Grey water gate valves

[lazbo]

Has anyone replaced there 11/2 inch grey water plumbing for 3 inch...been haveing lots of problems since New with drainage problems.

[NMWildcat]

What kind of problems? My gray tanks have always drained slower, but not enough for me to go through the PITA of switching everything to larger pipe

Have you had a camera run in your tank/pipes to see if there are any obstructions? Several reports of material falling into tank when factory cut holes for vent and input lines.

[lazbo]

Originally Posted by NMWildcat

What kind of problems? My gray tanks have always drained slower, but not enough for me to go through the PITA of switching everything to larger pipe

Have you had a camera run in your tank/pipes to see if there are any obstructions? Several reports of material falling into tank when factory cut holes for vent and input lines.

I was thinking about debris from the tank but can’t for the life of me think why they only put a 11/2 inch pipe on the tank...had to take the gate valve off to snake it clean

[NMWildcat]

Originally Posted by lazbo

I was thinking about debris from the tank but can’t for the life of me think why they only put a 11/2 inch pipe on the tank...had to take the gate valve off to snake it clean

Pretty standard in every RV I have ever seen. Gray should not have anything solid in it but maybe small food particles from sink. So 1.5" should be sufficient. What debris did you find when you snaked it?

[lazbo]

Originally Posted by NMWildcat

Pretty standard in every RV I have ever seen. Gray should not have anything solid in it but maybe small food particles from sink. So 1.5" should be sufficient. What debris did you find when you snaked it?

Looked exactly that..fat,etc.And yes very standard I must agree.I might re-plumb but was also thinking of looking in the tank as sometimes it’s good and sometimes it’s plugged...had the same problem once in a gas tank that had paper floating in it which would suck into the lines and stop the car then refloat after...

[NMWildcat]

Originally Posted by lazbo

Looked exactly that..fat,etc.And yes very standard I must agree.I might re-plumb but was also thinking of looking in the tank as sometimes it’s good and sometimes it’s plugged...had the same problem once in a gas tank that had paper floating in it which would suck into the lines and stop the car then refloat after...

Ah. We have found that using liquid dish washer detergent works well to degrease our gray tanks of the soap scum. It doesn't create suds like Dawn will. We put it in the gray tank when half or more full, drive to our next stop, and then fill and flush tank. Amazing the gunk that comes out

[lazbo]

Thanks for the tip...much like putting ice cubes in the black tank and heading out to remove debris from the inside of the tank...just frustrating ...never had this problem with my fleet wood but all in all it’s just a learning experience...thank you for responding and the tips...

[lazbo]

Might put a camera up though that sounds like it’s more to do with my problem from constructive debris

[NMWildcat]

I was just thinking about the re-plumbing idea. Was wondering if you would also need to change the vent pipe size to match the output. I suppose if it couldn't keep up it might pull the water out of the sink traps. Or, it might not be a problem at all. Just thinking out loud.

[lazbo]

It works for the sewer though

[lazbo]

I also broke off a ear from the flange when I took the gate valve off a few times as the seals were not seating and it was leaking...sigh...managed to overcome that though

[NMWildcat]

Originally Posted by lazbo

It works for the sewer though

Ah, you are correct there.

[DouglasReid]

Originally Posted by NMWildcat

Ah. We have found that using liquid dish washer detergent works well to degrease our gray tanks of the soap scum. It doesn't create suds like Dawn will. We put it in the gray tank when half or more full, drive to our next stop, and then fill and flush tank. Amazing the gunk that comes out

You know, Ive been putting 5 gallons of water and Dawn intot he black tank when we leave a campsite and drain it when we get to our new one after it has been sloshing around on the road.

Im going to try that in the grey tanks on the way to our next trip to see just what actually comes out.

GOOD IDEA!!

[DutchRv]

We ALWAYS let a gallon of two slosh around in both tanks. Always drain well, always clean.

[cariboo camper]

Camped for a week, the day before we left I let the grey fill up to flush the black tank after emptying it. Grey tank would not empty, opened and closed the gate valve many times, nothing came out. Decided to deal with it when I got home after 4 hour trip. tried it at home, just opened the valve for a second and it worked. Ended up with a handful of food debris.

Could have tried tapping around the gate valve a bit to dislodge food debris but I was thinking the gate valve itself was broke.

Going to be more diligent in using our sink strainers in the future.

[lazbo]

Originally Posted by cariboo camper

Camped for a week, the day before we left I let the grey fill up to flush the black tank after emptying it. Grey tank would not empty, opened and closed the gate valve many times, nothing came out. Decided to deal with it when I got home after 4 hour trip. tried it at home, just opened the valve for a second and it worked. Ended up with a handful of food debris.



Could have tried tapping around the gate valve a bit to dislodge food debris but I was thinking the gate valve itself was broke.



Going to be more diligent in using our sink strainers in the future.

I thought the gate valve was the problem and bought another one but the old one was good.When I snaked the pipe it seemed to push aside something and drained for a bit then dribbled but nothing came out until I put the snake in again and pushed whatever was in there aside and it drained out and now just dribbling again ....it has to be a plastic cutout from construction