Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
Sunline RV Forum
Sunline User Photos

Go Back   Sunline Coach Owner's Club > Technical Forums > Repairs and Maintenance
Click Here to Login

Join Sunline Club Forums Today


Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
Old 07-27-2020, 05:29 AM   #1
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2020
Location: Massachusetts
Posts: 25
SUN #12086
songsailor is an unknown quantity at this point
Blackwater Tank Leak

Good Morning All,

Thanks to some help from this forum, we have our toilet up and running. Unfortunately, the testing of the toilet put enough water in the black water tank for us to discover a leak. Right now it is a slow drip from the area where the pipe meets the tank. At some point in the past, someone attempted a repair with some sort of orange goo. Maybe fiberglass?



I spent some time on the forum looking at other folks blackwater repairs and right now my strategy is to use a wirebrush to grind off the orange goo, and then use 'plasi mend' to repair the joint area between the tank and the pipe. Grinding off the old material may reveal where the actual leak is.

I hope this sounds reasonable as an approach, it will take the plasti mend a few days to arrive once I order so I have time to course correct if there is a better approach.

Best,
Miles
__________________

__________________
songsailor is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-28-2020, 01:07 PM   #2
Senior Member
 
Thomascine's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2016
Location: Virginia
Posts: 814
SUN #8893
Thomascine is an unknown quantity at this point
You may want to hold off on the Plasi Mend. I believe from what I have read that the tank may be made of ABS. Some of the senior members can tell you what to use. There are some posts on here where others have done repairs. I just do not remember what they used. A quick search might lead you to the posts.

Search here (link below) for blank tank repair.
https://cse.google.com/cse?cx=015066...95:95x3m3w6lto
__________________

__________________
Thomascine is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-29-2020, 07:53 AM   #3
Moderator
 
JohnB's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Ohio
Posts: 12,632
SUN #89
JohnB is on a distinguished road
Wow, that goo is bad...

You are on the right track to get it all off. Once you get it off you can make the decision to solvent weld it or the Plasti mend process.

Here is solvent weld method,
https://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/f...tml#post150976

Here is the plasti mend method
https://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/f...air-14865.html

Both methods work, but both will need a clean surface to start with. Getting all the goo off and back to clean plastic may be your biggest issue. once you get it off you can decide better how to fix it.

Let us know how this comes out, we all learn from each of these fixes, including undoing a bad fix.

Hope this helps

John
__________________
Current Sunlines: 2004 T310SR, 2004 T1950, 2004 T2475, 2007 T2499, 2004 T317SR
Prior Sunlines: 2004 T2499 - Fern Blue
2005 Ford F350 Lariat, 6.8L V10 W/ 4.10 rear axle, CC, Short Bed, SRW. Reese HP trunnion bar hitch W/ HP DC

Google Custom Search For Sunline Owners Club
JohnB is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-01-2020, 08:24 PM   #4
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2020
Location: Massachusetts
Posts: 25
SUN #12086
songsailor is an unknown quantity at this point
Repair Complete - I hope

I think we have fixed the issues with the black water tank. This first picture is off the previous repair someone tried to do. I was worried that it would take a lot of time to grind it off and that in doing so I would end up damaging the tank further.


As it turned out, I was able to get under an edge with pliers and it all came off in one piece. It was not bonded to the tank or pipe at all.


The crack turned out to be in the tank, below the junction with the pipe


This last one is the completed repair. I used a product called Plastic Weld put out by JB Weld. So far it seems to have cured well and bonded firmly to the existing plastic. Here's hoping!


Thanks for your help everyone,
Miles
__________________
songsailor is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-01-2020, 09:37 PM   #5
Moderator
 
JohnB's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Ohio
Posts: 12,632
SUN #89
JohnB is on a distinguished road
Miles,

Thanks for reporting back. Wow, you for sure lucked out on getting that old stuff off, what ever it was.

Since you have used a new tank repair product to the forum, let us know over time how it holds up. I have not seen a post yet using the JB tank plastic repair products. Hope it works out well and lasts.

John
__________________
Current Sunlines: 2004 T310SR, 2004 T1950, 2004 T2475, 2007 T2499, 2004 T317SR
Prior Sunlines: 2004 T2499 - Fern Blue
2005 Ford F350 Lariat, 6.8L V10 W/ 4.10 rear axle, CC, Short Bed, SRW. Reese HP trunnion bar hitch W/ HP DC

Google Custom Search For Sunline Owners Club
JohnB is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-02-2020, 07:20 AM   #6
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Maine
Posts: 3,357
SUN #2097
mainah is an unknown quantity at this point
I don't remember exactly what I used it was some sort of plastic epoxy but in my case the entire dump system was one piece with two valves. The entire weight of the system basically hung from the black tank. I jacked up the one side of the camper and let everything dry out for a few days had at it with a small grinder to make it super clean then put the epoxy to it. When it was all done I fabricated a mounting system to the framework it was two piece that fit around the pipe so the frame now supports the valve system and both drain taps weight. What ever I used it was good stuff there is still some of it stuck the the garage floor and has been for years!
__________________
mainah is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-15-2020, 07:00 PM   #7
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2020
Location: Massachusetts
Posts: 25
SUN #12086
songsailor is an unknown quantity at this point
Update - I did have to extend my original patch because it seems it didn't cover enough area the first time. However, we just finished up our first three day trip and had no leaks at all. So far, so good.

-mw
__________________
songsailor is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-20-2021, 02:37 PM   #8
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2020
Location: Massachusetts
Posts: 25
SUN #12086
songsailor is an unknown quantity at this point
Update and further repair

An update to my original repair on these tanks. The blackwater tank repair that we did was very successful. It performed will for several trips, all of multiple days. Unfortunately, we noticed a leak in the greywater tank that we hadn't previously noticed because it was near the top of the tank. Today, I repaired it using the same techniques I used on the black water and I'm hoping for similar success.







__________________
songsailor is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-20-2021, 03:23 PM   #9
Moderator
 
JohnB's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Ohio
Posts: 12,632
SUN #89
JohnB is on a distinguished road
Hi Miles,

Thanks for sharing this update. I have not seen a gray or black tank crack like that near the mounting plates. You may be the the first to report this here on the forum. There may be others with cracks, just it is not commonly reported. ABS pipe leaks from damage or long distance towing, yes that has happened.

The unknown is, did a prior owner do a good quantity of towing at highway speeds with a half to full grey tank?

Traveling at highway speeds is an open ended question if the Sunline grey and black tanks were intended to be towed full. Going slow in the CG to the dump station is not the same as doing 55mph down the highway and going over even a small bump. The fresh tanks, made from different plastic, (polyethylene) to get a potable water rating, have steel cradles under them which has allowed towing. Or they are mounted inside the camper on the floor. The black and gray tanks are ABS, but the mounting shown on your 1983 camper, is still the same as the last 2007's made. There was no support cradle under them and they hang from the floor using the same steel clips brackets. Your tank is a lot smaller then some of the new 32 to 40 gallon ABS tanks, yet all mounted the same. I am not sure if the big Sunline 5th wheels had black or gray tank cradles.

All that said, yours is 38 years old. No idea how much it may have been towed with water level in them.

Maybe a thought, keep and eye out on all the other mounting tab areas of the black and grey. The prior owner's may have not realized the situation.

For sure, please report back any findings.

Thanks for sharing.

John
__________________
Current Sunlines: 2004 T310SR, 2004 T1950, 2004 T2475, 2007 T2499, 2004 T317SR
Prior Sunlines: 2004 T2499 - Fern Blue
2005 Ford F350 Lariat, 6.8L V10 W/ 4.10 rear axle, CC, Short Bed, SRW. Reese HP trunnion bar hitch W/ HP DC

Google Custom Search For Sunline Owners Club
JohnB is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-20-2021, 03:40 PM   #10
Moderator
 
JohnB's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Ohio
Posts: 12,632
SUN #89
JohnB is on a distinguished road
On this same topic, your pics looks like recent issues experienced on a friends 2005 T1950 with a split crack on the bottom of the tank to pipe connection.

Your tank


On the 1950, (most any year) the way that grey tank is piped, there is also a chance camper frame flexing behind the rear axle may be aggravating the problem. I have a 2004 T1950 I am restoring and I have been thinking hard about how a crack in the pipe on the bottom like that can even occur. And what I can do to help prevent the same issue occurring. On the T1950 and it's unique frame setup, after lots of towing, (we are talking 30 to 50K miles worth) the grey tank pipe may be pushing in and out of the tank with the frame flex aggravating a stress crack even on an empty tank.

In your case, I looked up your floor plan, totally different then the T1950 floor plan. I suspect your grey tank "might" be close to if not over the rear axle, or just partly behind the rear axle. Is it? and where is the dump valves connection?

In order to force yours to crack on the bottom, the discharge pipe at the tank would need to be flexing upward and downward or inward and outward of the tank. While frame flex may not be occurring on your setup, if the prior owners where towing a lot with full or partly full tanks, those flat bottom tanks will be breathing/flexing up and down on the bottom of the tank from road shock which could aggravate that outlet pipe crack.

There could be a common issue between your 2 different sets of cracks.

I'm just thinking outload in case you or others have seen this on their campers. Bottom line, the most likely way that outlet pipe cracked like that is repetitive flexing of the pipe in relation to the tank, however it occurred.

John
__________________
Current Sunlines: 2004 T310SR, 2004 T1950, 2004 T2475, 2007 T2499, 2004 T317SR
Prior Sunlines: 2004 T2499 - Fern Blue
2005 Ford F350 Lariat, 6.8L V10 W/ 4.10 rear axle, CC, Short Bed, SRW. Reese HP trunnion bar hitch W/ HP DC

Google Custom Search For Sunline Owners Club
JohnB is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-20-2021, 06:53 PM   #11
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2020
Location: Massachusetts
Posts: 25
SUN #12086
songsailor is an unknown quantity at this point
Thanks John! You are spot on. The grey water tank is directly above the rear axle. The black water tank is above and slightly forward of the front axle. Right now there is no issue with the grey water discharge, but having re-read what you wrote, we will be careful to not do any highway travel with full tanks! Thanks for taking the time to write back.

Miles
__________________

__________________
songsailor is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Grey or Blackwater tank leak. Randy1974 Repairs and Maintenance 4 05-28-2017 08:17 AM
blackwater blockage Cleon Repairs and Maintenance 3 08-06-2011 06:35 AM
Blackwater Falls SP, W.Va. awellis3 Trips & Vacations 4 10-27-2010 11:09 AM
Need Blackwater Tank Randy Gulley Repairs and Maintenance 11 05-29-2009 11:09 PM
Little Stinky's new Blackwater tank came in......... WandaLust Sunline Community 1 05-10-2009 12:03 AM


» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Sunline RV or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 11:28 PM.


×