Black Tank Disaster

[CHV_FRK]

Originally Posted by LuckyDuck

Our black flush connection is only a foot above the city connect. Although the city is clearly labeled, this thread got me thinking about the “what if”... So I used DW’s label maker to mark the black flush cap (do you like the skull and crossbones?) Crude, but so is a connection to the wrong port!

There is backflow check in line, but there is usually a vertical component to it as well. Our last camper had it where it goes in and up 6ft behind a cabinet than comes back down and over into the tank. My valve leaked so I just replaced it with a 90. It will never siphon through unless the camper rolls over. Now this camper it goes up a couple feet then back down. I trust that alot less.

[Atlee]

Fortunately, my 23RB has the black tank flush on the back wall, by itself. It would be very difficult to hook the fresh water up to it mistakenly.

The city water intake is on the side, near mid ship.

[serfas01]

Our 2016 Jayco 38FLSA Pinnacle has them very close together so I put a "Y" connector valve into the Fresh water with a quick connect. I run a very short hose from the Y to the Black tank rinse input and make sure the valve is shut off for normal. When I want to flush the black tank, I turn on the valve to the black and turn off the fresh input. Very handy doing it this way as I don't have to continuously hook up hoses.

[grantsoo]

Originally Posted by 2008Seneca

Flush open drain open. (Wipers on lights on).

I wish you could add more more instruction to this about monitoring the discharge.
I was standing there with the flush on and the drain open and the DW said there's something happening in the bathroom.
I shut off the flush and went inside and it was obvious that there had been just a bit of back-up. A little brown water on the floor.
I started the flush again with her watching and everything was ok.
I puzzled over this for a long time and came to the conclusion that I must have had a toilet paper (or something?) plug that allowed the tank water to back up and then let go.
After that I always had the DW watching during a flush.
If I had kept the unit I was thinking about putting a "clear" extension on the flush so that I could confirm the discharge while I was flushing.

[PlayersZ28]

I use a clear elbow on the outlet and watch what's coming when I dump. I don't flush until the black tank has pretty much emptied so not much chance of overflowing. The valve is open when the flusher is going.

[CHV_FRK]

Originally Posted by PlayersZ28

I use a clear elbow on the outlet and watch what's coming when I dump. I don't flush until the black tank has pretty much emptied so not much chance of overflowing. The valve is open when the flusher is going.

I have a clear 45 deg elbow. Turns you down tot he ground faster. Seemed better than the 90 or the foot long clear extension I've seen. Less stress on the pipe. That along with the additional bayonet valve I've never had an issue.

[norty1]

A clear fitting is a must. You don't want the tank flush going in if nothing is coming out when it should be.

[PlayersZ28]

Originally Posted by CHV_FRK

I have a clear 45 deg elbow. Turns you down tot he ground faster. Seemed better than the 90 or the foot long clear extension I've seen. Less stress on the pipe. That along with the additional bayonet valve I've never had an issue.

I have a 45 too. Grab a beer and watch the crap go by when flushing

[Girth]

I was reminded of this thread yesterday. Apparently my uncle was out with his new Airstream just this last weekend..... and someone in the CG flooded their brand new trailer, by mistakenly hooking up to their black tank flush. At least the guy mentioned in the OP is not alone, and certainly not the last.

[Camper_bob]

Originally Posted by serfas01

Our 2016 Jayco 38FLSA Pinnacle has them very close together so I put a "Y" connector valve into the Fresh water with a quick connect. I run a very short hose from the Y to the Black tank rinse input and make sure the valve is shut off for normal. When I want to flush the black tank, I turn on the valve to the black and turn off the fresh input. Very handy doing it this way as I don't have to continuously hook up hoses.

I really like this! One less hose to monkey with!

If/when I do this, I'll put a good, high quality back-flow preventer on the Y on the flush side. Then I can leave the whole works put together so it's just a quick hookup when I get to the site.

I often put a Y on the spigot, never thought about putting it on the side of the camper...

[justlb33]

Originally Posted by PlayersZ28

I have a 45 too. Grab a beer and watch the crap go by when flushing

There sounds like too much enjoyment in this statement

[oldmanAZ]

Originally Posted by Camper_bob

I really like this! One less hose to monkey with!

If/when I do this, I'll put a good, high quality back-flow preventer on the Y on the flush side. Then I can leave the whole works put together so it's just a quick hookup when I get to the site.

I often put a Y on the spigot, never thought about putting it on the side of the camper...

My Y is always on the spigot and is a high flow type so I get good pressure and volume to both sides.
- One side is for the 'white' hose has the pressure regulator w/gauge that then goes to my filters for the TT city water connection.
- The other side is for the 5/8" 'brown' hose for the black tank flush etc., not filtered, and a shutoff at the end. I connect/disconnect it as needed.
- I have another Y at the end of the filters to connect a white hose if/when we need to add to the fresh water because the filler port is on the opposite side of the TT from the city water connection.

I'd like not to have the brown hose to deal with, but it's the price I pay for having a hose with higher pressure and flow available.