Community Forums

CampDaven · 10-23-2014, 04:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MartySQ

My goodness...9 folks had to say the same basic thing! wow!

Yes, Marty.
I would call it piling on. 😳

Joe, I have never let mine get full. 3/4 is enough. But my guage is often wrong, so 7 days for the 2 of us works out well.
Happy Trails, RVM!

tacking · 10-23-2014, 06:30 PM

Sooo... what happens when you leave the black tank valve open?

HicksRA · 10-23-2014, 06:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tacking

Sooo... what happens when you leave the black tank valve open?

Something about a pyramid or sphynxter or something....

Bigd9 · 10-23-2014, 07:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mshappycampers

in a campground with sewer we always keep the black tank closed and leave the gray tank open. I keep an eye on the black tank and dump until it's almost full, close the gray tank valve, take a couple of showers, then dump using the gray water to rinse the hose. Well guess what, i forgot to check it! Annette used to toilet, pushes the flush button, the dump valve opens, and guess what is staring her in the face! Yep, the tank has filled up and is backed up in the toilet drain pipe!

She screams and runs out of there saying "how disgusting"

I bet i don't make that mistake again!

:d

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bilgerat

had a similar case in our new mh, wife screamed, i ran in, looked and said,"man we had that for dinner last night"!!!

and that's when the fight started

Oh so funny and oh so true. Just the thought of those "floaters" and "sinkers" makes me want to try that trick sometime.... NOT! Am I to assume both of you took your spouse out to dinner to make up?

Reminds me of the time I was managing a campground for emergency first responders just after Hurricane Katrina struck in Mississippi. I had 67 motorhomes and travel trailers and 67 generators running to power them. I ate MRE's and constantly had to keep people from pouring gas into diesel generators and diesel into gas generators. Since drinking water and sewer pipe lines were all clogged with sand and the plants were shut down we had water trucks to fill the water tanks daily, and "honey wagons" to empty the holding tanks.

One of the high class motorcoaches we used for the constant flow of dignitaries coming down to get on camera to pledge their support, had a sewer tank flush system where you attach a water hose to it and it sprays water inside the sewer tank while dumping. Well, old Bubba the water truck driver, had never seen one of those new fangled things, so he didn't know any better and connected his fresh water hose to that flush connector and let her rip filling the sewer tank to overflowing. Sewage water went up the vent pipe and and started to flow all over the roof and sides. He rushed inside to see what was wrong and hit the flush pedal on the toilet, which sent pressurized sewer water up into the bowl and all over the floor

. It took me two weeks in that heat constantly cleaning the carpet with a shop vac to get the coach smelling good enough for the dignitaries.

Oh the things we do to earn a buck

Mr_D · 10-23-2014, 07:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrt_1111

Be smart close the black tank value and empty when 3/4+ full.

Be even smarter and do the same with the gray and black tanks. Like I've been doing since RV's became self contained. When I started RV'ing the inside plumbing was a pull out seat with a plastic bag hanging from it in the kitchen cabinet!

Mr_D · 10-23-2014, 07:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tacking

Sooo... what happens when you leave the black tank valve open?

The liquid drains away leaving the feces in the tank. The dreaded "poop pyramid" that hardens and has to be manually removed.

chboone · 10-23-2014, 07:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MartySQ

My goodness...9 folks had to say the same basic thing! wow!

Quote:

Originally Posted by tacking

Sooo... what happens when you leave the black tank valve open?

Quote:

Originally Posted by HicksRA

Something about a pyramid or sphynxter or something....

MartySQ,
That's why it take 9 folks to say the same thing, some people don't get it. Unless the two posters were kidding.

Chuck

MSHappyCampers · 10-24-2014, 06:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bigd9

Oh so funny and oh so true. Just the thought of those "floaters" and "sinkers" makes me want to try that trick sometime.... NOT! Am I to assume both of you took your spouse out to dinner to make up?

Reminds me of the time I was managing a campground for emergency first responders just after Hurricane Katrina struck in Mississippi. I had 67 motorhomes and travel trailers and 67 generators running to power them. I ate MRE's and constantly had to keep people from pouring gas into diesel generators and diesel into gas generators. Since drinking water and sewer pipe lines were all clogged with sand and the plants were shut down we had water trucks to fill the water tanks daily, and "honey wagons" to empty the holding tanks.

One of the high class motorcoaches we used for the constant flow of dignitaries coming down to get on camera to pledge their support, had a sewer tank flush system where you attach a water hose to it and it sprays water inside the sewer tank while dumping. Well, old Bubba the water truck driver, had never seen one of those new fangled things, so he didn't know any better and connected his fresh water hose to that flush connector and let her rip filling the sewer tank to overflowing. Sewage water went up the vent pipe and and started to flow all over the roof and sides. He rushed inside to see what was wrong and hit the flush pedal on the toilet, which sent pressurized sewer water up into the bowl and all over the floor

. It took me two weeks in that heat constantly cleaning the carpet with a shop vac to get the coach smelling good enough for the dignitaries.

Oh the things we do to earn a buck

WOW!

Wbonsell · 10-24-2014, 12:30 PM

Just watched "RV" with Robin Williams last night. Oh the joys of RV ownership! With the fact that tank sensors can be a bit problematic, I have read how a little peak with a flashlight down the drain can confirm how full the tank might be. But, our drain goes down and to the right which does not give us a view of the tank. Pretty unusual?

We are anal, pardon the pun, about not emptying the black tank until 3/4 full...so imperative to have operating sensor.

Wayne M · 10-24-2014, 02:00 PM

After dumping, fill the toilet bowl up to the brim and while the tank is flushing flush the full toilet. Do this twice. The force of the water helps get rid of any pyramid.

deSanford · 10-24-2014, 02:26 PM

If you don't have a stinky slinky follow the instructions on your macerator pump. You can use the gray water to help flush out the black water tank etc. de Sanford

scenic route · 10-24-2014, 02:57 PM

We 'never' leave any drain valves open until ready to dump. Our last coach had two 40 gallon gray and two 40 gallon black water tanks, so we could go a long time without dumping. With all the critters living in CG sewer tanks and lines, I cringed at the thought of those buggers sneaking past an open drain valve and living in my RV tanks.

.

schrederman · 10-24-2014, 03:13 PM

With a title like this one... I had to read it all..... Yeah, I just had to.....

docj · 10-24-2014, 03:23 PM

As enjoyable as this thread has been, I'd like to return to the OP's issue for a moment. We also can last about a week on our black tank, but we've never had an incident where anything backed up into the toilet. Usually around the seventh day one of us will notice that the toilet has begun to "burp" when it is flushed. The burping occurs when the tank level goes above the vent pipe opening. It doesn't bring up any solids and is not really much more than a signal to us that it is time to dump the tank? I think this burping behavior is pretty common; I'm surprised the OP didn't notice it long before there was any backup.