black water disaster - Montana Owners Club

G McCall · 07-04-2010, 05:59 PM

What happened ????
Today the wife and I were on our second day of camping at our country getaway and I noticed water dripping from under our 2005 Mountaineer travel trailer where it should not have been.

I went inside the trailer and there was septic/black water everywhere, I mean from one end of the trailer to the other.
We had just been inside about 15 minutes before and all was allright.

I looked inside the toliet and black water, not clear water was at the top of the bowl and all over the entire floor of the trailer. I pushed the flush pedal and all flushed as it should. Either before or right after I flushed here I opened the drain valve after seeing the black water. Also in the bedroom. the black water filled the bath sink and over ran there as well. How the heck did that happen.

Needless to say, we packed up and left. I am going back for the trailer tomorrow.

We have never had such a problem in our 17 years of trailer camping.
The black tank should not have been full and even if it was, how did that much black water get inside the trailer in such a short time. There was no extra water running to fill the black tank. The toilet was not running on it's on. It is like the black water "exploded" and gushed out the toilet and the bath sink while we were outside.

ANY ONE KNOW WHAT MAY HAVE HAPPEN ?

Does this sound like something our insurance will cover ?
We are depressed.....

**Rondo** · 07-04-2010, 06:55 PM

Greg-- It sounds like someone pulled the black water tank valve and then also the graywater(shower)valve without the dump valve. IF you do this the tanks will equalize and I'm presuming the black water tank was nearly full and the sudden pressure from the gray water caused the blacktank to overflow out of the toilet. IF this is not the case then IF you have a flush on your black tank, someone either left it on or turned it on and left it on till it overflowed out of the toilet. That's MHO anyway. Let us know what you find out!

steves · 07-05-2010, 12:10 AM

Did you have a hose attached to your black water flush connection? that could have been accidental turned on?

G McCall · 07-05-2010, 01:54 AM

To answer questions above, I do have a black water flush on the tank and it was hooked up but I am not aware of that valve beeing turned on. I can here the flush when it is on, but there is a always that possibility of the black water valve leaking. The valve to the black water tank valve was on. To eliminate that possibility I will never leave a black water valve line hooked up, after I flush.

steves · 07-05-2010, 02:31 AM

I would bet that's what happened....It happened to me and as you said....never, never, never leave a hose connected to the black water flush!

**Rondo** · 07-05-2010, 02:39 AM

Yup, that's what it sounds like to me also! Sounds like either the valve malfunctioned or someone turned on the water and then turned it off later! I am presuming the Monte is setting somewhere that others have access to be around it and someone either turned it on without knowing what it was for or knew and did it as a joke thinking there would be no damage! Let us know how things turn out!

SlickWillie · 07-05-2010, 04:32 AM

That happened with a Montana fiver here. Neighbors were gonna use the friends water hose. Turned the wrong valve, and never turned it off. Water was coming out the vent on top of the fifth wheel. Fortunately, the owner had just flushed the black tank out good, so damage was minimal. Still made a heck of a mess.

exav8tr · 07-05-2010, 05:29 AM

Perhaps the folks at Service Master could remove the excess water and odor. I hear they are pretty good at that sort of thing.....

HamRad · 07-05-2010, 06:25 AM

Just last year I hooked up the flusher system and when I had finished I simply left the hose hooked up. That was a mistake. The on/off valve leaked just a tiny bit. This caused my check valve to not function properly. And it leaked into my basement. While working on this problem we replaced the check valve but the leak continued. This is when we learned that the check valve was actually OK. It was then that we realized we'd left the hose hooked up. We disconnected the hose and the problem was fixed.

It was at this time I decided it was not a good thing to leave the hose hooked up. In an open campground the temptation would be too great for someone to "accidentally" turn it on! So now I just coil up the hose at the faucet. It is usually hooked up and ready to go. It makes for a quick access in case it might be needed for fire control. And or just hosing down around your CG area. But it will not remain hooked up to the trailer!
HamRad

NCFischers · 07-05-2010, 07:26 AM

I just changed my procedures and will not leave it hooked up in the future.

G McCall · 07-05-2010, 12:33 PM

I now think everyone is correct about the black water flush being the culprit here. The main problem of course is the controller of the whole system.....me.
I now feel better to think I know how not to repeat this disaster.

Thanks for everyones response.

alandaudrey · 07-05-2010, 03:06 PM

Sometimes it pays to be lazy. I don't hook up my flush hose until I actually dump. In fact I usually don't even connect to the sewer until I'm ready to dump.

I think I'll continue on with my lazy ways.

Happy trails,

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