Black Tank Repair

[oldelmer1]

It is very important to remember to shut off the black tank back flush before the tank fills up. If not, and you forget, here is what happens.


It was pretty easy to remove the tank. First remove the underbelly, then remove the 4 wires for the gauge, then the flusher water supply, cut the toilet & vent pipes, then take the waste gate out, then take the bracket that holds the tank up out and it falls out.



Thanks to OZZ for reminding me what to use to repair it with.


Here it is all primed and ready to mend.


And here it is glued with 1st coat and clamped.


After 4 hours, coat 2 of 4 will be put on.

[1retired06]

Bet you uttered a bad word. Lot of work. I had a black tank that split along the seam, and faced similiar amount of work. I used fiberglass followed by eternabond tank repair tape as a different approach. Fortunately for me, did not have to remove the tank itself. My repair worked, bet yours will as well.

[CamillaMichael]

Looks like you know what you are doing...well done!

[oldelmer1]

I uttered more than one bad word.....

I actually had no idea as to what to do, I called the local RV dealer who said it would cost up to $1000.00 to replace it. I thought gee, it cant be that hard. So after doing lots of searching here on the MOC, and looking at U-TUBE videos, and RV 101 stuff, and asking OZZ what he used to fix his crack with, I figured I'd give it a shot.

I was really supprised as to how easy it was to get out, after removing the underbelly with all the screws, it took maybe 45 minutes to get the tank out.

Even added extra layer or Reflectix to the underbelly for added insullation.

[seahunter]

quote:Originally posted by oldelmer1

... and asking OZZ what he used to fix his crack with...

Now there's a funny one if you take it out of context...

[stiles watson]

Congrats on your fix. More than I want to do. I will get new tanks installed by the repairman and paid for by the EW. Great pictures!

[Ozz]

quote:Originally posted by seahunter

Now there's a funny one if you take it out of context...

[Ozz]

Great job, very professional. You can work on my rig any time!

[Ozz]

quote:Originally posted by Ozz

Great job, very professional. You can work on my rig any time!

BUT....
A clean garage is a sign of a very sick mind...

[oldelmer1]

quote:Originally posted by Ozz

BUT....
A clean garage is a sign of a very sick mind...

My garage is 30 x 40, so even know its looks clean, it does have a bunch of stuff in it. I had to put my new Gravely zero turn play toy in there cause it would not fit into the shed, I never thought I would ever say this, but its a joy cutting the grass now.

I put the 4th coat of ABS repair on today, think I will put 1 more on tomorrow morning, then after it dries I will do a water test before I put it back on.

More pictures to come....

[Ozz]

I have a Zero-turn Commercial Dixon, I had a small one first, Sue was mowing a slope here at the Casa and the dang thing slid sideways down the hill, scared the beans out of both of us, so I loaded it up, took it back to the dealer and told him I wanted the biggest one he had. This one is very nice, as yours is. They both make good machines.
It is fun to mow with them, mine grinds up big branches and spits them out, I don't even pick them up any more..
On topic... will love to see the pictures, as well, the rest of the folks here.

[oldelmer1]

Here is the repaired black tank.


And here is a picture of the jumbled up mess underneath before I put the underbelly back on.


Here is how I attached the vent and toilet pipes back on.


I did put some water into the tank and moved it all around and no water came out. And also put water into the tank after installation to verify no leak in the waste valve.

The only good thing about this is, I now know where all the wiring and waste valves are located.

Oh, and I also added extra Reflectix on top of the tanks, and glued some onto the existing underbelly insulation.

[Ozz]

Geat job! You should be proud.

[oldelmer1]

quote:Originally posted by Ozz

Geat job! You should be proud.

LOL, Thanks OZZ.... Now to make sure it doesn't happen again.

[Ozz]

I am a dummy, have to make allowances for that, whenever I use the flush, I set an egg timer and carry it around with me.

[oldelmer1]

OZZ,
I use a Y adapter for my water supply, 1 side for city the other for black tank flush. After it happened, I now set the timer for 10 minutes, and when done, I remove the hose from the Y too.

[Ozz]

I use 7 minutes, it gives me a fudge factor of a few minutes,

[harrisje66]

Great pictures and great work. I wouldn't want to attempt something like that unless you were their beside me. You saved yourself a lot of "green back". I wish I was gifted like you. Thats why I volunteer with the Habitat House. I'm not too old to learn. My wife needs a lot of things done around the house. Again, I'm glad you got it fixedThanks for all your input.

[afzimm]

Good info here. I bought the Plasti-mend regular repair kit. This weekend I will repair my leaking grey tank. Im sure I wont use it all up because I think the crack is pretty small. So if I seal the cans real good maybe the stuff will stay useable until my black tank starts leaking. My Montana is parked at an RV Lake Resort for the summer. Its called "Your Haven" and its about 2 hours west of Minneapolis, MN. Its a great place to spend nice summer days. We are on the Horse Shoe chain of lakes. from our lake we can travel to 13 other lakes without taking the boat out of the water. Check out Your Haven's website, or Facebook. Old Elmer thanks a bunch for the pictures and the step by step instructions on how to use Plasti- Mend. Glad I looked on here, I was going to use clear silicon caulk. You guys are Numero Uno! You are very kind and generous to share your knowledge. Happy camping! Alan Zimmerman

[shovelhead86]

So that is what they look like when they are removed. I was looking at the literature I have for my 2007 3475rl and it says that the black tank is 50 gallons. I put 7 5gal. pails of water into it and it was full to the top. That is 35 gallons so do I have 15 gallons of hard stuff in the tank? I hate to have to take the tank down and find nothing is wrong.