MFinCA
San Francisco Bay Area, CA
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Joined: 06/09/2004
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amrakdg wrote:One possible solution would be to place a 5 gallon bucket under the gray tank, open the valve until the bucket is half full and dump that into the toilet.
We dry camp at NASCAR races and BBQ competitions and I do what amrakdg promotes.
It can be a little tiresome transferring 10-20 gallons of gray water over to the black tank 2.5 gallons at a time. But since I don't have to do it very often I just put up the effort and do it.
It beats the heck out of paying $40-$75 to have the wagon come by and empty the tanks.
MFinCA
2004 Homestead Settler 255RS
1999 Chevrolet Suburban 2500
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wittmeba
Roanoke, Va
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quabillion wrote:wittmeba wrote:quabillion wrote:put the cap on the 3 inch "outlet" pipe and open both gray and black valves.
The tank levels will equalize assuming that the rig is level.
Perhaps tilt the rig towards the black tank to get more into it.
I would never do this! Wouldnt this fill the dump tube where you connect the sewer hose? This idea would work if you have a separate connection and a separate valve between the black and gray tanks but not using the dump tube.
Yes it would fill the tube, thats why the cap is needed.
A very small amount of thought here will allow this "new issue" to be dealt with as well, Or just read my post about a pan/bucket to catch this gray water.
For $O the solution to the problem will involve using what you have already got.
It seems to me that the reason to 'balance' the black/gray tanks it would be more than just a couple drops/gallons. If you have 10-15 gallons and pull both drains your drain pipe will also fill. What do you think will happen when you attempt to attach the sewer hose to drain either/both after balancing and using for another day or two? Do you feel you will only have a little bit of gray water after this transfer?
My tube is about 15' long - we have 2 gray tanks - 1 at the mid and 1 at the very rear under the kitchen. There are no valves inbetween.
Bruce & Carolyn Wittmeier
Viet Nam Vet 1968-69
I was born in Great Falls, Mt. My parents moved when I was 5.
I found them when I was 10 - they were in California.
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quabillion
Fulltime Native Texan
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wittmeba:
Here is a photo of the type of valve arrangement that I have and I am recommending this practice for. Please ignore the small hose and pump that you see, this was the only photo of my drain that I had on hand.
I have measured how much is held behind the cap and between the valves.
It is a whopping 14 fluid ounces!!
If your rig dosent look like this, then you are gonna have more to deal with,, like wittmeba does.
1442 watts of solar on the roof. 600AH AGM battery bank. Prosine 2kw inverter. 6KVA diesel gen with auto start. 100% off grid since 6-1-03
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Bumpyroad
Virginia
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Joined: 12/01/2005
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MFinCA wrote:amrakdg wrote:One possible solution would be to place a 5 gallon bucket under the gray tank, open the valve until the bucket is half full and dump that into the toilet.
We dry camp at NASCAR races and BBQ competitions and I do what amrakdg promotes.
It can be a little tiresome transferring 10-20 gallons of gray water over to the black tank 2.5 gallons at a time. But since I don't have to do it very often I just put up the effort and do it.
It beats the heck out of paying $40-$75 to have the wagon come by and empty the tanks.
my obvious question is why don't you transfer 4 or 5 gallons at a time? weight? if you use a 5 gallon bucket.
bumpy
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wittmeba
Roanoke, Va
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quabillion wrote:If your rig dosent look like this, then you are gonna have more to deal with,, like wittmeba does.
Slightly different. Our tube goes from where the sewer hose is connected at the trailer (in front of the slide) to about 1' under the rear of the slide. It is a 14' slide. The 2 sections of PVC are 7 1/2 feet long each.
http://members.cox.net/bruce.wittmeier/images/SewerSupport001.jpg
I have considered one of these just for better control:
Twist on Valve Gate
* This post was
edited 10/02/08 03:32pm by wittmeba *
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MFinCA
San Francisco Bay Area, CA
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Bumpyroad wrote:MFinCA wrote:It can be a little tiresome transferring 10-20 gallons of gray water over to the black tank 2.5 gallons at a time. But since I don't have to do it very often I just put up the effort and do it.
It beats the heck out of paying $40-$75 to have the wagon come by and empty the tanks.
my obvious question is why don't you transfer 4 or 5 gallons at a time? weight? if you use a 5 gallon bucket.
bumpy
2 reasons: First, my TT sits pretty low. I cannot tilt the 5-gallon bucket underneath it to capture a full 5-gallons. Of course, another option would be to bring another bucket and use Bucket #1 to fill up Bucket #2--then dump the contents down the toilet. I just don't want to bring 2 buckets along with me for those infrequent times I have to transfer from one tank to another.
Second reason: A half-empty bucket of gray water is less likely to spill. I don't want to spill the gray water on the ground and REALLY don't want to risk spilling it in my TT.
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Adam H
People's Republic of California
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Joined: 02/12/2007
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I have a bowl that fits nicely in one side of my kitchen sink. When I fill it doing dishes, I pour it into the toilet. Simple, Free and clean.
Adam
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SuperDutyMan
Western PA.
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Joined: 02/23/2008
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I read an article in Trailer Life Magazine the issue before last where peaple write in with a problem and they contact the Co. or factory to resolve a problem for them.A fellow was unhappy that gray goes into his black tank.The Co. stated that a lot of TTs with a gray bathroom tank and a gray kitchen tank will dump the bathroom tank into the black tank to flush out the solids and it is a common practice among TT builders.I had never heard of that and my Cougar has an enclosed under belly and the kitchen gray is visible and goes back and joins the 3" dump between the Black slide valve and the end cap.The black slide valve is not visible and the gray bathroom valve is not visible,I have not had the time to experiment with colored water or something to see if mine is set up that way.I think it would be great if it were,dump black,when empty, dump gray in bathroom and it flushes the black tank clean,according to the article in TLM that is how some are set up.Anyone sure about this?
2008 Keystone Cougar XLite 29RLS
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Redrider910
Alberta
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Joined: 03/30/2008
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My problem with the five gal bucket is that I have to put the rear slide in to get to the 3" outlet. And I would have to put the bed away before the slide goes in.
The last reasion I don't like the bucket is that is it's too much work when I should be drink beer on my holday..
Thanks.
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