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Old 06-23-2016, 07:49 AM   #1
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Combined Black and Grey Tank?

The blackwater tank on my Sunline is busted up. It is beyond saving and I am going to remove it.

After pricing replacement tanks (holy cow!), I was wondering if I could just route the toliet to the grey water tank and have the grey tank do double-duty. Is this doable? Am I overlooking anything? I know it will fill up much quicker, but is there any harm in it?
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Old 06-23-2016, 08:05 AM   #2
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Black/grey tank

Hi and welcome. I think if you do this swap, you might end with odors seeping into your camper. Someone else ump in here.

😀
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Old 06-23-2016, 08:35 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GalacticSton View Post
The blackwater tank on my Sunline is busted up. It is beyond saving and I am going to remove it.



After pricing replacement tanks (holy cow!), I was wondering if I could just route the toliet to the grey water tank and have the grey tank do double-duty. Is this doable? Am I overlooking anything? I know it will fill up much quicker, but is there any harm in it?


The dump line on the gray tank is 1.5" pipe. It needs to be 3" to allow solids to exit the tank when dumping.

If you put a macerator in the line feeding toilet to gray tank, it would then work well. You would have run the macerator when flushing if solids are involved.
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Old 06-23-2016, 08:40 AM   #4
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Hi and welcome. I think if you do this swap, you might end with odors seeping into your camper. Someone else ump in here.



[emoji3]


The gray tank is enclosed and vented to the roof exactly the same as the black tank. Additional odor should not be a problem.
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Old 06-23-2016, 09:33 AM   #5
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What about when in storage and the sink traps dry out? Odors will come inside from the black tank, maybe?


I think that "if" the original manufacturer could have safely gotten away with one tank there would only be one tank. Having vapors coming from the septic tank is unhealthy so no way to vent it into the living space. Combining gray and black will contaminate your inside air, eventually.


I think I would run a line from the toilet to the drain valve for the black tank to bypass the black tank and then buy a portable holding tank like the ones with wheels on them. That would keep the gray tank safely seperated as intended and allow for a cheaper black tank replacement.
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Old 06-29-2016, 07:12 PM   #6
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Just how busted up is your black tank? Many here have successfully repaired ABS black or gray tanks with the solvent welding kits found at lumber yards. And some where really busted.

As to the gray tank, the tank itself is made from the same material, however there are a few down sides. The pipe drain size like Steve mentioned is to small, the tank depth can be shallower and then the tank venting system on the gray is different.

The gray tank has a roof stack vent just like the black. But the gray has the flapper vents under the sinks. They "normally" hold back the stink from gray water growing in your tank. They may be more problematic trying to hold back heavy sewer gas.

Any chance of some pic's on just how busted up your black tank is? If all the pieces are still there, that is a ABS solvent web job fix which can come out good. And even if missing "some" plastic, you can weld on other ABS plastic in the missing areas.

These posts may help
http://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/f7...html#post80369

See this link. and type in "ABS tank repair" in the lower custom search box. It is a Google Custom search directed to our forum. It works much better then the forum embedded search. Our admin made it for us.
https://cse.google.com/cse/home?cx=0...95:95x3m3w6lto

Hope this helps

John
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Old 06-29-2016, 08:50 PM   #7
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Hi John,

There is a gaping hole about 3-feet across in it where a sizeable piece is missing. There are also numerous cracks in it that I can see. I think it's shot.

Ideally, I'd like to replace the black tank. But, all of the suitable tanks I am finding are over $200 and I am thinking I can rig something up a lot cheaper than that. The black tank is going to see minimal use anyway - if I am anywhere near a public restroom or campground restroom, I am going to use that.

I have a self-contained camp toliet that we could use, but the toliet in the camper is in good shape and has a water supply hooked up to it. I'd hate to remove it because the black tank is toast.

I still have a few weeks before we hit the road, so I am going to mull it over a bit longer. Also, my job is sales-based, so if I get some good sales, I will bite the bullet and just buy a replacement tank.

Thanks for the ABS repair links though. The grey tank has some issues also, but it's saveable. I may end up using some of those tricks on the grey tank.
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Old 06-30-2016, 07:31 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GalacticSton View Post
Hi John,

There is a gaping hole about 3-feet across in it where a sizeable piece is missing. There are also numerous cracks in it that I can see. I think it's shot.
OK, a 3 foot hole.... one of your prior owners must of bottomed out on a rock or stump...

If the piece was not missing... the 3 foot cracks would of been repairable.

I can understand the money issue, the good news, your handy and can do the work. Those that have to pay to do all the fix'ing, that is harder.

Hope this works out. It will in some fashion. Camping it too much fun Having a good working on board toilet is hard to beat once you have had it. I use to be an avid backpacker and canoe camper with only 50# on my back and can go weeks in the back country short of food drops and loved it. Now I haul... close to 10,000# of camper and still love it... You can get spoiled quick and it's all good.

John
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Old 07-01-2016, 10:17 AM   #9
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I think somebody bottomed out with this camper more than once. The black tank is a mess. Now it's just a black slab of plastic hanging from the bottom of the camper. I did bottom it out trying to back it up the driveway, but the black tank was already had a big piece missing before I did that.

At some point in the future, I will have to replace the black tank. We are going to be living almost full-time is this camper, so a combined black-grey tank will fill up pretty quick, even if we limit our use of the shower and toliet. We can park it at the homes of some family members and use their facilities, but I am thinking ahead to when we do some boondocking and 22 gallons of waste storage is not going to cut it. (or 25, I don't remember which it is, but it isn't much).

In the short term, I will likely rig up something to run the toliet to the gray tank, but that will be a stop-gap measure.

I wonder why these plastic tanks are so expensive? Over $200 seems like a lot of money for something made from $5-$10 worth of plastic. I guess anything for RV's demands a premium price, so I have widened my search to include any plastic tank I can find, regardless of it's intended purpose. I'm sure I will eventually find something to fit the bill and budget.

Growing up poor makes a person handy - if you don't learn to repair it yourself, nothing gets fixed.
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Old 07-01-2016, 11:48 AM   #10
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This is a topic of great interest to me. I have a similar situation.

My black tank was completely shot, and it was a shower/toilet combo, $350 replacement. I'm replacing the shower pan by installing a drain in a mortar mixing tub, and I'll be using a self-contained toilet that I already own. For now. I can always upgrade later, as money allows, and I see fit. But I also have to deal with a ruined grey tank, which, to me, is more important, and have been searching for alternate solutions.

I have a tiny trailer, and the original grey tank was only 15"x32", not including the flanges, and only 6" deep at the deep end. And even then, it looks like it had been bottomed out several times. I have found nothing this small, I have very little wiggle room underneath, and there's no way I'm dishing out for a custom built tank.

When I look at my old tank, I see a sloping plastic pan with a welded-on lid and drains cut in. I searched for something similar and affordable, and the best I came up with was a lidded restaurant bus pan, the kind restaurants use to bus the dirty dishes to the kitchen. They're strong, and cost under $15, but the lid would have to be welded on, inlets and outlets installed, and a sensor, and still probably still not big enough for your needs.

While I'd much prefer a mounted tank, it looks like I'll be going with a portable one until I come up with a better solution.

Looking forward to seeing what you come up with.
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Old 07-01-2016, 06:06 PM   #11
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This is a topic of great interest to me. I have a similar situation.

My black tank was completely shot, and it was a shower/toilet combo, $350 replacement. I'm replacing the shower pan by installing a drain in a mortar mixing tub, and I'll be using a self-contained toilet that I already own. For now. I can always upgrade later, as money allows, and I see fit. But I also have to deal with a ruined grey tank, which, to me, is more important, and have been searching for alternate solutions.

I have a tiny trailer, and the original grey tank was only 15"x32", not including the flanges, and only 6" deep at the deep end. And even then, it looks like it had been bottomed out several times. I have found nothing this small, I have very little wiggle room underneath, and there's no way I'm dishing out for a custom built tank.

When I look at my old tank, I see a sloping plastic pan with a welded-on lid and drains cut in. I searched for something similar and affordable, and the best I came up with was a lidded restaurant bus pan, the kind restaurants use to bus the dirty dishes to the kitchen. They're strong, and cost under $15, but the lid would have to be welded on, inlets and outlets installed, and a sensor, and still probably still not big enough for your needs.

While I'd much prefer a mounted tank, it looks like I'll be going with a portable one until I come up with a better solution.

Looking forward to seeing what you come up with.
Hi Pat,

I like your way of thinking. I never would have thought of a bus pan. Now you have my head spinning with ideas. There is a plastic storage container made for use under beds, so it's long with a low profile. It would be ideal if it was made of sturdier plastic.

I think these broken tanks are a common issue from what I have read on the internet so far. I see a lot of folks dealing with busted tanks. With these Sunlines, they ride so low to the ground that it is almost unavoidable if you spend enough time out on the roads and in campgrounds. Sooner or later, one is going to bottom out no matter how carefully it's towed.

I will definitely post my solution when I figure it out. I plan on posting some photos of the restoration when it's a little further along. Right now we are finishing up the interior painting (doing touch up) and are about to put new floor covering in. We found some interesting peel and stick tile that comes in long "planks" and has a wood grain look and texture to it. A local flooring store had a grand opening sale, and we got a box of 36 tiles for $25. They are about 36 inches long and about 6 inches wide. I think it will be enough to do the entire floor.

Still have a lot to do :

Fix bathroom sink.
Put in new kitchen sink.
Fix the black/grey tank issue.
Secure the new stove.
Buy a bed (the one thing I will not be cheap with, it's worth the money!)
Paint the exterior.
Eternabond tape for the roof seams.
Moon rims.
New cushion covers and drapes (daughter is a seamstress, that helps).
New vent caps for the plumbing roof vents.

I know there is probably more I am forgetting. I figure this will be a years-long process before I finally get it where I want it - a little upgrade here and there as finances allow. But I want to have it ready for the road in the next month. So everything that is not cosmetic is on the front burner.

Best regards,

MikeG
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Old 07-02-2016, 08:56 AM   #12
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Mine had a steel bar protecting the black tank, but not the grey, which looks completely mashed, more cracks than solid. Also looks like it's already been repaired a few times.

And my whole camper looked like it had been stored at the bottom of a lake. Not much left to it but the frame, skin and wheels. I've removed all the rot, and am just starting to put it back together. This year's goal is watertight and registered, and I'll use it for now like a hard top tent. Interior will be next year, but i would like to have a plan so that I can have plumbing, wiring, etc, in place before I seal it up.
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