the tank, and man you ought to see what came out. All kinds of crap.

And that's my story.

P.S. Now all I've got to do is patch the hole I had to cut just to get to the valve up under the sheet metal covering the bottom of the trailer. I left the hole open just in case I had to take the valve apart again.

[Parrformance]

Good place for a piano hinged door I suspect.

[Steve from SoCal]

I have not been able to get to a source for simple green as of yet.    The small hose does allow some water to drain at a reduced flow as mentioned above.   

 

I should be able to get some tomorrow when I get to do some shopping.     I have been working on my truck doing some PM stuff and re configuring.     i will be taking the truck and Kentucky trailer to my house in California before Christmas.     It has been a mad dash to get stuff done while the weather is good.       Supposed to be a few inches of snow starting tomorrow PM

 

Steve   

[Lou Schneider]

On 12/1/2019 at 8:08 AM, Dutch_12078 said:

If you can access the bolts on the valve body, slide what ever bucket or pan you have that will fit under the valve and just loosen the bolts to the where the leaking starts. That will give you a more controlled flow that you can suction with your macerator as it fills up. Once the tank is drained, you can then replace the valve or take any other needed actions without worrying about a flood.

Or just cut off the rectangular part of the valve the gate slides into.  Sometimes this fills up with gunk and keeps the slider from opening.

With the rectangular part of the valve body out of the way you'll see the white slide valve and you can grab it with a pair of pliers and pull it open.  Just don't pull it all the way out or you'll have a leak from the slide channel.

Edited December 14, 2019 by Lou Schneider