New to full bathroom

[Livin4wkends]

We just purchased a hybrid (02 Aerolite Cub and will be posting pics on the new rig section as soon as we pick it up tomorrow!!) after selling our pop up. Our pop-up had the inside shower (which we never used) and the potty but now we actually have a full bathroom. Can anyone give me pointers, advice, things I always wanted to know about RV bathrooms but were afraid to ask? Wondering about the best way to shower the kids and us if no showers are available. DH is 6'5" and plans to only use it if he has to. Please don't laugh at this one...I have read that men sit down to use the potty?? Is that true? Thanks for any info you can give me!

[davydee]

We never seemed to have enough fresh & gray water capacity (until we got our current rig), so we tended to use the campgound showers whenever possible (and acceptable). Things we did that worked well for us:

"Navy shower". Turn water on, rinsed, turned water off, soaped down, turned water back on, rinsed off, turned water off.

Dryed the shower everyday with one of those super soaker towels (usually after everyone showered) to minimize mildew.

Kept a dry eze chemical dehumidifier in the bathroom (can get at Camping World) and kept an additional one in the ktichen when in storage. Drained/changed them out every two weeks or when the chemicals ran low. Always kept the vent in the bath room open (adjusting for the weather, of course)

Always kept a minimum of 5 gals of water in the black tank and a gallon or 2 in the grey tank (OK, one gal of antifreeze in each when in winter storage). Made it a rule that no solid human waster goes in the toilet unless you're sick. Dumped black tank every 4 days whether it was needed or not. An idea our dealer practices is that no toilet paper waste goes in the toilet, either. He suggested a waste basket that was empted as necessary for holding the toilet paper. I'm not there, yet! (We always used RV toilet paper, too.)

Always dumped black tank first, then gray tank, then ran fresh water through each tank. Back flushed the tanks when every possible, though sometimes we had a line behind us at a dump station and I usually passed on back flush in those circumstances.

Other than we'd eventually get the tank sensors dirty and they become useless, we never had a problem in 19 years of travel trailer towing.

(I keep editing because I keep thinking of something else!)

We always carried our sewer hose and sewer hose accessories in a rubber maid plastic tote/container. Washed all of it after each trip and let dry before closing it all back up. I'm on my 7th year with the same sewer hose.

Only at select resort RV campgounds did I leave my sewer hose out. I normally dumped, put the sewer hose and its accessories back in that tote, and closed/stored it.

Hope this helps! David

[Doris]

Assuming we are hooked up to sewer, we took shorter showers than at home, but don't mess with turning it on or off. The water always seems too hot when we do this and it ends up using more water anyway, while we adjust. We keep our hose connected, and wide open for the shower and sink waters. We close it the last day, or before we think we'll be dumping the black water. We try to make sure the black tank is pretty full before we dump it (we, as if I ever do it LOL) so everything goes down. If it's not full, we run the toilet to get it full. Once that's empty, we then dump the grey water, usually after I finish up some dishes with soap, to make sure the hose is nice and clean. My husband then puts the blue stuff through the hose up into the system, because we have a cleaner on our trailer. He rinses everything one last time. We also keep the blue stuff in the actual toilet as needed.
When using the toilet, the rule for us is to use plenty of water. Three bowls full if there are solids, because we want that toilet paper to mix with water. For us, the biggest advantage of a TT with a bathroom, is to be able to use it. We always make sure we travel with some water in it, so the water can swish around.
As for sit and stand, that is a personal thing LOL!

[davydee]

Dave, see if your shower head has an on/off slide switch or you can turn the shower head to an off position. ("Off" on these things is a personal opinion. "Off" for us was a really, really light trickle of water.) If you can do that, you can significantly reduce the issue Doris noted above on adjusting hot vs cold. Our current trailer doesn't have that "off" position, and we now have the hot vs cold issue Doris describes. Good luck! other David

[Doris]

Mine has that off switch, but still, the water temp is not the same when we turn it back on. It's been discussed around campfires, and others have the same problem. Mine does turn off except for a feew drops, so maybe that is the difference.
If they are hooked up to sewer, as long as they aren't long showers, they can just keep it running. Might have to wait between showers for enough hot water. We put on the electric and gas heaters, if we have a crew showering. Gas reheats it pretty fast.

Quote:

Originally Posted by davydee Dave, see if your shower head has an on/off slide switch or you can turn the shower head to an off position. ("Off" on these things is a personal opinion. "Off" for us was a really, really light trickle of water.) If you can do that, you can significantly reduce the issue Doris noted above on adjusting hot vs cold. Our current trailer doesn't have that "off" position, and we now have the hot vs cold issue Doris describes. Good luck! other David

[Frankenstien]

In an attempt to get the best of both world (shower) I picked up a Miser head from Wally world for about 5 bucks... this is the small cone shaped shower head (about 1inch) at the opening, this head sprays more of a fine mist than an all out shower... uses considerably less water with out having to turn on and off...

[davydee]

We were at Home Depot today buying faucets and accessories for the stixs & bricks. I saw several aftermarket choices there that had a setting of "Pause" and one that had "Trickle". I couldn't recall the size of the holder for our current shower head, so I passed. We're leaving for Yellowstone in a few weeks, anyway. We'll do what Doris does and see what happens.

[Frankenstien]

Found one very similar to what I bought...

Watersaver Jet Brass Showerheads | Shower Heads

[davydee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frankenstien Found one very similar to what I bought... Watersaver Jet Brass Showerheads | Shower Heads

Thanks!!! David

[wa8yxm]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Livin4wkends .I have read that men sit down to use the potty?? Is that true? Thanks fr any info you can give me!

The joke goes that researchers asked 3 groups of men "Briefs or Boxers"

Well, One group said "Briefs" one said "Boxers" but the senior citizens said "Depends"

It depends.... It depends, of course, on what we plan on doing, it depends on the lay out of the room, it depends on some other things.

Sometimes, we sit, sometimes we stand. it all depends.

IN my coach the front toilet the lid does not like to stay up on it's own.. Thus sitting makes sense.

[rv10man]

I found that in my MH after I adjusted the water temp for the shower and used the "slide switch", the water would come out very hot for a couple of seconds, then turn to what I had adjusted it for. Being a licensed plumber and knowing how a water heater operates, it was no big deal. What I figured was happening, was, when I turned the slide switch to off, the water sitting in the hose separated, (hot/cold) with the hot water coming to the top, then leveling out.

Marshall Alexander

[sknight]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rv10man I found that in my MH after I adjusted the water temp for the shower and used the "slide switch", the water would come out very hot for a couple of seconds, then turn to what I had adjusted it for. Being a licensed plumber and knowing how a water heater operates, it was no big deal. What I figured was happening, was, when I turned the slide switch to off, the water sitting in the hose separated, (hot/cold) with the hot water coming to the top, then leveling out. Marshall Alexander

Strange but mine does the same thing, except it's cold! I cup my hand around the shower head as I turn it on and block the water until it warms up.

As for the other questions, no laughing, you just do what ya gotta do.