Beginner sewer question.

DCamp84 wrote:
Question I have is when hooked up to the sewer for the duration of the trip, do you guys keep your black tank open the entire time so it runs right out immediately after use

Let's think about this a minute. At home a typical toilet will have at least 1-1/2 gallons of water to flush the solids and tp and keep it flowing down the sewer pipe. With your rv, you will have at a maximum a quart of water to do the same thing.

Do you think that quart of water will run the solids and tp from one end of the black tank to the other end and out the hose? What will actually happen is that the quart of water will spread out along the bottom of the tank and maybe down the hose....but guess what... the solids and tp will just stop where it comes out of the toilet pipe into the tank. Then along comes the DW and her's will do exactly the same thing. Before you know it, you will have a pile of xxxx and we all know what happens to it after some time has elapsed....it will harden! This is what is commonly know in the rv world as a poop pyramid and you'll play he!! getting it out.

So to counter-act this problem you first, after emptying the tank, add several gallons of water back into the tank so that the bottom of the tank is covered with a couple of inches of water. This will cause the solids and tp to spread out and not pile up. A good procedure is when using the toilet you first add additional water to the toilet bowl prior to using it and then flush the solids first then add more water to the toilet and then flush a second time for the tp.

And as an added bit of info, adverse to what Alabama said and as previously mentioned by Bird Freak, chemicals are NOT needed. Plain old water will do just fine. Another little trick is when you are traveling, start out with an empty tank and add a cup of liquid laundry detergent and about two or three gallons of water. The sloshing while driving will clean out the tank of any left over residue from dumping.

If you find out you are getting an odor inside the rv, you have a seal/gasket/vent problem or a procedure that you need to correct. Never use the overhead fan in the bathroom when flushing, and it's best to flush it when you are sitting on it.

Hope this provides you with the "why".

Oh, and congratulations on your new toy. Hope you have many happy days and miles with it.

Ron