Beginner sewer question.

DCamp84 wrote:
another thing. I am reading through my owners manual but the **** thing is so vague. Its like it was written for every keystone in general and not my model specifically. I cannot locate where it tells me exactly how big my tanks are, fresh, gray or black. Would anyone know where I'd find this or would even maybe know the tank specs for a 2011 Keystone copper canyon 5'er 273fwret. I have and led gauge in the kitchen area that tells me E, 1/2 or F. But I'd like to know how many gallons each tank is.

That information should be available on the manufacturer's website.

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

Good information from Ron above.:)
Barney

DCamp84 wrote:

Lwiddis wrote:
An RV park is a great place for a new RVer to gauge how long you could dry camp...water, holding tanks and battery.

So I'm suppose to get out there and just wing it? lol. I'd like to at least have an idea of what I'm dealing with prior to a trip. I would do a driveway camp but We're about to get hit with another snow storm and I cant de-winterize yet. All the manuals and info that came with my camper is so general its of almost no help. So I'm trying to get an idea and prepare so I can better gauge and adapt as needed when I'm out there. Thank you for your input though.

I believe you misinterpreted the content of the post.

If you stay at an RV park with full hookups and don't connect to water, sewer or electric, you'll see how long batteries, water and waste tanks last. That would give you an idea how long you could survive off the grid.

If you need to "recharge" any of those items, you have everything available to do so there at the park.

Great pointers and tips Ron. Thank you!

azjeffh wrote:

DCamp84 wrote:

Lwiddis wrote:
An RV park is a great place for a new RVer to gauge how long you could dry camp...water, holding tanks and battery.

So I'm suppose to get out there and just wing it? lol. I'd like to at least have an idea of what I'm dealing with prior to a trip. I would do a driveway camp but We're about to get hit with another snow storm and I cant de-winterize yet. All the manuals and info that came with my camper is so general its of almost no help. So I'm trying to get an idea and prepare so I can better gauge and adapt as needed when I'm out there. Thank you for your input though.

I believe you misinterpreted the content of the post.

If you stay at an RV park with full hookups and don't connect to water, sewer or electric, you'll see how long batteries, water and waste tanks last. That would give you an idea how long you could survive off the grid.

If you need to "recharge" any of those items, you have everything available to do so there at the park.

Yes I get it now. If I was to experiment like that. An RV park with full hook ups available would be the best place to do that. Thank you guys. I'm sure I'll do that eventually and take some notes.

So I'm suppose to get out there and just wing it? lol. I'd like to at least have an idea of what I'm dealing with prior to a trip

Well, yes... That's how we all figured it out... How do we know what your potty and other water usage habits are? ;)

I know you don't know the size of your tanks, but they should be around 30 gallons at least each and then you just have to know how long you can go with your water usage you can go before dumping. No other way around it..

Some can go for a week or more. Some can't even go a day..

You probably fall someplace in between?

Good luck!

Every camper I have owned had a sticker with all the spec's on the back of a closet or cabinet door.

Here is the routine I have developed over many snowbird winters.

1. Get a clear sight adapter and put it between the trailer and the sewer hose.
2. I leave the black tank closed for a week at a time. Grey tanks open.
3. I form a pee trap in the sewer hose with a couple boards, one 2x and a 4x4.
4. To dump and flush, I remove the pee trap boards.
5. Close the grey water tanks.
6. Open the black water tank and turn on the hose to the built in flush system.
7. Watch the sight tube until I am down to just hose water coming out.
8. Go inside and do two full bowl super flushes. "Bomb the Pile!" Note: Full bowl means filling the bowl to the bottom of the upper rim.
9. Go back outside and view discharge.
10. Close the black water tank and run the flush water in for four(4) minutes. Do not let anyone distract you at this point.
11. Open and drain and repeat 10 again.
12. Flush a bit and verify that you have nice clear water coming out of the tank. If not go back to step 8 and start again.
13. When you have nice clear discharge, put the pee trap boards back the sewer line and fill the pee trap.
14. Close the black water tank and add about a minute worth of water to the tank with the flush hose.
15. Secure the flush hose. I have a little inline valve adapter at the side of the trailer and the other end gets turned off.
16. Open the grey water tanks and go add your chemical to the tank.

I have had the burping a couple of times, however the super flushes seem to have fixed that issue.

Having piles in not good!!

Chris

One thing nobody has mentioned, and I can't find in the specs, if this rig has a black tank flush. If so, then it makes more sense to leave the grey tank open, if you want to. For me, I hook up my hose, turn the flush on for about a minute (if not real full), then dump the black, while leaving the flush running. When it's done, I close the valve and leave the flush running for about 5 minutes, maybe longer (have 45 gal capacity), then dump again, then repeat. Use the grey water afterwards to rinse the hose. If you =don't= have a built-in black tank flush, then it might be smart to get, or make, a wand that you use to do the same thing, but from the toilet. Just need to be d@mn careful when you do this, though. :o

Lyle