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Old 10-21-2010, 02:27 PM   #41
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After reading this entire thread, I have come to the conclusion that your TT is not leveled properly to drain your tank completely. You will need to get under the rig and see where the pipe is and the angle it is at, then adjust your TT to drain toward the drain pipe. As stated above, a couple of inches of water left in the tank should not be a big deal, because you should be starting with around 5 gallons of water in there anyway. If you insist on completely draining the tank, I think you will need to relevel the rig towards the drain. Good luck.
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Old 10-21-2010, 06:16 PM   #42
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Best explanation seen to date



I am not recommending the new probes, but the explanation of how they work is the best seen to date.
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Old 10-21-2010, 06:51 PM   #43
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Neat !!

Looking at the spacing of the probes confirms what I found when I could see the fresh water tank on my Trailmanor. When liquid covers the 1st probe making the monitor show 1/3, but the probe is only about 1/4 of the way up. When liquid gets to the 1/2 way probe, it shows 2/3, and when it gets to the probe that is about 3/4 of the way from the bottom to the top, the monitor would show full, when actually you could still add a couple of more gallons to the tank.
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Old 10-21-2010, 08:38 PM   #44
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Blue eye If you haven't run a hose to your vent up top you may want to & flush the vent stack & open your dump & let it rip for a time. Low-tech IT may work & what is there to lose.
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Old 10-22-2010, 08:57 AM   #45
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Hey Camprat,,that is one that we havent tried,,I will put that on the to do list, thanks for the suggestion, I will let you know the results...
the video was great, Lou, thank you posting it..They seem to be the answer, have you tried them? if not, are you going to...
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Old 10-22-2010, 09:20 AM   #46
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Originally Posted by camprat View Post
Blue eye If you haven't run a hose to your vent up top you may want to & flush the vent stack & open your dump & let it rip for a time. Low-tech IT may work & what is there to lose.
I have a retired Navigator friend who did just this. He put a hose in his vent stack and "let 'er rip" to clear a blockage in his black tank. The black valve was open, but, unknown to him, the restriction he was trying to clear let less water out than was going in.

He went across to chat with his neighbor while the flush was in progress and when he looked at his camper water was running out of the BOTTOM of his camper.

Apparently, the weight of the water in the tank, plus the weight of the water in the stack was too much for the tank to support and the tank burst.

This might sound like an "urban legend" but no kidding, I got it first hand from a very upset friend. It cost him a small fortune at the campground to get it repaired enough to be road-able to get home. He then paid another small fortune to get it permanently repaired.

The moral here is:
If you do try to flush through the stack, Keep a REAL close eye on what is happening in the tank. Maybe open the valve on the toilet and have someone outside at the water shutoff valve to hear you scream.
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Old 10-22-2010, 09:37 AM   #47
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have you tried them? if not, are you going to...
I passed the request for the 3 pack set along to the DW for Christmas. Sounds like the install will be a spring project when we get back from Florida.

I did not want to recommend them until I tried them myself. I will, of course, photo document the project.
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Old 10-22-2010, 12:26 PM   #48
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Herk I don't doubt what you say & it is always good to keep a eye on things. Was he using a blow out bag that seal off on the vent pipe to clear it & pressure it up? A 10 foot of 1 1/2 sch 40 holds 1.06 gal = about 8.3357 pounds
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Old 10-22-2010, 01:19 PM   #49
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Originally Posted by camprat View Post
Herk I don't doubt what you say & it is always good to keep a eye on things. Was he using a blow out bag that seal off on the vent pipe to clear it & pressure it up? A 10 foot of 1 1/2 sch 40 holds 1.06 gal = about 8.3357 pounds
I can only tell you it was a first hand report from a friend when I first started talking to him about my new camper. However, his tale was cautionary and pretty much as I described.

He is not a forum subscriber and I will email him for further details.
Email is "away."

I wonder if it was more a "pressure" problem than strictly weight. With a gallon of water on top of a full blast hose in a full tank, I mean...
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Old 10-22-2010, 02:29 PM   #50
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I would like to know too . even with just the hose running it back up out of the stack & run on the roof. Your friend most have my luck. If it can happen it will. thank for getting back.
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Old 10-22-2010, 06:16 PM   #51
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He is home with a cold, but here is his response.

"There is a vent to the roof of the rv. However, filling the tank with the valve closed allows the water pressure to build up enough so the additional pressure of the water in the drain spout is enough to burst the tank. When the tanks are made, the top of the tank is thinner than the bottom. It could be that the tanks top was too thin to handle the pressure. Fortunately for me I had already flushed the tank enough times that there was no sludge only smelly water in the rv's bottom. I still leave the valve closed and dump several gallons of water in the toilet to allow for a good gush of water to flow.

I'm not sure if I'm leaving on Sunday. Not feeling well with a cold!


Sent via DROID on Verizon Wireless"


From his response, it sounds like he had the bottom valve closed to fill up the tank quickly. I don't think he mentioned that little tid bit when he told me his tale of woe the first time.
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Old 10-22-2010, 08:37 PM   #52
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Boy it make you think about the open road & wave action for the top. What will that do to the top if 8lb & open hose pressure made it blow it top. Hope this is just a bad tank.
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Old 10-23-2010, 06:36 AM   #53
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Quote:
Originally Posted by camprat View Post
Herk I don't doubt what you say & it is always good to keep a eye on things. Was he using a blow out bag that seal off on the vent pipe to clear it & pressure it up? A 10 foot of 1 1/2 sch 40 holds 1.06 gal = about 8.3357 pounds
the vertical weight of the water is abt 1 lb/30" reguardless of the volumn.
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Old 10-23-2010, 06:39 AM   #54
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Originally Posted by herk7769 View Post
I passed the request for the 3 pack set along to the DW for Christmas. Sounds like the install will be a spring project when we get back from Florida.

I did not want to recommend them until I tried them myself. I will, of course, photo document the project.
if u get them and install them, let me know what u go thru. i have a set but found that i needed to drill another set of holes (origionals are bonded in on mine). i have a close quarter drill but the sewer line makes that too tight. need to know how u get the sewer line out of the way.
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Old 10-23-2010, 10:58 AM   #55
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the vertical weight of the water is abt 1 lb/30" reguardless of the volumn.
You don't seriously mean that as stated right?

I think I misunderstood what you meant by your comment.
Are you talking about pounds per square inch of footprint?
Pounds per square millimeter?
As stated you could be implying that a 30 inch deep swimming pool has the same weight of water as a 30 inch tall 1 inch pipe.
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Old 10-23-2010, 11:05 AM   #56
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Originally Posted by jimh View Post
if u get them and install them, let me know what u go thru. i have a set but found that i needed to drill another set of holes (origionals are bonded in on mine). i have a close quarter drill but the sewer line makes that too tight. need to know how u get the sewer line out of the way.
Jim are they glued in or is the rubber grommet compressed by the cap nut. From the video it seems the rubber sleeve around the sensor is compressed by the first nut to seal the hole and the wire is held in place by the second nut.

Once you unscrew both nuts you should be able to wiggle the sensor out of the 3/8th inch hole. I was under the impression the "bonded in" ones were on the fresh water tank sensors.

If indeed you will need to drill new holes, it would seem that you are free to mount them where ever you want and what ever spacing you want.
As long as you know where they are you will know how full your tank is.

You could make "full" actually BE full. Etc.

I guess if push comes to shove you could cut the black pipe and use a rubber connecting sleeve (or sleeves) to join the cut section(s) together.
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Old 10-23-2010, 12:01 PM   #57
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Burst tank follow up

I wanted to confirm he was filling his tank with the valve closed and here is his reply:

"Yes, that is the only way I can add water to the tank to flush it. The spray just doesn't work as well. A massive flow of water is needed to really flush the tank well. My only problem was that I forgot that I was filling it until the tank burst. With the overhead vent to the tank, air will not buildup in the tank only water. I'm surprised I didn't see it gushing out of the overhead vent. I believe that the additional pressure created by the 10" vent filling with water before it would gush out would have created the additional pressure to cause the tank to burst. As mentioned earlier, it could have been that the tank was not up to standards when installed in the rv."

I can only assume he meant that trying to push a column of water out the top with water pressure from the hose in the tank was what burst the tank. Not sure what he meant by {10" vent} either. I assume he meant 1 inch. Remember that the hose would have been in the vent pipe too.
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Old 10-23-2010, 01:23 PM   #58
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Quote:
Originally Posted by herk7769 View Post
You don't seriously mean that as stated right?

I think I misunderstood what you meant by your comment.
Are you talking about pounds per square inch of footprint?
Pounds per square millimeter?
As stated you could be implying that a 30 inch deep swimming pool has the same weight of water as a 30 inch tall 1 inch pipe.
I meant psig pressure. A 10' stand pipe would exert abt 4 psig at the btm. Dia wouldnt make a diff n pressure
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Old 10-23-2010, 01:56 PM   #59
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I meant psig pressure. A 10' stand pipe would exert abt 4 psig at the btm. Dia wouldnt make a diff n pressure
Ah, I agree totally. In a static environment I see your point.

In the context of my friends mishap, I think the water hose at the bottom trying to push all that water out of the top raised the pressure inside the tank to well over the PSI coming in from the water hose. A weak spot in the tank designed for static (weight of liquid only) pressures (weights) could have had its break point exceeded.
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Old 10-23-2010, 01:59 PM   #60
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It looks like the probe was screwed in w the threads glued. I can't move them
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