Black tank does not drain - Montana Owners Club

G McCall · 02-06-2006, 02:59 AM

Just discovered that my black tank is not draining properly.
We spent a night in the trailer and I know we used the toliet, paper and all.

Went to drain the black in a visible area and nothing but water comes out and not all of that. This is the only 2nd night we have spent in the trailer and I notice the guage was reading 1/3 after I drained the first time and now 2/3rds full.

I filled the black tank to full and flushed and even closed the grey water valves and tried back flushing the black tank. I could not get water to go into the black tank fast which may indicate the valve is not opening properly. No success.
We picked the trailer up new from the dealer weekendend before last, but this is my 4th RV and I am somewhat familar with RVs.

Anyone have this problem ?

Since the trailer is new, I probably will take this problem into the dealer since the trailer is new..

joe2speed · 02-06-2006, 11:31 AM

I don't know if the problem was the same as mine. When my 04 Monty was delivered the drain handles were marked wrong. They lable the handles black & grey. Mine were reversed, miss labled at the factory. I found out first time I drained the tanks because a had a clear elbow. Maybe this is your problem.

DHenry · 02-06-2006, 04:39 PM

Definitely add the clear elbow to your drain, it will let you know when your tanks are empty and when the black tank is clean. I added the elbow with the valve which will help you keep back any additional surprises when you take the cap off.

Broome101 · 02-07-2006, 01:10 AM

You could also have a blockage if you used the toilet and have to much paper in there prior to any water getting into the tank. You said you could not water to go into the tank fast, if you are using the black tank flush and that is happening you may have bad vacuum brake value. this value is located under the sink in the vanity. Just few thoughts.

G McCall · 02-07-2006, 01:12 AM

In my instance I was draining the tanks into a pasture so I could tell what was and was not coming out. I will go for a clear elbow though.

I am still thinking my valve is not opening properly because the black valve pull handle moves out much farther than the the other pull handles do(galley and grey).

VanMan · 02-07-2006, 05:28 AM

The black tank pull handle should come out further because the valve is bigger (wider) since the drain line is a larger diameter. Too much paper and not enough water creates the dreaded "white pyramid" which will clog her up in a hurry !! Someone on one of these forums had a yellowjacket (paper wasp) nest in their tank which became dislodged and stopped it up (go figure !!)

G McCall · 02-07-2006, 08:20 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by VanMan

The black tank pull handle should come out further because the valve is bigger (wider) since the drain line is a larger diameter.

There goes one of my theories

kdeiss · 02-07-2006, 12:32 PM

Always use a lot of water when flushing and have the tank close to full when you enpty

The Wind · 02-08-2006, 10:58 AM

Can someone post a pic of the elbow that you are talking about. We went out the past 4 days and I think that my handles are labeled wrong. Does anyone have a 3670RL that can tell me what order the handles are labeled on theirs? This would be my luck. The black tank always says 1/3-2/3 full....

HamRad · 02-08-2006, 11:33 AM

The handles on our 3295 come out about the same. There is no noticeable difference in them. In our model the gray tank is the one closest to the front. Then the black. Located at the rear by the stabilizers is our galley tank handle.

Our gauges have NEVER worked correctly. As others have indicated you quickly learn how much you have in them. The water tank and the battery gauges do reflect fairly closely. If you want a gauge that works that you don't have to worry about then you need to install the exterior type. They will run in the neighborhood of $300. Plus installation.

In our case just easier to get used to what you "hear".

Best of luck.

HamRad

tundra rose · 02-09-2006, 07:10 PM

The Wind:
Here is a link to the clear sewer adapter on the CW website:
http://www.campingworld.com/browse/p...19&prodID=3709

richfaa · 02-10-2006, 01:39 AM

In the campers we have had the gray side had a small valve and the black side was larger, The drain pipes were smaller on the gray side also..have they changed this????

capn chris · 02-10-2006, 03:17 AM

I, too, added a clear plastis elbow to see what's coming out and when it's done. Works great! Picked one up at an RV dealer in Calgary. Pricey, but well worth it for piece of mind. Hope you get the valve/handles squared away soon?!!

patodonn · 02-10-2006, 05:07 PM

We also had reversed labels on the gray and black tank handles. Caused quite a bit of confusion at first. I thought we had a real problem until we did a little experimentation.

First, we give zero credence to the Full-Empty indicators. From our view, worthless for any use, especially troubleshooting.

I would suggest getting as much liquid as you can out of both the black and grey tanks, then put a lot of water into the grey tank only using the shower/bath. 20 or 30 gal. Then pull the grey tank handle and see if it dumps lots of water out (or nothing). If nothing comes out, it is almost certain that the handles are reversed in labeling. In that case, if you then close the "grey" tank valve then open the alleged "black" tank valve, a lot of "clean" water should come out, and you have found your problem. Switch labels.

If you are pretty sure that you have identified the correct handles, the other suggestion would be to add water to the black tank via through the toilet (if you need to, run a garden hose into the rig with a shut-off on the nozzle end) and fill the black tank most of the way. Let that sit for a few min to ensure the TP is dissolved, then open the valve. If the labeling is now correct, that should ensure a good amount of liquid for "outflow".

In normal use, it takes at least a couple of gallons of water to begin with in the black tank to help the TP to dissolve and disperse the "solids". We always "prime" the black tank with at least 3-4 gallons of water after we dump and rinse out the tank. There is a Forum thread from a few months ago discussing using the black tank flush system and how best to do this.

Hope all that helps some.

The Wind · 02-12-2006, 03:32 AM

Thanks Tundra Rose...I now see what it is.

I guess that I should get this elbow and try the info listed here to see if my tanks are labled wrong. This hopefully would be the easiest way to find out.

carlson · 02-12-2006, 06:12 AM

If you are trying to figure out if the tanks are labeled correctly,
just add some food coloring to the water in one of the tanks, then when that color water comes out, you know what tank it is from.
Just my thoughts.

deerrahn · 02-12-2006, 09:15 AM

According to the above replies, Keystone has a problem. The employee putting these handles on either does not know what they are doing or can't follow instructions or is trying our patience on purpose. Mine was reversed also. I also added the clear elbow. It also come with the adapter to connect a hose to it to backwash that way. I don't know if this is a good idea, but they are available. The backwash connection on our 2955RL seems not to take water very fast. Did you say there was a valve under the bathroom vanity that control this intake or did I misunderstand your explaination? Richard

patodonn · 02-12-2006, 04:32 PM

In our rig, there is a "anti-siphon" valve installed in the tank flush line. It is under the sink in our rig. It looks like a small silver dollar sized "cap" on a fitting.

There is a thread (or several) about replacing this valve..It is not adjustable...works or doesn't. One failure mode is greatly reduced flow into the black tank, which soulds like your situation. We just removed it and used an additional fitting in its place. Worked fine for many months. I use a anti-backflow connector on the hose I use to hook up to the Monty flush system.

G McCall · 02-13-2006, 01:28 AM

All very interesting, and I tried backflush with no success.

So yesterday, I crawled under my rig took a panel off the bottom to view the black tank and valve. Valve lever movement looks right.
At this point I would like to point out I did notice three electric connectors on the side of the tank. The top connector had no wire connected at all, there was not even a nut to hold the wire. (Pink wire laying close to this connector) The middle connector had a green wire on it but the nut holding the wire was nearly falling off. The bottom wire was a yellow wire and the nut holding this waire was not tight (moved with my fingers). I fastened all wires but the tank guage read 3/4 full before my wire fix and it still reads 3/4 full.
Taking my rig to the dealer this weekend.

pud2 · 02-14-2006, 01:21 PM

our 3670 vavles are located as this. The bath grey tank is closest to front and then the black tank and then the kit. vavle is just right ahead of the drain pipe were hose connects. I would fill up tank as much as possiable with tank flushand then dump it if you are still having problems draining it could be that the hole that was drilled in tank the plug that from that fell in the tank and is partly blocking hole i have heard of this bsfore.

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by The Wind

Can someone post a pic of the elbow that you are talking about. We went out the past 4 days and I think that my handles are labeled wrong. Does anyone have a 3670RL that can tell me what order the handles are labeled on theirs? This would be my luck. The black tank always says 1/3-2/3 full....

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