While reading posts on another forum I was reminded of a problem we had with an old RV. It was a '91 Gulfstream 3880. Being used when we got it I expected problems, however, not this one. The black tank would not drain! I tried everything. Spraying water into the drain... I even made a pressure sprayer out of 3/8 copper tubing and fittings connected to a water hose and inserted it down through the muck to the bottom. Nothing worked. It was cold and my wife had to trek to the campground bathroom.
Then I discovered something! The two tanks were side-by-side with the toilet directly above the black tank. When I really looked at the fittings to scope them out for replacement I realized that on the black tank was a 1 1/2" drain and on the gray was a 3 1/2" drain. No kidding! When I stuck a wire into the bottom of the black tank there was dry matter that had been in there for years. How did this go unchecked for all those years? It was obviously a factory mistake. The fitting was not reversible and for it to ever be correct the tanks would have to be reversed. An engineering error? How many of these coaches were built like that?
We were sick of this coach and sold it to a guy as a "fixer-upper". Lesson "re-learned": Never take anything for granted. If it can go wrong it will go wrong. Human error!
"Life is hard, but if you're stupid it is ever harder"
Hi, Everyone,
While reading posts on another forum I was reminded of a problem we had with an old RV. It was a '91 Gulfstream 3880. Being used when we got it I expected problems, however, not this one. The black tank would not drain! I tried everything. Spraying water into the drain... I even made a pressure sprayer out of 3/8 copper tubing and fittings connected to a water hose and inserted it down through the muck to the bottom. Nothing worked. It was cold and my wife had to trek to the campground bathroom.
Then I discovered something! The two tanks were side-by-side with the toilet directly above the black tank. When I really looked at the fittings to scope them out for replacement I realized that on the black tank was a 1 1/2" drain and on the gray was a 3 1/2" drain. No kidding! When I stuck a wire into the bottom of the black tank there was dry matter that had been in there for years. How did this go unchecked for all those years? It was obviously a factory mistake. The fitting was not reversible and for it to ever be correct the tanks would have to be reversed. An engineering error? How many of these coaches were built like that?
We were sick of this coach and sold it to a guy as a "fixer-upper". Lesson "re-learned": Never take anything for granted. If it can go wrong it will go wrong. Human error!
"Life is hard, but if you're stupid it is ever harder"
Taildragger (as in airplane)