Bathroom floor drain gray water valve problem

[Citrus breeze]

I don't know if this is the right place to ask about this, but here goes.  After camping several times with our Ollie, we arrive home the last time to find that the floor pan in the bathroom was flooded with water that had come up from the floor drain.  I had drained both the black and the gray tanks at the last campground dump station, where we had been connected to city water supply.  The monitor read that both tanks were empty, yet...there was obviously water coming from the gray water tank into that pan!

Any ideas?

[AndrewK]

Did you use the bathroom sink faucet while the backflow valve was closed?  If you did, the water that drained down the bathroom sink, backed up against the backflow valve and into the shower pan.

Andrew

[topgun2]

Just because your tank monitor read zero doesn't actually mean that the tanks were empty - as strange as that may sound.

Depending on how level your Ollie was when dumping there can still be a few gallons of liquid in the tank even though the monitor reads zero.  When looking to REALLY make sure I'm as empty as possible I really raise the front and curb side of my Ollie.

Or, what AndrewK said.

Bill

[Mike and Carol]

The gray and fresh tanks are both very flat.  Any amount of “unlevelness” will affect both filling a draining.  Like Bill said, it’s a good idea to raise the front of the trailer if you really want to ensure the gray tank is empty.  If the back flow gate was closed before you left there shouldn’t be any gray water in the shower.  Mike

[John E Davies]

I bet every owner has had this happen, one time, and then you learn and it probably won’t reoccur... For me it was in the middle of the night in my socks, I discovered the isolation “travel” valve was still closed when I ran water in the bath sink and it backed up out of the floor drain and soaked my feet. Many bad words!!!

Get a black Sharpie and write “Push in for travel” right beside the handle.

John Davies

Spokane WA

[Mike and Carol]

I’ve experienced wet socks more than once!  It’s one of those checklist items that gets left out when your setup routine is interrupted. The good news is that if it’s closed and you run water in the bathroom sink you will quickly realize what you forgot to do!  Mike

[Mattnan]

Not alone on the wet socks.  It is now on our departure and set up check list.  Easy to miss!

[topgun2]

Yep - 

I've got two of the same bath mats just for this reason. 

When one gets wet because someone (me) forgot to open the valve then I've got a spare while it dries or gets laundered. 

[Mike and Carol]

20 minutes ago, topgun2 said:

I've got two of the same bath mats just for this reason. 

You must take two pair of socks then, too.

[Citrus breeze]

On 12/10/2021 at 9:31 PM, AndrewK said:

Did you use the bathroom sink faucet while the backflow valve was closed?  If you did, the water that drained down the bathroom sink, backed up against the backflow valve and into the shower pan.

Andrew

 

[Citrus breeze]

Thanks loads for the reply.  Meant to get back to you sooner, but just followed your advice without checking back in.  Thanks to you...no wet socks!  Everything seems to be as you said.

Charlie

[Citrus breeze]

The reply about the level of the unit while draining the gray tanks is very interesting.  Now, I'll have to figure how to raise the Ollie while at a dump stations, and I'm attached to my truck.

Charlie

[Mike and Carol]

18 minutes ago, Citrus breeze said:

The reply about the level of the unit while draining the gray tanks is very interesting.  Now, I'll have to figure how to raise the Ollie while at a dump stations, and I'm attached to my truck.

Charlie

I put a block under the front jack and lift it up.  Usually you can go a couple of inches until the load is off the truck.  If necessary, I keep going, raising the back of the truck a little with the jack.  Mike

[John E Davies]

1 hour ago, Citrus breeze said:

The reply about the level of the unit while draining the gray tanks is very interesting.  Now, I'll have to figure how to raise the Ollie while at a dump stations, and I'm attached to my truck.

Is your Ollie level or just a little nose high when towing? If it is nose down, that makes things a lot harder, all the time.

Most dump stations that I encounter have a distinct grade down and to the left, so you can position the trailer so it drains naturally. I have a big ball level on the front of the hull, I can watch it in the rear view mirror to see if the trailer is leaning properly. And of course, it works great for getting  the trailer as level as possibly on the campsite slab. I highly recommend this mod: … https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/2082-how-to-install-a-big-bubble-level-no-drilling/

John Davies

Spokane WA

 

[Mattnan]

2 hours ago, Mike and Carol said:

I put a block under the front jack and lift it up.  Usually you can go a couple of inches until the load is off the truck.  If necessary, I keep going, raising the back of the truck a little with the jack.  Mike

Just please don't do what I did the first time we dumped.  We raised the trailer at the dump station, emptied the tanks stowed all the hoses.  We got in the truck and started to leave.  Terrible noise!! We forgot to lower the Ollie and raise up the jack.  The lower shaft was badly bent.  Fortunately some of the guys working at the state park had a portable saw with a metal blade.  We had to cut the shaft.  We called the jack manufacturer directly as Oliver didn't have an extra in stock.  We had it sent express to our next campground.  We stayed hooked up that night.  The jack arrived the next day and I installed the new jack.  PIA but we learned a lesson early on and fortunately it only cost us a day and some $.  No one got hurt.  Embarrassing for sure.  I was able to keep the barley used jack motor so I have a heavy working replacement with me if needed.  

[John E Davies]

19 minutes ago, Mattnan said:

Just please don't do what I did the first time we dumped.  We raised the trailer at the dump station, emptied the tanks stowed all the hoses.  We got in the truck and started to leave.  Terrible noise!! We forgot to lower the Ollie and raise up the jack.  The lower shaft was badly bent. 

That is why you should ALWAYS place blocks under all jack feet, even the back ones. If you drive away with them lowered, the jacks will slide off the blocks and hopefully not get trashed. If they are resting on the ground, as yours was, they have no chance at all. 

I have a red safety flag that I keep in the truck, for any situation like this, I loop it over the gear shift handle, as a reminder that I can’t drive away yet. As I get older, I need to pay a lot more attention to routine stuff.

John Davies

Spokane WA

[John and Debbie]

5 hours ago, Citrus breeze said:

The reply about the level of the unit while draining the gray tanks is very interesting.  Now, I'll have to figure how to raise the Ollie while at a dump stations, and I'm attached to my truck.

Charlie

I thought the same thing.   How is that done? 

[ScubaRx]

2 hours ago, Mattnan said:

Just please don't do what I did the first time we dumped.  We raised the trailer at the dump station, emptied the tanks stowed all the hoses.  We got in the truck and started to leave.  Terrible noise!! We forgot to lower the Ollie and raise up the jack.  The lower shaft was badly bent.  Fortunately some of the guys working at the state park had a portable saw with a metal blade.  We had to cut the shaft.  We called the jack manufacturer directly as Oliver didn't have an extra in stock.  We had it sent express to our next campground.  We stayed hooked up that night.  The jack arrived the next day and I installed the new jack.  PIA but we learned a lesson early on and fortunately it only cost us a day and some $.  No one got hurt.  Embarrassing for sure.  I was able to keep the barley used jack motor so I have a heavy working replacement with me if needed.  

For very few $ Barker will sell you a new lower tube and you can fully repair that jack. It's an easy fix once you figure out how to get the two tubes apart.

[Steph and Dud B]

6 hours ago, John Welte said:

Now, I'll have to figure how to raise the Ollie while at a dump stations

I was thinking about driving the rear wheels of my truck onto some leveler blocks. Not as easy as using the jack, but not as damaging if you forget about them before you leave.

[John and Debbie]

48 minutes ago, Steph and Dud B said:

I was thinking about driving the rear wheels of my truck onto some leveler blocks. Not as easy as using the jack, but not as damaging if you forget about them before you leave.

Seems like a good idea.   If the dump station is level (quite unlikely), what side of the rear of the truck should be raised with blocks and do you owners do that? 

[Mike and Carol]

1 hour ago, Steph and Dud B said:

I was thinking about driving the rear wheels of my truck onto some leveler blocks. Not as easy as using the jack, but not as damaging if you forget about them before you leave.

I never run my jacks all the way down.  I have 8” blocks for each jack and 20 big yellow legos.  Total jack movement for any of them is just a couple of inches.  Saves battery and reduces any damage if I decide to drive away without raising them.  Hasn’t happened, but you never know.  Mike

[Mattnan]

Yup we use blocks all the time when we set up and and park.  This was our very first time at a dump station and our very first time with a travel trailer.  Good learning experience. Hind sight is 20/20.  I share the experience in hope of saving someone else from the same experience.

Lots of folks on here are very new to camping with a trailer or RV like we were. We are learning lessons all the time.  I learn on this forum and by doing.  To me it is part of the experience and growth learning new things and solving new problems.  We are seeing lots of new places.  

[ScubaRx]

15 hours ago, Mike and Carol said:

I never run my jacks all the way down.  I have 8” blocks for each jack and 20 big yellow legos.  Total jack movement for any of them is just a couple of inches.  Saves battery and reduces any damage if I decide to drive away without raising them.  Hasn’t happened, but you never know.  Mike

What a great idea. Everyone should take note here.

[Mike and Carol]

8 hours ago, ScubaRx said:

What a great idea. Everyone should take note here.

 

[Geronimo John]

On 1/18/2022 at 8:10 PM, ScubaRx said:

 I have 8” blocks for each jack and 20 big yellow legos.  Total jack movement for any of them is just a couple of inches.  Saves battery and reduces any damage if I decide to drive away without raising them

On 1/19/2022 at 5:07 AM, Mike and Carol said:

What a great idea. Everyone should take note here.

Once again I credit John Davies for his wisdome many years ago:

For years I have mentioned the concept that having slip planes to reduce risk of damage and wear.

There are many ways to minimize jack wear by reducing movement.  So I compliment ScubaRx and Mike & Carol for their posts.  I would like to also mention that they both have taken to heart the concept of multiple slip planes. 

Their use of the plastic bases under large blocks does this.  Should they move their Ollie while supported, movement is assured by both short jack extension and longer distances occupied by their blocks.  This setup has a three locations for the feet to become unloaded during a drive off.  

• Between the jack foot and the wood block 
• Between the plastic block and the wood block
• Between the plastic block and the ground plastic/wood pad

During a drive off while jacked up without the ground slip plane, the jack foot will likely slide on the block.  As it passes the edge, in softer soils the block could "dig in" and begin to rotate.  As it rotates, the jack stem could come sucumb to high stress.  So for these owners, please consider adding in a second 2X6 under the jack foot.  

Over the past 8 seasons I have just used a pile of 2X6X11 blocks.  I carry a milk crate in my basket. It holds eleven of them I recall.  Due to limited storage space for my mini blocks I have not benefitted from the benefit of jack wear that the big blocks bring.  Time for me to upgrade my thinking and evaluate the "Big Block" options.  This Ole Dog can still learn from others! 

Edited Thursday at 07:19 PM by Geronimo John
Credit John Davies