Sewer hose tip

[MSHappyCampers]

I saw this on RV Travel and it sounds like a good idea!

When planning to dump the black tank, first pull the grey water valve for about three seconds, then close to allow the grey water to run through the sewer. The few seconds of water running through the sewer hose will wet it down and coat the inside. This helps prevent debris, particularly from the black tank, from sticking in the crevices and around curves. Thinking of all the places gunk can collect, particularly around the wires, makes this technique make a whole lot of sense.

Pulling the grey water valve when done further rinses out the sewer hose. Listen for that welcome whoosh of a full tank swirling around, scrubbing the insides of the tank, and fully emptying.

[TXiceman]

Seriously, I doubt if wetting the inside of the hose does anything beneficial. Just dump the black, rinse the tank and then flush the hose with the gray water.

Ken

[69Stang]

I do the grey just for a second to ensure there are no leaks anywhere, then the black. I'd much rather spill a little grey then black.

[Bigd9]

I guess it couldn't hurt.

But I can see this adding another layer of confusion and holding up the dumping process. Lets see, first open the compartment, and put on disposable gloves....darn my hands are wet from the morning due and I can't get the stupid gloves on without ripping them to bits... Heck with the gloves, OK now lets see, I hook up the stinky slinky to both the RV and the hole in the ground and I pull ..... wait a minute which one do I pull first? Check my checks list... oh yes, Joe said to pull the gray valve and ....Oh no the stupid stinky slinky popped out of the ground splattering 'stuff' all over.

Ok, I placed a rock over the ground connection and ....darn now my check list is all wet and the gray tank has completely drained. Darn Joe!. Oh well, I reach in and grab the black tank valve and pull. Then I try to pull the gray one and nothing comes out. "Sharon could you run some water in the sink please?" "Why?" By now all of the neighbors are outside watching me trying to dump our tanks. "Please just run some water". "Ok, hot or cold?". "I don't give a rats behind, just run the dang water!". "well, if you are going to yell at me you can just do it your self". By now neighbors have pulled up lawn chairs to sit and watch.

About then I hear her stomping into the bathroom and I suddenly worry about her flushing the toilet while the black tank is drained. "Don't flush the toilet I yell, I haven't put in the required 3 gallons of water and the packet of Happy Camper Joe requires". To late, I hear the toilet flush. The neighbors now have drinks in hand watching the show.

I suddenly remember the tank flush, and I start the water flowing into the tank. Sharon yells out the door "well are you going to get off your lazy butt and come in and run some water or what?". I had better go inside and say sweet nothings in her ear to calm her down. Part way through the calming down process she suddenly says "why is there water running off the roof?" SHOOT, the black tank flush is still running! I now notice the neighbors have been filming the whole episode for posting on their favorite social media.

No offence Joe, but I think I will stay with my familiar tried and true dumping sequence. At my age, adding another step with just screw up the entire process.


BTW, just so everyone knows, Sharon and I are still married even after 47 years.

[tdcolby]

When I dump, I always pull the grey first for a moment or two to check for leaks. I wouldn't want to recreate the scene from the movie RV.

Then I dump the black followed by the remaining greys (I have two.) to rinse the stinky

[rrsutherland]

Certainly agree with the "safety check" of a little grey before the black! Makes perfect sense to me and although it adds layers of complexity to an already very complicated task I'll practice, practice, practice!!!!

[Pointerman]

Great idea to check for issues when I had my TT. In a class A the black and grey dump valves are in separate compartments so this doesn't make much sense.

[carybosse]

When I am in a full hookup, I usually am dumping my grey (shower) tank long before the black tank needs to be considered. Never considered the wetting of the hose or the checking for leaks however.

If I am in the long line at the dump station at the campground without full hookups, all 3 of my dump valves are within a 1 foot cube. I can open a gray, close after checking for leaks, open the black, turn on the black flush line, turn off the black flush line, close black, open one grey, close, open 2nd grey, then open both greys, close both greys, all pretty quickly.

What I noticed once was if I opened both greys, it tended to try to level the two tanks out as they drained. I felt like one grey was feeding into the other. I don't think sending grey from one tank into the other grey tank is a good idea, so I added a little bit of an extra step to my process.

[TonyMac]

I like the Gray Water Check. I just added it to my mental checklist.

[LETMGROW]

Some people actually get paid to dream these ideas up.
With my set up I have an adapter which screws into the sewer opening as long as the opening is threaded. The elbow on the end of my hose is fixed to the hose and is clear plastic so I can see what;s being dumped. This provides a pretty much leak proof system but I still check with a blast of water from the grey tank. Old habits are hard to break. You never know. Someone may have walked by my hose and kicked it loose and the pressure could pop the hose right out of the adapter.
As far as 'wetting the hose' I guess it makes for good conversation but in practicality I don't think it amounts to squat. If I'm dumping a full black tank the hose is going to get wet and the pressure will remove anything which might stick to the hose in the first five seconds of the dump process. Dumping the grey last is good insurance and I always thoroughly rinse both tanks after dumping them anyway. On top of that I have an adapter so I can attach a dedicated garden hose to my drain hose(s) and rinse them if I feel it's needed which it probably never is. It does make me feel better before I store them away though.
I think better advice than Joe got would be to drink immense amounts of beer and eat dozens of chicken wings. There won't be any chunkies in your tanks to stick to anything.
Can I get paid for that?

[twogypsies]

The inside of a dump hose is smooth.... no wires or crevices to catch anything.

[MSHappyCampers]

Originally Posted by twogypsies

The inside of a dump hose is smooth.... no wires or crevices to catch anything.

I have a SmoothBore hose, not the accordion-type, that I've had since 2000. It is smooth inside, but I thought all the accordion-type hoses were not.

[Duster73]

Originally Posted by Bigd9

I guess it couldn't hurt.

But I can see this adding another layer of confusion and holding up the dumping process. Lets see, first open the compartment, and put on disposable gloves....darn my hands are wet from the morning due and I can't get the stupid gloves on without ripping them to bits... Heck with the gloves, OK now lets see, I hook up the stinky slinky to both the RV and the hole in the ground and I pull ..... wait a minute which one do I pull first? Check my checks list... oh yes, Joe said to pull the gray valve and ....Oh no the stupid stinky slinky popped out of the ground splattering 'stuff' all over.

I read the whole post, it was like a mini book and made me laugh. Because someone has done all that before. Cracking me up

[Boogie_]

Am I the only one rinsing the hose with fresh water (with dedicated water hose) after dumping the black & grey?