Black tank usage

[djmers]

We are very new to having an RV and learning the sewer system. Regarding black water tank, when using the parks sewer system, should our black tank be at 1/3 full? I thought everything should pass through. Thanks in advance for any help!

[Grumpy]

Hope you're not leaving the valve open.... If you are only dumping when full or close to full having a erroneous reading with the tank sensors is not unusual. They are notoriously inaccurate.

[pward]

As Grumpy noted, you don't want to leave your black tank valve open as the solids will tend to pile up as you don't have liquid to break then down. Have your black tank around 1/3 full of water, use a black tank treatment chemical and leave the dump valve closed until you get ready to leave the campground. I also usually leave the gray tank valve closed as you can use that to flush the sewer dump line after emptying the black tank.

[djmers]

Thanks for your input, yes we were keeping the tank valves open but will keep shut from now on; what you both say makes sense! There is a pump switch on the panel but we don't see in the user manual what that is for; any ideas?

Thanks again Grumpy and pward!

[TaftCoach]

Originally Posted by djmers

We are very new to having an RV and learning the sewer system. Regarding black water tank, when using the parks sewer system, should our black tank be at 1/3 full? I thought everything should pass through. Thanks in advance for any help!

The liquid will go through and the solids will remain behind if you leave the valve open. Most will leave both valves closed and empty (dump) the tanks as necessary. You will want to dump the black water first and then empty the gray. That way your sewer hose will be somewhat cleaner than if you dump the black last.

If you are staying for a week or longer you may wish to jeep the gray valve open and draining, then a close the valve and store gray water a day or two before dumping the black.

There are several different schools of thought on products to keep down odors than range from nothing to DIY concoctions, and commercial liquids and powders. I've been happy with Happy Camper powder available from Amazon.

[ronnieb]

The pump switch on the panel is normally for the water pump that pumps water from the fresh water tank into your lines. When you are connected to city water you will not need to use the pump because the pressure is in the water line from your water connection and bypasses the fresh water tank. Also be sure to have a water pressure reducer on the city water connection to keep from blowing a water line lose in your RV.