Crack in Gray water line connection

[jaycokiwi]

There is a crack in my gray water line right where it comes out of the elbow coming from the gray water tank. If you look at the picture, the leak is at the joint where the white letters go up into the elbow. Since it's right at the elbow, and the other side of the elbow is welded onto the gray tank itself, is my only option to replace the tank? (there is a tension clamp on the part that sticks out of the tank but it seems to be supporting the last welded joint. Also, does anyone have an ballpark on how much it will cost. It's a jayco hybrid 23b. My dad always took care of things like this but he recently had a stroke. I talked to a couple of local dealers who service jayco but they say they need to see it. Problem is they're not open saturdays and I don't want to take a day of vacation to let them give me an estimate and then another day of vacation to drop it off after the parts come in and maybe another day of vacation to pick it up...So, if anyone has any words of wisdom on the difficulty of the repair or replacement, any advice would be welcomed.

[Stillwater]

I would try a product called JB Weld. Clean up the area around the crack, rough it up with coarse emery and ensure the area is dry. You would need to dump the tank and let it dry out. If it isn't drying out quick enough try a hair dryer being careful not to overheat it. If you can hold your hand on the pipe without having to remove it it won't be too hot. The JB weld you want is the fast set and you may have to spread some on let it set up, mix some more and build it up. You need to let the JB weld set up for 24 hours before you use it

[Sammie]

J B Weld. Most auto parts or Home Depots carry it.

Sammie

[freeisme]

I had a crack in the bottom of my fresh tank , I bought Eternabond tape at Walmart it has held for 2000 miles,with 40 gallons of water in it when traveling. the tape is 3'' wide by 2' long. Cost about $10.00. Look in the r.v. supply. A guy I know used windsheild sealant 5 years ago to repair a black tank, says it is still holding.It is a cheap fix that might work for you if you don't want to replace the tank. Good luck, Don

[Paul R. Haller]

If the leak is coming from between the pipe and the fitting it means the joint has either broken because of flexing or inadequate glue to start with. I think that JB weld might work but why not fix it forever? Cut the pipe about 1 inch from the End of the fitting and go buy yourself a no hub coupler from any reputable plumbing house. They are designed to hook together 2 pieces of pipe but I often have used them in houses that have a cracked or leaky hub joint. Buy the type that have a single hose clamp on either end not the ones that have a 2 hose clamps around a stainless shield with the rubber coupler inside. Then put some dish soap around the fitting and slide the no hub coupler over the flange on the elbow and the other end over the pipe. Tighten clamps. It will never leak again.
-Paul R. Haller

[GOLDWINGER2]

I used a product called "Seal All" on an ABS radiator cap on my Lincoln and it worked great, nothing else worked. I also used it on a holding tank that was cracked in about the same spot as yours.
J

[Bill Adams]

We have had some amazing success with an "as seen on TV" product called Mighty Putty. It's a 2-part mixture similar to epoxy (most likely it is epoxy of some kind) and you should be able to mold this all the way around the connection working it well into the joint. If your experience is anything like mine, it will never leak again.
Worst case, you still should not have to replace the tank. The piece where the pipe enters the tank should be easily replaceable. You would want to contact Jayco if possible and send then this picture. You will just cut your existing pipe back a bit, install the new fitting and use a coupler to connect things back up again, leak free.

[Kel]

The no hub coupler is a good idea. I have one and it works great. Since your leak is on the pipe and not the tank that would be an easy fix.

[AFChap]

I wish to top of my gray tank were that easy to get to ...we have a leak if we overfill the tank but cannot get to it to see exactly what the problem is. I agree there is no indication the tank would have to be replaced. Re-sealing or replacing a bit of pipe should do the trick.

I do wonder why we might want to use JB Weld on the piping rather than PVC cement??

[ralper]

Your piping is ABS plastic. Get some of the ABS glue to join this type of piping and after cleaning and drying the crack smear on a couple of coats. The majority of black and gray tanks are ABS plastic too. Use ABS glue NOT PVC glue. It should work on tanks too. This will be my first go to item for a fixup.

Ralph