Community Forums

mjschocken · 06-02-2017, 01:00 PM

My wife and I are taking our 2016 Class C Jayco Redhawk to Arizona in July for a six-week overall adventure. We've had the RV for nearly two years now but have only used it to travel to a site in Florida, stay a week, and then return to our Florida home. This trip is obviously different. We'll drive 4 - 5 hours in the morning, stop at a KOA camp site in the early afternoon, stay the night and then leave the next morning and drive again for 4 - 5 hours to the next site until we get to our destination. Here's our question. We generally don't dump the black water tank until it's at least 50% full. That's what all the books say and all the RVers we've asked. If we only stay one night in a given site, the black tank will not be anywhere close to 50% full unless we add water to it. So, do you advise not dumping every day but rather dump every 2 - 3 days and basically travel with black and gray water tanks that aren't empty? It's summer and going to be hot in the southern US along our route. I assume we will want to dump if we start to smell bad odors. If so, how do you add water to the black tank to get it to 50% capacity or more? Do you add water via the pedal on the toilet? Do you snake a hose up into the bathroom and add city water into the toilet and then watch the sensor to get to 50% full. Finally, we have a black-water tank flush. Do any of you who have that use it to simply add more water to the black tank to get enough water in there to empty? We don't know if that's the right thing to do since it's not really what the black-water flush is supposed to accomplish. Anyway, we're very interested in your suggestions. This is our first trip of this kind so we're really a little in the dark with how one dumps when traveling from campsite to campsite. Basically, we're asking two questions. One, for a trip like this, do you dump each day or every 2 - 3 days? Two, if you aren't at the 50% or better mark on the black tank sensor gauge and you need to dump, how do you add more water to the black tank? In advance, thanks much.

Winger22 · 06-02-2017, 01:13 PM

Usually Black tank every 2-3 days with a city water hose down the toilet. Maybe gray water each morning on the way out. No need to carry extra weight when you don't need to.

Podivin · 06-02-2017, 01:34 PM

When we're site hopping we dump the black tank on the same schedule as we would if we're sitting at one site for the same number of days.
Which is to say, dump the black tank when it needs dumping, not just because you're about to move.
The tanks don't smell any worse moving than they do when stationary - which SHOULD meant that you can't smell them at all - so no need to change your 'dump days' schedule.

Traxless · 06-02-2017, 06:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Winger22

Usually Black tank every 2-3 days with a city water hose down the toilet. Maybe gray water each morning on the way out. No need to carry extra weight when you don't need to.

Close to our practice too. However, if the next stop is a longer drive and we don't have a planned place to stay, we dump the black tank too. So we're traveling light and better prepared to dry camp as we go.

Winemaker2 · 06-02-2017, 06:43 PM

Use your judgement based on next stop or 2. Black flush is an excellent way to aid w dumping even if less than 50% go ahead and hook up flush add some water and dump. You can either close the valve and partially refill or just keep flushing till it runs fairly clean.
This is where a clear discharge elbow really comes in handy.
I will dump more often when the waste is close to my wet bay less often if it's a long run...just wait for a more convenient location to dump.

EdInArk · 06-02-2017, 07:02 PM

We will sometimes go a day without dumping if we overnight for one night and know we can dump at the next stopping point -- never a problem.

And I do use the black tank flush to add a bit of water if desired. Just don't start it running and go do something else that might distract your attention.

Winemaker2 · 06-02-2017, 07:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EdInArk

We will sometimes go a day without dumping if we overnight for one night and know we can dump at the next stopping point -- never a problem.

And I do use the black tank flush to add a bit of water if desired. Just don't start it running and go do something else that might distract your attention.

Good point about getting distracted.
I usually make it a habit to open the valve about 50% and flush...that way if you forget it will flow out. Open the valve fully and dump partially close and flush again if desired.

wanderso · 06-02-2017, 10:33 PM

My method may not be optimal, but I always dump the tanks when leaving the campground for the next extended leg of the trip. I fill the tank with some water on the bottom after dumping so that it will not be completely dry. At the end of every trip, including weekend excursions, I rinse the tank with a garden hose attached cleaning wand, add some water to cover the bottom of the tank and a bit of deodorant for when it is parked in storage. Our covered storage facility also has a dump station, making this easy to do after each trip.

My reasoning in this method is that I don't want the extra weight behind the rear duals while traveling (bathroom is in the back) and I have visions of liquid poo and toilet paper sloshing around and sticking to the sides of the tank and up into the areas directly below the toilet flapper valve. My tank level indicators are external so buildup is less of a concern than on my prior RVs. Also, I like that there is less strain on the tank, tank valves, and tank mounts than the bumps and bruises of being a fuller tank going down the highway.

Healeyman · 06-03-2017, 09:50 AM

Schocken,

You are WAY over thinking things.

In nearly 15 years of RVing, in all of the lower 48 and Canada, we have NEVER "hooked up" to park water and have NEVER "hooked up" to park dump.

We fill the water tank when it is empty and dump when it is full, usually every 4-5 days. Who wants to handle the stinky slinky any more than they have to?

IF we need to dump, we dump when we FIRST get to an RV park. The Gry & Blk tanks will dump cleaner when they have sloshed around for a few hundred miles.

Keep a little bit of water on top of the valve at the bottom of the toilet bowl and you shouldn't smell anything. All of the smell should go out the roof vent.

Tim

jrwpin · 06-03-2017, 01:20 PM

X2 with Healeyman

nothermark · 06-04-2017, 07:06 AM

Not sure how your unit works but we travel with a full water tank and empty black and gray. Dump after taking showers every other day as the shower empties into the black tank. That will more than half fill the black.

There are a lot of us who travel with full or something close to it fresh tanks. Lets us boondock or not as we desire. Fuel economy is already so bad that it does not seem to make a measurable difference.