Hanger for black and gray water tank drains
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Forum Name: Podmods, Maintenance, Tips and Tricks
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URL: http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=12891
Printed Date: 28 Apr 2024 at 11:31am
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Topic: Hanger for black and gray water tank drains
Posted By: JR
Subject: Hanger for black and gray water tank drains
Date Posted: 31 May 2019 at 3:15pm
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Just got back (the first part of May) from a 2+ month trip. Went from Michigan to Florida to New Mexico and returned to Michigan (missing some of the cold weather). One very important thing that I picked up on the forum that saved me untold misery on this trip was that many people have had problems with the black water drain line becoming disconnected from its mounting bracket and then hitting the pavement while driving down the road, with all kinds of horror stories. Well this time I listened and in February in an unheated storage building in Michigan I installed two safety straps one on the gray water drain line and one on the black water drain line. After putting about 3000 miles on the new 179 my safety strap on the black water tank paid off!!!! The bolt broke holding and suspending the black water drain line, if I had not installed the safety strapping I would have been replacing the drain line after I had cleaned up the mess. What I found after examining the gray water drain line suspension (and thinking that both the black and gray water suspension were assembled the same way) is that 1) you have an "L" bracket secured to the frame with 2 self tapping screws (which was not a problem) 2) you also have a circular bracket that goes around the black water drain line and this bracket is tighten with a nut and bolt on the bottom of the circular bracket (which was not a problem). The problem occurs when joining these two brackets by a bolt and nut, when this bolt fails the two brackets separate, allowing the black water drain to hit the road and break. If the circular bracket was put on top of the "L" bracket and the nut and bolt installed then the weight of the circular bracket and the drain line would be supported by the "L" bracket (not just the bolt). The nut and bolt would just be used to keep the circular bracket from sliding off the supporting "L" bracket. I think that this should work just fine but I have not removed my safety straps on the black or gray water drain line. A big thank you to everyone that pointed out this problem....I can't remember (guess I just too old) if any solution was given to the problem other than the safety straps. I have passed on my suggestion to Forest River to change their assembly process. Maybe one less headache for us the end-users. ------------- Jay 179/2019 |
Replies:
Posted By: SC for Huskers
Date Posted: 31 May 2019 at 3:52pm
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Prior to winter, I found where the brackets are bent at a 90 d angle, (1/2" from the bolt) out right broke off. Replaced all of it with hanger strap. Looking at the bold didnt do me any good. Would advise everyone to make a backup and place it next to the existing one. ------------- Happy Traveling, Tom 2017 172pod 2011 F150 STX |
Posted By: PilotPodder
Date Posted: 31 May 2019 at 7:56pm
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Glad to hear the simple hanger fix saved you major trouble. I learned the hard way, but haven't had any issues since fixing it. Along with the hanger strap I used a longer bolt and locking nut and they have never loosened in thousands of miles now. All the best! ------------- Portage, MI — 2017 RPod 179 - sold / 2017 Toyota Tundra — https://johnmarucci.com/r-pod-video-list/ - My RPod YouTube Videos |
Posted By: mjlrpod
Date Posted: 01 Jun 2019 at 8:45am
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My 172 has both the grey and black drain in one single drain pipe. I love that setup not only because it is not necessary to change the hose over to dump both, but, the two help hold each other up, and rely less on the inferior strap. I am thinking of getting a 195 in the next year or so, once they become more available, (I can't even find a place near by to just look at it), and I will have the 2 drain pipe system on that model I believe. I'll make up a nice clamp system at that time. One advantage of being a machine shop instructor, I have access to machines, materials, and student labor. ------------- 2017.5 Rp-172 2020 R-pod 195 2015 Frontier sv 4.0L 6cyl I'll be rpodding |
Posted By: rpod190
Date Posted: 14 Oct 2019 at 11:17am
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On our maiden voyage to colorado, OUR black tank strap broke. The strap is actually a hurricane tie-down used to hold the wooden frame in place. There are many of them along the chasis. RPOD chose to use one of them as a blank tank holder strap. The problem is when 5-6 gallons of water sits in the 3" black tank pipe, it now weighs 50+ pounds and eventually breaks the strap!!! Its not a matter of IF, but WHEN as the 3" pipe fills up if your taking a long trip and the water settles there as it will. You need to add your OWN strap because the hurricane strap they used is NOT rated to carry the load of the 3" pipe once it is filled with water!!!!!!! Hope this helps MANY people !!!!!!! RPOD needs a design change to actually add a strap capable of holding 70lbs minimum!!!  ------------- Wynnster |
Posted By: wthoms2000
Date Posted: 18 Oct 2019 at 8:12am
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simple strap https://i.imgur.com/WHG299F.jpg - https://i.imgur.com/WHG299F.jpg ------------- Porta Poddy Wil and Luz, Orange County, CA 2017.5 179 HRE 2021 Ranger XLT FX4 REDARC Brake Controller |
Posted By: JR
Date Posted: 18 Oct 2019 at 4:00pm
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I can't get the link to work??? ------------- Jay 179/2019 |
Posted By: Motor7
Date Posted: 20 Oct 2019 at 6:20pm
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My Black tank line drain bolt also snapped. I had used heavy duty zip ties as back up and it held. Going to put a HD steel strap on there now and leave the zip tie as redundant. ------------- 2016 R-Pod 176T |
Posted By: StephenH
Date Posted: 20 Oct 2019 at 7:00pm
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My solution was to take a piece of strap aluminum and bend it around the pipe. Then I gave the legs a quarter twist and attached them to the frame. Since the loop is not physically attached to the pipe, the pipe can move in it without continually bending and flexing the support. After having not just one, but two of the factory designed hangers fail, I did not want there to be a third time. The excuse is that "it is industry standard." If the "industry standard" keeps failing, it needs to be changed to something that will work. Why not use something that can flex and yet be strong enough to support the weight. Alternately, why not put the valve right next to the tank outlet and have an empty tube being supported by the hanger? Then the weak support would not be such an issue. ------------- StephenH Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=7712 - ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |
Posted By: tcj
Date Posted: 21 Oct 2019 at 10:12am
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Strap made from some 3/16" thick conveyor belt.  ------------- 2018 R-pod 180 Hood River Edition |
Posted By: StephenH
Date Posted: 21 Oct 2019 at 11:51am
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Looks good. Conveyor belt material should hold up quite well. I did not have any of that which is why I used strap aluminum to do something similar.
------------- StephenH Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=7712 - ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |
Posted By: Wirat
Date Posted: 03 Mar 2020 at 6:27pm
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This post is getting a little older but I figure it would be more helpful to others to keep all the same ideas together. I created a black tank drain support for my 2019 R-Pod 191 today. I got the idea from different people here, thank you for sharing I hope it will stave off a disaster down the road (literally!).
 I examined the bolts and brackets on my black tank hanger and it does have a nylon lock washer bolt on there. I thought someone had mentioned they did not, so maybe FR changed that based on customer "feedback".  Anyhow, I chose to use a conventional 3 inch galvanized pipe hanger available at Lowes. It was less than $2 and then I used a stainless nylon nut and a few stainless washers to hang it. I cut the hanger to fit the outside collar of the tube and bend the top inch over for strength then drilled a 7/16 inch hole. I am using a frame bolt to suspend it. It is hanging down about an inch forward of the tube. I used some 1 inch black foam adhesive weather seal around the tube to offer cushion and prevent the hanger from rubbing/cutting in to the plastic pipe. I painted the hanger with black Rustoleum to match. I will keep an eye on it and hope it acts as a backup in case the factory one fails. Check it out and tell me what you think... Stock 3 Inch Pipe Hanger  Cut and Painted  Adhesive Weather Strip Applied to Pipe  Here it is in place:  From the side:  |
Posted By: StephenH
Date Posted: 03 Mar 2020 at 7:44pm
I hope it works well. It is somewhat different than what I did with was to use anodized aluminum strap material and use the self-tapping screws to fasten it to the frame in place of the failed factory strap. I did not fasten it to the pipe nor put any padding in, but it is rubbing on a thicker part of the valve body. It has gone through a number of miles and does not show any signs of weakness. Hopefully, you will never experience a failure. I have--twice! 
------------- StephenH Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=7712 - ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |
Posted By: Buffalohunter
Date Posted: 26 Mar 2020 at 3:37pm
| Well this is the threat can just keep on giving...I read through it all, looked at my 2020 189 and decided that the nut was tight and that the hanger would hold till I had time to replace it...WRONG...in our cabin fever attitude to escape for awhile...off we went to Organ Pipe Cactus national Monument. A beautiful place with unique species and an intact Sonoran desert ecosystem. As I am driving to the campsite...a guy walking the side of the road flags me down and says...that’s right...the black water tank sewer line was dragging...duh. Somewhere on the road thenut came loose, the strap split and the discharge pipe dropped to the pavement. Result...the end cap wound off somewhere, the pull discharge valve was open, and the road ground down everything else. Fortunately the tank was empty before we started out. But it was one of those on the road repairs...zip ties and gorilla tape to hold it in place and slow the water leakage. We finished out the camp. Was able to discharge waste with minimal po-escapage and made it home. So the big question...anybody know where I can get the entire discharge assemblage to reattach to the 4” discharge pipe? It’s all junk except for the 4” smooth pipe. Got great ideas for hangers on this site. Word to the wise...no matter how it looks replace the cheapaz L metal bracket...both...NOW. The metal hanger is so thin it couldn’t hold up to the use of a roll of toilet paper. I guess R-pod just keeps making crap never learning, upgrading or listening to how they work in the real world...my bad |
Posted By: Wirat
Date Posted: 26 Mar 2020 at 6:27pm
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Sorry to hear that. Nothing is worse than something brand new falling apart because it's made like junk. All it would take is a heavier duty bracket assembly from the start. I think you can contact FR parts department and buy it from them. Most of the parts on that section look like standard RV parts if you can find another supplier. Like StephenH listed here on Amazon. Probably a lot cheaper than FR too. But just in case: mailto:surveyorparts@forestriverinc.com - surveyorparts@forestriverinc. 574-642-3119 option 4 ------------- 2019 R-Pod 191 |
Posted By: StephenH
Date Posted: 26 Mar 2020 at 6:27pm
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It isn't just RPod. The words "industry standard" can be used to cover for a lot of shoddy work from multiple manufacturers. Unfortunately, you saw the problem and did not address it at the time. In my case, I trusted the factory's "repair" of adding a second hanger of the same type. Both failed on a long trip. There won't be a third time. Now, as for fixing the problem, it depends a lot on how much of the flange on the pipe is left in place. If it is just the valve on out that needs to be replaced, you can order the parts from Amazon to fix it. They bolt on without too much difficulty. These are the parts I used: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BGK22E/ - Valterra Bladex 3" Waste Valve Body https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006MRRHQ/ - Valterra T1009 3" Bayonet Flange https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006N5RW2/ - Valterra T1020 Black Termination Cap Now, if the flange to which the valve attaches was also damaged, you would need to order one, remove the damaged one, and attach a new one. I hope you won't have to do that.
------------- StephenH Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=7712 - ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |
Posted By: Buffalohunter
Date Posted: 27 Mar 2020 at 10:52am
| Thanks for the words of encouragement. Once I got down and removed the 3” waste valve, I saw that the flange connection to the pipe is still good...whew. I searched around and found the best deal on eBay...$21 for the waste valve, cap and flange. Thinks I’ll go with Wirats hanger...cheap, easy and simple...these things are common in the plumbing world. Gonna replace both waste drain hangers and I will be good to go. Moral of the story: be proactive and eliminate those “ industry standards conceived by some pin head engineer”...Zip ties don’t leave home without them. Love this site good stuff here THANKS ALL |
Posted By: mjlrpod
Date Posted: 27 Mar 2020 at 2:55pm
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I made 1 with whatever I could find at the local hardware store, then modified a part or 2. I am pretty sure I won't have an issue. https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipOkR0drdY-CiAa_rRQ2WkuRwmZHR5HJeoh8CqId ------------- 2017.5 Rp-172 2020 R-pod 195 2015 Frontier sv 4.0L 6cyl I'll be rpodding |