Blew up black tank!

[V1RoT8]

Just bought a 2015 303RLS. Mistakenly connected fill line for fresh water to Black Flush Brain Fart. sat anxiously waiting for the vent to purge and sent my wife in to check level on indicator
on panel. She told me that the water tank was showing empty but the toilet was making a hissing sound. I stopped the flow too late. The black tank blew out of the bottom of the trailer on one outboard side
and water flowed out. I cried for 5 minutes drained the rest of the tank and then pulled the underbelly skirting down to inspect the damage. I found that the expanded like a turtle and forced the outside edge of the tank over the support bracket dropping the outboard side of tank down 5 inches or so cracking a plastic grey tank fitting downstream of it's blade valve. I decided to remove the 4 screws of the outside support bracket and re position the tank back up Before repairing the cracked fitting but could not get tank high enough to reinstall bracket. Has anyone had this experience before or any advice for my bonehead mistake? I also wonder why the vent did not release pressure before pressurizing tank to this point?

 

[geotex1]

Sounds like your toilet connection is interfering with repositioning. You will likely have to pull the toilet and closet flange. You weren't dealing with air pressure but weight of water and overfilled the tank to point of excess deformation. More commonly what happens is you overflow the toilet if your seal is weak. When it's not, you push the liquid up the vent to the roof. You haven't lived till you've witnessed black water oozing down a roof and awning in the August heat of southern Texas!!

 

[V1RoT8]

Thanks Rob, Would you happen to know where the vent line is positioned into the tank by chance? i chatted with Tech support today and he had no schematic or anything to offer in that regard...Thanks
I love my Reflection and cant wait to get out in it. Unfortunately all of our normal forest camping areas at around 7500 feet elevation are closed due to fires.

 

[WhittleBurner]

I'm suprised the bloated tank fit back in place. Also good thing you did not step on the flusher for the toilet .
Is there a 2nd hole on top of the tank and a pipe hanging down other than the toilet pipe ? I would think the vent would be positioned a few inches below the vent entry.

 

[Ynot4me2]

Also good thing you did not step on the flusher for the toilet .

Oh my that would of been nassssssty.

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[RobWNY]

I feel your pain! When we first got our 311BHS, I was giving a good cleaning to our tanks after our first outing and I forgot to open the valve when using the Black Tank flush. I got busy doing something else and a few minutes later I noticed nothing was coming out. I thought I had a blockage when all of a sudden it dawned on me that the valve was closed. I shut off the water and went inside expecting a mess. The water level was literally 1/4" from overflowing the toilet bowl. I couldn't believe I had made that mistake but was fortunate that I didn't end up with the same situation you had.

 

[ckreef]

Always set a timer when using the black flush. I start with 5 minutes and see where I'm at

Same goes with setting a timer for the fresh water rank. Yea there's an over flow on the fresh water tank but relying on it seems a little hap hazard to me.

 

[jakev383]

Always set a timer when using the black flush. I start with 5 minutes and see where I'm at

Same goes with setting a timer for the fresh water rank. Yea there's an over flow on the fresh water tank but relying on it seems a little hap hazard to me.

I use one of these when I fill the fresh water tank; I never thought of using it when flushing the black tank....
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0058EOC5M/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[MoonShadow_1911]

I use one of these when I fill the fresh water tank; I never thought of using it when flushing the black tank....
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0058EOC5M/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I use one on both the fresh and black tanks. That way I know exactly how much I'm putting into the black tank, and I also know how much I've used on the fresh side.

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[Keebler]

Always set a timer when using the black flush. I start with 5 minutes and see where I'm at

Same goes with setting a timer for the fresh water rank. Yea there's an over flow on the fresh water tank but relying on it seems a little hap hazard to me.

Such a great habit; it's so easy to get distracted. I can't tell you how many times I have been saved by the timer function on my Apple watch!

 

[mrffrank440]

I use one of these when I fill the fresh water tank; I never thought of using it when flushing the black tank....
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0058EOC5M/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

As a newbie, and after watching and listening to horror stories of overflowing the black water tank creating a mess, I typically wait a max a 3 minutes using the blank tank flush before opening the gate. Safe, but I am not sure this is doing much good. The water meter you referenced seems like a great tool to use. This may seem like a silly question, but if my black water tank is 37 gallons, how much should I fill using the black water flush before stopping? Go the full 37 gallons? Or a few less like 32?

 

[MoonShadow_1911]

As a newbie, and after watching and listening to horror stories of overflowing the black water tank creating a mess, I typically wait a max a 3 minutes using the blank tank flush before opening the gate. Safe, but I am not sure this is doing much good. The water meter you referenced seems like a great tool to use. This may seem like a silly question, but if my black water tank is 37 gallons, how much should I fill using the black water flush before stopping? Go the full 37 gallons? Or a few less like 32?

I usually let it run while I'm dumping, until the water runs mostly clear, then I'll close the dump valve and add 10 gallons, turn off the water, open the dump valve and let it drain. Then I'll close the valve and add 6 gallons and the black tank treatment. Then move on to my grey tanks.

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[Jerryr]

I use one of these when I fill the fresh water tank; I never thought of using it when flushing the black tank....
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0058EOC5M/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Me also. Before traveling I put 5 gallons into the empty fresh water tank case I need to use the bathroom when traveling.

I haven’t used it when flushing the black tank. I just stand there and set the timer on my Apple Watch for 2 minutes then open the black valve, after it’s drained close it for another 2 minutes and repeat until flow out the pipe is clear.

 

[jakev383]

As a newbie, and after watching and listening to horror stories of overflowing the black water tank creating a mess, I typically wait a max a 3 minutes using the blank tank flush before opening the gate. Safe, but I am not sure this is doing much good. The water meter you referenced seems like a great tool to use. This may seem like a silly question, but if my black water tank is 37 gallons, how much should I fill using the black water flush before stopping? Go the full 37 gallons? Or a few less like 32?

I have not looked at where the spray nozzle(s) on my 2015 323BHS are, but on our last camper (a Forest River) the sprayer was only a few inches up the side of the tank. Maybe someone who has seen their spray nozzle location can comment, but if it is similar to where my last camper had the nozzle installed then I would suspect any more than 1/2 full is probably not increasing the effectiveness any.

 

[mrffrank440]

I usually let it run while I'm dumping, until the water runs mostly clear, then I'll close the dump valve and add 10 gallons, turn off the water, open the dump valve and let it drain. Then I'll close the valve and add 6 gallons and the black tank treatment. Then move on to my grey tanks.

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Thanks for the info, I will do and follow your procedure.

 

[geotex1]

Thanks Rob, Would you happen to know where the vent line is positioned into the tank by chance? i chatted with Tech support today and he had no schematic or anything to offer in that regard...Thanks
I love my Reflection and cant wait to get out in it. Unfortunately all of our normal forest camping areas at around 7500 feet elevation are closed due to fires.

I do not on your particular model, but they tend to run the vent vertically with no elbows. So whichever way your tank is oriented the nearest interior wall will contain the vent. That'll give you an idea where it is coming into the top of the tank.

 

[moterbiker]

Better than having it fall out on I95! We now have a composting toilet. After using it since March if I bought a new RV tomorrow I would put a composting toilet in.

 

[UGA4040]

I thought you could not run the black tank flush with the valve closed?

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[geotex1]

I thought you could not run the black tank flush with the valve closed?

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General advice is to not do so. Plenty of us seasoned folks do.

I had a nice treat over the holiday weekend camping at Ives Run. Newbie forgot the black tank flush was on while cooking breakfast. It came out the roof vent. Guess where it flowed?!? The wife was fuming too! I tried to convince them to be thankful that the toilet seals held on their new Forest River as an interior cleanup is way worse than scrubbing the roof and awning and throwing our breakfast and sterilizing the cooktop.

 

[puffdaddy]

I thought you could not run the black tank flush with the valve closed?

OK, sorry for asking a dumb question here, but want to ensure I understand correctly to avoid a similar fate.

1) I would expect the tank to be engineered to support the weight of a full tank....otherwise what is the point. Is the suggestion here that the tank expanded and the supports failed due solely to the weight of the full tank? Are the grey tanks prone to the same fate? Why does filling the fresh water tank to overflow (which I do) not result in the same consequence?

2) My practice has been to leave 5-10 gal of water in the black tank after I empty it as most people subscribe to. I achieve this by running the black tank flush system with the discharge valve closed. I use the exact same flowmeter as Jakev383 uses for fresh water to monitor how much water I put into the black tank. I assume I am safe to leave the valve closed as I monitor the volume of water and assume the tank vent does not allow the tank to pressurize. You know what happens when you assume, so just want to ensure my procedure is sound...as long as I dont walk away and forget about it.