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jaydub View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Topic: grey water tank leak
    Posted: 22 Sep 2020 at 11:02am
After a long trip on rough roads. my grey water tank has developed a leak. It is too high up to get at. I metered water into the tank and the leak began at about 18 gallons.  I have two questions:

a.) Does anyone know of a solution that I can pour in which might seal the leak internally?

b.) What is involved with removing the tank for inspection/rectification?

Cheers.
Jaydub
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lostagain View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Sep 2020 at 11:54am
Polyethylene is very hard patch.  Nothing wants to stick to it.  There are some videos of people doing patches on YouTube that look like they may hold up, but it may be more cost effective in terms of time and labor to order a new one from FR or their tank supplier.

As for dropping the tank, it shouldn't be hard to disconnect the plumbing fittings, the wire(s) for the level indicator and the bolts, but working from underneath to do it, well that's another matter.  It would be a lot easier done from a lift of some sort.
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offgrid View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Sep 2020 at 5:52pm
I believe that the gray and black tanks are ABS rather than low density polyethylene (LDPE) which is what the fresh water tank is,. Adhesives work pretty well on ABS, not so much on LDPE as lostagain says. So, you could try to glue the leak on your gray tank and see if that works. 

Shouldn't be that hard to remove, and if you can't see where the leak is then you can't fix it, so it needs to come out. M suggestion is to remove it, fill it, find the leak. empty it, dry ti out, glue the leak up with ABS cement, refill, and see what happens before reinstalling. If the leak hasn't been fixed, you haven't lost much. 
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jaydub View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 Sep 2020 at 9:12am
Thanks for the input. The tanks have a flexibility that I would not attribute to ABS. (?) My Pod is a 2011 product, so maybe Forest River changed the type. (?). There does not appear to be any kind of strapping or bolts holding the tank in place. It just seems to sit on steel cross-members.
I shall try FR for more information.
Again, thanks.
Jaydub
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 Sep 2020 at 9:45am
JW let us know what you fond out, please!
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 Sep 2020 at 10:05am
Will do.

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offgrid View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Sep 2020 at 6:23am
Pretty sure those tanks are ABS. The tanks in other RVs I've had were. 

ABS schedule 40 pipe is more rigid than a flat tank because its thicker and the circular shape resists flexing. Here is a link to a set of videos showing show some RV ABS tank repair techniques. If your leak is a crack with a sharp tip or tips it will continue to grow unless you stop drill it first. The drill holes relieve stress at the crack propagation points, so you have to place the hole in front of the direction of crack growth so the crack grows to the hole and stops. 
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Sep 2020 at 9:55am
I promised an update on my grey tank leak. Here is what I have learned so far....
A dealership has told me that the grey tank is polyethylene, not ABS, and "nothing will stick to it". Repairs to stop leakage with this type of material has to be done by 'heat welding'. I shall be making an appointment soon to have this done. 
Meantime, I applied some Lepage PL construction adhesive to the outside of the tank and it did indeed stick,  but I do not know how long this will last. I can see no way and have not discovered how to remove the tank. Thinking outside the box, I played with the idea of extruding ABS cement (now not an option) or PL through a wand inserted into the tank and doing a trial-by-error application method, but this may well prove not only ineffectual but contaminate the area such that the heat weld option may not be viable.
Additionally, there is no way of currently knowing whether this is a puncture hole (not likely as it is about halfway up the tank, protected by a steel crossbeam), or an abrasion following travel on a rough gravel road. 
Maybe I should stop taking "Arnie the Podinator"  down remote roads!!!!

I will update everyone after the repair is done on cost, etc.

Cheers.
Jaydub
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Sep 2020 at 10:48am
The tanks are held up at the front and back by the cross members. One of those is fixed. The other is removable. Once the one is removed, the tank can be slid out of the other one and lowered. I have not done this, but it is pretty clear when the underside is viewed. I'm not sure how hard it is to get to the connections to remove them, nor how much slack is in the plumbing to allow this. 
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jaydub View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Sep 2020 at 6:15pm
StephenH

Thanks for that!  I don't know how the feed pipe into the tank is affixed. I assume it must be flexible so it can be detached before the tank is removed and replaced.
Jaydub
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