Hello Everyone! My hubby and I are new to RVing... And trying to pull off full time to be closer to work. Anyway here's the nightmare... I have two grey water tanks. One is reading full the other empty. The kitchen sink is plugged up. We've tried snaking down to the tank, got to the tank and nothing. We've tried spraying water from the outside in nothing. I think there's a clog in the tank and know I'm panicking. We bought a used 2006 fifth wheel Denali which appeared to be very well maintained. There isn't any back up in the shower or anywhere else. Any ideas? I've tried hot water but with all the standing water in the pipes and a full tank I'm at a loss? Is there any way to get into the tank from the outside, short of cutting the pipe? Any help is appreciated! Thank you.
Plumbing nightmare!!!
- Thread starter Alleyy
- Start date
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Rene T
Site Team
First, welcome to the forum.
I've never heard of a kitchen sink gray water tank clogging up not that it couldn't happen. I'd be more inclined to think that the culprit may be your drain valve not opening or you're not actually opening the drin valve for that tank. Are you sure that the drain valve is actually opening and what do you mean when you say "We've tried spraying water from the outside in nothing".
If you're positive the drain valve is opening, I would bail out as much water as possible from the sink. Then purchase one of these and mount it on your sewer discharge pipe. Then put your sewer cap on the end of that or even better install a gate valve on the clear elbow. Then hook up your flushing hose to the clear elbow then pressurize it. Have someone on the inside monitoring the water level in the sink. If you have a clog at the drain valve, this should clear it.
http://www.amazon.com/Valterra-F02-4100-Hydroflush-Removable-Anti-siphon/dp/B0002UHVAA/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1460461849&sr=8-4&keywords=clear+rv+sewer+elbow
I've never heard of a kitchen sink gray water tank clogging up not that it couldn't happen. I'd be more inclined to think that the culprit may be your drain valve not opening or you're not actually opening the drin valve for that tank. Are you sure that the drain valve is actually opening and what do you mean when you say "We've tried spraying water from the outside in nothing".
If you're positive the drain valve is opening, I would bail out as much water as possible from the sink. Then purchase one of these and mount it on your sewer discharge pipe. Then put your sewer cap on the end of that or even better install a gate valve on the clear elbow. Then hook up your flushing hose to the clear elbow then pressurize it. Have someone on the inside monitoring the water level in the sink. If you have a clog at the drain valve, this should clear it.
http://www.amazon.com/Valterra-F02-4100-Hydroflush-Removable-Anti-siphon/dp/B0002UHVAA/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1460461849&sr=8-4&keywords=clear+rv+sewer+elbow
What rv do you have? Year, make, model number etc. You most likely have 2 gray tank valves. You may have to crawl under the edge of the rv to see the second gray tank handle. One of mine is close to the black tank handle and sticks out a ways from the frame. The handle for my galley gray tank is back farther, and is mounted right on the frame. It's a bit harder to find and reach until you get used to it.
Conquest2011
Well-known member
Maybe the kitchen sink empties into the tank that might be full. Since it is a gray tank get a 5 gallon bucket allow little gray water drain from the full tank and see if the water level drops from the sink. just be careful in not to open the drain valve all the way, just enough to allow a little a time to drain. Dispose of the gray water in your house toilet. :-\
Gary RV_Wizard
Site Team
I'm with Rene - a clog is extremely unlikely in a gray waste tank. I suppose the galley sink P-trap could be clogged, just like can happen at home, but even that is rare unless you dump garbage down the drain. I realize you said you got a snake all the way to the tank, but sometimes that is hard to judge.
Since you are new to this, are you sure you are opening the gray tank dump valve? There will almost sure be a separate valve for each tank, and possibly another valve for the combined two tanks. The two generally feed into a Y and there are often waste valves in each leg of the Y as well as at the exit. I've seen them where the individual tank valves are quite some distance from the main exit.
Since you are new to this, are you sure you are opening the gray tank dump valve? There will almost sure be a separate valve for each tank, and possibly another valve for the combined two tanks. The two generally feed into a Y and there are often waste valves in each leg of the Y as well as at the exit. I've seen them where the individual tank valves are quite some distance from the main exit.
Thanks for all the replies everyone! We've been pretty careful about putting things down the drain. I think it could be the valve isn't properly allowing the grey water tank to drain. Problem is that on the fifth wheel Denali (2006) there's a gigantic cover that is covering the bottom of the trailer. We wouldn't even guess how to change that valve but haha I guess we're going to learn!!! Any suggestions would be very very welcome!
Gary RV_Wizard
Site Team
Is this a recent problem? Has this tank ever drained since you got the trailer?
Rene T
Site Team
Alleyy said:
When you pull on the drain handle, does it pull out hard thereby unseating the gate/valve? If the handle is very loose when pushing in or pulling out, it may be disconnected from the valve body. You should be able to remove several of the screws along one side holding up the belly and pull it down far enough to see where the valve is located. You then can cut a 2' X 2' access hole in the belly just below the valve in order to work on it. If you do cut a hole, just cut three sides of a square and leave the 4th side to act like a hinge. I would not cut the side on the fwd. edge.
Rene T
Site Team
Sorry, operator error. :'(
John From Detroit
Well-known member
My RV has 3 tanks as well.. Black, (no explanation needed here)
Gray (Kitchen and front bath sinks only)
Wash (Unused washer and rear Sinks and shower)
The "legal" difference between gray and wash is food particles from the kitchen sink by the way. Or so I am told.
If the gray tank fills, the kitchen sink will not drain, since the lowest "open" point, is the sinks (not the shower) because the shower is on a different (Wash) tank..
So now you have heard of it..
As to the O/P's problem. If the valve is open, it should drain. However there are possible issues.
As for the sensors reading full.. My black tank, I can drain it, stand on the toilet, SEE LIGHT (I have a transparent piece on the drain) and it still shows FULL. same for the gray.. only the shower (Wash) tank shows less than full most of the time,, and that's cause it has never been full.
Gray (Kitchen and front bath sinks only)
Wash (Unused washer and rear Sinks and shower)
The "legal" difference between gray and wash is food particles from the kitchen sink by the way. Or so I am told.
If the gray tank fills, the kitchen sink will not drain, since the lowest "open" point, is the sinks (not the shower) because the shower is on a different (Wash) tank..
So now you have heard of it..
As to the O/P's problem. If the valve is open, it should drain. However there are possible issues.
As for the sensors reading full.. My black tank, I can drain it, stand on the toilet, SEE LIGHT (I have a transparent piece on the drain) and it still shows FULL. same for the gray.. only the shower (Wash) tank shows less than full most of the time,, and that's cause it has never been full.
SteveMoore
New member
- Joined
- Oct 15, 2016
- Posts
- 3
Problems with faucets and sinks can be extremely annoying. The drain requires a little extra care because it may need more than a liquid to pour down there. You could be dealing with a major clog that requires a snake tool that will pull it all out. You may call a plumber like from drain cleaning NJ to make repairs, this is going to save you a lot of hassle. You should remember to have a maintenance check on your plumbing once a year to make sure everything is running properly.
Rene T
Site Team
We haven't heard from the OP. I hope they fixed their problem. Too bad they didn't get back to us with the findings.
Jeff in Ferndale Wa
Well-known member
Rene T said:
I need to learn to look at the dates when I start reading through entire threads!
malexander
Well-known member
My last 5er had 4 tanks.
1 tank was for the 1/2 bath, the lavatory AND the toilet both went into this tank.
The kitchen sink had it's own tank all to itself.
Then there was a black tank for the main toilet.
The 4 tank was for the shower & main bath lav.
We had W/D hu's in this 5er, but no W/D, so I don't know for sure which tank it went into.
1 tank was for the 1/2 bath, the lavatory AND the toilet both went into this tank.
The kitchen sink had it's own tank all to itself.
Then there was a black tank for the main toilet.
The 4 tank was for the shower & main bath lav.
We had W/D hu's in this 5er, but no W/D, so I don't know for sure which tank it went into.
