Momentum Grey tanks slow drain

[Yoda]

gone AWOL
. Oh, and helping Yoda spend money on tools is also now a formal goal of the forum, too. (Inside joke...Keith won't mind!)

Howard - if you only saw my wish list on Amazon, Cate&Rob Rob has been helping you out there too lately. I just have to be careful around SWMBO

gone AWOL If I may suggest the following approach. Undo the coroplast (sp?) along both edges for a good 5' to 10' or enough to get it to sag down so you can look at your tanks, DO NOT undo the front or the rear as it is a pain to get back up if you do so. Just undoing the sides is easy to get back in place if you alternate on screw per side going back. Also using the 2x4 cross ways to hold it up helps.

Once the belly material is loose lay a 2x4 or piece of pipe across it to bow it down. This should give you enough room to visually see your gray connections. On one of my gray tanks they used a reducer before the valve. Looks something like this; https://www.amazon.com/Valterra-T104...52&sr=1-1&th=1

Its an offset reducer where the invert runs straight through. These can be put in wrong (invert not at bottom) so look there first. My other grav tank under the bath was connected with a 2" std fitting. You should also be able to see the plumbing runs and if they are sloped. On thing to check is if the tank fitting is pushed in with mastic, or glued in. I have seen both in pictures here. Mine were the mastic. Pictures in this thread https://gdrvowners.com/forum/operati...intended/page2

If possible get a few pictures. Now worse case - is it possible to remove the center sections of most valves (sandwich construction) if things were glued. Once removed the piping should flex enough to see if there is any debris at the valve.

Good luck and hope this helps.
Keith....the "I need another tool" man

[gone AWOL]

Howard - if you only saw my wish list on Amazon, Cate&Rob Rob has been helping you out there too lately. I just have to be careful around SWMBO

gone AWOL If I may suggest the following approach. Undo the coroplast (sp?) along both edges for a good 5' to 10' or enough to get it ti sag down so you can look at your tanks, DO NOT undo the front or the rear as it is a pain to get back up if you do so. Just undoing the sides is easy to get back in place if you alternate on screw per side going back. Also using the 2x4 cross ways to hold it up helps.

Once the belly material is loose lay a 2x4 or piece of pipe across it to bow it down. This should give you enough room to visually see your gray connections. On one of my gray tanks they used a reducer before the valve. Looks something like this; [

Its an offset reducer where the invert runs straight through. These can be put in wrong (invert not at bottom) so look there first. My other grav tank under the bath was connected with a 2" std fitting. You should also be able to see the plumbing runs and if they are sloped. On thing to check is if the tank fitting is pushed in with mastic, or glued in. I have seen both in pictures here. Mine were the mastic. Pictures in this thread https://gdrvowners.com/forum/operati...intended/page2

If possible get a few pictures. Now worse case - is it possible to remove the center sections of most valves (sandwich construction) if things were glued. Once removed the piping should flex enough to see if there is any debris at the valve.

Good luck and hope this helps.
Keith....the "I need another tool" man

Yoda,
That's very interesting and insightful, appreciated.
I guess I am going to have to deal with the issue till I get back up North where I can pull it all apart. Right now I am parked on a beach... literally on the sand.
Thanks again, I really appreciate the support, I am still very unhappy that we as owners have to deal with these things, but as a wise man eluded to in a previous post, "it's this or you don't camp"
Thanks again.

[gone AWOL]

....like I said, in the sand.

[Jlawles2]

gone AWOL That actually looks like a good place to do work on the underside. The nice soft warm sand (at least for me) would be a blessing to help with all of the muscle cramps and other pains that develop while working under the camper.

[gone AWOL]

gone AWOL That actually looks like a good place to do work on the underside. The nice soft warm sand (at least for me) would be a blessing to help with all of the muscle cramps and other pains that develop while working under the camper.

I guess I forgot not everyone is in warm weather 😂
Actually our dog loves it down there, cool and moist, it's 29/85 outside.

[Cate&Rob]

I am still very unhappy that we as owners have to deal with these things, but as a wise man eluded to in a previous post, "it's this or you don't camp"
Thanks again.

We can all appreciate your perspective. The real frustration is trying to keep things working while we are supposed to be "relaxing" in our vacation RV. If you set aside time to make everything right when you are home and not rushed, the plumbing, electrical and HVAC systems are not complex . . . just obviously installed with little attention to quality workmanship. A few years back, I set aside a month (not full time) and dismantled and reassembled all these systems correctly. This solved a lot of problems and gave me the knowledge and access to deal with future issues. Think of it as you would any "hobby" and it becomes time well spent.

Rob

[Yoda]

....like I said, in the sand.

Nice spot - mind sharing where you hiding? I can send you some snow if that would help Joseph is correct. With the sand should not take more than 1/2 hour to loosen up the belly. Just be careful of the screws. Enjoy the sunshine.

[gone AWOL]

Nice spot - mind sharing where you hiding? Enjoy the sunshine.

Cerritos Beach, Baja. Just South of Todo Santos.
no worries, keep the snow....
.

[gone AWOL]

We can all appreciate your perspective. The real frustration is trying to keep things working while we are supposed to be "relaxing" in our vacation RV. If you set aside time to make everything right when you are home and not rushed, the plumbing, electrical and HVAC systems are not complex . . . just obviously installed with little attention to quality workmanship. A few years back, I set aside a month (not full time) and dismantled and reassembled all these systems correctly. This solved a lot of problems and gave me the knowledge and access to deal with future issues. Think of it as you would any "hobby" and it becomes time well spent.

Rob

That's not a bad idea, in hind sight if I had a month to deal with the know issues it would have saved me some frustration.

[On The Fly]

Gone AWOL, I've driven that road several times. Always, just the truck and a Beach House Rental on the Gulf side. That 200 miles of No Mans Land where you swing from the Pacific to the gulf has always contained many Life Changing Pot Holes. I am impressed that you towed that road. You have redefined Going AWOL.

[Jlawles2]

I don't know where you call home, but that's a long way from me. Beautiful location, makes me jealous.

[d2reid]

We can all appreciate your perspective. ... If you set aside time to make everything right when you are home and not rushed,... Think of it as you would any "hobby" and it becomes time well spent.

Rob

The difference between a full timer and a vacationer.... I am always home, and I am always rushed. Maybe 30-60 days before we move again. No infrastructure to have tools and parts available. But it does make for a really great hobby, how to keep an RV rolling without having a proper support infrastructure. I would love to be able to park my Momentum in the barn for the next 60 days and be able to tear it down and fix all the stuff that isn't up to par.

[gone AWOL]

I don't know where you call home, but that's a long way from me. Beautiful location, makes me jealous.

Home is where I park my 376, but I am 4,000km from where my rental house is.... rental income keep the wheels turning.

[gone AWOL]

So, I finally crawled under the trailer in the dirt, and opened up the belly of the beast.
What I found is yet another example of poor design. Poor quality etc.
The tank I reached was the middle tank which from the outlet size I sumized to be grey 2.
The two grey tanks are next to each other, both with 1.5" pipes.
From the two grey tanks the pipes run to the 3" black tank outlet.
The grey pipes are 1.5" and follow the chassis... meaning if the trailer is level there is zero slope from the grey tank to where it meets the 3" pipe coming from black.
Attached is a couple pictures, they would seem to indicate the bottom 2"+ of the grey tanks will never drain.
I dry camped a week, both grey tanks indicated almost 90% full. Yet when I tried to drain/dump today the familiar trickle was all that came out after I opened both the grey tanks.

I buttoned it all up and will be taking the trailer to the dealer to sort out.
I figured that If I fix, or try to fix GD get to keep the profits, I will have them deal with every little, silly thing, as long as it costs them money to fix this I will keep going till it's all fixed, at their cost.

[Cate&Rob]

Although the drain pipe is not at the low point . . . as it should be and there is no excuse for that . . . this does not explain a trickle flow when opening the gate valve with a nearly full tank. There is something blocking this gate valve or drain pipe. As discussed earlier, this is most likely the plastic disc from cutting the inlet or vent pipe hole.

Rob