Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
 

Go Back   Thor Forums > Thor Tech Forums > Maintenance and Repair
Click Here to Login
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 03-04-2020, 01:55 AM   #1
Senior Member
 
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Forest River Forester 235
State: Indiana
Posts: 4,883
THOR #6826
Something else to worry about!

Do you winterize your tank flusher? Got back from Florida and went to use my tank flusher. Didn’t work! Water sprayed into the bathroom and filled a basement compartment with about an inch of water before I noticed that nothing was coming out the sewer drain and went to investigate. What a mess. Near as I can tell the flush line had water in it that froze and burst over the Indiana winter. Never thought to winterize it before. Alas, there’s no getting at the PEX line and it’ll be VERY tedious or impossible to replace the back flow valve in the side of the tank. I hope it’s the PEX line that burst though as routing a new line is pretty doable but I think PEX can take some freezing so research is in order. Sigh!

__________________
Pete'sMH is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-04-2020, 02:04 AM   #2
Site Team
 
16ACE27's Avatar
 
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: ACE 27.1
State: Florida
Posts: 14,117
THOR #7035
Yeah, PEX is pretty resilient to freezing - more likely an ABS fitting cracked.
__________________
Ted & Melinda
2016 ACE 27.1
2016 Chevy Sonic Toad - Selling
2020 Chevy Colorado Z71 Trail Runner Toad
2024 Chevrolet Trax 2RS - Soon 2B TOAD
16ACE27 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-04-2020, 09:12 AM   #3
Senior Member
 
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: 2017 Windsport 29M
State: Indiana
Posts: 3,692
THOR #5196
When winterizing I use an air compressor to blow out all my lines, including the tank flush line. I use pink stuff for the water pump and drains but just air for everything else. PEX is pretty tough stuff but it will break if there is enough water and really low temps.
__________________
SuperD is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-04-2020, 10:12 AM   #4
Senior Member
 
Judge's Avatar
 
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: 2020 Magnitude SV34
State: Florida
Posts: 4,147
THOR #12751
I haven't winterized my San-T-Flush.... if that is the flusher your talking about.

I need to double-check mine but I believe that there is a flexible hose where the water connected going to PEX and then to the black tank. There is a vacuum breaker valve along the way to prevent a back-flush from occurring. I believe it is located in the bathroom wall behind the shower.

Plumbing bursts usually from there being water under pressure in the system. As the water expands there is nowhere for it to go and the weakest point splits.

With this system being open on both ends, I would think water could expand without pressure building and causing something to burst.

You might want to check your plumbing schematics. If it is plumbed like I mentioned with the vacuum breaker valve, that could be your issue. Thor has had issues with it in the past. I had an Outlaw 29H where it was either plumbed backwards or was defective and the first time I hooked up water to flush the tanks it flooded in the inside of the coach.
__________________
Judge is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-04-2020, 12:45 PM   #5
Site Team
 
EA37TS's Avatar
 
Brand: Entegra
Model: Accolade 37TS
State: South Dakota
Posts: 8,726
THOR #1469
Third motorhome in ten years and all three had a black tank flush system. I have never winterized the black tank flush and have never had anything freeze even when temps got down to -15 degrees. I do however, blow them out with low air pressure when I de-winterize the coach making sure there are no issues before connecting a water hose.

I did have a vaccum breaker fail but that was in the middle of summer and the failure was the breaker would not open to allow water to flow into the tank.
__________________
Dave
US Army (Ret)
2020 Entegra Accolade 37TS
2019 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trailhawk (Toad)
FMCA - F432054
EA37TS is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-04-2020, 01:23 PM   #6
I Think We're Lost!
 
Bob Denman's Avatar
 
Brand: Still Looking
Model: Tiffin Wayfarer 24 BW
State: New York
Posts: 22,195
THOR #8860
Ouch! I never even thought about that one...
__________________
"What: me worry?"
Good Sam Member 843599689
Current coach: Tiffin Wayfarer 24 BW
Bob Denman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-04-2020, 05:17 PM   #7
Senior Member
 
MJC62's Avatar
 
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: A.C.E. 27.2
State: Indiana
Posts: 1,842
THOR #14698
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob Denman View Post
Ouch! I never even thought about that one...
Me neither!
__________________
2018 ACE 27.2
Toad 2019 Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk
Roadmaster Falcon All Terrain Towbar
Roadmaster Invisibrake
MJC62 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-05-2020, 12:37 AM   #8
Senior Member
 
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Forest River Forester 235
State: Indiana
Posts: 4,883
THOR #6826
Started diagnosing today. I found the air gap device under the bathroom sink and next time we get a nice day I’m going to try putting a small amount of air pressure in the system and see if I can find a leak maybe using soapy water. Don’t think that’s the issue though because most of my water ended up in the basement storage compartment and not in the bathroom. I’ve never winterized the tank flusher before and not had a problem so maybe something just broke. I’ll find it and I’ll let y’all know.
__________________
Pete'sMH is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-05-2020, 01:07 AM   #9
Senior Member
 
Model: 25.2 Axis
State: Arizona
Posts: 839
THOR #3471
Try grape koolaide
__________________
Hugh.vines@att.net is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-20-2020, 10:27 PM   #10
Senior Member
 
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Forest River Forester 235
State: Indiana
Posts: 4,883
THOR #6826
Thought I’d circle back to this with an update. Finally had a nice day and, like everybody else, I seem to have some time on my hands.... so I did some more diagnostic work. There is a leak but it’s inside the wall where I can’t reach it. The PEX line comes across the coach through the basement then goes up inside the wall to the air gap device under the bathroom sink before coming back down to the actual flusher on the black tank. I might be able to fish new lines up to the bathroom but it would be easier to abandon it and start over. I could put the air gap device behind the fridge or in the compartment with the furnace. BUT I have noticed that after market flush valves do not use the air gap at all, relying instead on the back flow valve at the tank. It would be a lot simpler to just run a single line from the hook up directly to the tank flusher. Any thoughts on that idea?

Thanks
__________________
Pete'sMH is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Thor Industries or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.




All times are GMT. The time now is 04:53 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Content Relevant URLs by vBSEO 3.6.0 PL2