Washer leak

[gkbutler]

We have found out that our washer connects to our black tank according to the sticker on the washer/dryer. Today, Karen was doing the laundry and taking the grandbabies for a walk. When they came back, she saw a waterfall coming out of the bottom of our Monty. She had the black tank open and the gray tank closed. She opened the gray tank and the waterfall quit. We didn't back up into the shower or the sink with the gray tank closed, but we had a waerfall. She opened the gray tank and the black tank and did another load of clothes. All we had was a little drip coming from the underbelly pipes. Nothing in the basement was wet, we are baffled. Any ideas??

[OntMont]

The short answer is "No".

Could you describe the "waterfall" in a bit more detail? Where was it? Could you tell what sort of water? (Fresh, black, soapy etc). When you say the basement was dry, did you mean the storage lockers?

I think you may have to drop the belly cover to get a better idea of what is going on. If water is coming out the wrong place, there has got to be leak somewhere. I'm thinking that maybe you are really connected to the grey tank and somehow filling it up with water from the washer caused a leak. Is your washer hard piped into the drain, or does the drain pipe just fit loosely into the drain? (I've seen both, ours is the latter). If it is hard piped, then perhaps the washer pump forced a fitting off.

More questions than answers I'm afraid. Since your unit is new, perhaps a trip to the dealer is in order.

[patodonn]

Sounds like two problems...first, the washer appears to be is plumbed into the gray water tank, not the black tank. Maybe correctly...I don't know for your model. I don't trust stickers until proven to be correct. Second, sounds like the washer drain pipe into the gray tank has come loose or has a damaged fitting where it comes into the tank. Certainly have to drop the belly panels(s) to get a good look at that.

[harleyrider]

We had the splendie 2100 installed last year.It drains into the gray tank.I would have thought thats where they all drain too,guess not huh?I wonder why some do and some don`t??

[Wrenchtraveller]

I was told my washer goes into the bedroom greywater tank as I thought all models with the washer in the bedroom closet did. It would be more complex to tie into the blackwater tank from the washer's location. Remember we have two greytanks in these units.

If your water fall stopped when you dumped your grey tank, that should indicate your washer drains into the grey tank but if you had any water leaking out the panels below the unit you must have a leak of some sort.

Good luck getting it fixed and a leak will be covered by warranty.

[gkbutler]

We have the Splendide also. The water is coming out from where the drain pipe exits the underbelly. Yes by the basement I meant the storage areas. The water was coming out from the underbelly, not the basement. Interesting thing was though, when Karen opened the gray tank, the water went away. My next step is to crawl under and see if I can see a loose fitting. Taking the Monty back to the dealer is out of the question at this time as the dealer we bought it from is in Illinois and we are in Southwestern Florida. If push comes to shove will contact one of the dealers in this area to see if they can work on it. Oops, forgot, it was water from the washer only, no black water.

[Wrenchtraveller]

After just reading your last post you must have loose fitting and when the tank was full, it was forced out the loose connection. When you open the tank , this takes the pressure off the leak.

The sticker saying your washer goes into the black tank probably was supposed to say your washer goes into your washroom grey tank. Best of luck getting the problem fixed and I hope the rest of your trip is trouble free.

[patodonn]

Call Keystone Customer Service, or go their website to get a list of dealers in your area! We had all our warranty work done at various times and locations other than our "selling" dealer, always with Keystone info on who and where. I assume you don't really "have to" use the washer in the rig until you can get the rig into a dealer for a warranty "fix". I would also keep the gray tank drained most of the time..no telling where the washer drain line enters that tank, and there is probably a leak at that location. Shouldn't be more than a day to drop the panels and find/fix the problem. You could do it yourself, but if it is a warranty item, why? Make sure your dealer there knows you are "full timers" and schedules the work accordingly. You would probably want to be there to see the actual plumbing situation for future reference. Might also call Keystone Customer Service with model and Vin # to get the straight word from them on how it should have been plumbed. I'm sure that could have some effect on the work to be done under the warranty.

Re my earlier comment on the unreliability of "stickers", my rig came with the black and gray water handles labeled incorrectly (reversed). They are right next to each other. Took a bit to get that figured out on our first outing!!

Should be an easy fix...good luck!!

[gkbutler]

An update. Got the belly off and the water has all drained out now. Looking at everything, nothing seems to be out of the ordinary. Karen has started a load of clothes, so I will see if and where the leak is.

[gkbutler]

Well, I found out the washer drains into the gray tank not the black like the label says; so I guess that settled the previous thread I had on as to where the washer drained. I have no idea what happened, but we will watch it as we do laundry. It hasn't leaked since yesterday. Good idea Patodonn about calling Keystone, I may do that tomorrow. Will let you know what happens.

[dsprik]

PJ, you bring up an interesting point. Can you go to a Montana dealer and announce to them that you are a FTer and that you want warranty work done? I thought that was a touchy subject as Montanas are not specifically "Certified for Full Timing"? Would they throw that back at you and tell you that the warranty is voided? Or isn't that a problem?

[patodonn]

Re the "full timer" thing, we, along with many other Forum members, have told Keystone that we are in that category. It certainly didn't have any any negative impact on getting warranty work done; actually Customer Service appeared go out of their way to help fit the suggested locations and work into our situations.

If I makes you feel better, just say you are wherever you are for and an "extended stay" and living in the rig for the next several weeks/few months?. "Snow birds" aren't per se, "full timers" but would have the same sort of problem with getting work done away from the home area. A good dealer should be able to accommodate your needs with that description.

[gkbutler]

From what we have discovered, a lot of the RV dealers realize that people use their RV's at least as an "extended stay" unit. That said there are a lot of them that actually have some type of hookups available. The dealer we bought our unit from (Collier RV in Rockford, IL) has electrical hook ups right in front of the service bays for people to use that are having work done on their unit. Collier RV knows we full time in our unit and we have had no problem of any kind getting warranty work done by them when we are in that neck of the woods. I would hope that any of the more reputable Montana dealers would treat us in the same fashion.

[Montana_4413]

the dealer ran a separate pipe into the 4" drain just ahead of the drain exit where it connects to the flex sewer hose and said it was covered under warranty.grey or black tanks when full will always create a problem.

[dsprik]

So... are the 2006's being plumbed into the black, or into the gray tanks? Or is there no way to determine this yet for sure. We are not sure if we are going to order our 2006 3400 with W/D yet, but would really like to know this.

[gkbutler]

That would be a great question Dave, and I still really don't know the answer. When I had the underbelly off on Sunday, the water was running into the gray tank. To be safe, we will probably open both tanks on laundry day. We love the washer/dryer combo even though it takes a long time to do a load of laundry.

[dsprik]

Thanks for the info, Gary. I guess when I order in April, I'll try to pin the dealer down on this.

[Wrenchtraveller]

quote:Originally posted by dsprik

So... are the 2006's being plumbed into the black, or into the gray tanks? Or is there no way to determine this yet for sure. We are not sure if we are going to order our 2006 3400 with W/D yet, but would really like to know this.

When I picked up my 06 2955RL two weeks, I had the Splendide Washer/Dryer installed and I was told the unit drains into the bedroom grey tank. you have two grey tanks in Montanas, Kitchen & Bedroom for the sink and shower.

[sreigle]

Gkbutler, both the gray tank and the black tank hold 38 gallons. That's enough to handle at least one wash load, possibly more (We overflowed ours twice so I know it will hold at least one load and I think at least two). So, if you have a clear sewer connector you could close both and when the washer starts draining go out and open one at a time to see which one is holding water. You'd want to start with empty tanks, of course. Also, if no clear connector, you can tell by feeling the sewer hose for vibration.

[BillyRay]

ours doesn't drain into any tank!!!!! it goes straight to the city drain. unless you open a tank then it will back feed into one. we know this for a fact (with our model anyway)as we overflowed it. we follwed up with the dealer, and with the manufacturer and confirmed my findings.