Hooking up to water/sewer

No and no

Hook directly to the city water and don't bother with using your fresh water tank and pump. Always leave your valves closed until ready to dump the tanks especially the black tank. Sewer flies will invade your tanks and then they will get into the trailer every time you flush if you leave them open. Also, you don't want to dump your black tank until it is at least 3/4 full or full. Full is better because the solids need the water flow to be flushed out. If your unit has a tank flush fitting then use it too when dumping the tank. Solids will build up in the tank if you don't have enough water flow to get them out.

1. I use pressurized city water because it’s quiet. We mostly boondock and use our pump, so the quiet water is a treat.

2. Close your valves until you’re ready to dump.

Like the others, we use direct connected shore water when it's available. We also keep sufficient water in our on board fresh tank so we can boost the shower pressure when needed by turning on the pump. For longer stays, we leave the grey valve open with a water trap dip in the waste hose until a few days before departure. The black tank is dumped when it's near full, and at departure the stored grey water is used to flush out the hose.

swimmer_spe wrote:
When you have hook ups for water and sewer:

1)Do you hook up direct to the water system or fill your tanks and drain it down?

2) Do you leave the sewer valves open or closed? What is the best way for it to properly drain?

usually, no. there has been the odd occssion where we've had to do that, usually when temps unexpectedly dip below freezing for an extended time.

leave your valves closed until it's time to dump. two reasons:

1- leaving them open allows odors from the sewer to eacape through your "stink pipes" on the roof into the atmosphere. you and your neighbors won't appreciate that

2- more importantly, leaving the black tank valve open allows the liquid waste to drain leaving much of the solids behind which will, over time, completely dry and form a rock hard pile many of us refer to as a "black pyramid". that will drastically reduce the capacity of your tank. when that happens you'll likely need professional help to clear it. in extreme cases the pyramid will completely block the tank from draining causimg a backup into the RV. we saw that occur in Terre Haute one year. it was not pretty.

Almost direct to park water. We use an adjustable water pressure regulator to keep the pressure down. 50 to 55 works well. Pex can handle more but unless you go through the entire unit and change ALL the fittings attached to the pex you will find the weak ones. Just for giggles I have a gauge that I attach before the regulator to see what park pressure is. I have seen 30 to 120 psi at the pedestal. It can also vary depending on how many campers are using water at any given moment.

One thing I've had to do a few times is use both the city water and pump together when the city water pressure is too low, the city water provides most of the volume and the pump ups the pressure.

swimmer_spe wrote:
When you have hook ups for water and sewer:

1)Do you hook up direct to the water system or fill your tanks and drain it down?

2) Do you leave the sewer valves open or closed? What is the best way for it to properly drain?

1)Direct to city water
2)Closed until nearly full

Why do you ask? Since you've been a member here for nearly 10 years, is this the first time you are using water/sewer hookups?

bikendan wrote:

swimmer_spe wrote:
When you have hook ups for water and sewer:

1)Do you hook up direct to the water system or fill your tanks and drain it down?

2) Do you leave the sewer valves open or closed? What is the best way for it to properly drain?

1)Direct to city water
2)Closed until nearly full

Why do you ask? Since you've been a member here for nearly 10 years, is this the first time you are using water/sewer hookups?

I rarely have sewer and water hook ups. Most provincial parks only have 30A power, so it isn't something I am used to. WE are going camping this weekend where we will have all 3.

If you are used to using your FW tank then you can keep doing that if you want. We always fill our tank and use the water from that. And we turn the pump off when not using it - that way there is little chance of an undetected leak causing lots of damage.

As others have said - leave your waste tank valves closed until dumping.