Galley Tank-Who Knew?

[BobbyJ]

Bought a 2013 RLT last fall. The previous owner probably mentioned it, but I missed that there was a galley tank separate from the grey and black tanks. Finally figured it out when water backed up into the sink. Lucky no leaks or flooding.


I've looked at the specs for this unit (Mountaineer package) and can't find a mention of a galley tank in Keystone or other RV site specs. Don't see it as a package option, either. Just 1 freshwater tank, 1 grey tank, and 1 black tank. Guess I'm missing it.



The dump handle is completely separate from the others. Up under the main slideout. I feel pretty foolish for missing it, but glad I caught it before it was too late or had to figure it out in a bad spot. Sitting in the driveway at home right now.


So....all the galley water since we got it last fall has been collecting, and frozen in the tank over the winter. Guess I'll learn more as we use it more. These darn owners manuals are way too generic.

[DQDick]

Actually it's not uncommon at all. Many folks weren't told when they bought it new and a good number of salesmen have no idea it's there either dispite the fact that most if not all Montanas have one.

[Mtncrash1]

Nothing was mentioned to me about one. However when I did the walk through I spotted a t handle in front of the left side wheels and asked about it. Otherwise probably would of had the same problem.

[Sdgood1]

Thanks to this great group, I was able to find out that I had one and where the valve handle was!!

[PSFORD99]

Originally Posted by Sdgood1

Thanks to this great group, I was able to find out that I had one and where the valve handle was!!

Was with a friend this winter in Arizona, he had bought a used Montana , he came over and said how do we get the kitchen sink to drain ,its backed up. I asked did you drain the galley, and he said yes . I asked both the gray ,and the galley, and he looked at me funny ,and we went looking for the gallery handle ,it was basically where mine is at on my Montana. He felt a little dumb , but it happens .

[BobbyJ]

After finding the galley tank drain valve handle, I ran a bunch of water into the tank to rinse it. Second pull of the handle and the end of the sheath the nuts thread onto broke off. I already had the coroplast off to diagnose my non-existent valve problem, so adjusting the nuts was easy.
Valve handle is fixed, coroplast is back up (only twisted the head off one screw), thermal liner inside is in place a lot better than it was before, and now.....break time!

[twindman]

Originally Posted by BobbyJ

After finding the galley tank drain valve handle, I ran a bunch of water into the tank to rinse it. Second pull of the handle and the end of the sheath the nuts thread onto broke off. I already had the coroplast off to diagnose my non-existent valve problem, so adjusting the nuts was easy.
Valve handle is fixed, coroplast is back up (only twisted the head off one screw), thermal liner inside is in place a lot better than it was before, and now.....break time!

What thermal liner? I thought the 'Arctic package' was just the coroplast on the bottom. Is there something else? I don't think either of mine had anything else.

[BobbyJ]

TWINDMAN-
There was a spongy foil blanket on top of the coroplast. Just lays in there loose, so it was fun to get into position. It's like those emergency blankets you can wrap yourself in, so I assumed it was a thermal barrier blanket.

[richfaa]

Not many dealerships have a person dedicated to the PDI ours did

[PSFORD99]

Originally Posted by richfaa

Not many dealerships have a person dedicated to the PDI ours did

Walnut Ridge in Indiana did, they were pretty thorough . They set their purchases up on appointments, and tell you when its ready to come in ,and do everything. Its been awhile ,but I think thats how they did it . We ordered ours from out of state, and went to pick it up, so they had all that setup when we got there . Still it was nearly a good part of the day before we got out of there .

[jeffba]

on our MHC, our first 5th, tehy not only did not cover the galley valve, they were nice enough to leave it open. Got quite a surprise when I removed the cap

[shovelhead86]

Originally Posted by jeffba

on our MHC, our first 5th, tehy not only did not cover the galley valve, they were nice enough to leave it open. Got quite a surprise when I removed the cap

many of us have replaced the 3" cap with one that has a 1/2"NPT nipple and cap on it. Open the small pipe first to see if water is backed up in 3" pipe

[jeffba]

Originally Posted by shovelhead86

many of us have replaced the 3" cap with one that has a 1/2"NPT nipple and cap on it. Open the small pipe first to see if water is backed up in 3" pipe

I added a gate valve-- no more surprises

[jpwhite]

Originally Posted by jeffba

on our MHC, our first 5th, tehy not only did not cover the galley valve, they were nice enough to leave it open. Got quite a surprise when I removed the cap

I had the same experience a year ago with my 2019 Montana 3120. The tech who did our walk through insisted there was only one grey tank, even though there were grey 1 and grey 2 indicators on the command display. Based on this forum, I found the galley valve pull before first use and thought I was good. Our first overnight heading south in freezing weather I notice water leaking from the cap. Surprise! Not only was it left open, but was stuck! I could not get it to budge. I had to hook up the sewer hose until I could get it to operate after reaching our destination.

Last fall when I put the RV away, I left the galley valve closed. Of course, when I attempted to dump the galley I found it was stuck shut! Again would not budge. I could wait until I was in warm weather and didn't have to screw around hooking up the drain at every stop. I spent some quality time spraying and working it to finally free it up.

The valve pull is in a terrible location subject to high pressure road grime from the tires. I need to figure out a way to add some protection.

[Bfisher003]

Originally Posted by jpwhite

I had the same experience a year ago with my 2019 Montana 3120. The tech who did our walk through insisted there was only one grey tank, even though there were grey 1 and grey 2 indicators on the command display. Based on this forum, I found the galley valve pull before first use and thought I was good. Our first overnight heading south in freezing weather I notice water leaking from the cap. Surprise! Not only was it left open, but was stuck! I could not get it to budge. I had to hook up the sewer hose until I could get it to operate after reaching our destination.

Last fall when I put the RV away, I left the galley valve closed. Of course, when I attempted to dump the galley I found it was stuck shut! Again would not budge. I could wait until I was in warm weather and didn't have to screw around hooking up the drain at every stop. I spent some quality time spraying and working it to finally free it up.

The valve pull is in a terrible location subject to high pressure road grime from the tires. I need to figure out a way to add some protection.

We had the same problem on our 2019 Montana 3121RL— I asked the tech doing our PDI if it had one or two gray tanks and he told me it only had one. During our first time out with it I noticed both tank level indicators were changing, so I knew it had two, so I started looking for the valve and had a heck of a time finding it even after people in the forum told me where to find it. Keystone did a great job hiding it, eh? Our galley valve was almost impossible to open or close, so I bought the valve to put on the dump outlet and once I got the galley valve open (and I have the scars on my arm) I left it open. During some warranty work later to replace a bent rear axle they replaced the galley valve and it works fine now.

[CaptnJohn]

I too added a gate valve about 3 units back. New Montana has 2 gray and 2 black nicely in 1 box near the drain pipe. Last 2 Montanas had the under the slide pull for the galley. The brochures and info pages always state more volume than 1 tank could hold and not be huge or fall out. No way is there an 88 gallon tank ~~ 2 tanks 44 gallon each.

[J10er]

On my 2011 326RLT Mountaineer, I just had our 40 gallon galley tank replaced. It had a leak that would appear as I would leave the campsite, very embarrassing and irritating. My new, fantastic repair shop found it for me after two other ‘big’ facilities kept my 5th for an extended period, only to replace a hose hookup for the black tank rinse, and the vacuum breaker by the sink. The lower discharge pipe where it joins the tank split/cracked, probably from bouncing down the road and expansion when filled. The liquid would reservoir on the coroplast, then spill out as the vehicle moved away. Trail of shame until it dispersed. This tank is below the main cabin, nearer center. The drain pull handle is just behind and slightly inboard of the 3inch discharge plumbing. Montana supplied the new tank, my mechanic installed flexible plumbing connections on the inlet and outlet to hopefully prevent a similar break. Then the virus halted any camping for awhile. Stay healthy, stay safe, stay home for now!
Jon Tener
Lodi, Ca
2012 Chevy 2500HD Duramax
2011 Montana Mountaineer 325RLT
4400 Pullrite SuperGlide w/super rails.

[CADman_KS]

This may be a dumb rhetorical question, but in our old 5er, our galley tank drained into the same line as our main gray tank. While we have a dump valve on the galley tank, we left it open all the time, and turned our gray tank into just one big tank.

Why is not done this way or Montanas?, or maybe is there a "reason" that it's done with two valves? I never understood why our old 5er had two, and never had any issues leaving the galley valve open all the time...

[J10er]

CADman, on my 2011 325RLT 5th wheel the upper level houses one 40 gallon grey water and the one black tank. On the lower level is the 40 gallon galley tank. I would think that when draining the upper tanks, some black or grey water may seek to enter the galley and cross-contaminate if the galley valve is left open full-time. At least prior to dumping the two tanks on the upper level, you may want to close the galley valve. My procedure when dumping, with all valves closed at start: black first then rinse and close, then galley and close and finally dump the upper grey (shower water, cleanest of all) and use this to flush clean the pipes and drain hose.

[jackt]

I came to find out about our second grey/galley tank by looking at the tank levels. It shows a Fresh, Black, Grey, Grey.