Evenings, mornings, twice a day, every 2 days, - or just leave the shutter to sewer permanently open?Sewer is prehistorical, Mexican style - hole in the ground with cement lid.As I see it - leaving the shutter open, fumes from sewer will flow easily into tank. Besides, potential risk of "poop pyramid" build-up in a dry tank. One person trailer, didn't happen so far, but you never know...There is no 15-20 gallons of water added after emptying it, like some people recommend - what water in desert, I have to pay for water truck to come once in a while.I've come to emptying it in the morning and then in the evening. So solids are diluted with liquids and when shutter opens, it all runs happily down the pipe. Then close the shutter again. On a calm day I can smell it for a few minutes from sewer vent pipe 15 ft away, after emptying. That vent pipe (not my trailer tank vent) is 1ft above the ground. Luckily, it's just me on this sewer, so everything filters down into sand shortly after.Oh yeah, and making a cross ;) of 2 strips of toilet paper in the bowl works like a charm - solids slip down with the paper, otherwise it sticks to this un-ergonomic plastic bowl.

Empty the tank when it gets full. Then, let it fill up again. Repeat.

The common recommendation is to empty the black tank when it's at least 3/4 full to ensure a good "flush" action. The grey tank can be left open, although in your case that may cause some odor issues. Grey tank waste can smell as bad or worse than the back tank sometimes.

One person in a trailer. It will be weekS before I empty it when full. Brewing and smelling into trailer through the bowl all this time. 77-80 in November-December, this brewery just loves it when it's warm.Emptying when 3/4 - maybe. It could still be a week or more. Yes, grey tank is always open, this is not a problem.

Almot wrote:One person in a trailer. It will be weekS before I empty it when full. Brewing and smelling into trailer through the bowl all this time. 77-80 in November-December, this brewery just loves it when it's warm.Emptying when 3/4 - maybe. It could still be a week or more. Yes, grey tank is always open, this is not a problem.There should be NO odors coming thru toilet bowl. Water should be staying in bowl which provides a vapor barrierGrey being open all the time could very well be your odors issue.Under bathroom sink is probably an Air Admittance Valve (allows air into sink drain line so 'P' trap doesn't get sucked dry)Most are cheap flapper style that fatigues and then stays open....that allows grey tank stink back into RVGrey drain valve always open allow liquids to flow out as they flow in so debris/stuff (body oils, hair, sloughed skin, cooking greases/oils, food particles etc) gets left behind-accumulates, dries out and STINKSDrain WASTE tanks when FULL for that WHOOSH affect.Water is heavy and the volume carries 'stuff' outA fast moving river can move bouldersA slow trickle in a creek can't even budge a pepple

Never empty tank unless it is at least 3/4 full.

When do you empty black tank on hookup? | Good Sam Community

Veebyes
Explorer II
Dec 24, 2017
Well...ummmm....It depends. We never ask for a FHU site. We are seldom anywhere for more than 4 or 5 days. Often we don't know exactly the next stop will be.

Generally it is a minimum of a couple of days & try to make a maximum of 6 days. After dumping if water is available a few gallons goes in the tank to slosh around as we go down the road.
Copperhead
Explorer
Dec 24, 2017
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6sv4d3PsTo
Copperhead
Explorer
Dec 24, 2017
Almot wrote:
One person in a trailer. It will be weekS before I empty it when full. Brewing and smelling into trailer through the bowl all this time. 77-80 in November-December, this brewery just loves it when it's warm.

Emptying when 3/4 - maybe. It could still be a week or more.

Yes, grey tank is always open, this is not a problem.

There should be no smell getting in. Make sure and turn any ventilation fan off in bathroom before flushing commode. with it on, air is drawn thru the ventilation tube of the black tank, thru the tank, and up thru the commode.
FunnyCamper
Explorer II
Dec 11, 2017
Time of day to flush it all out?

whenever we are done having fun :) :) and have an idle moment.
let it fill almost to full, never flush before that. Same with grey, til full. Send black first, send gray water after and done deal and go off and have some more fun!!
GottaGoCamping
Explorer
Dec 10, 2017
We empty tanks when they are full and keep the dump valves closed when not emptying the tanks.
DutchmenSport
Explorer
Dec 09, 2017
FrankShore wrote:
Are you asking a question of just giving bad advice?

I think he's asking a question and then stating how he does it. Basically, I think, he's asking if it's ok or not, the way he does it.
pianotuna
Nomad III
Dec 09, 2017
The fuller the black tank is, the better it will dump.
doxiemom11
Explorer II
Dec 09, 2017
We empty our tank when it's full. Not good to do it when there is just a little bit as the liquid will drain off fast leaving the solids. You can tell when it's getting full because when you flush you will start hearing little belching type noises. We can also tell by the fact that we can hear what we flush hit water. After that of course you would see the contents coming up the pipe to the toilet. Don't wait that long though.
FrankShore
Explorer
Dec 09, 2017
Are you asking a question of just giving bad advice?
downtheroad
Explorer
Dec 09, 2017
All good advice above:

I will add: We never empty our black tank if we are camped next to someone that is sitting outside their rig right next to our sewer hook up....