Basement floor rising when tanks full

[goducks14]

For the freshwater tank there is a vent, which will spill over. However, the OP was filling his black and gray tanks to overflow levels, which they are not intended to be. Doing so can indeed result in quite a mess in worst case scenario.

Ok, I re-read the original post and see the OP was talking about the grey and black.

[boyscout]

Hi Bob, I just bought a 2021 303RLS and had the EXACT same issue you reported here on 4/26/2018. Did you ever get and answer from GD and if so, how was it resolved? Thanks, Jeff

Hi there, welcome to the forum. I don't have any advice about your issue, but a tip about using the forum.

When you are replying or commenting on someone else's post, use the Reply With Quote link at the bottom right of the original message. This is especially useful when responding to an old thread like this one.

Doing that copies the original message into your reply (as yours is copied into this one) so readers coming along later can easily see the context of your post. It also alerts the author of the post you're responding to, so that he/she is more likely to return to the thread and see your post.

[aikenjt]

Thanks geotex1,

I suppose this is just the case. Its just that I've owned a 2014 Forest River and a 2018 Airstream and never saw the likes of this with either of those. I'll have to make sure I keep a closer eye on my tanks.

[aikenjt]

Hi there, welcome to the forum. I don't have any advice about your issue, but a tip about using the forum.

When you are replying or commenting on someone else's post, use the Reply With Quote link at the bottom right of the original message. This is especially useful when responding to an old thread like this one.

Doing that copies the original message into your reply (as yours is copied into this one) so readers coming along later can easily see the context of your post. It also alerts the author of the post you're responding to, so that he/she is more likely to return to the thread and see your post.

Ah! Thanks boyscout. Seems I just responded to geotex1 without quoting him. I'll keep that in mind from now on.

[powerscol]

I got the water system running for the first time in my new rig today. Everything went well on the pressure side so I decided to flood the gray and black tanks to ensure they aren’t leaking. Filled up all 3 until water appeared at the drain in the shower and the kitchen sink. Filled the black tank until I could see water at the floor level.

I had been checking for leaks all along and there were none. But then I noticed that the short basement wall section with the cable and power receptacle was severely warped. Then I saw that the basement floor was bowed upward in the center. It was about an inch higher in the middle than at the edges, which caused the wall to warp. So I pulled each of the drain valves - the last one I drained was the bathroom gray tank and the floor flattened out again. So I’m assuming the full gray tank swelled up for some reason, which warped the floor.

I should be able to fill the tanks to their limits, so something must be wrong. Anyone else experience this type of behavior?

Bob

You went well beyond full on the tanks. From your filling until tell water was in the sink you probably put in excess of 1 PSI (PSI = lbs force per square inch) on the tank top. Your gray tank (I'm guessing here) is probably 3' wide by 6 feet long. or a surface area of 18 SF or 2,592 SQ/in So the tank exerted over a ton of force on the floor. Hopefully you did not bend the support structure of the floor or the tank holding frame too. That's why the full probe is about and inch below the top.

Hope everything is OK

[goducks14]

A simple Orbit water meter would prevent overflowing the tanks.

[boyscout]

You went well beyond full on the tanks. From your filling until tell water was in the sink you probably put in excess of 1 PSI (PSI = lbs force per square inch) on the tank top. Your gray tank (I'm guessing here) is probably 3' wide by 6 feet long. or a surface area of 18 SF or 2,592 SQ/in So the tank exerted over a ton of force on the floor. Hopefully you did not bend the support structure of the floor or the tank holding frame too. That's why the full probe is about and inch below the top. Hope everything is OK

It turns me on when you guys who can explain these things with numbers do your thing. If I wasn't a straight married guy...

I have accidentally filled our gray such that the shower pan began to fill with water. I had no idea that it might be doing something like what @bogen2 has described. There's been no noticeable after-effect in the basement, but I'll be more cautious about the tank level now.

[boyscout]

A simple Orbit water meter would prevent overflowing the tanks.

@bogen2, this is the meter that goducks14 is talking about. I have one, works great.

https://www.amazon.com/Orbit-56854-H...4523723&sr=8-2

I see that you're in Canada... before you go looking on Amazon.ca, steel yourself:

https://www.amazon.ca/Orbit-Water-Fl...ag=googcana-20

CDN$67.00 for a US$19 part, another one for the too-many stories of companies elsewhere using Amazon to try to screw Canadian customers. Sometimes Amazon itself is the one doing the screwing.

Fortunately this product can be ordered directly from Amazon.com - they don't always permit that - and would cost about CDN$35 including shipping, almost HALF as much as the U.S. company Layger is trying to charge for it through Amazon Canada.

[geotex1]

Thanks geotex1,

I suppose this is just the case. Its just that I've owned a 2014 Forest River and a 2018 Airstream and never saw the likes of this with either of those. I'll have to make sure I keep a closer eye on my tanks.

You can also use the "@" like "@geotex1" to deliver a notice to the member you are engaging.

I also had FRs prior. Last 3 in fact. FR tends to suspend their tanks such that the bulging will be facing ground. So that is why you may not have noticed it with them. I believe the Coors cans do the same, at least the modern ones.

Invest in a nice Barker blue boy just in case you're not at full hookups with need to release pressure.

[bogen2]

You went well beyond full on the tanks. From your filling until tell water was in the sink you probably put in excess of 1 PSI (PSI = lbs force per square inch) on the tank top. Your gray tank (I'm guessing here) is probably 3' wide by 6 feet long. or a surface area of 18 SF or 2,592 SQ/in So the tank exerted over a ton of force on the floor. Hopefully you did not bend the support structure of the floor or the tank holding frame too. That's why the full probe is about and inch below the top.

Hope everything is OK

I am the OP and all is well, but I don't ever let the tanks fill up. Its a bit frustrating that the tank sensors don't work properly so I just use my best guess to determine if the tanks are full and keep an eye on that floor panel. I've had trailers for years and always was able to tell if the gray tank was full if water appeared in the shower pan. Guess that's not how things work anymore.