Gray tank leak

[jnfrombigt]

Appears that a gray tank pipe flange separated from the gray tank. Any recommendations on repair sealant? Thanks jn

[tractors1]

I would call ETI and find out what sealant that is. If you're not the original owner it might have been an attempt to seal the joint by the previous owner. Almost all tanks are made of polypropylene, which is a plastic nothing will stick to. Usually parts are joined by plastic welding.


Harbor Freight sells a hot air plastic welding gun for about $90 that works quite well. https://www.harborfreight.com/plasti...c+welding+kits

[alanmalk]

Originally Posted by tractors1

...
Almost all tanks are made of polypropylene, which is a plastic nothing will stick to. Usually parts are joined by plastic welding.
...

Wondering if roughened up with sandpaper and cleaned with acetone,
if 3M5200 would stick?

[jnfrombigt]

Originally Posted by tractors1

I would call ETI and find out what sealant that is. If you're not the original owner it might have been an attempt to seal the joint by the previous owner. Almost all tanks are made of polypropylene, which is a plastic nothing will stick to. Usually parts are joined by plastic welding.


Harbor Freight sells a hot air plastic welding gun for about $90 that works quite well. https://www.harborfreight.com/plasti...c+welding+kits

I am the original owner. Whatever is on there was put on at the factory in 2019. I've sent a message to the Escape folks. I was thinking that I wasn't the only person to have this problem. Maybe I am. Thanks for the reply. jn

[Viajante]

Originally Posted by alanmalk

Wondering if roughened up with sandpaper and cleaned with acetone,
if 3M5200 would stick?

3M says no to bonding plastics with 5200 even though it is called Satan’s glue.

If you want to use a glue, look into two part methacrylate glues. Loctite makes several types as do others.

[jnfrombigt]

If the tanks are polypropylene I read that that two part epoxy will work. Hey, JB Platic weld, maybe. Thanks for the responses jn

[Padre]

John, are you sure it's just failed sealant? I recently finished up an elaborate retooling of my gray tank. Had to drop the tank. The tank had spin welded female adapters, the failed parts were broken male adapters. Based on similar forum threads on 2019/20 trailers, I carefully sabre saw cut out the broken threaded male adapter part out of the spin welded piece. I reconnected the plumbing using new male adapters and Fernco rubber fittings that hopefully can absorb vibration better than pvc plastic. Not sure I ever understood what changes in 2019/20 trailers took place to cause so many gray tank failures.
Padre

[jnfrombigt]

Originally Posted by Padre

John, are you sure it's just failed sealant? I recently finished up an elaborate retooling of my gray tank. Had to drop the tank. The tank had spin welded female adapters, the failed parts were broken male adapters. Based on similar forum threads on 2019/20 trailers, I carefully sabre saw cut out the broken threaded male adapter part out of the spin welded piece. I reconnected the plumbing using new male adapters and Fernco rubber fittings that hopefully can absorb vibration better than pvc plastic. Not sure I ever understood what changes in 2019/20 trailers took place to cause so many gray tank failures.
Padre

I'm not sure what failed. I suspect it was more than sealant. Now, the trailer got "tested". I recently drug it up and down the washes going into the Valley of the Gods in southeast Utah. I went in from the west side. Its rough and I'm not surprised something like this happened. . Anyway, I really want to avoid dropping that tank to repair. First, I need to find out the tank material in order to research the proper bonding material. I'm able to move the pipe about !/8 inch back and forth. It doesn't seem to be much of a structural problem.

[DanandDaphne]

This has been going on for a while, here's the main thread on the issue.

https://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f...ion-18996.html

Lot's of reading material,

I still haven't been able to fix mine as it is on the top of the tank from the kitchen sink, and we have spray foam so not looking forward to dropping the tank.

Looks like yours will be easier, If you can find someone who can spin weld on a new flange it would be much better than trying to glue it. I once had a plastic canoe repaired by a company that fixed water tanks, there are people who do this kind of repair.

Best of luck to you.

[Ron in BC]

Originally Posted by DanandDaphne

I still haven't been able to fix mine as it is on the top of the tank from the kitchen sink, and we have spray foam so not looking forward to dropping the tank.
.

Would it be feasible to carefully cut through the plywood and f.g. and make, say, a 4" x 4" clear access area without dropping the tank?

Ron

[Lanark Camper]

Yes, checkout that thread. It’s a relatively easy fix. Detailed instructions are toward the end.

Basically the tank has a threaded flange. The factory adds a threaded sleeve into that flange with a sealant on it, the other end of the sleeve is glued to the black pipe. The sleeve breaks at the treads because the pipe moves while towing. The sleeve needs to be removed from the flange and a new sleeve put in, and then the pipes glued back together. Of course the pipes fixed so they don’t move while towing and break the flange again.
Inexpensive fix.
Good luck, Bob

[jnfrombigt]

Originally Posted by DanandDaphne

This has been going on for a while, here's the main thread on the issue.

https://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f...ion-18996.html

Lot's of reading material,

I still haven't been able to fix mine as it is on the top of the tank from the kitchen sink, and we have spray foam so not looking forward to dropping the tank.

Looks like yours will be easier, If you can find someone who can spin weld on a new flange it would be much better than trying to glue it. I once had a plastic canoe repaired by a company that fixed water tanks, there are people who do this kind of repair.

Best of luck to you.

Thanks. I found a bonding product that I think will work After ready the threads I realize I have much research to do just to fully understand what is the problem and the info I'm receiving is great help.

[marant]

Had to make this repair to our 2010 17B. The flange into the tank was broken. There is a post here https://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/...tml#post810916

The only thing I would emphasize is to incorporate some type of flexible connection to prevent it happening again. Solid joints will be subject to vibration and expansion/contraction that can cause another failure. I used a short length of radiator tubing from the parts store. It fit perfectly.

[jnfrombigt]

Originally Posted by marant

Had to make this repair to our 2010 17B. The flange into the tank was broken. There is a post here https://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/...tml#post810916

The only thing I would emphasize is to incorporate some type of flexible connection to prevent it happening again. Solid joints will be subject to vibration and expansion/contraction that can cause another failure. I used a short length of radiator tubing from the parts store. It fit perfectly.

I saw you used GFLEX 655. After hours of research it appears that stuff will stick to almost anything. I was hoping for a quick fix but that ain't gonna happen.

[DanandDaphne]

Originally Posted by Ron in BC

Would it be feasible to carefully cut through the plywood and f.g. and make, say, a 4" x 4" clear access area without dropping the tank?

Ron

n

The problem with doing something like that is that the pipe connected to the tank is tight in the corner of the kitchen cabinet. It's such a tight space that it is near impossible to get a tool on it. Short of taking the cabinet apart I don't see doing anything like that.
I'm not sure what exactly is leaking the flange seems secure to the tank and the pvc pipe connected to the flange won't budge. Maybe the male adaptor got cross threaded so it leaks? Or the flange to the tank is leaking but it is well connected to the tank so I don't think that is likely the case.
I have tried using a small strap wrench that with some gaffers tape on the pipe to keep the strap wrench from slipping and heated the connection with a heat gun, but I couldn't get it to budge.
In our case it's only a small leak. If the grey tank is completely full to backing up in the shower and if you leave it like that after a while it starts dripping outside next to the front step. It doesn't leak inside the trailer so after all that we decided to let it go. It's never happened in the real world using the camper and if we do end up over filling the grey tank I'm going to use a bucket drain out some grey water and dump it into the black tank.
If I hadn't read about this on the forum and filled our tank to overflowing to test it I'm sure we still wouldn't know have we have a leak, so we decided that it really isn't much of a problem.
If we ever have a tank separation like the the OPs we would then drop the tank and fix this connection as well.

[alanmalk]

Originally Posted by jnfrombigt

I saw you used GFLEX 655. After hours of research it appears that stuff will stick to almost anything. I was hoping for a quick fix but that ain't gonna happen.

I was also hoping for a quick fix but reading the instructions for GFLEX 655, it appears that if you don't "flame treat" the surface of the polyethylene you reduce the bond strength by a factor of 4 to 5. Ouch - I don't feel comfortable using a propane torch under my sink!

[jnfrombigt]

Originally Posted by alanmalk

I was also hoping for a quick fix but reading the instructions for GFLEX 655, it appears that if you don't "flame treat" the surface of the polyethylene you reduce the bond strength by a factor of 4 to 5. Ouch - I don't feel comfortable using a propane torch under my sink!

My problem is where the bath drain attaches to the side of the gray tank. It's an outside problem. I'm wondering if a heat gun would suffice? Additional issue is that part of the detached flange nestles up under steel framing. In order to get to that location I have to drop the tank and how do I do that without causing an under-sink problem?

[alanmalk]

Originally Posted by jnfrombigt

...
In order to get to that location I have to drop the tank and how do I do that without causing an under-sink problem?

Just a wild guess here:

If I had to drop my gray tank and if it were even possible with my foam coating, I would cut the sink drain. Actually, not just cut the drain but make 2 cuts about an inch apart. Then when it was time to put everything back, use one of those rubber couplings that others have suggested. Hopefully someone who has actually done this task can chime in.

[Padre]

Just went thru it. I don’t have foam...
Severed all connections: kitchen sink, bathroom side drain, discharge valves, and vent, where I had to remove paneling.
The pain of deciding to do it is worse than the actual doing. The tank is very light. Again, no foam. John, Pm me your phone#, I have a 5.0 and we can talk about what I did.
Padre

[jnfrombigt]

Originally Posted by Padre

Just went thru it. I don’t have foam...
Severed all connections: kitchen sink, bathroom side drain, discharge valves, and vent, where I had to remove paneling.
The pain of deciding to do it is worse than the actual doing. The tank is very light. Again, no foam. John, Pm me your phone#, I have a 5.0 and we can talk about what I did.
Padre

Hey "Padre" I tried twice to PM my phone number. If you get it let me know. It's not appearing on my list of sent messages, jn