New and need help with tanks! asappp

[Fla904]

So I am looking into a older model RV, (1998 fleetwood pace arrow 35w class A chevy motor) anyone have any experience with these? Also how hard is it to remove the grey and black water tanks? That is really important in determining the purchase as I will be taking them out and replacing with a single tank for both black and grey water. So I need to be able to access them easily. Anyone have experience taking the tanks off their RVs or replacing to a single tank? Is it difficult? It has 48k miles and seems to have no leaks theyre asking 18k for it which I feel is a good deal. anyone wanna weigh in their opinions?

[navegator]

Yes you can take the tanks out in the drive way, locate all the plumbing tubes that go trough the floor and saw off, get a jack under the tanks disconnect the drain tubes from the tanks by loosening the band claps remove the brackets that anchor the tanks to the RV and lower them, now you have removed the tanks.

navegator

[navegator]

You have a class A with the toilet and bathroom sink and the kitchen sink on the left side "drivers side" and the bathtub/shower on the right side, the waste water tanks are going to be on the outer left of the chassis rails, the tubes that bring the water from the bathroom and kitchen sinks are connected on top as well as the vent pipes, you need to have access to these pipes in order to cut them off and then be able to connect them back, so that when you remove the brackets that anchor the tanks to the RV the tanks will actually drop down, otherwise those pipes are going to prevent the tanks from going any further down.

When you install the new tanks the vent pipes have to be installed on the tank before you lift them and attach them to the RV if they are a straight shot from tank to the roof line.

The normal connections of the tanks are as follows:
Black water tank:
Toilet, vent pipe, drain tube with valve and some times the bathroom sink is also plumbed to this tank.
Gray water tank:
Bathtub/shower, kitchen sink, bathroom sink (if not plumbed to black tank) vent tube and drain tube with valve normally plumbed to black tank outlet tube in a "Y" and then comes the drain hose connection.

If any of the connections are not done correct you are going to have leaks and having one big smelly tank is not going to be very nice, at witch point you are going to have to redo the install.

Just join the small grey water tube and the black water tank with a "Y" and attach a new valve, less hassle and headaches that gives you what you are looking for one common tank.

navegator

[azrving]

I have helped replace a gray tank. It's very easy but you may want to have a 4 inch cut off wheel grinder, acetylene torches and a mig welder on hand. I suppose a arc welder would work too. Post pics.

[12thgenusa]

I have removed my galley (kitchen gray water) tank for a plastic weld crack repair. This was on a 5th wheel, not a MH. Here's what it took for me.

1. Remove coroplast belly cover.
2. Gain access to two tank vent lines. (One beneath sink, one below fridge behind power panel).
3. Cut both vent lines in locations where they could be repaired with rubber sleeves and clamps. (The vent lines were glued into the tanks, not in slip collars).
4. Unbolt the tank drain valve between the sewer drain line and tank.
5. Disconnect the tank sensor wires.
6. Support the tank with a floor jack.
7. Remove the structural members holding and supporting the tank in place.
8. Slowly lower the jack while "persuading" the tank to follow.
9. Try to keep from getting wet from remaining stinky water no matter how well you drained the tank before starting.
10. Reinstall in reverse order unless it isn't an identical tank, in which case there will be considerable additional work.

[Fla904]

navegator wrote:
Your best bet will be to take the black tank outlet off and cut the gray water tube before it meets the outlet, purchase a "y" to join the black tank and the gray tank and then add a valve that drains both, this allows the use of both tanks at the same time and drains both at the same time, when you decide to sell revert back to separate drains, less work and hassle.

Go back and read what I posted about cutting and welding tubes and plastic tanks it is not as easy as unbolting and dropping down, cutting tubes that are behind double walls and the vent tubes run from tank to the roof sometimes with elbows thrown in.

navegator

I went back and read it. What double walls are you talking about? I would like to just take them out. Lets just focus on taking them out and not the project I am planning. Think Ill need a lift? or can I just park it and work on it? Would like to just get them out, dont care about the pipe works, just want to know how hard it is to take them out and what all goes into taking them out. In my head im thinking theres a few brackets, pipe fittings, and tubes, unbolt/cut/remove/done.. A few have said theyve done it in their drive ways so im assuming its possible.

[navegator]

Your best bet will be to take the black tank outlet off and cut the gray water tube before it meets the outlet, purchase a "y" to join the black tank and the gray tank and then add a valve that drains both, this allows the use of both tanks at the same time and drains both at the same time, when you decide to sell revert back to separate drains, less work and hassle.

Go back and read what I posted about cutting and welding tubes and plastic tanks it is not as easy as unbolting and dropping down, cutting tubes that are behind double walls and the vent tubes run from tank to the roof sometimes with elbows thrown in.

navegator

[Fla904]

All I am wanting to know is how difficult it is to remove the black and grey water tanks? That's all I want to know.. Is it going to take a lot of cutting and getting to? Or is it simply going under the rv and unscrewing them and sliding them out? Can I do it in a hour or so? Who here has personally removed either the black, grey, or fresh water tanks? Just want personal experience from doing this.

[Dutch_12078]

Redterpos3 wrote:

I like the idea of a valve that can move grey water into the black tank! Grey always fills faster and we are always pouring our dishwater down the toilet to get more fluid into the black tank. A valve that would do it would be much nicer!!

Yep, the Valterra Twist-On Valve works great for that. Easy to install too! 🙂

[Redterpos3]

Dutch_12078 wrote:
I modified our coach to add a third waste valve and an easier waste hose hookup. The gray and third valve are open in the photo, but simply closing the third valve and opening the gray and black valves allows the tanks to equalize, increasing the capacity as needed. The third valve also works well for using the gray tank contents to give the black tank a quick rinse after dumping it.

I like the idea of a valve that can move grey water into the black tank! Grey always fills faster and we are always pouring our dishwater down the toilet to get more fluid into the black tank. A valve that would do it would be much nicer!!

[time2roll]

If it was just a big empty cavern and a custom tank was easy then we would all swap into what works best. Reality is the tanks are custom fitted and wedged between other immovable items like the frame. Generally the maximum size is already in place. Best shot is probably to add an auxiliary tank.

Here are some tanks to look at to see what fits.

http://www.plastic-mart.com/category/33/rv-water-tanks

[Bobbo]

And have good reasons for NOT doing so.

[bukhrn]

You will find folks on here who have replaced individual tanks, but I seriously doubt if you will find any who have done what you're contemplating, mainly because no one can find a good reason for doing so. :h

[allen8106]

rjxj wrote:

Dutch_12078 wrote:

rockhillmanor wrote:
They make a pump for that. Do a search on this forum there have been several members that have done it.

AND as mention above your shower drain does NOT have a p-trap.

All the sewage fumes WILL come up thru the shower drain. AND if your tanks are near full or over fills that will also come up thru the shower drain.

Every RV I've owned with a shower/tub has had a trap on the drain. Some had a standard 'P' trap, while others had one of the many low profile style traps. With no trap, you would quickly find out just how stinky the gray water can be. Sometimes worse than the black side...

X2 How could they NOT have a trap? Even gray water stinks bad.

Maybe not every rig is like this but all three of my grey water drains have p-traps.

Regardess, I hate to disparage someone elses ideas but I personally think having one single tank is a dumb idea.

[navegator]

The tanks are normally held by four metal brackets, that is the easy part you can take those off then you need to cut the tubes that bring the fluids to the tanks, sink, shower, toilet and bathroom sink, then you have the vent tubes, on some installations these are separate on others they combine some, the difficult ones is the shower or bathtub "P" trap some terminate at the tank with very little space to cut or reconnect.

Most of these connections are made by rottolok, that is by spinning the connection so that both the part and the tank melt and weld, unless you are good with a plastic welder, now you can measure and have one tank custom made to fit the cavity, make sure that when you cut the holes you retrieve the cut out pieces, they make great plugs down line, measuring the location of the inlets and getting them to line up is going to be fun, and attaching all the plumbing is going to be a night mare, can it be done yes are you going to regret it yes.

By calculating the use of the tanks you can increase the length of days that can be used for boondocking.

navegator