Just got back from first trip. Questions.

[CarpFishermanAn]

Hubby & I got back from our 1st weekend trip on our Alabama Gulf Coast. We realized what more we need & what we forgot. Here are some questions after our trip:
1. After being out for 3+ hours, we came back to a not very cool TT. We left it on AC low cool. Evidently the power went off as our surge protector had an error code & digital clock blinking. We unplugged power & restarted after surge protector reset; however the AC high cool did not blow out any harder than AC low cool so we called our service dept who told us to leave it on high cool and it would slowly come back - which it did in about 5 minutes or less. He said never leave AC on low cool, always leave on high cool since we live in a humid area. Anyone dealt w/this before?
2. Before & after this problem, we had condensation appear on inside AC unit & all vents. Could this be because we had door open w/screen door in use and maybe humidity from outside air mixed with cold inside air causing condensation? Does anyone else have problems w/condensation on the inside unit/vents/windows?
3. Lastly, our gray tank filled up after just 2 showers & a couple dish washing sessions. Is that too fast? Our black tank filled up within 24 hours BUT in using our drop-in cleaner the 1st time, it said to follow the flush w/2 gallons of water. Also, hubby says we should add the water, flush (pee or poo), fill up bowl another 1/3-1/2 again & flush to make sure it cleans the bowl again. I think this is what is causing black tank to fill us so much. At that rate, we can never use a CC that has no sewer line. Thank you for replies in advance!

[tenbear]

There are 3 conditions when camping that affect the use of water. 1-With sewer hookup. 2-No sewer hookup but nearby dump station. 3-No sewer hookup-what goes in stays in.

1-Use as much water as you want, just leave the valve closed until you are dumping.

2-Cut back some, but you can always unhook and go to the dump.

3-The important thing is the fluids in the tank must be enough to carry the solids out. The water you put in with each flush only adds to the fluids in the tank and is mostly unnecessary if you have enough fluids in the tank. Notice I said fluids, not just water. My bathroom sink is plumbed into the black tank so that contributes to the total fluids in the tank. So, what works for me is to put water in the tank after dumping, then use only a minimum when flushing. Of course, when you dump add water if necessary to make the tank at least 3/4 full. If you do leave a little in the tank, the next time you stay at a full service CG you can flush out the tank really good.

Has worked for me for many years.

[Jim-Linda]

By the way, why do you leave the door open when running the AC?

Jim

[CarpFishermanAn]

doxiemom11 wrote:
Regarding the use of water. If TP or solids are being flushed, water should be included to insure that when you go to drain the tank there is enough water to flush "paper and stuff" out. If you run out of liquid, you are leaving stuff behind which will eventually cause problems. #1 with TP - finish filling bowl with water and flush - #2 with solid and TP, finish filling bowl, flush - fill again and flush. 3 years of full-time using that method and we have not had any problems with odor or clogs. We do not use any chemicals nor do many full-timers as we have found out they are unnecessary if you use enough water. So I would go along with hubby's method of flushing.

Thanks. No one seems to agree with you (and my hubby) about the toilet situation though. 🙂

[doxiemom11]

Regarding the use of water. If TP or solids are being flushed, water should be included to insure that when you go to drain the tank there is enough water to flush "paper and stuff" out. If you run out of liquid, you are leaving stuff behind which will eventually cause problems. #1 with TP - finish filling bowl with water and flush - #2 with solid and TP, finish filling bowl, flush - fill again and flush. 3 years of full-time using that method and we have not had any problems with odor or clogs. We do not use any chemicals nor do many full-timers as we have found out they are unnecessary if you use enough water. So I would go along with hubby's method of flushing.

[tenbear]

I put 2-3 gallons of water in the black tank after dumping, then before going #2 I put a little water in the bowl to prevent skid marks. When doing dishes DW uses a plastic basin and dumps it in the toilet when finished.

We changed the shower head to an Oxygenics. It gives a good shower with much less water than the OEM shower head. Here is a link.

The white stuff may be Borax. It is said to kill ants.

[ChooChooMan74]

When we camp at a campground, we always use the campground showers (unless we find some that are disgusting). We also use the campground toilets, except at night. While washing dishes, we take the dish water and dump it in the toilet.

[tragusa3]

Similar to Farm Camp, my wife will wash dishes in a large metal bowl and dump that bowl into the toilet.

[bikendan]

yep, you need to be WAY more conservative with your water, if you don't have sewer hookups.

you don't need to use that much water for the toilet flush.
there's just two of us and our black and gray tanks are only 25 gallons each.
it takes us 14 days of continuous camping to even come close to filling our black tank.
we can go 4-5 days before we fill our gray tank, with a shower every other day for both of us.

but we had popups for 17 years and never any hookups, so we are very good at water conservation.
don't let the shower water run continuously. take Navy showers by getting wet, turn off the shower wand, soap up and then rinse off.

[fla-gypsy]

You froze up the AC by placing it in low cool. Use the high cool position and adjust with the thermostat. Learn to conserve water, but even conserving you will likely use 8 gals per person per day for normal showering and hand washing etc. You may consider a portable waste tank (blue tank)

[Farm_Camp]

This past weekend was our first trip out for the year, and, we need some remedial water saving training! Here's a tip that may help you. It may not depending on the size of your tanks... Anyway this helps us (family of four). Our black and grey tanks are each 32 gallon. We never seem to get the black more than about 1/3 full on a two day weekend outing. But, that grey tank fills up to past 2/3 full in about a day, even with reminders to the two little ones, and mom about being easy on the water usage. I just bought a 5 gallon bucket. I also purchased a 3inch to garden hose adapter for my dump pipe. Then I slowly (slowly) open the grey dump and allow the bucket to fill, closing the grey gate valve around half way so the pipe can drain into the bucket without overflowing.

Then I carry the bucket to a designated grey dump in the campground I'm visiting, or, since my camper has separate entrance into the bathroom, I'll just dump it down the toilet ( carefully). Doing this extends my grey tank capacity, and adds mostly clean, soapy water to the black tank... Plus this cost me about $10 total compared to the expensive totes. It works for us. Your results may vary.

Also. Consider getting a shower head with a shut off so you can do as others have suggested and turn the water off whenever you do not absolutely need to be running it. I do as others have said, rinse, turn off water, lather, turn on water, rinse, done. It's not a long luxury shower, but gets the job done and saves a lot of space in the grey tank for the kids.

(On edit I'm not stowing the kids in the grey tank! ). For the kids use! LOL

Best of luck, happy camping!

[tragusa3]

Our tanks are both 32gal. Family of 4 can go 2 days if we all shower twice and are moderately conservative in the kitchen. The black tank has gone 5 days and still only half way.

We have had trips that we shower only every other day for mom and dad and every third day for the kids. That stretches things, but we found it just wasn't worth it...that feeling of being fresh when you go to bed is worth the hassle of using the blue tote. Now that we have that, we use it!

[fcooper]

CarpFishermanAndWife wrote:
Oh ... forgot to also ask - at nearly every empty CG site we saw, there was some kind of residue (powder?) around where the TT or motorhome tires sit. We assume it was some kind of ant deterrent/killer. Being new to camping, we just brought a can of Raid. What is the powder substance? Thanks!

Probably ant poison to keep the ants from climbing up the tires, but comet (or generic) cleanser will work also. If I see ants, I'll put some around the tires, the jacks, the power cord, the water hose, and anything else that contacts the ground.

Fred

[CloudDriver]

1. I'm going to go with leaving the air conditioner on low cool (low air flow) resulted in the evaporator coil frosting up. Putting it on high cool (more air flow) pulled more warm air through the coil, which melted the frost.
2. Lowering the temperature of humid air results in condensation on cold surfaces. Leaving the door open while the air conditioner is running lets humid air in causing condensation.
3. As mentioned already, take Navy showers. Don't leave water running when washing dishes, etc. Collect dish water in a dish pan and use it to flush the toilet. Use minimal water in toilet - none for #1, minimum for #2.

DW and I mostly dry camp and use only our 32 gallon fresh water tank. We can go for 5-6 days before needing water. We run low on fresh water way before either gray or black tanks fill up.

[CarpFishermanAn]

Oh ... forgot to also ask - at nearly every empty CG site we saw, there was some kind of residue (powder?) around where the TT or motorhome tires sit. We assume it was some kind of ant deterrent/killer. Being new to camping, we just brought a can of Raid. What is the powder substance? Thanks!

[CarpFishermanAn]

Our gray is 42. Our black is 32.