water problem for newbie


pipelinemama

New Member
my husband called me tonight and told me some water had poured out on the floor in our fifth wheel while he was washing clothes (i'm assuming from the tanks, there was not a leak from the washer) He mopped up what he could and tilted the camper for it to drain. we just bought this camper (2005 3475 montana) 10 days ago. What can we do to make sure we dry out the camper good to prevent some problems? heeelp, i'm pulling my hair out from afar! :question:
 

ARCHER

Senior Member
Re: water problem for newbie

You better find where the leak came from or your gonna keep having the same problem. Seems like a fitting that has something to do with the washing machine. Does it leak when just using regular water lines like sink, shower, etc.?? Find the leak and fix it....... :bleh:
 

pipelinemama

New Member
getting rid of moisture

thanks archer! it acturally wound up having something to do with the valve that shuts off the gray water, it appeared open but it wasnt. i'm not down there with him right now so i can't explain really just what he did. that's the spooky thing about buying a used camper, you don't know exactly what your getting! he's says he can't tell that anything held water, apparently got it mopped up in time and drained the camper well. i wondered though if a dehumidefier is a good investment for a camper that you live in full time. We're trying to figure out all these things so our camper will last. the onlly camper we ever had before was what you'd call the "redneck deer camp" type, 30 years old and decorated with duct tape!! ;)
 

H2H1

Senior Member
Re: water problem for newbie

PIPELINEMAMA sounds like you just described mine :laugh: :laugh: best of luck and hope you have it fix by now. wash some more and see if it does it again.
 

PattieAM

New Member
Re: water problem for newbie

There's a product - 'Damp Rid' which works very well at absorbing the moisture in the air.

I am assuming (poor choice of word) that the greywater valve was not open, for the washing machine water to drain properly, thus it backed up and overflowed into the camper vs. the sewer line.

I don't know that a dehumidifier is a good/bad investment - generally campers just need good air circulation to eliminate condensation after showers, etc. But, a dehumidifier would also help your AC in the hot/humid summer months.
 

pipelinemama

New Member
Re: water problem for newbie

as far as i know from what he's said it was the gray water. yuck i was just thinking how gross THAT would have been! :dead:
 
G

Guest

Guest
Re: water problem for newbie

better than black water ,, JMO ;) :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
 

ARCHER

Senior Member
Re: water problem for newbie

Do you know what your doing in regard to draining the black tank (sewer from toilet) and the grey tank ( from the sink and shower)? you might want to invest in one of those see thru sewer connectors to make sure your tanks are draining when you want them to drain. I leave my grey tank drain valve open (pulled) when I am connected and my black tank shut (pushed in) until I am ready to drain the black tank and then flush it until the drain is clear (site thru clear drain connection). I then close the black tank again until next drain time (about a week for a 40 gallon black tank with two people)You should treat the black tank always and the grey tank periodically.
 

pipelinemama

New Member
Re: water problem for newbie

i havn't heard of the see thru connectors, i will check into that. i know that he knows about leaving the grey tank pulled when connected and the black pushed in. i wish we had waited to buy the camper till i was joining him down there (so i could be around to "figure out" all the in and outs of everything. hubby's working 6 days a week and getting frustrated trying to figure all this stuff out!
 

ARCHER

Senior Member
Re: water problem for newbie

See if he can get on the web site and ask his questions. We can help him more directly, maybe.
 

hertig

Senior Member
Re: water problem for newbie

A lot of people leave their gray valves open while hooked up; I do not. The reasons for this are 1) you can get smell or even insects from the sewer into your rig and 2) I like to have at least 1/2 tank of gray water to flush out the hose after dumping the black tank. Besides, being full of it, my black tank tends to fill up way quicker than the gray tank anyway...

About the only thing which really fills up the gray tank is doing laundry, so I might leave the gray valve open while doing several loads, but other than that, only when I'm actually dumping.
 

pipelinemama

New Member
Re: water problem for newbie

thanks everyone for your suggestions, i've passed everything along, and i think he's got that straightened out now. He's off down there w/o a computer or i'd sic him on this forum!
 

DL Rupper

Senior Member
Re: water problem for newbie

I leave my gray water valves closed for the same reason Hertig sited. Also, my wife is paranoid about the sewer backing up into our gray tanks if the valves are open. :eek: :eek: :eek: ;)
 

PattieAM

New Member
Re: water problem for newbie

My popup does not have a greywater holding tank, so I leave my greywater valve open so it will drain directly to the sewer. But, if I'm not going to be at the site for a while, I generally close the valve.

With the blackwater tank, it has to be 2/3's or 3/4's full before I dump, and if it's not, I will add water via the hand held shower to the toilet bowl and flush until it is full enough to dump. After dumping the blackwater, I will leave the valve open to do a full bowl flush then close the blackwater valve, add my deoderizer and a gallon or so of water and we're good to go again.
 
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