Gray Water Tank

[Leslie & Nick]

I've noticed a slight drip where the gray water tank drains into the waste water discharge line. Appears that the fitting was either glued or plastic welded to the gray water tank. I can see where the water is leaking from, and was wondering what I might use to patch the small leaking area. I was thinking of some sort of silicone sealer. Anyone encountered this situation?

Nick

[Bill]

Hmmm. I have not experienced (or heard of) this, so I'm thinking out loud. Bear with me.

I think the fittings are solvent-welded (glued). My first approach would be to empty the gray water tank, flush it with fresh water, drain it again, and let it dry for a few days. Use a wire brush to gently clean the plastic around the leaky area.

Now get some ABS pipe cement from your hardware store. At the same time, get a small brush - the plumbers call them acid brushes - and cut the bristles down to about 1/4 inch long to make them stiffer. Put a liberal coating of cement over the leaky area, and using the acid brush, try to work some of the cement up into the leaky area.

Wait 24 hours and see if it still leaks. Good luck!

This whole operation will be easier if you can turn the entire TM over, so that the plumbing is on the top. Do you have the right equipment for this?

Bill

Leslie & Nick,

I had a leak. Maybe a bit bigger than yours... I threw a tread just a year ago and it ripped the spiggot right off the gray tank. It is now nicely sealed without loosing a drip.

My process was this and yours is much easier to seal:
a) I bought a plastic welder and welded the cracks in the gray tank. they ran about 4 or 6 inches along the bottom. In this process, I determined that the tank and pipes are all ABS. So ABS repairs are what you need -- common irrigation pipe from Home Depot. And BTW, the welder cost $20 or $30 at Harbor Freight.
b) I smeared JB Weld into the welded cracks, both inside the gray tank and outside as I wasn't so good at getting a seal with the welder. In this case, I had a nice opening to work through.
c) I bought a flange spiggot from Camping World and bonded it to the face of the gray tank using JB Weld.

When this all cured, I put about 10 gallons of water in the fresh tank to check. I found one small hole squirting a stream. After draining the tank again, I smeared more JB Weld into that hole.

No more leaks.

One small mod I did was to connect the new plastic pipe to the new flange using a clamped rubber hose so if I loose the tire again it will pull the plastic out of the rubber instead of pulling the end out of the gray tank.

So you can use JB Weld or PVC cement. Clean the area before applying as Bill described.

[Leslie & Nick]

Originally Posted by Bill

This whole operation will be easier if you can turn the entire TM over, so that the plumbing is on the top. Do you have the right equipment for this? Bill

In fact, I do have the equipment to turn the TM upside down - it's getting it back on its tires that's the tough part!!

Seriously, the 'Plumber's Goop" is drying as we speak. Had to go to HD this morning and they must have 20 products that can be used to mend leaking pipes. I'll give it a chance to cure well, before I check it for leaks.

Yes Bob, I thought I remember someone posting something about plastic welding on the Gray Water Tank, but my "Search" didn't find it.

I'm surprised that more of these particular fittings don't leak.
Appears there would be quite a bit of stress where the drain pipe meets the tank (??)

Nick

Now that you've already fixed it, I'll tell you about some stuff I really like. It's called Copper Bond and is an epoxy that was made for gluing copper pipe and fittings together. I have used it for a lot of other things and it will stick to almost anything and dries real hard. We plumbed my son's former house with it and I've even fixed the metal guides for the cutting board in the kitchen. I think you could sit on the cutting board and not break the copper bond - just bend the tracks. Here's the link: http://superglue.supergluecorp.com/copperbond.html

[countrygirl]

Wow...that is cool Freedom!

Black pipe is usually ABS which is not compatible with PVC glue. Usually ABS is used for drains. I suppose it's possible they used black PVC for the drains but it would be worth triple checking so that the proper compatible glue is used.

larsdennert

Whoops! You are right. The gray tank is ABS. I was working from memory on that. The test for ABS is to drop a bit of MEK or Acetone or lacquer thinner on it. If the plastic softens (like plastic glue would do to it), it is ABS. Sorry for any problems this may have caused. I will be editing my former post to correct that. Thanks.

[Leslie & Nick]

Well the good news is that the "Plumber's Goop" seems to have worked

After letting it dry for a day, I drained some water into the gray water tank, and it does not seem to be leaking at the joint. We're getting ready for a camping excursion, so we'll see if it's still OK after a few hundred miles of travel. Thanks for the tips!

Nick

I've been having on and off problems with our gray water tank. We have a 2005 3124KS. I noticed just after we setup and started using our sinks (on our last outing) that the gray watent tank started to drip. It appears to be at the joint where the gray water drain pipe fits into the tank.

From reading all of the posts I am a little confused. What material is the gray water tank? What material is the drain pipe that fits into the tank? What material do I use to stop the leak since it appears to be at that joint where two different materials come together?

In reading the other threads, it appears that their leaks were at the joint where the gray water dumped into the common drain just before the shut off valves. These leaks were PVC pipe leaks. My leak is back at the tank where the black pipe join's the main gray water tank. How do you fix that leak?

Jim and Nancy Knutson
2005 TM3124KS with 2002 XTERRA TV