tanks

Fizz wrote:
Never, ever let the black tank go dry.
Keep it closed till it needs to be emptied.
Once I empty mine ours I put in a couple of gallons of water to keep it from drying out.

X1, good advice

All it will take to convince him to leave at least the black tank closed is just one time trying to get the medicine-ball sized poop pyramid out in order to stop the sewer flies from invading everywhere. That thing can get hard as a rock, and impervious to forces less than a jack-hammer. Just saying.

I would let Hubby win this one.......

Then when he is dealing with sewer flies, clogged drain lines and the poop pyramid you can stand there and honestly state "I TOLD YOU SO!"

Let him win...it'll be a good time and a great learning experience.



Just have him visualize these 2 scenes
A high fast flowing river moving boulders (full tank when dumping)
Or
A low slow trickle in a creek that can't even budge a pebble (dump valve left open and all liquids dribble out as they come in)



Nevermind......let him win :B

DutchmenSport wrote:
Keep them closed. You need as much water and liquids in the black tank as possible to flush it out. Grey tank is not so critical, but if your kitchen sink flows into your tank, you really should wait to dump it too. Food particles will go down the drain and settle in the tank. If there is no water to flush them down, especially once they dry out, they will build up also, on top of each other, over time, and could potentially clog up your tank, same as the dreaded "poop pyramid syndrome."

If both your tanks are connected to a single outlet, you can also back-flush the grey tank into the black tank to help clean it out a little better. You pick up a Flush King type snap on 3rd valve. After draining the black tank completely, you close the Flush King (3rd valve) and then open the grey tank and let it back flush into the black tank. After a few seconds close off the gray so none of the black gets into the grey tank. Then dump the black again. This will pull a LOT more poo from the black tank and you're not using any additional water. You repeat this 2 or 3 times, depending upon how big your tanks are, and it really cleans out your black tank. It takes WATER! Lots of it!

Absolutely, never, do not ever, leave the black valve open. Fill the tank as much as possible, then dump it.

You win!

X1, Always leave all the tanks closed, you need all the water from all the tanks to make sure you can completly clean out your black tank. After emptying the Black tank, I close the black tank valve and use my back flush to fill the black tank about 1/2 full and then empty it again. With this method you have "everything to gain and nothing to loose". A plugged up black tank is frustrating and can be costly to have it pumped out!!!!!

You win! It is ok to leave grey open but it's better not to. Never ever leave the black open. Even if you have to dump the grey more often it's no big deal.

pamie50 wrote:
If you have a full hook up do you leave tanks open or close. Hubby said I am wrong I say both should be closed till full for persuit to empty need to win this one. I really think I am right, help me out

you CAN do anything you like but to help keep odor from wafting from our tanks exhaust and to ensure that there is enough gray water to flush the sewer hose we keep both valves closed until it is time to dump.

As mentioned, the black tank stays closed until ready to drain. The gray is optional. We have not only a clothes washer, we also have a dish washer. So, if we use both, plus the shower, kitchen sink and both vanity sinks....we can fill the gray quite quickly. On those days (washing day) we leave the gray open but provide a dip in the stinky slinky to keep odors (and I've heard bugs and flies) from coming back up the sewer line and into the gray tank.

Our previous motor home only had a combo washer/dryer and no dish washer...so it wasn't a problem and would typically fill both tank pretty much at the same time. Hence, we always kept both tanks closed until 2/3 to 3/4 full.

Ron

Have you ever seen the ads in the RV magazines for the Expensive tank chemicals that show the "Stinky RV"?

Well.. he left his valves open, if he'd have closed them (or made sure there was a water trap in the line) he'd not need to waste money on useless chemicals.

Keep them closed. You need as much water and liquids in the black tank as possible to flush it out. Grey tank is not so critical, but if your kitchen sink flows into your tank, you really should wait to dump it too. Food particles will go down the drain and settle in the tank. If there is no water to flush them down, especially once they dry out, they will build up also, on top of each other, over time, and could potentially clog up your tank, same as the dreaded "poop pyramid syndrome."

If both your tanks are connected to a single outlet, you can also back-flush the grey tank into the black tank to help clean it out a little better. You pick up a Flush King type snap on 3rd valve. After draining the black tank completely, you close the Flush King (3rd valve) and then open the grey tank and let it back flush into the black tank. After a few seconds close off the gray so none of the black gets into the grey tank. Then dump the black again. This will pull a LOT more poo from the black tank and you're not using any additional water. You repeat this 2 or 3 times, depending upon how big your tanks are, and it really cleans out your black tank. It takes WATER! Lots of it!

Absolutely, never, do not ever, leave the black valve open. Fill the tank as much as possible, then dump it.

You win!

Boon Docker wrote:
You are right, keep both closed. Dump black first when full then grey to flush out the hose.

X2