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Old 11-24-2020, 03:23 PM   #1
BandBmalin
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3820FK Grey Tank fell out - suggestions needed please!

All,

On our final day of of a 4-night camping trip, we were eating breakfast outside the fiver when we heard a really loud bang. The front grey tank had fallen out of the trailer crashing through the coreplast (spelling?). Fortunately, the waste line remained attached holding the one side of the tank up. With the valve open, we were able to slowly raise the side touching the ground with a ratchet strap at first and then my truck's jack ultimately allowing us to empty the water from the tank.

I learned that the tank is molded with a "lip" around the top that allows the tank to hang between two pieces of metal, like C-channel. (imagine a capital "T" suspended with the top of the "T")

My guess is that the tank was nearing full as we had just finished washing a lot of dishes in hot water. The hot water must have softened the plastic tank just enough for it to slip down between the supports and drop. (Yep, no additional strapping, just the molded tank hanging there.)

My question for you all: I see that one of the pieces of channel has 3 nuts on one side where it attaches to the frame. My hope is that if I can unbolt that on one side, I can finish pushing it back into place and then add some additional strapping to reinforce the poor design - my opinion. Has anyone done this? Can I get to the other side of the bolts without unbolting large quantities of my skirting which may create another problem??

Yes, I'm a bit dissappointed that this is a 2-year old trailer and the tank dropped while sitting still at a camp site. (out of warranty of course!) Had I not been at a full hook up, I would have been screwed!! A 37 gallon tank that is full weighs in at just under 300 pounds so emptying it was a must!!!

I want to do my repair on Thanksgiving day as we are slated to go back out on Friday so any quick help or suggestions will be welcomed!!
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Old 11-24-2020, 04:35 PM   #2
Cbrandt79
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Sure seems to me that this is a structural failure and should still be under warranty
Sorry for the bad experience
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Old 11-24-2020, 04:39 PM   #3
Dusters
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I know this doesn't help with your situation, but thank you for the information as this will be good info for my 4 year old 3820fk.
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Old 11-24-2020, 07:33 PM   #4
rohrmann
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We had a grey tank leak several years ago, and after repairing the crack, I added supports that go under both the grey and black tanks, and we can have full tanks and not worry about them cracking or falling. I added a couple 1 1/2" angle iron braces across the frame in addition to the two channel braces that were doing nothing more than holding up the coroplast, and installed blocking under the tanks where the braces are. After the glue dried, I re-installed the coroplast.
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Old 11-24-2020, 08:44 PM   #5
Montana Man
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You definitely want to support the tank from the bottom similar to what rohrmann showed. Test the tank as it could have split where the two pieces are welded/glued together. It may not be obvious where it separated by visual inspection. Also, the brackets that the tank hangs on to must be as close as possible to the tank body. The black tank will need the same attention.

It wasn't hot water that caused this. The two piece tanks are not installed according to the tank's manufacturer.
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Old 11-24-2020, 10:14 PM   #6
Hblick48
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I used plumber strapping covered with 3 layers of shrink tubing for cushioning. Used carriage bolts to attach strapping.
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Old 12-07-2020, 07:32 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hblick48 View Post
I used plumber strapping covered with 3 layers of shrink tubing for cushioning. Used carriage bolts to attach strapping.
Great pic, very clear exactly how that fix works! Thanks for the good idea.
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Old 12-06-2020, 01:28 PM   #8
Rodgers51
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Had the same thing happen this summer 2 year old trailer also my channel bent replaced the 2 channels with thicker ones. Thankfully no wire were broke just the valve snapped
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Old 12-06-2020, 01:31 PM   #9
dfb
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Why do we have to fix things yhe factory should have done right..? Lower our montana yhat books about 49000 to 39000... cant wait to sell it..
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Old 12-06-2020, 04:26 PM   #10
wade
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Originally Posted by dfb View Post
Why do we have to fix things yhe factory should have done right..? Lower our montana yhat books about 49000 to 39000... cant wait to sell it..
Because they pretty much only care about making money. The quicker they build them. The quicker they get to the dealer for people like us to buy. They don't even realize how hard some of us have to work to pay for that 50-80 thousand dollar rv.
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Old 12-07-2020, 06:59 AM   #11
allenclme
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dfb View Post
Why do we have to fix things yhe factory should have done right..? Lower our montana yhat books about 49000 to 39000... cant wait to sell it..
I've had numerous RV's for better than 30 years. It does seem like this one has more things to fix than my previous, but there is always something. I thought I had everything done but it looks like I'm bracing all my tanks when I pull it out of storage this spring.
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Old 12-06-2020, 01:38 PM   #12
Hamlej
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Had pretty much the same issue, follow this link https://www.montanaowners.com/forums...25#post1168825
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Old 12-06-2020, 07:30 PM   #13
grumbolt
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when i repaired my black tanks, i used 4 ratchet straps per tank to support the black and grey tanks. with how cheap a 4 pack is, it is cheap insurance. and you can tension them really easily.
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Old 12-07-2020, 03:03 AM   #14
RMcNeal
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Since yours is a newer unit, I think you are OK on the 2 piece design. Keystone went to a single piece design tank a few years ago. I think they call it "rotomold"? Our 2019 has this new seamless style tank. The older ones were 2 pieces that were glued together with a seam in the middle.
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Old 12-07-2020, 08:25 AM   #15
mlhenehan
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Hmmm....I have a 2018 305 RL. I'm not by the trailer so can't look. Is this something I should consider doing? I ask because I go to some remote locations and the roads in are washboard in some stretches. I take it easy, but there are some ruts and bumps that take me by surprise and I've bounced pretty hard over a few. It scares me that I could have that happen on a remote back road in Wyoming or Colorado.
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