Black tank leak and warranty work

[GrandBillie]

Hi all, I’ve done a healthy amount of reading on here and it appears I’m not the only one who has a surprise at the end of the cap when I remove it to hook up my sewer hose. I’ve since done my own fix and glued on a bladex valve with twist on cap after cutting off the factory twist on cap fitting. This works great to stop any leaks while I hook up the sewer hose but I still have the same leak at the black tank valve.

Having said all that, I called my local general RV to schedule warranty work and the service advisor specifically asked if I have more than a gallon of leakage. I told her I didn’t exactly stick around to measure it but shouldn’t even the smallest amount be too much? She said grand design was aware of this and there was no fix. I find this really hard to believe and hope this is a misguided service advisor speaking prematurely.

Any of you taken your campers in for this issue under warranty and what was your experience on the repair?


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[FT4NOW]

I agree if it's not a lot of liquid its not a leak. If you ever drop the coroplast, you will see how all the tank discharges goto a single header that is essentially level in relation to the camper. You can make the connection that when your camper is level, and you dump the tanks, there will be residual liquid left in the header and when you drive the RV around, the liquid will eventually move around towards the end of the pipe which is what results in the "surprise". The gate valve at the discharge remedies this problem. If it is a significant amount of liquid, then maybe your tank valves are leaking.

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[GrandBillie]

I agree if it's not a lot of liquid its not a leak. If you ever drop the coroplast, you will see how all the tank discharges goto a single header that is essentially level in relation to the camper. You can make the connection that when your camper is level, and you dump the tanks, there will be residual liquid left in the header and when you drive the RV around, the liquid will eventually move around towards the end of the pipe which is what results in the "surprise". The gate valve at the discharge remedies this problem. If it is a significant amount of liquid, then maybe your tank valves are leaking.

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I understand what you’re driving at here but in my estimation, that’s a poor design and needs to be rectified. My last camper, a keystone bullet, had none of these issues. I just can’t subscribe that this is somehow acceptable to have anything more than a few drops.


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[FT4NOW]

I understand what you’re driving at here but in my estimation, that’s a poor design and needs to be rectified. My last camper, a keystone bullet, had none of these issues. I just can’t subscribe that this is somehow acceptable to have anything more than a few drops.


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O I agree, I never said it was a good design, that's just the way they made them. There is no reason they couldn't have put a better pitch on the header pipe to allow it to fully drain.

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[GrandBillie]

O I agree, I never said it was a good design, that's just the way they made them. There is no reason they couldn't have put a better pitch on the header pipe to allow it to fully drain.

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Agreed! Well we’ll see what the dealer says in early Nov. I’m going to have it addressed but with very limited expectations. They actually included in the email they sent for appt confirmation they’d charge $83 for each item presented that they either can’t duplicate or is a non issue.


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[Wicked ace]

Agreed! Well we’ll see what the dealer says in early Nov. I’m going to have it addressed but with very limited expectations. They actually included in the email they sent for appt confirmation they’d charge $83 for each item presented that they either can’t duplicate or is a non issue.


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I have the same issue with the black / grey drain. I can have it down to nothing when I dump yet the next time I try to open the cap after moving I keep a wide berth because I never know what's coming. It's hit or miss it seems too. After the OEM cap broke an ear I got a Valterra cap with a 3/4" hose connection and screw on cap which I open first until I see it trickle then open the 3" cap. I agree it is poor design and I too had no issue with my previous TT. This is not the only thing I have an issue with from an engineering, maintenance or usability standpoint.
Before your appointment why not contact customer service and explain your problem. Try to get some backing before you confront the dealer service. You might want to mention the charge to GD customer service too. If for nothing else Sh**S and giggles. Good luck!

[GrandBillie]

I have the same issue with the black / grey drain. I can have it down to nothing when I dump yet the next time I try to open the cap after moving I keep a wide berth because I never know what's coming. It's hit or miss it seems too. After the OEM cap broke an ear I got a Valterra cap with a 3/4" hose connection and screw on cap which I open first until I see it trickle then open the 3" cap. I agree it is poor design and I too had no issue with my previous TT. This is not the only thing I have an issue with from an engineering, maintenance or usability standpoint.
Before your appointment why not contact customer service and explain your problem. Try to get some backing before you confront the dealer service. You might want to mention the charge to GD customer service too. If for nothing else Sh**S and giggles. Good luck!

Dang! That sucks you have had the same problem. I ended up calling GD customer service and spoke with a tech. He seemed to think it was premature of the person at General RV to give judgement without seeing the rig. I agree with this but I am worried about what the dealer is going to do to try and get out of warranty work. They asked me for my vin when I called but I didn’t have it handy. Maybe they track this stuff when we call in? Who knows. I’ll keep y’all posted.


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[Fivecodys]

Wow! I have the same problem. Looks like a bad design.
I put a small bucket under the cap to catch the poo water and dump it in the sewer pipe before connecting up my sewer hose. My old Flagstaff 5th wheel did the same thing.
It's not even enough to cover the bottom of the bucket but it is still nasty.

[Richter]

I’m certainly not an expert on this issue, but I’ve never had the problems that you all are mentioning. I’ve had gray water in the pipe from time-to-time, but never black. I also have the Valera valve on the cap end of the pipe so, even if there is anything in the pipe, it is contained until I have the hose hooked up.

Any time that I dump, it’s always the black first. I never dump if I don’t have at least a half tank in the black and the same in the others. Black goes out first. Then, after the black is empty, I pull the first gray. After it’s empty, I close the black, as it should be totally flushed out by that time. At that point, I open the second gray. The gray dumps wash out not only the hose, but the pipe as well.

If you use this sequence and have black in the pipe the next time you open the cap, there is something wrong with the black valve.