Grey Water Tank Wierdness

[IanRJ]

Hi folks, have an 2019 Autotrail Delaware HB. I’ve noticed a couple of weeks ago that the grey tank was emptying very slowly, and flushed it from the drain with a hose. Seemed to fix it.

Now it seems the full tank sensor alerts even when I know there is little in the tank, and draining starts with a gush then just trickles. At that point the sensor shows empty again, maybe two buckets drawn off?

I’m guessing, it’s a faulty sensor, or perhaps somehow the waste water is being held at the top of the tank where the sensor might (I’ve really no idea) be situated. Or maybe a breather pipe blocked or kinked.

I’ve looked for access to tank hatches in the van floor but find none? Not sure how to access the tanks otherwise? Any suggestions would be welcomed?

 

[Enword]

Can you unscrew the drain pipe & check the outlet is clear at the tank end? Plus Waste sensor's are notoriously unreliable they get furred up & stop sending, I don't even bother with ours,

 

[IanRJ]

Can you unscrew the drain pipe & check the outlet is clear at the tank end? Plus Waste sensor's are notoriously unreliable they get furred up & stop sending, I don't even bother with ours,

Any idea how to access the tank internal - a hatch perhaps?

 

[rb62]

Unless things have changed the sensor will be just pushed into the side of the tank,you'll have to get underneath and look for the wires!

 

[Enword]

Any idea how to access the tank internal - a hatch perhaps?

There was no hatch on our 04 Mohican, 4 bolts held the outlet pipe onto the tank, which I took off & modified when I added a 2nd waste tank, I just made sure there wasn't anything blocking the outlet before putting it all back together.

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[DBK]

Sounds like your tank has a lot of gunge in it. This can coat the sensor and big bits will block the outlet tap. I've never really found a complete cure for it and all cures are temporary. A thin twig can clear the blockage depending on the layout of the pipe and how far you can poke it up the pipe.

You could try one of these treatments for unblocking drains, filling the grey tank and leaving it for a few hours. Obviously there is a risk but most houses have plastic pipes so they shouldn't do any harm to anything.

 

[M-J]

Is there a large (6 inch ish) screw on cap on the underside of the tank?

 

[HandyAndy]

Usually a rather large screw lid on the underside.. might have to remove a circular piece of the insulation (if it has any) to see it.
But to clean it, I'll drain it at the campsite to about 1/4 then chuck some bleach down the sink and wash it down into the tank before leaving for home.
Let that 1/4 tank slosh about all the way home and then IMMEDIATELY on arrival, dump it in the veg / garden / lawn / hedge. Usually comes out like 007... shaken not stirred.

 

[Ivory55]

You could buy some tank cleaner, then half fill the waste tank with clean water and drive around for an hour then drain it out. We usually do this on the way home after using the van

 

[Badknee]

We use cheap full fat cola from Aldi or suchlike. Two 2ltr bottles into an empty tank, drive around a bit then dump. Works for us.

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[Diabalo]

On my 2013 Autotrail Mohawk the sensors are just a stainless steel screw that goes through a rubber bung into the tank so as you wind the screw in it expands the rubber to hold it in place. Mine drove me crackers with incorrect readings so I fitted Horst miracle probes and they have been spot on so far, they fit exactly the same way so it was a case of old out new in. I got mine direct from the states about half the price that tank blankets are quoting and that was including the import duty. They have been in well over a year now and no false reading at all so all good but they are not cheap. Link below and I see they are available on flea-bay

Horst Mircacle Probes - Get accurate reading on your RV's holding tanks

Tired of scrubbing your black and grey water holding tank in your RV to get accurate monitor readings? Horst Miracle Probes are your long awaited solution.

www.rvprobes.com

 

[tonyidle]

One simple answer to blockages is to never allow grease or oil to enter the tank.

 

[mike mcglynn]

Hi, I had an issue like yours some years ago it turned out to be plastic dwarf in the drainpipes from where the makers had fitted the pipwork I had to clean the tank out by hand through a screw-in cap and back flush from the waste tap read swarf not dwarf ,stupid predictive text .

 

[Enword]

Hi, I had an issue like yours some years ago it turned out to be plastic dwarf in the drainpipes from where the makers had fitted the pipwork I had to clean the tank out by hand through a screw-in cap and back flush from the waste tap read swarf not dwarf ,stupid predictive text .

Plastic Dwarf is funnier though

 

[IanRJ]

Thanks all.

The tank is insulated, not had a chance to check underside for access.

Van is only 3 months old and used for 8 weeks total, never had grease, oil or fat put down the drains so shouldn’t be blocked with that.

I’ll investigate further but sure one of the suggested remedies will fix it!

Cheers

Ian

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[Korgrocker]

All I have done with mine is replace the silly little plastic valve, which had a tendency to trap solid bits of waste, being the smallest orifice before the outside world, with a decent size brass ball valve. Tank empties much quicker. The other effective strategy is to avoid putting any solid or oil/grease based product down the waste pipe. In particular don't put porridge dregs down the sink!

 

[TCG]

wonderful stuff

 

[TinaLes]

Or this stuff (ordered by mistake as we actually wanted the cassette stuff)