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Carnles · 06-22-2007, 05:05 PM

I got into the rear storage compartment on the passenger side this afternoon and realized that everything in there was wet. Further investigation revealed that there was standing water on top of the black water tank. I could not reach far enough back to feel to see if there was water on top of the gray water tank. Two days ago the DW and I left for some fishing and did a load of laundry with the gray water drain valve closed and found the gray water tank at "full" and some residue in the bottom of the shower like the drain had backed up when we got back.

Is there some sort of vent on top of the gray water tank that this water outside could have come from? I can't imagine the tank being pressurized enough to split a hole in it just from being potentially overfilled, especially when there wasn't any standing water in the bottom of the shower. Your thoughts are all welcome.

Carnles · 06-22-2007, 05:05 PM

I got into the rear storage compartment on the passenger side this afternoon and realized that everything in there was wet. Further investigation revealed that there was standing water on top of the black water tank. I could not reach far enough back to feel to see if there was water on top of the gray water tank. Two days ago the DW and I left for some fishing and did a load of laundry with the gray water drain valve closed and found the gray water tank at "full" and some residue in the bottom of the shower like the drain had backed up when we got back.

Is there some sort of vent on top of the gray water tank that this water outside could have come from? I can't imagine the tank being pressurized enough to split a hole in it just from being potentially overfilled, especially when there wasn't any standing water in the bottom of the shower. Your thoughts are all welcome.

AFChap · 06-22-2007, 06:11 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Is there some sort of vent on top of the gray water tank </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Winnebago tells me there is no vent on top of the gray tank that could vent water if the tank is overfilled. However, our gray talk also dribbles a bit if we let it get completely full. They told me I must have a crack in the tank, or leaking connection on the inlet pipe. I cannot see my gray tank at all without difficult removal of metal panels, so have not got around to checking it out in depth...

I would hope your '06 coach is still under warranty so that it could be checked out and repaired at no cost to you if there really is a problem with the tank.

Wizard · 06-23-2007, 03:41 AM

Back when we had our Cardinal 5er, I did the same thing. Left the grey water drain valve closed and overfilled. Waste water seemed to go up the vent pipe and come back down the outside of the pipe and flood into the basement storage space. What a mess.
I looked on the roof and didn't see any way for it to get back in. Never did find out how but learned my lesson.
Good luck with finding where it came out.

Harry B · 06-23-2007, 06:29 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Two days ago the DW and I left for some fishing and did a load of laundry with the gray water drain valve closed and found the gray water tank at "full" and some residue in the bottom of the shower like the drain had backed up when we got back. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

We did the same thing (load of wash) some time ago. It over filled the gray tank.
When the gray tank becomes over filled, the water level will rise in the pipes to the same level as the source causing the over fill or the lowest point where it can drain out.

The lowest point where it can empty or drain is the shower base. In our case the water overflowed from the shower base onto the floor and from the floor through openings made by Winnebago for hoses, pipes and wiring under the shower base, kitchen cabinets, etc. into the basement storage area where I found the same mess as you did.

I learned my lesson and try and not let this happened again. Additionally I added a drain opening in the shower base which has a hose attached to it, which is routed through the basement storage outside. The added drain opening is about an inch from the top of the shower basin, so it only functions if the shower base fills up.

Another way to get the basement wet it to over fill your fresh water tank with the manual fill door closed. I have done this as well. The recessed fill opening has holes in it for the door latch and another opening which I don't recall its function of at the moment. In any case the drain for overfilling of the tank did not keep up with rate that water was entering the tank and started going into to manual fill pipe, through the openings I described in the manual fill recess and through openings in the floor into the basement. Lesson learned was to keep the manual fill door open when you fill your fresh water tank to the max.

Needless to say our basement is very clean after having had two baths.

Carnles · 06-24-2007, 03:35 AM

OK, Harry B, thanks for sharing your experiences. While this is not a good way to get into cleaning out your storage compartments it does work.

I was amazed how dirty the cover panel was that I took off to access the holding tanks. Fortunately it looks like it wasn't too much water because the only places the water was obvious were the storage space and on the top of the tank. But in most cases it's the places where the water goes that you don't see that cause bigger problems later.

We already had one cabinet portion replaced in the kitchen due to a leaking kitchen sink drain connection (where it goes through the moveable panel that accomodates the sliding kitchen) that we found out when we brought the coach home initially.