When your black tank is about half full, empty it followed by a good flush from your gray tank. The gray water will thoroughly clean out your dump hose.
When you leave the valves open you are likely to have bad odors, create a build-up just below your toilet discharge valve, accumulated waste will collect in your dump hose causing even more odors, and un-flushed matter will collect on the bottom of your holding tank and harden becoming almost impossible to clean out.
Use a board or commercial product (like the Slinky shown in the photo) to lay your hose on that will maintain a slant between your hose outlet and the dump station to create a better gravity flow and no low spots where waste will collect.
You can also create a "trap" in your hose and leave the gray valve open all the time. The "trap" in the line will stop sewer gas from coming through.
ReplyDeleteRemember to NOT have the trap when you dump your black tank.
Could you explain this a little better? Does leaving the gray valve open actually create the trap, or do you have to do something in addition to that?
DeleteNo, you have to create the trap yourself. We do this when ever we are using the washing machine.
DeleteHave been full timing for 13 years, leave my gray valve open all the time, never had a problem with odors BECAUSE, I move my slinky out a ways from the portal where the drain hose come out. The hose drops straight down and then is forced to come back up on to the slinky, thereby creating a "P" trap.The small amount of gray water that stays in the drain hose creates a barrier that does not allow sewer gasses back into the coach.
ReplyDeleteTo the 9:58 AM "Anonymous": all that (s)he means is that, if you want to leave the gray water valve open, you can create a "P Trap" in the hose to prevent sewer gases from traveling up into the RV through the gray water tank. That would defeat what the article advised; and, it would be unnecessary if there was water in all of the traps in the RV (sink(s) and shower).
ReplyDeleteWe do leave our gray water valve open, and the hose creates a trap with no help from me when the weight of the gray water pushes down on the section of the hose before it reaches the support "slinky". "Six of one, half a dozen of........"
Thank you :)
DeleteIf you leave your gray water valve open , you need the "P" trap in your slinky to prevent the RV park sewer system from continuously venting gases thru the roof vents on your RV.
ReplyDeleteIf you leave the gray valve open all the time, you fail to rinse out your dump hose after dumping the black tank. Hey, if you want an accumulation of human waste in the corrugated 4" dump hose it's your business, but no thanks.
ReplyDeleteWe leave our grey valve open most of the time, using the "p-trap" technique. However, we close the grey valve a day or two before we need to dump the black tank. This way there is plenty of grey water to rinse the hose after dumping the black tank.
ReplyDeleteI think a better definition of the Stinky Slinky trap would be a U Trap versus a P Trap. I never leave my valves open unless we are using the Splendid for some emergency clothes washing. We generally use laundromats for all of our wash. If you think by leaving the grey valve open that you are not damaging the inside of your gray tank you need to think twice about that. When you open up a the sewer system for your vanity or shower or even the kitchen sink in your S&B house, what do you usually see? Lot's of black crud, hair, slime and other ugly junk. Well guess what? It's the same stuff that's sitting in the bottom of your grey tank that will never be cleaned out when the grey valve is left open ALL the time. BUT, it's your RV, your grey tank and your decision as to how to maintain it. Safe travels.
ReplyDeleteI use an enzyme digester in the black tank and the grey tank. I always leave both valves closed, and usually will dump the grey tank several times before the black tank dump is needed. Recently, I installed a blade-valve at the end of the sewer hose. When dumping the grey, I will open the main valve on the motorhome and fill the sewer hose with the enzyme water from the grey tank, then close the gate-valve at the end of the hose. The enzyme works to keep the hose clean.
ReplyDelete