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$hitty situation for me

merc1100sc
Explorer
Explorer
So, just recently purchased a new to us 2012 Cougar 325SRX. All looked well. Upon returning home from our first trip with it I had to park it overnight in a temp spot in our driveway to unload the garage. In the morning I notice dripping from the belly pan. Sure enough its black water.

I finally pull part of the chloroplast down as best I can without damaging it, also noticing a couple sections have been taped indicating previous repair.

I find my black tank leaking from the front right corner somewhere near the top. So, at some point this week I plan to get deeper into it and get the tank dropped to see what's what.

A couple questions:
1) Is the black tank vented? I would assume so but from my quick look under there last time and the layout of the bathroom, not sure where a vent would run through to the ceiling.

2) What is the best source for the black chloroplast insulation? I want to replace the entire section that was cut by someone prior.

Thanks for any feedback.
18 REPLIES 18

Tin-bender
Explorer
Explorer
Sometimes they use a vacuum breaker rather than a vent through the roof. So if there is no pipe coming out the roof look in the cabinet nearby for an ABS pipe that seems to stop at nowhere, there will be a fitting with a rubber flapper in it.

vjstangelo
Explorer
Explorer
FWIW I repaired a 4โ€ crack at the bottom of my old TT black tank with standard fiberglass. Held up just fine.
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mchero
Explorer
Explorer
Veebyes wrote:
Thanks for the link. No current problems but nice to have a product source in a problem does occur.

Black tank work is no fun at all. My 5er has the electric Waste Master system & I have had to replace the valve at the tank. Quite the job.


id flush it for four or five days before teardown!LOL
Robert McHenry
Currently, Henniker NH
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merc1100sc
Explorer
Explorer
All,

Thanks for all the replies to this thread. All have given me some great ideas nice I get the tank dropped. I found the toilet plumbing and vent through an access panel in the โ€œbasementโ€ of the camper. I plan to cut both and install unions when Iโ€™m done.

As far as the under belly, I donโ€™t want to looked all hacked up. Iโ€™m going to cut it from left to right only as far back as I need to to drop the tank and replace the entire section from there forward. Iโ€™ll overlap the two sections a hair and seam it with gorilla tape or the scrim someone mentioned. Hopefully Iโ€™ll get the tank down this weekend. Iโ€™ll let you guys know how it
Goes.

Charlie_D_
Explorer
Explorer
Usually black tanks are made of ABS and also black. Every camper I have seen has the opaque tank for drinking water and for all the other waste water. I have used JB Weld Plastic Steel on ABS several times with never a failure.

As you and others said it is hard to stick to Poly but I have seen epoxies that say they are suitable for Poly but in not many stores. Can;t remember what it is called.
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CapnCampn
Explorer III
Explorer III
According to the Plasti Mend link above, PE can only be properly fixed with a plastic welder.

I'm not sure of the best way to determine what you have, maybe use standard ABS plumbing stuff & try to stick a small fitting or piece of ABS to the side of the tank. If it doesn't stay stuck, it's probably not ABS. ๐Ÿ™‚ I've got this stuff in my garage, so it'd be a cheap test for me. I know not everybody's a packrat though.

I wonder if the harbor freight plastic welders will do PE, or if they're any good?


Good Luck!
CC

mordecai81
Explorer
Explorer
How can you tell the difference between an ABS tank or a polyethylene one? My understanding is nothing sticks permanently to polyethylene, though I did have some success once on a gray tank crack with a combo of super glue and JB Weld.

Dave_H_M
Explorer
Explorer
I think the thread title deserves some recognition. :W

myredracer
Explorer II
Explorer II
Not fun taking down the coroplast. Did it in a CG last year after the toilet decided to overflow during the night and soaked the insulation.

I would cut out only what's needed for access and slide it out in one large piece. Cut it left/right direction, not fore/aft. The sheet is unlikely to be a long single sheet and you may be able to remove screws that the factory used to join adjacent sheets and slide it out in one large section. You could add a piece of angle iron or aluminum between the I-beams to screw into.

There is RV "Scrim" tape for use on coroplast and Darco fabric or Gorilla tape is an alternative. Scrim tape is a lot thicker and has a backing on it that needs to be peeled off. Not sure if one is superior to the other. Both stick like snot to fingers, itself and anything it touches!

The insulation they use is batt type fiberglass. Not a good choice for a location like under a trailer. The slightest amount of moisture in batt insulation in it or compressing it greatly reduces the R-value. It definitely gets compressed between a holding tank and coroplast. You can buy rolls of batt insulation at building supply places or Ace hardware. Rigid foam insulation would be a better choice but harder to install.

A leak from the black tank could be from a number or reasons and you need to get full access in there for an inspection. If it's the ABS piping, that's easy to repair but if the fitting to the tank, that's harder to deal with and at worst, could require tank replacement. It might be something a simple as a coupling that wasn't properly glued at the factory.

Depending on where the leak is and where water travelled, water could potentially be outside of the I-beams where the outriggers are and you may need to slice the Darco fabric to get at the insulation.

While you have the coroplast down, it could be an opportunity to do other work under the trailer like wiring, adding an in-tank sprayer (if not so equipped), installing Horst Miracle probes, etc.

drsteve
Explorer
Explorer
I would not worry about replacing the coroplast. Cutting it is an accepted method of gaining access for repairs, it is how the dealers do it. They even make a special tape for patching it up.
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Veebyes
Explorer II
Explorer II
Thanks for the link. No current problems but nice to have a product source in a problem does occur.

Black tank work is no fun at all. My 5er has the electric Waste Master system & I have had to replace the valve at the tank. Quite the job.
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mlburst
Explorer
Explorer
I have used Plasti-Mend on two different friend's RV's black tanks with excellent results.
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wa8yxm
Explorer III
Explorer III
IF it is a hole.. GOOP works fairly well. Sticks to most everythign LIkewise Eternabond and on a different part of the MH I'm trying Flex Tape (NOT long enough to comment yet.. NOT a water tank of any kind).

IF it is the gasket for the vent pipe.. Well. that ... in theory.. can be replaced.
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2edgesword
Explorer
Explorer
The black tank vent will most likely be on the roof. It's a tube that runs from the tank to the roof and will have a cover with a gap between the top of the tube and the cover to allow venting of the tank while preventing rain from going into the tank.