I have a 2010 Montana fifthwheel. I have just had a third black tank installed. The first tank developed a crack on top along a side support wing. The trailer was out of its one year warranty period. A new tank was installed by an authorized Keystone dealer. Soon after installing the new tank it began leaking again but we were over 1000 miles from that dealer. We went to another Keystone dealer and the tank was pulled and it was determined that the 2 inch vent pipe fitting had come loose from the tank. I talked to the tank Manufaturer, AmeriKart, and was told that they reccomend to all end users that thier tanks should be supported by the trailer frame under the side wings but should have steel straps installed no less than 18 inchs along the belly of the tank. There are no such supports on my tank. At present Keystone,and AmeriKart, are denying any responsibility for these problems. At the last delearship I was told that Black tank issues are widespread. Could this be because tanks are being installed with inadequate support? Anyone else having these problems?

Go over an join the discussion on the Montana Owners Forum. There's a member there that has already had, I think 4 failures on a 2012 BigSky, between Gray and Black. So you're not alone. The idea of the support straps has been brought up numerous times, but it seems Montana thinks they know better than the tank manufacturer.

Think of the cost of installing all those straps.

Many problems with black and gray tanks are caused by traveling with the tank partly full. The bouncing and sloshing of the liquids stress the tank and its mounts. Water weighs 8 pounds per gallon so you can do the math to find out how much weight is moving around in that tank with 10 gallons in it.I am not saying this is your problem, just mentioning it for the many who will visit this thread due to having a similar problem.Always drain all gray and black tanks before hitting the road. You can always add water at your destination.

Ozlander wrote:Think of the cost of installing all those straps.Might set them back a whole $20 - $30 and a half hours labor! God forbid they waste that potential profit!

I had a 2011 Keystone Outback and there were a few owners on the Outback forum with this problem. They repaired the tank with either JB Weld or Plati-Mend. The Plati-Mend seems to be a better match but JB Weld did work for some and is quite a bit cheaper.By the way, the complaint's were the same. Inadequate tank support.

Black Tank Problem Keystone Montana | Good Sam Community

The_Mad_Norsky
Explorer
Feb 09, 2015
Wow! I'm not a Keystone/Montana owner, but this is extremely disheartening to hear. Especially considering the one poster whose rig has been sitting still while these problems happened.

I surely hope the best for all having these problems.
Weldon
Explorer
Feb 09, 2015
Could not say about the SOB but the problems with Keystone and considering the price, would make me want to try something else. Unfortunately qc in this industry is lacking.
Weldon
Explorer
Feb 09, 2015
Could not say about the SOB but the problems with Keystone and considering the price, would make me want to try something else. Unfortunately qc in this industry is lacking.
richfaa
Explorer
Feb 09, 2015
Right..Tell me which SOB will not give us the same issues.
Weldon
Explorer
Feb 08, 2015
Might be time to get those repairs with Keystone's help and give strong consideration to "sob".
8 weeks at the dealer is just too much.
jimandbarb15
Explorer
Feb 05, 2015
If one considers the amount of business these black tank failures are bringing to Keystone, Americart and to the dealers replacing the tanks it is no supprise that there is no effort to improve their design. I also had to replace an axle on my 2010 montana and found through Dexter the axel manufactorer that Keystone had them reduce the tube wall thickness of the axel in order to cut cost. They saved $50 per axel. The new replacement axel cost me $1000. This is an example of their transfering cost to the end user inorder to save pennies up front. When RV buyers get the whole picture, perhaps we will be able to demand a certain level of quality. Who wants to spend the best part of their lives in the parking lot of an RV dealer arguing with a large corporation.
richfaa
Explorer
Feb 04, 2015
Weldon wrote:
Do you expect Keystone to step and fix the tanks this time? Terrible....

We are working with Keystone and they are listening. we had the Galley and the gray tank fail and replaced in June of 2014.This time the Galley tank failed again and the black tank failed. They failed while sitting on our Winter lot in Florida in November of 2014.
our G.S ESP paid for the first two failed tanks without question. This time they suggest a vendor defect or a Manufacturers design or installation defect .The failed galley tank is under the dealer warranty but not the labor.

My request from Keystone is that I would like the tanks repaired and whatever defect that is causing the failures corrected. Any way they want to do it. We traveled less than 3K miles this summer as the unit was in the dealer for tank repair for nearly 8 weeks. That can not happen again. This is a Rv. We use it for travel. We shall see what happens.
Weldon
Explorer
Feb 04, 2015
Do you expect Keystone to step and fix the tanks this time? Terrible....
richfaa
Explorer
Feb 04, 2015
I am the one with many failed holding tanks on the Montana Forum .We have been rv'ing for many years . This is our second Montana and our 6th Rv. We are not rookies. We never travel with full or close to full tanks. Maybe 10 gals of fresh water and just enough in the other tanks to keep them wet. we had 6 failed tanks in our 06 3400 Montana over a 7 year period and @ 75K miles plus.
This 13 3402 Big Sky has had 4 failed tanks in less than one year. They all failed while sitting on our winter lot in Florida doing nothing but holding fluids. They all split or failed at the inlet. We are dripping galley and black fluid as we speak unless we leave the valves open. That is my story yours may vary.
Mile_High
Explorer
Feb 04, 2015
I always fill the 100 gal fresh water in the front because it makes the rig tow a little nicer, and there are never any guarantees the water is working or is good when we get there.

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