Dump techniques....

[bcarroll]

Ok, the 23 minute dump time thread, that is now closed, got me to thinking - what is the most efficient way to dump.
I am in my 3rd year of my first trailer, and feel I am not very efficient when it comes to dumping.
I just came home from camping this week and when I dumped, in the FHU campsite, it took me much longer to dump than 23 minutes.

I dumped the black tank. Then dumped the gray tank. While the gray tank was dumping I had someone put more water in the black tank.
When the gray tank was almost done, I closed it and re-opened the black tank. When that was done, I finished the gray tank.
I don't have any fancy internal black tank rinsers, and no clear dump pipe, so I disconnect the hose and use a sprayer to rinse up the pipe as far as possible(holding the hose for it to drain into of course). I do not want to leave debris in the tank so I rinse until no more debris.
I think my black tank has a never ending supply of debris because I finally had to just say "no more" and end it(after an hour or more).
I wanted to do a more thorough job of cleaning the tank while in the FHU site, otherwise it would have just been a quick black dump/gray dump, put more water in the black tank and dump... 5 or 10 mins tops.

But there has to be a better way...

[SoundGuy]

These 7 pages of poop - ummm, "discussion" - is exactly why I never stop at campground dump stations and instead service my tanks at home, at my convenience, taking as much time as I want, using a Poop Cannon - a.k.a. FloJet Waste Macerator. I invested in this process with the first trailer we ever owned that had grey & black tanks and still use it now several trailers later ... i.e. - literally hundreds of dump station stops I've never had to make. :B Of course it's not a "one fits all" solution as some just don't have the luxury of tank servicing at home, for a variety of reasons, but there are many others who could, yet don't, and instead continue to embrace the dump station routine, allow themselves to be repeatedly agitated because someone else in their view is being inconsiderate, then most amazing of all waste even more time arguing online with others they don't even know about dump station etiquette. :E Whatever floats your boat ... I guess. :S

[time2roll]

If there is a long line:
Skip the dump and just roll

If there is a short line:
Roll up, connect sewer hose, dump, close it up and roll

No line:
Use levelers to tilt trailer toward drain. Connect sewer hose.
Pull Black then connect water hose for flush.
Pull grey start black flush.
Close black and let fill about 5 minutes (don't get distracted)
Open black again.... turn off flush hose and put away. (possibly repeat fill/flush)
Allow extra time for black and grey to get down to a very slow trickle.
Move hose to galley and wait again.
Put stuff away. Put levelers away. Roll.

If someone pulls up behind while in process revert to second list.

[spoon059]

2012Coleman wrote:
Spare me the BS lecturers from your high horse and leave me out of your fantasy life. Reread what I said about your assumptions as well. I need nothing further from you.

That's what I thought...

Please be cognizant of others around you. You obviously have nothing of value to add and you have nothing to back up your accusations of me. If you felt that I was rude to you, I apologize. My intention was not to be rude. My intention was to get you (and others) to be a little quicker when there are people behind you.

Have a great day. Again, I apologize if my request comes off as rude to you... no need for both of us to have a horrible attitude;)

[2012Coleman]

spoon059 wrote:

2012Coleman wrote:
You are one of the biggest contributors to the "level of discourse on this site". You have made several assumptions about my procedure at the dump station and have made disparaging remarks about me as well.

Please enlighten me as to where I made disparaging remarks about you. I would like the opportunity to review them and decide if an apology is necessary. I still maintain the fact that having a little bit of common courtesy and respect for people around you could go a long ways.

Spare me the BS lecturers from your high horse and leave me out of your fantasy life. Reread what I said about your assumptions as well. I need nothing further from you.

[Grit_dog]

Classic!! ^^^
Hey guys there's a sewer hose thread a couple lines down to argue about too!

[mrw8i]

I have 2 trailers. The 17' is a pain to dump. Black and Gray are each 50Gal. Just plain slow, both tanks are slow especially the gray. I do similar to what many here do. Before I leave the campsite I pour a few buckets of water down the toilet, just to get it good and wet - you know make all the poop go with the flow when you open the valve. Also have a rinser on the black tank. Problem with the black tank is that the pipe connects to the right side of the tank (passenger side) and goes all the way across the trailer to the left at a slight downward angle - so not super fast. The gray is worse. The tank leans slightly forward and pipe is on left side dumping still leaves 5 - 10 gal of stinky gray water in the tank. If no one is waiting in line, after dumping the black tank drive the right side up a few inches on blocks and lift the front of the trailer as high as I can get it - wait 10 minutes as it dribbles out the last 5 gallons.

The 35' toy hauler on the other hand can dump both black and gray in 10 minutes or less. Each tank is 65Gal. Tanks are angled down towards the pipe, open the valve and it comes flying out - no issues.

[spoon059]

Forgive me, one more request. I can only find a single time I have replied to MargaretB this year. Foolishly I didn't remember what thread it was and copy it... please let me know what I said that was disparaging to her so that I can review that as well.

Oh yea, to answer your question... the kiddo's are napping and its too hot outside today to do yard work. Its nice and cool in the living room with the ceiling fan on, that provides me plenty of time to peruse the internet and type.

[Chandalen]

I have a reat black tank dump connection for the rear bathroom and sink. I also have a forward common dump port for the main black tank, and the two grey tanks.
I have the clear 'tank flush' attachment, which I think is useless to flush with.

I always prep my rear black tank by running the sink for a bit to fill the tank up. I'll run the toilet for a few min to add more water if needed for the forward black tank.

Driving to the dump site helps loosen up the nasty stuff.

Fast dump if people in line, I will hook up the back and dump the back tank (black). I'll then hold my breath and switch the hose to the forward dump connection. I'll empty the main black tank, then both the grey tanks at the same time.

Slow dump.. Same, but I use the intank flushing system (spinners) until the water is mostly clearish.

Usually its easier to empty fuller tanks as they sweep the gobs of goo out faster.

[spoon059]

2012Coleman wrote:
You are one of the biggest contributors to the "level of discourse on this site". You have made several assumptions about my procedure at the dump station and have made disparaging remarks about me as well.

Please enlighten me as to where I made disparaging remarks about you. I would like the opportunity to review them and decide if an apology is necessary. I still maintain the fact that having a little bit of common courtesy and respect for people around you could go a long ways.

[2012Coleman]

spoon059 wrote:

2012Coleman wrote:
The "all about me syndrome" also applies to the hotheads in line - doesn't it? I'm not intimidated by it. If there is a line, either wait patiently in line or check out earlier. What a stupid thing to get aggravated over.

No, not really. You see, the difference is that the guy (perhaps you?) who says "Screw everyone else, I'm going to do whatever I need to do" is being selfish. Its no different than parking in the only open gas pump and going inside to do your grocery shopping for the month. Its selfish and ignorant to people around you.

The guy that is the "hothead" in line is someone who is aware that there are other people in the world besides him. He is usually the guy that will go a quick drain of the tanks and be on his way.

There is a gorgeous park that we go to at least once or twice every year. Its on a beautiful lake, we get lake front sites. They are spectacular. It can hold 250 campers, and in nice weather it is packed. Because its on a lake, no full hookups and only 4 dump stations.

Lets do the math, lets say that 90% of the park is used by campers with waste tanks. That's 225 trailers that need to dump when they leave Sunday. Checkout is 11am. That means that 56 trailers will need to use each dump station. At 23 minutes per trailer to empty, that's going to take over 21 hours PER DUMP STATION for everyone to get through.

Now, lets assume that not everyone leaves Sunday, maybe only 50% of the campers (VERY low estimate, but easier math) leave Sunday. Now its still going to take over 10 hours for everyone to dump. That means that someone is going to have to break camp at 1am to ensure that everyone has time to dump before the 11am checkout time.

Does it make sense to you yet why it is considered rude and ignorant to take your sweet time dumping your tanks? If everyone acted like YOU, most people could never go camping. After all, what is the sense in going camping for the weekend if you need to leave at 1am to ensure you get your tanks dumped in time to leave by checkout?

Oh... let me guess. You are probably retired, or else you have some way that you don't just do weekend camping. Maybe you even look down upon those of us that can only weekend camp. If that's you, I hope you remember that without the crowd that likely only camps a couple weekends a year, there would be significantly less campers out there. That means significantly less people to pay for camping. That means significantly less campgrounds open to people that don't just do a couple weekends and an occasional weeklong trip.

You see 2012coleman, there are in fact other people in the world. If you look behind you while you are polishing your tanks at the dump station, you might even see them. If perhaps you had a little more consideration for the people around you, maybe the world would be a slightly better place. Growing up I remember campers being such nice people. People you had never met before saying hello to you, asking you where you are from and where you are headed. My dad would take a drink over to the neighbors site and talk shop with the stranger. It was a community back then.

From the level of discourse on this site and the obvious lack of civility some people claim they have, it makes me miss those days of camping. People were accountable for themselves and their children. People looked out for each other and took the opportunity to be pleasant rather than say "SCREW YOU, I'LL TAKE AN HOUR CLEANING MY TANKS IF I WANT TO..."

I just hope that I am not stuck behind you at the dump sites. You see, I have a 2 year old and 6 month old and I work Monday thru Friday. I enjoy taking my kids out camping like my dad took us out camping. The kids wake around 7:30 or so. By the time we eat breakfast, clean up, take showers, walk the dogs, break camp and get to the dump sites... its been a couple hours. Then I have to drive home and get the kids down for a nap if at all possible. Then we have to park the trailer and empty out our supplies and clean the trailer for the next trip. You see... there is more going on in the world than your simple arrogant attitude that says I need to deal with your timetable and mine doesn't matter.

All it takes is YOU (amongst others) having just a little bit of respect for someone else to make the world just a little more tolerable. I really hope that perhaps you (amongst others) consider this post the next time you decide to turn the dump station into your personal camp site next time.

Have a great weekend, I hope you have the chance to be camping. Me... I'm too aware that there are other people in the world besides me, I'll be helping my dad do some maintenance on his house. Its the least I could do for the man that taught me to appreciate the great outdoors and to have a little respect for the rest of mankind.

You are one of the biggest contributors to the "level of discourse on this site". You have made several assumptions about my procedure at the dump station and have made disparaging remarks about me as well. You do this to other posters as well - MargaretB as a recent example. I'm not sure where you find the time to write such long winded posts filled with assumptions seeing so much of your time is taken up with family and work. The thing they say about assumptions holds very true in your case.

I wait my turn to dump my tanks. When it's my turn, I dump and flush the black tank. Maybe you and others have a way to do this elsewhere, but most don't. If you were in back of me, I'm sure that no matter how long I took, it wouldn't be fast enough for you. My simple statement that riled you so much is that I simply don't care. Sit there and get cranky, and then rant about it on the forum.

When I go camping, I assume that people will be dumping and flushing their tanks upon departure. I also assume that there will be people that will get mad because I'm flushing my tank. I assure you that I don't take any more time than you would. It doesn't bother me that some people may take longer. And I'm not going to rush things because your getting angry. It doesn't make sense to get all hot and bothered for the drive home - at least to some of us.

Maybe instead of getting angry, offer your help - just like the days of old you mentioned - or was that just fluff??? Probably fluff...

Feel free to block me - better yet, PLEASE block me.

[myredracer]

What some folks don't know is that there are many different configurations and dimensions of black tanks out there. Some drain super easily and some are super hard. To say that some are being way too anal isn't fair.

We have one of the super hard ones and it is mandatory to get the tank spotless inside when breaking camp otherwise there is a problem with the tank building up a pyramid of poop too soon and we don't get enough use out of the tank. The first thing I do when breaking camp is pull the black tank handle. I use our tank rinser for around 10-15 minutes and if not enough, will fill the tank, dump and do another round with the flusher. Besides seeing what's coming out the clear elbow, I know the tank is clean when I can look down the toilet and see that the bottom is spotless along with droplets of yellow ABS glue. Even then, there still could be slime at the curb and street sides of the tank that the flushing process can't clean off. Getting the tank well cleaned helps reduce false readings but not necessarily eliminate them.

Wouldn't want to have to do this process at a dump station tho.

On our first TT, all we did was a dump and a quick flush with the Valterra backflush elbow and that was all that was needed. Never ever had an issue with that tank. Ever. Now it's the opposite with our KZ TT.

[Wishbone51]

itguy08 wrote:
The hose at the dump station had its end cut off so I don't know how I would have used that for much of anything.

I think they do that, so we don't take a long time flushing tanks. I've seen this at most all dump stations I've been to. (not many)

[itguy08]

Wishbone51 wrote:

itguy08 wrote:
...hooked up the outside shower hose to the black tank flush and let that run for a minute or 2 (wanted to empty the fresh tank anyway).

Even though black tank flushes are supposed to have a back flow preventer, I wouldn't use a fresh water hose to connect to anything near the black tank.

Your shower hose is a regular hose thread? Mine isn't.. Same as the interior shower hose.

Our outside shoer hose is a blue coiled hose that has a quick connect on one end and a regular garden hose end on the other. It also came with one of those garden hose sprayers. The only thing it can attach to is the outside shower. The only thing I'd ever use it for is the outside shower.

I just disconnected the garden hose sprayer and put it into the black flush port and turned the outside shower on. Let it run and then turned off and disconnected. Put the sprayer back on and used it to hose everything off.

The hose at the dump station had its end cut off so I don't know how I would have used that for much of anything.

[Wishbone51]

itguy08 wrote:
...hooked up the outside shower hose to the black tank flush and let that run for a minute or 2 (wanted to empty the fresh tank anyway).

Even though black tank flushes are supposed to have a back flow preventer, I wouldn't use a fresh water hose to connect to anything near the black tank.

Your shower hose is a regular hose thread? Mine isn't.. Same as the interior shower hose.

[itguy08]

Had our first trip in our first RV this weekend. No were hookups so we used the tanks. Got in Friday night and left Sunday morning. Ended up with 2/3 full on all tanks - black, gray1, and gray 2.

Used the first dump station today too. Pulled in, put the disposable gloves on, got the cheap hose the RV came with (didn't want to use my Rhinoflex). Stuck the raw end int the dump hole. Connected the bayonet and let her rip. When it slowed to a trickle, hooked up the outside shower hose to the black tank flush and let that run for a minute or 2 (wanted to empty the fresh tank anyway). Listened to it trickle and then dumped the gray. Moved on to Gray 2 and then had the wife put 2 or 3 bowl fulls into the black.

Hosed down the hose and into the bumper it went. Hosed off the ground quick and away we went. Probably 15 minutes total.

When we got home, dropped the enzyme treatment into the bowl and off to storage she went. Will pull it out next weekend for more fun.

It's a tank full of poop and dirty water - never going to be spotless.