Today's weirdness....need some words of wisdom

[dadmomh]

So we are getting ready to shut everything down this morning and come home. DH hooked up the black tank flush to our Rockwood Ultra Lite 2604. Life is good. Then he got sidetracked for a few minutes and suddenly realized water was draining out from somewhere it shouldn't have been under the trailer - NOT the drain lines and NOT the valves. The black tank valve was closed to allow the tank to fill. He immediately opened the valve and drained the tank....water was still dripping from somewhere in that area but don't know where. Finished dripping and we let it sit for a bit. Then partially filled the black tank with the flusher to maybe 1/4 to 1/2 full. No more leaks appeared. Opened drain again and drained completely. Added the chemicals with about 5 gals of water and headed home.

Once home, DH removed a grill in the center of the plastic bottom of the trailer....appeared to be an air vent. He was able to reach into the bottom and framing of the trailer and it may have had a slight bit of moisture, but basically dry. Also removed the black plastic panel around the main drain and felt as far as possible and it was dry. Also have slight dampness in the bedroom carpet just at the doorway from the bathroom to bedroom, maybe 2' wide x 3 - 4" wide. This area has lino under the carpet.. He could reach under the lino and there was no moisture under there, just this small area between the lino and carpet.

Don't believe the leak was caused by pressure build up because the toilet should have provided adequate pressure relief.

Questions....does the black tank have an overflow? There was NO water on the top surface of the lino near the toilet. Any other thoughts?

[dadmomh]

Well, sounds like we may have escaped a REAL mess by dumb luck only....No offense to DH...you had to be there to appreciate the comedy of errors from square 1. He realized right away with the first post re pressure, duh... This was one of those weekends we possibly should have stayed home.

I made res as usual and arrived Fri early afternoon. Got all set up and fall decorations abound. Late afternoon this nice lady comes over and yoo-hoos. She said they had res for that site....US, too. The CG was really getting full with great fall weather, finally. So she pulls out her res conf and I do the same....stupid res system! She called the res # to sort it out....Oh, crap!!! Our res were for NEXT weekend. Fortunately, the site directly across was not reserved...We had volunteered to move, but they were fine with the other site. Whew! How did I screw up a whole weekend...I am OCD about things like that, but totally blew it. Won't even go into all the weird things this weekend, but we had a great time....until the black tank issue. Not to be done with weirdness, the site tidy-up guy came by and reminded DH that we were running late so we best hurry before the ranger came around and we got charged for leaving late. DH finished the dumping screw-up and getting stuff stowed, so being a helpful DW, I said I'd get the mat folded and stowed....huge mistake. It wasn't that it was so heavy but bulky and a person with a very questionable back should know better. I can't move tonight...think I'm dying or wish I would. DH brought only the necessities in and we're leaving Rocky in peace and quiet tomorrow. He'll double check everything tomorrow, but maybe we dodged the bullet. Fingers crossed.

Thanks for the words of wisdom...maybe we got lucky.

[lanerd]

Posted By: Ductape on 10/19/14 02:05pm

The pressure won't escape from the toilet because the toilet has a valve in it. Unlike a home toilet, it is not going to back up.

Sorry, but a black tank under pressure from a pressurized water source, WILL force water pass the toilet flush seal...just as it will force water up the vent line. Which ever is lower, will leak first.

I have seen this happen with two DPs and a large Class C.

And, if this happens to you, DO NOT try to flush the toilet...you MUST release the pressure in the black tank first by turning off the water and pulling the black tank drain valve. If you try to flush the toilet, be prepared for a shower of not so nice water.

Ron

[Doug33]

sounds like this could have been a lot worse....

[Dennis_M_M]

You will probably do the same now, but i never hook-up the black tank flush line with the drain closed. As therink said, it was probably coming from the vacuum breaker.

Next time you hook-up the black tank flush look for leaks, if there are none - no harm no foul.

[Ductape]

The pressure won't escape from the toilet because the toilet has a valve in it. Unlike a home toilet, it is not going to back up.

Lucky you did not have black water coming out the tank vent on the roof.

[therink]

Could have been the black tank flush vacuum breaker valve. It is usually located up under the bathroom sink.
Check there for water.