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Old 08-01-2020, 11:17 AM   #1
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Leaving both grey and black tanks open on 2020 Discovery XLE

I read somewhere, that since we have 2 macerating toilets with double p trap type plumbing on the Discovery's you can leave both the grey and black tanks open without any odors getting into the coach. So I have been testing that out for the past 3 weeks and it seems to be true. Anyone else do, read or heard this?
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Old 08-01-2020, 11:20 AM   #2
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With P traps it seems that would make sense.
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Old 08-01-2020, 01:00 PM   #3
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Leaving both grey and black tanks open on 2020 Discovery XLE

P traps have nothing to do with leaving valves open. If you leave the black open all of the liquids drain out leaving poop mounds and tissue clods which is not so good. You can leave grey open but you need my opinion about a half a tank of grey to flush out hose after dumping black.
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Old 08-01-2020, 01:19 PM   #4
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As has already been stated - P traps have nothing to do with.

With the Black tank valve open you are allowing the liquid portion of your waste to drain out leaving the solids behind which can really solidify within 24 hours making it almost impossible to get them out of the tank.

Over the years I have left the gray tank open until the night before we were planning to depart. With it about half full I would dump the black tank; flush it and then dump the dray to flush out the hose.

If you leave the valves open you are also inviting uninvited guests into your unit.

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Old 08-01-2020, 02:11 PM   #5
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Not not open black valve until the black tank is 3/4 full. If you just leave it open, you will wind up with accumulated solids.
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Old 08-01-2020, 02:46 PM   #6
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With both toilets macerating all the waste... grinding everything and adding water so everything turns to a liquid form and jet flushing it out. Nothing is left to dry and pile up. Plus the ratio of liquid being flushed verses solid waste and toilet paper being flushed is about 5 to 1 there are no solids left to build up no piles or TP residue to sit and dry out. I also keep the blank tank flush system hooked up to rinse every week or when needed. The dual p traps keep any sewer gases from entering the coach. If I am traveling and doing overnight stops I let the tank fill and use happy camper to break it down even further. When I leave I close the grey tank the night before but that only helps clean/rinse the hoses, plus washing clothes and dishes keeps it rinsed as well. I use the black tank flush to clean all the residue every move day when the hoses are being used. Flush and Back Flush again and again till it's clear water coming out. I don't see it being a problem.
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Old 08-01-2020, 04:42 PM   #7
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With both toilets macerating all the waste... grinding everything and adding water so everything turns to a liquid form and jet flushing it out. Nothing is left to dry and pile up. Plus the ratio of liquid being flushed verses solid waste and toilet paper being flushed is about 5 to 1 there are no solids left to build up no piles or TP residue to sit and dry out. I also keep the blank tank flush system hooked up to rinse every week or when needed. The dual p traps keep any sewer gases from entering the coach. If I am traveling and doing overnight stops I let the tank fill and use happy camper to break it down even further. When I leave I close the grey tank the night before but that only helps clean/rinse the hoses, plus washing clothes and dishes keeps it rinsed as well. I use the black tank flush to clean all the residue every move day when the hoses are being used. Flush and Back Flush again and again till it's clear water coming out. I don't see it being a problem.


If you know the answer you want why did you start post? I don’t think a half a gallon of ground up poop and water will even make it thru the tank to the end of a 10 ft sewer hose.
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Old 08-02-2020, 10:15 AM   #8
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Dave, I have the same coach as you... However, you should listen to what the others are saying... Not sure if you have any clear sewer fittings with your set up or not. If not, get some. Keep your black tank closed and let it fill up, then dump while keeping an eye on the clear fittings. You will see that while it drains, clumps of wet TP and other effluent flows through the hose toward the end of the dump.

Its easy to think that the toilet is grinding up all of the "stuff" into nothing but liquid, but what you end up having is a "wet slurry" of TP (and other things) that still travels in clumps. The shape of the tanks on our coaches will ensure that those clumps will rest on the bottom of the tank with no really good way of being rinsed out.

IIRC you haven't had your coach much longer than me, so you may be in good shape now. Several months down the road as this "slurry" accumulates, you are going to be back on here asking how to disolve the solids in the bottom of your tank...
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Old 08-02-2020, 10:19 AM   #9
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Dave, I have the same coach as you... However, you should listen to what the others are saying... Not sure if you have any clear sewer fittings with your set up or not. If not, get some. Keep your black tank closed and let it fill up, then dump while keeping an eye on the clear fittings. You will see that while it drains, clumps of wet TP and other effluent flows through the hose toward the end of the dump.

Its easy to think that the toilet is grinding up all of the "stuff" into nothing but liquid, but what you end up having is a "wet slurry" of TP (and other things) that still travels in clumps. The shape of the tanks on our coaches will ensure that those clumps will rest on the bottom of the tank with no really good way of being rinsed out.

IIRC you haven't had your coach much longer than me, so you may be in good shape now. Several months down the road as this "slurry" accumulates, you are going to be back on here asking how to disolve the solids in the bottom of your tank...
I certainly hope he takes your advice.
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Old 08-31-2020, 02:26 PM   #10
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Even when ground up by the macerator, you can get poop piles if the valve is open (once dried it's almost like rock...probably worse when macerated)...always best to keep some standing water in the black tank at all times. And as a prior poster mentioned there could be build up in the sewer line. Nothing is better than dumping black when 1/2 full or fuller, and then following with a good rinse of grey water (or dumping a full bowl from a conventional dump toilet...see below).

Our Discovery has a macerating toilet in the rear full bath, and a conventional dump toilet in the mid-ship 1/2 bath. I actually prefer this for two reasons:
  • The conventional dump toilet cannot really break...it's a nice backup if the rear macerator were to fail. We had a campsite neighbor last year that had both of their macerator toilets fail. One toilet failed a few weeks earlier and they were going to repair when they got back home. When the second toilet failed they had to use the campground toilets for several days until repairs were done. Not a knock on macerating toilets...they just have extra "things" that can fail. Sometimes old technology is a good backup.
  • Since in my case the conventional toilet is almost directly over the black tank, and dumps into the end opposite the dump valve, I will fill the conventional toilet to the top of the bowl with water, dump the black tank until it no longer drains, and then dump the toilet and keep my foot on the pedal for another 30 seconds. The giant "whoosh" of water gets anything left on the bottom of the tank out. I don't use the installed black tank cleaning setup (no whoosh effect). If the wife steps on the pedal I can see what comes out with the clear 45° fitting I have between the valve and the sewer hose...and there's more than you'd think that is sometimes still sitting on the bottom of the tank. If I don't see clear water at the end I'll do another whoosh dump (this is rare).

Other notes:
  • Note that we use Charmin Ultra Soft toilet paper (have for all the years we have been RVing), and we never have issues.
  • We are also full-timers, and dump the blank tank weekly whether it's full or not (part of our Sunday morning ritual).
  • Every few weeks, after dumping the tank I add a small amount of Roebic K-57 into a toilet and flush (typically after a few toilet uses so it does not all flow down into the tank valve line).
  • I also add weekly some Odorlos for odor control (seems to work...we can tell when it has not been added).
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Old 09-03-2020, 06:03 PM   #11
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We have friends with the same set up. They leave both black and gray tanks open. With two macerating toilets and plenty of water, all the waste flows right on through....no problem. I tried the same thing, no problem for us either.
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Old 09-03-2020, 10:25 PM   #12
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Ever walk through your RV park and smell the stink of sewer gases. Thats caused in many cases by people leaving their dump valves open. How? It flows up your sewer hose then out the the roof vents of your RV. So your roof vent become vent for the sewer system. You won't smell it inside your coach but you stink the RV park up. Some parks are worse than others and some times it can be the wind drawing out. But if you keep them open yours tanks can build up crap and grease. And for the rest of please shut your valves.
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Old 09-04-2020, 04:23 AM   #13
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Ever walk through your RV park and smell the stink of sewer gases. Thats caused in many cases by people leaving their dump valves open. How? It flows up your sewer hose then out the the roof vents of your RV. So your roof vent become vent for the sewer system. You won't smell it inside your coach but you stink the RV park up. Some parks are worse than others and some times it can be the wind drawing out. But if you keep them open yours tanks can build up crap and grease. And for the rest of please shut your valves.
Good point!

I don't see any reason to keep the black tank valve open. It's still a better idea to keep it closed and drain and flush as needed.
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Old 09-04-2020, 09:29 AM   #14
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If you want to operate with the black tank open...all I can say is ...GOOD LUCK down the road.

Ken
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