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Old 03-07-2009, 02:27 PM   #1
howellg
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Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: tullahoma
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M.O.C. #9159
grey tankl leak

my grey tank leaks when it is completely full, i believe from the top of the tank....what should i look for to repair or be sure of problem???
 
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Old 03-07-2009, 03:14 PM   #2
HamRad
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Location: Bakersfield
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M.O.C. #15
Howellg,

Welcome to the MOC. It is a great place to learn about your Montana.

In regards to the tank leak. I have exactly the same thing happening to mine. I suspect it is either a break in the top of the tank or the vent pipe is causing a gap allowing the leak.

The only way to check it is to actually take a look at it. I seem to remember that one member wrote about cutting a hole in the floor to look at the top! I think many folks have resorted to simply removing the tank and replacing. I, too, would like to know how they insert and seal the vent pipe when re-installing the tank. Perhaps it is just a rubber seal that they push on.

I think there are several discussions about this issue. Perhaps a search might turn up something.

Right now I just cope with the problem by simply not filling the tank too full. Sure is worrisome and I'd like to get it fixed but will probably just "live" with it since it is so expensive to fix.

Good luck.

HamRad
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Old 03-07-2009, 04:22 PM   #3
CmdrDewey
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Your tank may be leaking from the top--but maybe not. Mine also was leaking when full but what was happening was, when it was full there was enough pressure to open a small crack near the bottom. You will never know until you take down the belly skin and look. I took mine down, found the leak and thought I had fixed it. I put the skin back on, not an easy task alone, but the leak returned. I took the skin down again and had a mobil RV repair guy fix it with expoxy. He charged me $20. Three friends and I with a battery screw gun had the skin back on in 45 minutes. So far so good.
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Old 03-07-2009, 05:47 PM   #4
MAMalody
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M.O.C. #5972
Mine leaded at the drain connection before the Y. My insurance covers the repair and I just found out the replacement tank has arrived. I should hear in the next day or so when I am scheduled for the repair. It will cost me about $128, which the insurance does not cover and additional hourly labor charges they don't cover. Will let you now how it turns out.
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Old 03-09-2009, 04:57 AM   #5
CanDo
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Had the same issue with our grey tank. Dropped the belly pan and found a crack (about 2 inch) right where the tank connects to the drain pipe. Mobile repair guy fixed it, under extended warranty, by plastic welding. No problems so far. Again, it would only leak when the tank was over-full.
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Old 03-09-2009, 05:42 AM   #6
Jolu
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M.O.C. #7919
I am really surprised that we do not have more problems with these tanks. After dropping the belly cover and checking for a hydraulic leak I noticed how thin the tanks are.
The tanks are not much thicker than the 5 gal. gas containers we buy at Walmart. I am not kidding. With the lack of support strapping for the tanks this is why I am surprised we don't have more problems.

I would like to see Keystone use a heavier gauge material for the tanks similar to tanks I have had in the past and use better support for the tanks. This would save a lot of the problems owners are having with tank problems. JMHO
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Old 03-10-2009, 08:15 PM   #7
Dean A Van Peursem
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I think there are several issues at work here. Thickness of the tank walls, how well they are supported, how the in/out pipes are connected and whether any kind of strain relief is engineered in between the pipes and the tank. It is bit scary to see how little support these tanks have and I suspect that may be true on all brands. I'm not sure whether the way the pipes are supported vs the tank mounting/support allows adequate independent stress movement while traveling or when fully full of liquids. We always empty our tanks completely except we leave a few (2-5) gallons in the black tank before we travel anywhere. Even with those precautions we still had our black tank crack and had to totally replace it, out of warranty. Seems to me this shouldn't be happening as often as we read about here on the MOC. My guess is since some Montana's have this problem occur and others don't, that it might be an interaction between the tank and the pipes in and out that occurs during transit. Might be a mounting/support tolerance issue during installation at the factory. Just a somewhat educated guess on my part. But.... don't really know. Don't know either if other RV brands have a similar frequency of failure using the same or similar tanks. I'm hoping are other tanks won't exhibit the same failure we had on the black tank. A heavier walled tnak probably would help but if it is an interaction betwen the pipes and tank, a heavier wall might make it even worse. Just don't have enough facts to know the answer.
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Old 03-11-2009, 05:32 PM   #8
awaywego
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I had a leak when I first bought the unit and it only leaked when the tank was full. I found the vent going through the wall to the roof had a staple in it and when the tank filled the water would back up into the pipe and leak. they stapled the trim around the floor and shot one into the pipe.
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Old 03-12-2009, 03:07 AM   #9
richfaa
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The tanks are made of ABS and although thin are quite strong. The manufacturer says the tanks are designed to be supported by straps.Many manufacturer's do that, Keystone does not. Many folks travel with to much liquid (weight) in the tanks and in some cases the plumbing is not properly installed causeing stress on the tank when traveling (all this from our dealer that replaced our back tank and many other tanks.There is also a seal right at floor level(top of the black tank) that is, as our dealer said, not of the highest quality and prone to leakage.
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Old 03-12-2009, 06:58 AM   #10
beakyfudd
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If you have to dump your tanks at a dump station rather than at the site, now your moving with alot of weight in the tanks. You will probably hit some bumps in the CG along the way and cause added stress to the tanks. With all that said, extra support under the tanks seems like cheap insurance. Going down the highway may never come into play. To your point, Rich, everything in these rv's are lighter weight to keep overall weight down. We can't always have the strongest and lightest at the same time.
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Old 04-09-2009, 02:50 PM   #11
djake11
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I have a 2003 Montana 2955RL. I discovered water running out from the trailer when the galley tank was almost full. I found 2 cracks, both on the bottom of the tank that open up only when there is a lot of weight. One was near the drain outlet, and the other was in a v-rib along the bottom of the tank. I have patched with fiberglass patch kit and it is now full of water for a leak test.

In the event I have to replace the tank, does anyone know how the sink drain attaches to the tank and how to disconnect/reconnect it? With a mirror, I can see the sink drain make a 90-degree turn down into the floor through a hole.
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Old 04-10-2009, 05:43 AM   #12
grampachet
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Our 08 3000RK leaks from the front gray water tank, (shower and sink) when over 2/3 full. I have never travelled with tanks more than maybe 1/4 full and have only 4000 miles of highway travel. I will take it back to CW under warranty along with kitchen faucet leaking, front decals peeling and one other item. Will post results when repaired.
I manage our church RV park which has 70 spaces. Last year I was notified someones sewer tank had fallen off and was leaking. Wonderful news to hear while you are enjoying your lunch. It was "only" the grey water tank but it just fell off. They had been parked there a week, it is a two or three year old tt good condition, but the tank was only supported buy the edges of the tank that fit into channels on the frame. I siphoned the tank empty and had them call a local RV repairman to fix it. I have decided not to repair these anymore as it was beginning to be to time consuming. I came to the conclusion actually many years ago that if it's man made it will probably fail sometimes soon sometimes later.
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Old 04-10-2009, 07:28 PM   #13
dsprik
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Both my gray tanks are leaking at full level only. Calling my extended warranty company on Mon.
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