Forum Discussion

GSwalker2022's avatar
GSwalker2022
Explorer
Sep 26, 2022

Grey Tank Filling

We are first time fifth wheel owners and have a 2022 Keystone Sprinter 32BH we bought three weeks ago and has a 44 gallon gray water tank. We left our camper connected to water, power and sewage when we left for four days to visit our son in college. I dumped the gray tank prior to leaving, but as soon as we returned it was 2/3 full. No one was in our trailer and I spent hours searching and found no leaks inside from sinks or shower and nothing was running (we do not have w/d hookup). I have a water pressure regulator connected and set to 42PSI. Do we need to turn off the water when we leave for an extended amount of time to prevent this from happening again? Could we have a leak somewhere that is not visible? Would anyone be able to assist in this matter? Thank you.
  • agesilaus's avatar
    agesilaus
    Explorer III
    Sep 26, 2022
    1st - NEVER leave your RV for a few days with water hoked to it.... If you had a leak it could have been catastrophic..


    Ditto on that, we had a line blow off the toilet and a mini flood.

    The meters are notoriously wrong most of the time but on a brand new unit they might still be working. The problem is that the sensor, which is just a metal rod, picks up solid material which ruins their accuracy. The worse obviously is the black tank. There are better sensors but I've never heard of an OEM installation of the better units.

    42 PSI should be fine, I have my regulator set about there. Less will give you anemic water flow out of the faucets and shower.
  • Lwiddis's avatar
    Lwiddis
    Explorer II
    Sep 26, 2022
    "We left our camper connected to water, power and sewage"

    Leaving your camper attached to a pressurized water source is extremely dangerous. Something "pops" and you have ruined your RV. Was the sewer line open? Or closed?
  • way2roll's avatar
    way2roll
    Navigator II
    Sep 26, 2022
    GSwalker2022 wrote:
    Thank you for the reply. I figured as much when we returned. As for the gauge, we went off the LED light tank gauge inside and when dumped, did not quite look as though it was 2/3 full. Our water heater is electric at this time and we have not used the gas heater yet. In your eyes do you believe that the 42psi is too much for this model?


    The PSI is fine. Just don't leave the water hooked up/on when leaving. Don't leave the water heater on either. Aside from building pressure, it wastes electricity and and can burn up the element if the water drains off for some reason while un-hooked. RV fixtures are cheap and can spring a leak and RV's also aren't famous for being put together well. Lots of people have plumbing issues on new RV's (among other things). Don't take any chances. Good idea to shut the propane off too. I would say in this case you got lucky.
  • GSwalker2022's avatar
    GSwalker2022
    Explorer
    Sep 26, 2022
    ford truck guy wrote:
    GSwalker2022 wrote:
    Thank you for the reply. I figured as much when we returned. As for the gauge, we went off the LED light tank gauge inside and when dumped, did not quite look as though it was 2/3 full. Our water heater is electric at this time and we have not used the gas heater yet. In your eyes do you believe that the 42psi is too much for this model?


    Nothing wrong with 42 psi... my Watts gauge is set to 60 psi for inbound water....


    Thank you.
  • GSwalker2022's avatar
    GSwalker2022
    Explorer
    Sep 26, 2022
    @mitchF150 I agree with you that we were extremely lucky this time around. Thank you for your insight into this.
  • ford_truck_guy's avatar
    ford_truck_guy
    Nomad
    Sep 26, 2022
    GSwalker2022 wrote:
    Thank you for the reply. I figured as much when we returned. As for the gauge, we went off the LED light tank gauge inside and when dumped, did not quite look as though it was 2/3 full. Our water heater is electric at this time and we have not used the gas heater yet. In your eyes do you believe that the 42psi is too much for this model?


    Nothing wrong with 42 psi... my Watts gauge is set to 60 psi for inbound water....
  • GSwalker2022's avatar
    GSwalker2022
    Explorer
    Sep 26, 2022
    Thank you for the reply. I figured as much when we returned. As for the gauge, we went off the LED light tank gauge inside and when dumped, did not quite look as though it was 2/3 full. Our water heater is electric at this time and we have not used the gas heater yet. In your eyes do you believe that the 42psi is too much for this model?
  • MitchF150's avatar
    MitchF150
    Explorer III
    Sep 26, 2022
    Do we need to turn off the water when we leave for an extended amount of time to prevent this from happening again?


    Yes.. Lucky it didn't fill up on ya!

    Not really sure what would fill the grey tank when hooked up however?

    Might need to test it by putting some water in the fresh water tank and turning on the water pump and see if it 'cycles' on/off without anything being used water wise?

    It might take awhile for that to happen if over 4 days, the grey tank didn't overflow?

    I've seen a couple of campers in full hookup sites with a nice waterfall feature added to it when the owners left the water turned on and something broke inside... I turned off their water when I saw it, but they didn't get back for hours..

    Good luck! Mitch
  • ford_truck_guy's avatar
    ford_truck_guy
    Nomad
    Sep 26, 2022
    OK, couple of things here --

    1st - NEVER leave your RV for a few days with water hoked to it.... If you had a leak it could have been catastrophic..

    When I leave my RV un attended for a period of time I do the following: unhook the water line and shut off the water.. shut off the water heater... CLOSE all tanks.. put slides in ( optional in my eyes )

    2nd - was/is there actually 2/3 of water in the tank? Or are you going off the gauge.. If your going off the gauge, they are wrong99% of the time

    IF you are telling us that you have no standing water, no dripping water, I would assume that the gauges are just covered with slime
  • way2roll's avatar
    way2roll
    Navigator II
    Sep 26, 2022
    Did you dump it to ensure it's actually 2/3 full instead of a faulty reading? They are notorious for inaccuracy. Either that or you have something dripping. Many RV shower heads will drip under pressure.

    It's usually a good practice to turn off the water when leaving your RV, even for a few hours. Lots of folks have come back to flooded RV's.

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