Getting waste to flow up into a waste tote.

bikendan wrote:
we have a 25 gallon black tank and the two of us can go weeks before filing it.

IndyCamp wrote:
How is that possible?

Weeks with two people and a 25-gallon tank?

We have a 37-gallon tank and the longest two of us have gone is seven days, and that was with me peeing in the woods some of the time. You must not be filling the bowl with water before flushing each poop like I do.

Back in our popup days we had a Thetford electric flush 585 porta potti with a 5 gal waste tank which would easily get our family of four through a typical weekend without being emptied at all and a long weekend if we were particularly careful about usage. Based on that I calculated an average person would generate a waste volume of ~ .75 gals per day including flush water. Even if we allow 1 gal per day per person that means a couple might generate at most 2 gals of waste per day ... that in turn means that the 30 gal black water tank on my Coachmen would easily get my wife and I through at least 2 weeks of continuous camping before it would need servicing. Rarely do we ever stay anywhere that long so filling the BW tank has never been an issue and we haven't seen the inside of a campground bath house in years - 30 gals is plenty IMO.

bikendan wrote:

we have a 25 gallon black tank and the two of us can go weeks before filing it.

How is that possible?

Weeks with two people and a 25-gallon tank?

We have a 37-gallon tank and the longest two of us have gone is seven days, and that was with me peeing in the woods some of the time. You must not be filling the bowl with water before flushing each poop like I do.

I have the 42 gallon Barker unit and depending on my camp location I have a similar issue. I usually lay the dump hose on the top of the tote to support it and just open the black tank valve. Like you I have to manipulate the hose to get it to dump into the tote but usually only at the end of the dump. I only need to dump the black tank if we stay a week or more but I do use it for both black and gray tank dumps. Moving the tote to the truck to hook up to the hitch is a non issue unlike some suggestions here. I've never had an issue moving it. What I have discovered is that you really should use a bungee cord and tie the tote tow arm to the hitch. There is risk that the tote will come off the hitch and only tow the tote less than 5 mph otherwise you will burn up the plastic bushings in the wheels. The last one I bought I bought the heavy duty version with steel bushings in the wheels instead of plastic.

No one mentioned that a full 42 gal tote will weigh over 300 lbs. You may not be able to pull it over to your vehicle to tow it to the dumpsite. Especially if its an up hill over rough dirt.
Second thought, If the tote is full and you need to do the hose lift routine, you are going to end up with a problem. A hose full of poo, or grey water that refuses to run uphill. Seems like good reason to only fill part way and make more than one trip.
Third thought, We have been without full hook ups many times, and found that a walk to the camp facility (if there is one) during the day is not only good exercise but will allow you to go a lot longer without the need to use that tote. It's all about water conservation.

sch911 wrote:
Well Sam you are correct not everybody has the same outcome, but I'm pretty sure you'll be in the minority here. Have owned eight RV's and every one has filled the gray tank way faster than the black.

Agree, Sam Spade would be the odd man out here :W ... far more of us fill our grey tanks easily but take days if not weeks before the black tank needs off loading. With my FloJet Waste Macerator always on hand I have the means to off load black anytime I want, even while camping, but in reality there's only been a couple of occasions in several years when I've even bothered as our 30 gal BW tank offers sufficient capacity for at least a couple of weeks of camping for my wife and I. Grey water I off load daily. ;)

Get a suction hose, suck on the end of it to get it flowing, then put that end into the tote.

JUST KIDDING!!!!!!

Sam Spade wrote:


As for the OP, if the height difference is no more than the diameter of the hose, just dump the grey tank second and then manually raise (most of) the hose before you uncouple it starting at the RV and working toward the tote. What spills out when decoupled (RV end first) shouldn't be much and shouldn't be too nasty.

If you feel that way and practice this please let me NOT have your site next!

Using a Flojet I have NOTHING that will be hitting the ground.

YUK!

Sam Spade wrote:

bikendan wrote:

your gray tank will fill up WAY faster than your black tank.

Come on folks PLEASE realize that not everybody in the world is exactly like YOU before you make statements like that.

My black tank always fills up first.

Well Sam you are correct not everybody has the same outcome, but I'm pretty sure you'll be in the minority here. Have owned eight RV's and every one has filled the gray tank way faster than the black. Cheers....

DutchmenSport wrote:
The only way I have found to finish draiing the hose is to simply lift the hose a little at a time (nearest the tote), and let the hose begin to drain out. Then put the hose back to the ground again and let it fill back up, then lift the hose again. You may have repeat this a dozen times, but it will eventually drain the hose out.

I still find it difficult to believe so many still fool around with a heavy, expensive, hard to store tote tank and a stinky slinky when the alternate solution is SO easy, SO simple - a 12 vdc waste macerator pumping whatever you choose, grey or macerated black water, into your choice of container that's already sitting in the back of the truck. I happen to prefer 7 gal Aquatainers labeled for the purpose since when full I can still easily lower them for emptying into the dump station sewer inlet. They're also much easier to flush out than a tote and being cube shaped take up little space for storage. To each his/her own though but I do wonder why so many still struggle with the concept of a waste macerator pump. :h

There are 3 rules that are taught on the first day of plumbing school.

#1. Pooh (cleaned up for family forum) flows downhill.
#2. Payday is on Friday.
#3. Don't lick your fingers.