Tank dump etiquette

[bleckb]

Hi all,

We are at a campground with full hook up plus a dump at the site. Is it permissible to flush the tanks there, or is that bad style?

[Cannon]

Originally Posted by bleckb

Hi all,

We are at a campground with full hook up plus a dump at the site. Is it permissible to flush the tanks there, or is that bad style?

With full hook ups yes. I always flush mine out good before I leave. If i'm there a week I will flush mine about half way thru and again before I leave.

[Vaquero]

I'd say that's the preferred method.

[norty1]

Agree, no waiting when leaving.

[in the wind]

Originally Posted by bleckb

Hi all,

We are at a campground with full hook up plus a dump at the site. Is it permissible to flush the tanks there, or is that bad style?

Empty at the site, that's why its called full hook up, and you pay a little more for the amenities.

[Higgy]

Yeah...flush the tank at your site when you need too or before you leave. Thats what your paying for. If you have the choice you might not want to flush it when next door is bbqing dinner Might get a look from them if youve been eating a curry or two

[bleckb]

Awesome. Thanks for the replies to the newbie questions. Checkout by eleven tomorrow, flushing shortly before.

As an aside, we are at Tunnel Mountain II in Banff. Funky double pull-through spaces where we, and many others, had to back in with hookups on the wrong side.

[lateott]

Originally Posted by bleckb

Awesome. Thanks for the replies to the newbie questions. Checkout by eleven tomorrow, flushing shortly before.

As an aside, we are at Tunnel Mountain II in Banff. Funky double pull-through spaces where we, and many others, had to back in with hookups on the wrong side.

I hate this as well, seems some places have hookups more suited to MH pull-in and when we have to back in a TT everything is on the wrong side so I have hoses and wires crossing through my "outdoor living room."

Sometimes I can negotiate with my neighbor to hook up/unhook for periodic, quick tank dumps and otherwise keep all the sewer stuff stowed.

[us71na]

We had the misfortune of ending up behind a Grizzly Silver Back camper with two adults and two children at a dump station this weekend. There was only one dump station so we had no choice but to wait. It was obvious we were waiting. The guy started by pulling out his dump hose and connecting it, but then his wife showed up with a plastic water jug and was trying to fill it from a freeze proof faucet. When the jug got too heavy, the guy stopped what he was doing and went to help her. Then back to fiddling with the hose. He finally got it hooked up just in time for the wife to return with the water jug for another fill up.

He finally got the first tank started to drain, meanwhile wife was back for another jug of water. The tank finally drained (I could see by the clear section that it was empty), but they ran at least two more jugs of water through the system. They dumped at least 5 two to three gallon jugs in that tank.

Then on to tank #2 the same routine, only by this time the two kids were running all over the place interrupting the water jug routine by having the adults telling them to get stuff out of the trailer. When the second tank was finally drained, he disconnected every thing and washed the parts at least twice under the frost free faucet. Elapsed time was close to 30 minutes. Then just before they pulled away the guy opened the drain to the fresh water tank leaving a stream of water behind.

[33 RLDS]

^^^^

That's exactly why I have a macerator and dump at home most of the time

[John from Central Florida]

Originally Posted by us71na

Elapsed time was close to 30 minutes.

The best I’ve ever been able to do at a dump station is about fifteen minutes, as I have no way to do it at home. If people are waiting, I always apologize for taking so long.

[Quantum]

Not to be rude, but there is no reason that a trailer can't be dumped in under 10 minutes.

In today's age with everyone having a tank flush on their trailer, people now take way longer to dump than necessary.

You should be using lots of water when you use the washroom in your trailer, so flow shouldn't be the issue.

If you want your 'significant other' to quickly dump a bucket of water down the toilet, no big deal, as long as someone stays be the dump valve and keeps the process moving along.

I can appreciate people wanting to have their tanks spic and span, but don't make people wait at the dump station for 15-20 minutes.

If you save your grey tank to the end, most things are rinsed out and a quick hose down from the water tap and you should be wrapping up.

At the end of the camping season, then I usually spend more time rinsing everything out, but I also am considerate of people waiting behind me.

If you're going to be camping again in a couple of weeks, there is no reason why you can't dump the black tank without rinsing it.

Please be considerate of those behind you at the dumping station.

[PNWDriver]

We are fortunate enough to have a dump station at our storage facility. We rarely camp with full hookups so we just head home and dump at storage. Sunday afternoons seem to be the busiest but there's rarely more than one person in front of us and it's a quick 10 min to dump and go.

[spark of insanity]

I can't stand the thought of having to clean out a black water tank. So I make sure everyone uses the campsite bathrooms. Grey water I can handle. Besides some of the campsites I have been to have really clean bathrooms. So it is nice to have. Just glad it is there for emergencies but since we are out and about using the TT toilet is not an option.

[Marcm157]

Originally Posted by spark of insanity

I can't stand the thought of having to clean out a black water tank. So I make sure everyone uses the campsite bathrooms. Grey water I can handle. Besides some of the campsites I have been to have really clean bathrooms. So it is nice to have. Just glad it is there for emergencies but since we are out and about using the TT toilet is not an option.

I'm just the opposite - I bought my camper to use and enjoy. A big piece of the enjoy part is not having to use public bathrooms! I will gladly take black tank maintenance in exchange. My routine at a dump station takes me just under 20 minutes.

[GrumpyDad]

Both my kids and me use the toilet during the night, so inside the trailer is better, and since we are using it, we just use it. I usually do #2 in the outhouse, because I like the fresh air, and I tell the kids to do the same, because I don't want the smell. The wife can go wherever she wants, because nobody is going to tell her any different.

I can do a simple "dump" in about ten minutes, but these days, my storage place has a dump station with good fresh water, so my entire routine is more than 30 minutes to dump, flush, dump and then refill the black tank to 1/3 through the flush port and add chemical. If anyone shows up and is waiting for me, I shorten that up quite a bit.

Weirdly, filling my fresh water tank through the "city fill" port takes a minimum of 20 minutes. Not sure where the restriction is, but something slows it down. It's a big tank, but that seems unreasonable.

Through the season I never leave the black tank empty between trips, and I re-dump before each trip, so nothing in there ever gets dried out. So far, the black tank sensors still work, which is more than I can say about any of my previous trailers that didn't get this treatment.

[TxLoser]

I'll usually just dump at a campground station. If it's just me, I may flush as well. Usually I'll save that for full hookups or at my storage lot. The dumping is pretty quick. Black, then grey, and pack up. Next, I pull forward out of the way and hop in the trailer to fill about 4 toilet bowls from the fresh water tank followed by some chems. As a bonus, this gives me a chance to do one last walk around before we hit the road.