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Old 10-07-2014, 07:30 AM   #1
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Black tank over flowed

Ok, I admit it, I screwed up. After getting back from camping last weekend, I emptied the black tank and hooked up the black tank flush to clean it out. My neighbor walked up and we went inside for a beer. 15-min later I remembered I had hooked up the hose to the trailer. I ran out of the house only to find water shooting out the top vent pipe on the roof of the trailer and water pouring out from under the front of the trailer. I went to the black tank flush and turned off the hose. Reached down and opened the black tank drain and let the water out of the black tank as I had the sewer hose already connected. When I got inside the trailer, the toilet was full and water had come over the top and rolled towards the front of the trailer. Fortunately the trailer was not level; it was tilted down at the tongue, so all the water flowed towards the front where the master bedroom is. I had about a ½ inch of water in the corners of the front part of the trailer. I removed all the items in the outside storage area and removed all the trim piece I could find as well. Mopped up all the water inside and removed the panel where the water pump is and dried that area too. Lifted the bed and dried all that out as well. Once I got all the standing water out and dried everything with towels, I put fans on both sides of the bed and in the outside storage area and let them run over night.

What else should I do? Doesn’t look like any permanent damage. Am I missing anything other than learning the lesson of staying with the trailer in the future?
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Old 10-07-2014, 07:48 AM   #2
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I would be mopping with some kind of disinfecting soap or a bleach /water mix. Don't want to have a smell lingering.
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Old 10-07-2014, 09:08 AM   #3
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Do you have carpeting in the bedroom? If so, that will soak up water like a sponge as well as the pad under it. Fans won't dry it out. I would be pulling the carpet up and replace everything.
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Old 10-07-2014, 09:22 AM   #4
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No there isn’t any carpet in the master bedroom, just linoleum flooring. The only carpet is under the slides and water didnt get to that area, just the front. I believe it’s a single piece of linoleum that runs the entire length of the trailer. So the piece that is in the bathroom (starts at the back of the trailer and continues into the bedroom and then continues into the storage area that you get to outside. I think they build the walls/bed/cabinets all on top of the linoleum once the floor is installed. At least that is my guess after seeing the factory tour this summer.
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Old 10-07-2014, 06:30 PM   #5
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They should put a warning on the hook up that says sewer valve must be open to run the tank flush
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Old 10-07-2014, 06:45 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by grandpadon View Post
They should put a warning on the hook up that says sewer valve must be open to run the tank flush
No, I close my valve to fill and then drain. There should be a label that says "DO NOT WALK AWAY WHILE TANK FLUSH IS RUNNING."
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Old 10-07-2014, 07:33 PM   #7
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There should be a label that says "DO NOT DRINK BEER WHILE OPERATING THIS BLACK WATER FLUSH"

I'm sorry the devil made me say it....
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Old 10-07-2014, 07:36 PM   #8
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Have you seen this?

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Old 10-08-2014, 01:54 AM   #9
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On My first trip with my 2015 camper. We went to Ocean City. First night it rained like heck. I got up and noticed the carpet was wet. Thought we had a leak. This thing just come off the factory floor. Got to searching it ended up it was the City water line wasn't tight on the inside. they didn't catch it at the dealer prep job the day before. I had to open it up and take apart the city water valve and tighten it. It was fine then. Took it back so the dealer can look at it. My point here is seems to be a common thing with fittings at the factory.
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Old 10-08-2014, 06:44 AM   #10
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randelsclan,

Sorry to hear about your misfortune. I usually close and rinse the black when packing up and I've gotten close a couple times to overfilling after getting distracted.

As far as the discussion, you all got me thinking now, which is both a rare occurrence and dangerous in itself!

Based on that video alone, I bet I could install a check valve on the waste stack to minimize the damage if a valve decides to not shut off (video above) or someone leaves the rinse hose on with the drain closed or...whatever... This way the water would have somewhere to go and all your doing is cleaning "stuff externally on the trailer undercarriage and not totaling out the trailer.

I'm deal with calculations risk in my job, so I look at it as one of those events that has a low rate of occurrence but when it does happen it is catastrophic.

Also, going to check my RV insurance policy. I'll bet this isn't covered.
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Old 10-08-2014, 07:10 AM   #11
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My flush does have a warning that the valve must be open while flushing, and that is what I do. What is the reason that you guys are flushing with the valve closed?
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Old 10-08-2014, 08:00 AM   #12
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I did it once on a previous trailer. Cleaned everything up and never had any more problems out of it, no smell or anything. It was a good lesson learned, though. When I rinse the black tank now, I stand by while the wife watches the tank level indicator and as soon as it starts flashing on full, I open the dump valve. I figure everything else can wait long enough for me to finish flushing the tank. After all, I would find the time to clean up the mess anyway, so time up front saves time later.
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Old 10-08-2014, 08:03 AM   #13
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My flush does have a warning that the valve must be open while flushing, and that is what I do. What is the reason that you guys are flushing with the valve closed?
In my opinion, you get a better flush. I usually gravity dump the contents first, then close the dump valve and start rinsing. Fill the tank, then dump again. Sometimes I do it two or three times until I quit seeing "stuff" in my clear sewer fitting.
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Old 10-08-2014, 08:31 AM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kingfish58 View Post
My flush does have a warning that the valve must be open while flushing, and that is what I do. What is the reason that you guys are flushing with the valve closed?

There is a Star Trek Klingon's joke here...


Seriously,

I fill it up to get the stuff off the walls and is particularly effectively at cleaning the sensor versus just running the rinse with the tank valve open.

Just my experience.
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Old 10-08-2014, 08:50 AM   #15
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The black tank is not meant to be filled completely. Sometimes it detaches at the top and the stuff comes out there. It's happened to us twice, different trailers. Now I don't let him fill it up again. We have the flushing thing, there is a notice on it saying the dump valve should be open, and this is what we use now.
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Old 10-08-2014, 10:52 AM   #16
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I believe you get a more forcefull flush if you close the gate valve and put about 10 gallons of water in the tank while running the flush. I also watch for water color change and any solids in the clear sewer fitting...
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Old 10-08-2014, 01:50 PM   #17
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If at a full hookup site: I fill the tank to 2/3rd plus with the flush and then dump. Close valve and run flush for 4-4 1/2 min and that will get the tank to abt 2/3. Then dump and watch the clear elbow. Repeat as needed until elbow is clear. Usually 3 dumps.

At a water/electric site (most of out state parks) I hook up the flush at the campsite and fill as above. Then drive to the dump station and repeat as needed. Following up with the sink water and then the bath water.
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Old 10-08-2014, 07:15 PM   #18
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I had a toliet valve malfunction but the valve in the bottom of the toliet was tight enough that it didnt fill the black tank. just clean?? water ran over onto the floor .
See my post on this as I found out some thetford toliets are prone to this.
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Old 10-09-2014, 04:22 PM   #19
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[QUOTE=avvidclif;87057]If at a full hookup site: I fill the tank to 2/3rd plus with the flush and then dump. Close valve and run flush for 4-4 1/2 min and that will get the tank to abt 2/3. Then dump and watch the clear elbow. Repeat as needed until elbow is clear. Usually 3 dumps.

At a water/electric site (most of out state parks) I hook up the flush at the campsite and fill as above. Then drive to the dump station and repeat as needed. Following up with the sink water and then the bath water.[/QUOTE

I do pretty much the same as Cliff. The first thing I do is set a timer before I use the sani-flush. I have a pocket timer that vibrates so if I am distracted I get a warning.
Not with my trailer now but will post the brand of timer when I get home.
It just makes sense to fill the tank with clean water to get a good flushing.
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Old 10-10-2014, 09:26 AM   #20
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They have that on the 2013 models
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