First Trip Out - Protocol Question

[suzhou]

My wife and I are enjoying our first night in our new trailer. So far going well. I didn't pay attention and parked the trailer about 5 feet too far to the front of the pad. Got it all leveled, set up, etc then realized our waste tank hose was a few feet to short to connect to the tank at the camp site. Darn, had to undo it all, hook the truck back up and move it back 5 feet, then do it over again. Oh well, I need the practice.

Question - when you stay at a campsite with waste connection at the site do you open your black and grey water valves and leave them open while at the site or do you simply open them as needed? I've left mine closed thinking fumes might come back up into the tanks. Probably not a logical concern. So far I've just opened the grey water tank once and emptied, then closed the valve.

[dmward]

Congrats on the first trip!

Totally logical with regards to fumes. Keep both tanks closed until you need to empty them. You also need that "build up" to help dump the tanks (extra water pressure).

If you leave them open, there is more chance of tank build up, which can cause issues down the road.

[NH Traveler]

Leave the black tank closed. You can open the gray if you want. Leaving water in the black tank will stop build up in the tank preventing clogging ( not fun). Empty the black tank when you are close to full or just before unhooking. be sure to add water to black tank don't leave dry.

[norty1]

If I am going to be there less the 3-4 days, I hook up the sewer and leave the valves closed. If more than 3-4 days I do the same thing but open the shower grey tank until the last day, then close it to allow for a good flushing of the hose after all the black and kitchen grey water is out. If course if you need to dump in the interim, just do it but I leave the valves closed.

Plenty of water is a good thing.

[namusmc65]

There is almost never a reason to leave the black tank valve open, unless you are cleaning your tank. There are plenty of reasons to leave the black tank valve closed. Putting some water back in your tank before you depart is a very good idea a this allows some sloshing action in the take to loosen any left over sludge you may have in there.

[ShawnR]

Don't dump the black when your neighbors are outside eating. Lol

[Rustysocket]

I tend to leave the valves open once we are hooked up.


In our years of camping I have witnessed three instances of flooded trailers. Two of them were young kids and running faucets left open. The other was a couple who were on there first outing. The new owner proceeded to hook his fresh water connection up an left... after several hours myself and another guy noticed that there was a lot of water dripping from this unit... It had been raining heavily or we would have noticed it sooner... Inspection revealed the new owner had hooked his fresh water hose to his tank cleanout rather than his city water connection. When they returned and opened the door there was a deluge of water from the RV. Needless to say they were devastated and it was a total mess.


Leaving the valves open can cause some issues with solids build up. But that is not something that happens quickly, that happens over long periods of time. If you fill them and flush the black tank your not going to have problems for short term use. If your staying in a permanent site or long-term I'd rethink what I just stated.

[charles_cincy]

Originally Posted by Rustysocket

I tend to leave the valves open once we are hooked up.

In our years of camping I have witnessed three instances of flooded trailers.

Better solution IMHO is to simply turn off the water supply if you leave the trailer.

Charles

[homer1959]

Black water tank = valve closed

Grey water tank connected to bathroom and shower = Open

Grey water tank connected to kitchen sink = Closed

Thats my receipe

[homer1959]

X2 for the water, and roll up the awning !!

Originally Posted by charles_cincy

Better solution IMHO is to simply turn off the water supply if you leave the trailer.

Charles

[need-a-vacation]

Originally Posted by charles_cincy

Better solution IMHO is to simply turn off the water supply if you leave the trailer.

Charles

X2. What I usually try to do if we will be away from the trailer for a while.

Suz,

Enjoy the trip!!!

How long of a sewer hose do you have? We have 2-10' sections. So far that has been enough. I don't plan on getting at least another 10' section to have for the if needed.

If all you have is the dealer supplied cheep hose, invest in a better one. I bought a camco 20' set with a doughnut and elbow for maybe $30 from Walmart. Not as heavy as the rhino flex, but better than the dealer supplied one.

[Flapper]

I'm in the black closed, gray open contingent.
But, a day or two before leaving (or any planned empty of the black), I will close the gray tanks. Then on the day of departure, after the black has been emptied, I'll dump the gray to help flush out any "remains" in the sewer hose.

Sewer gases into the tanks are not any concern. It's the reason all drains have P-traps, in houses as well as RV's.

[cekkk]

How has this thread gone this far without providing the OP with the technical term for solid waste build up - the Dreaded Pyramid of Poop!?!

[Camper_bob]

Originally Posted by suzhou

My wife and I are enjoying our first night in our new trailer. So far going well. I didn't pay attention and parked the trailer about 5 feet too far to the front of the pad. Got it all leveled, set up, etc then realized our waste tank hose was a few feet to short to connect to the tank at the camp site. Darn, had to undo it all, hook the truck back up and move it back 5 feet, then do it over again. Oh well, I need the practice.

Question - when you stay at a campsite with waste connection at the site do you open your black and grey water valves and leave them open while at the site or do you simply open them as needed? I've left mine closed thinking fumes might come back up into the tanks. Probably not a logical concern. So far I've just opened the grey water tank once and emptied, then closed the valve.

BTDT, more than once I've had to re-position the rig after getting unhooked and mostly set up. What a PITA! You'd think I'd learn!! At least it's very rarely for the same reason as the time before...

My procedure is to leave the black closed (and use PLENTY of water when flushing, no poo pyramid for me!!) unless I'm actively dumping or rinsing, and I mostly leave the gray open because DW likes her long showers. I don't generally need a build up in the gray to rinse my hoses since I do a multi-fill and flush when I'm dumping the black, and I rinse the hose manually as well, just for an extra good rinsing. That being said, I'll usually close the gray valve while we're packing up and run some water in it. More to rinse the tank than to rinse the hose.

If you're leaving the gray open and you're worried about fumes, you can put a small bend in your sewer hose. Kind of like a pea trap in a sink drain, it will fill with water and act as a vapor barrier. I've done this a few times when I've stayed at sites with some pretty funky facilities. Like when I open the cap and flies come out... I'll always make a bend in the hose for those sites.

[northwindone]

Originally Posted by suzhou

My wife and I are enjoying our first night in our new trailer. So far going well. I didn't pay attention and parked the trailer about 5 feet too far to the front of the pad. Got it all leveled, set up, etc then realized our waste tank hose was a few feet to short to connect to the tank at the camp site. Darn, had to undo it all, hook the truck back up and move it back 5 feet, then do it over again. Oh well, I need the practice.

Originally Posted by Camper_bob

BTDT, more than once I've had to re-position the rig after getting unhooked and mostly set up. What a PITA! You'd think I'd learn!! At least it's very rarely for the same reason as the time before...[...]

I'm sure many of us know the feeling, I've had to reposition a few times with our old rig, usually before setup though. However, last weekend on our first outing with our current rig. It was pull through with the hookups right in the middle. I pulled up enough for the rear bumper to clear the road behind (tires of truck were on road in front) and stopped. Proceeded to setup and then realized how far away the sewer hookup was from the outlet. I almost moved but figured I would just hook 2 of my 3 hoses together to reach. Next time I know to pull up further and then just park the truck behind the trailer.

I made sure my tanks were full before dumping, especially the grey tank before dumping the black. It worked fine other than having to "walk" the last of the grey water down the hose to get it out before I unhooked as the outlet was only an inch or two above the drain. I wanted to empty my 60 gallon freshwater tank before I departed, so the hose at least got a good rinsing after the somewhat slow draining at the end caused by using two hoses.

And yes, I don't know if it is strange, but I carry 3 hoses (4 if you include the "garbage" one in the bumper still). I keep everything sewer related in a covered but vented tote, and it had room, so why not.

[clubhouse]

The is no debate with the black tank -- it must stay closed till 2/3+ full then dump. If you are leaving and it's not that full, add water to fill it up before dumping. The force of lots of water is needed to clean the tank and hose of solids.

The grey tank is of your own choice. Personally I leave closed and dump as required. It might not be logical but I don't want an open connection between my TT and the sewer dump. TT have some traps to prevent sewer gas, but I still prefer the additional security of the ball valve staying closed.

I have no idea if it's true or not, a seasoned RV may have been messing with me when I was rookie. But this old guy warned me to leave everything closed to prevent the potential of sewer flies entering the tank and ultimately my RV. Didn't question him, not have ever thought to look up if sewer flies are a real thing. Maybe someone hear can tell me if I was being messed with or if there is some truth to it. Almost sounds a bit like snipe hunting to me ��

[suzhou]

Thanks. Lots of great inputs on this one. I've decided I'll be in the "keep em both closed and empty as needed" camp. Will make sure the BW tank is mostly full before emptying and will likely get an extension hose just in case I need it. Who knows, I might discover it's too short late one night when the mosquitoes are in full force and I don't really want the practice of starting my setup all over.

[Swinepartner]

Same as norty1...my grey tanks fill up after about 2-3 days, so I'll leave that tank open and close the night before we leave. This builds up water to help flush line out after I dump black tank. I leave black tank closed as long as possible. Dump and close agin if I'm there for over 4 days.

[DebKen]

We leave them both closed until we are ready to dump (we only pee in the toilet). When dumping we open the black tank first and when that is empty we open the gray tank. That way the semi-clean water used in dishwashing, showers, etc. flows through the hose which helps wash IT out.