Fulltiming for one month, previously part-time RVers have heard not to leave the valves open. Now I notice all of the fulltimers here leave both valves open all the time. Opinions please. Thanks
2002 Gulfstream Ultra Class C 31'
2008 Chevrolet Cobalt (dinghy)
Trawler and Sailing vessels (Ocean & Gulf Cruisers)
Present Hobby: pre-1899 and 1920-40 WWI-WWII handguns
Residents: Florida Gulf Coast
black tank closed until 3/4+ full gray open. about once a month i use calgon and bleach in the gray and leave them to fill to clean and disinfect. This seems to keep the sensors somewhat in operation,
2007 Forest River Sierra 31fkd (37') dual slides
chevy suburban 2003 2500-8.1 L.4.10's
prodogy/reese dual cam
rollgard springs
anchor wrote: Fulltiming for one month, previously part-time RVers have heard not to leave the valves open. Now I notice all of the fulltimers here leave both valves open all the time. Opinions please. Thanks
Fulltiming for 2+ years. Grey valves open, black valve closed until toilet burps.
You should be able to make a ton of money in the near future at that park if you learn how to replace black tanks. Sounds like lots of poop pyramids forming there.
The black valve should never be left open. The solid waste and toilet paper will hit the bottom of the tank and stay there, and the water will run down the sewer hose. If these solids ever dry up on the bottom of the tank, they are nearly impossible to remove, not to mention the smell you will get every time you open your toilet valve to flush. This material will turn to something resembling concrete if it ever dries out. Believe me, I've personally observed this on my relatives' travel trailer. The gray valve should be closed most of the time, also, so that after draining and flushing the black tank, you can forcibly wash any fecal material and toilet paper left in your sewer hose with the cleaner water from the gray tank. As wtravlr1 suggests, if you are full timing, once or twice a month you need to clean the tanks and put sewer treatment in them each time you clean or dump.
Not being a full-timer, I clean my tanks every time we return home, since, fortunately, I put water and and a sewer dump in my RV garage when it was built. Because the Texas heat causes odors to rapidly escalate, even in the gray tank (because of organic food particles being attacked by the same heat-loving, rapidly-growing bacteria that take up residence in the black tank), after cleaning I put formaldehyde in the black tank, then fill it to the bottom of the dump valve in the toilet, and put milder sewer treatment in the gray tank, and fill it until I see the water begin to fill the shower drain. I leave them for several days, then drain them. Formaldehyde kills all bacteria it comes into contact with, period.
The reason I fill the black tank (with the formaldehyde in it) all the way to the toilet dump valve is that often the odors you might smell from your toilet are not coming from the black tank (which you probably added sewer treatment to), but are actually coming from fecal matter in the lower chamber of your toilet below the bowl dump valve, or the pipe that connects the toilet to the tank. Once I let the formaldehyde sit in these areas and in the tank for a few days, every odor-causing bacteria is dead, and there is no smell, even if the toilet valve is propped open. This is a method I invented during our 32 years of RVing, to make sure we aren't overcome by sewer odors created by the bacteria which can overwhelm you in less than a day in our Texas summer heat. Treating the tank doesn't kill the ones growing in the bottom chamber of your potty.
2003 GMC Sierra Crew HD; 6.0L; Prodigy
2006 Thor Tundra 30RL-DSL; Reese Strait-Line & Dual-cam HP
2001 Honda Elite Scooter
Jim & Gayle Bryant
Murphy's Law: "Anything that CAN happen, WILL."
Bryant's Law: "31 years of RVing? Probably already HAS."
We leave both valves closed. Empty the grey twice a week and the black once. We also regenerate the water softener weekly, if it needs it.
Anyone who leaves the black open is asking for big trouble in river city. We have seen the results and it is ugly
Dianne
Fulltimers (9 years)
Volunteering/workamping
Heise Hot Springs, ID for the summer
DataStorm
HAM WB6N (Terry)
2005 Teton 39' Frontier Grand
2003 Freightliner FL60
Life Member Good Sam
Escapees
Geocache..."RVcachers" RV net Blog
Fulltiming for 5 years and have never left the black valve open. Leave the black valve shut until it is full then let the grey fill up and dump black first then grey.
Just goes to show that one can explain `experience' in many ways. Some, apparently, learn a lot in a few years of camping. Others merely xerox yesterday and don't grow. How to properly hookup and dump tanks are examples.
You've probably also seen sewer hoses that come out of the camper, snake along the ground, then uphill to the sewer connection. No growth.
Dick_B
2003 SunnyBrook 27FKS
2003 3/4 T Chevrolet Suburban
Equal-i-zer Hitch
One wife, two bikes (both Electric Schwinn's with motor assist)
Well Dick, for 36 years, we have left out valves OPEN, never closed them except when we move. And in all those years, I have never had but one problem. My Jayco had a bend in the drain that would not drain no matter open or closed. Course I dont have it anymore.
I think it depends on how much tp one uses and how much water. We always makes sure we use enough water.
But I gotta admit, Im one lucky fellow.
My Montana has been parked since Feb at my N Tex site and the valves have been open since the day I arrived. Still no trouble.
Offline
Online
