Question Sewer Solution Users - will it work for me?

Interesting thread. We use one on our rig too for other reasons. I'm always afraid it's gonna plug up watching the toilet paper come through at once. It slows down but gets pushed through after a second or so. Once it stopped but reversing the flow broke it up. So far it hasn't left me down. I was between that or a macerator. Not sorry about the choice I made. Nobody tripping over hoses either.

I might add make sure when you use this don't have the pressure regulator hooked up. You need all the pressure you can get.

turbojimmy,

OK, sounds like you've got a good plan.

Those SewerSolution hoses are interesting. When I first got the system, I put clamps on the connections as it just looked too likely that they would separate on their own. But after a year, I started living a bit dangerously and just put them together. The hoses do hold fine. To separate them, you have to twist and pull. Just pulling won't separate them. I guess that's one of the reasons why SS charges so much for their hoses. It is neat, and, of course, it works up until the time it doesn't. :) THEN there'll be a mess.

So for now, I have a clamp on the end that stays connected to the rest of the hoses/PVC pipe combo that make the run to the house, but I just push on the connection to the SS hose when dumping so I don't need to clamp that connection. I feel like I'm kind of hedging my bets! So far, so good.

Oh, a couple other words of advice if I may. First, I use a short piece of clear pipe between the black tank connection and the sewer solution. For my rig, it makes it easier to connect AND I can see what's coming out the pipe much better to give me an indication of just how clean I got the tank when flushing. The one I have is similar to this one from Camco. The reason why this is important is the SS doesn't have the "whoosh" effect of dumping through a 3" hose. Rather, the tank drains more slowly, and I think it's easier for paper and stuff to be left behind in the tank. Rinsing and observing what comes out helps make sure the take is clean. I find this especially helpful at the end of the season when winterizing.

Second, sooner or later, an "ear" lug might crack off the sewer solution and then the connection to the black tank won't be very tight, and will leak. I think my first one lasted about 5 years or so, but I do use it a lot. So, I ordered a new kit and all is well. NOW, I keep a spare on hand "just in case". Murphy's Law dictates that the thing will break when your tanks are full and you need to dump now. On the plus side, with the three units I've purchased, I have 3 sections of their "miracle hose", which I bring for those campgrounds where the sewer hookup is a bit further away than it should be.

Safe travels,

~Rick

Rick Jay wrote:
turbojimmy,

Glad to hear that the SS worked for you. I really wasn't sure if it would or not. I use one and at the house it has to push the stuff about 60' and up about a foot. It works fine with my Class A, but my brother-in-laws TT wouldn't work because his black tank was nearer the ground (probably by 1-2 ft. lower than in our Class A) and the water couldn't push the stuff without that extra "potential energy" it has with the higher black tank. Kind of an interesting hydraulic problem, I guess. :)

I would make one suggestion. Are all of those connections you made glued together? If not, they shoud be, and I would extend your connections a bit to include a shut-off valve before the hose goes into the sewer connection. That's what I did with mine. (I built my connection from the sewer clean-out fitting on the basement floor.) On my setup, all of the fittings up to the shut-off valve are all glued. IF the sewer should ever back up (very unlikely, but not unheard of), it won't "push out" the SS connection and dump the sewage into our basement 'cause the valve is closed. It is one extra step each time when I dump to make sure the valve is open, but it's not a big deal. (On a more paranoid note, it also keeps anyone from trying to dump anything else into our sewer connection such as used motor oil, hazardous waste, etc. Yeah...maybe a bit far fetched...but better safe than sorry. The fines for dumping such things down your sewer can be pretty steep, or so I hear.)

One other thing you might consider is to get an estimate to have someone bore a 1.25" or 1.5" hole through your wall. It might not be that expensive, and then you'll be able to use the SS even if your water pressure drops because you won't have to force the water up as high. (Sometimes in our area, if people start watering their lawns, there is a noticeable drop in pressure.) Make a rigid connection right on the outside of the wall with a nice neat PVC pipe run to your present connection.

Another benefit is I can fill the freshwater tank and/or use the black tank rinse while operating the SS and it still works with the reduced pressure.

It's easy to spend someone else's money! LOL :)

Anyway, good luck with the system. I love the SS. I use it almost exclusively now, even at campgrounds, unless they have a water shortage.

~Rick

Thanks for all the info. All of the connections are cemented except for where the sprinkler line attaches to the PVC adapters - those are hose-clamped. I clamped the SS fittings, too. Seemed silly that they weren't.

Where the sewer exits the basement is easily 4 feet lower than the RV's drain so you're right - poking a 1.5" - 2" hole through the foundation would allow me to drop right from the RV to the drain without having to pump up. I wouldn't mind excavating a bit - burying the 2" PVC out by where I normally park the RV (which is not where it is in the picture). I plan to trench some electrical out there anyway.

turbojimmy,

Glad to hear that the SS worked for you. I really wasn't sure if it would or not. I use one and at the house it has to push the stuff about 60' and up about a foot. It works fine with my Class A, but my brother-in-laws TT wouldn't work because his black tank was nearer the ground (probably by 1-2 ft. lower than in our Class A) and the water couldn't push the stuff without that extra "potential energy" it has with the higher black tank. Kind of an interesting hydraulic problem, I guess. :)

I would make one suggestion. Are the push-on connections you made glued together? If not, they should be, and I would extend your connections a bit to include a shut-off valve before the hose goes into the sewer connection. That's what I did with mine. (I built my connection from the sewer clean-out fitting on the basement floor.) On my setup, all of the fittings up to the shut-off valve are all glued. IF the sewer should ever back up (very unlikely, but not unheard of), it won't "push out" the SS connection and dump the sewage into our basement 'cause the valve is closed. It is one extra step each time when I dump to make sure the valve is open, but it's not a big deal. (On a more paranoid note, it also keeps anyone from trying to dump anything else into our sewer connection such as used motor oil, hazardous waste, etc. Yeah...maybe a bit far fetched...but better safe than sorry. The fines for dumping such things down your sewer can be pretty steep, or so I hear.)

One other thing you might consider is to get an estimate to have someone bore a 1.25" or 1.5" hole through your wall. It might not be that expensive, and then you'll be able to use the SS even if your water pressure drops because you won't have to force the water up as high. (Sometimes in our area, if people start watering their lawns, there is a noticeable drop in pressure.) Make a rigid connection right on the outside of the wall with a nice neat PVC pipe run to your present connection point.

Another benefit is I can fill the freshwater tank and/or use the black tank rinse while operating the SS and it still works with the reduced pressure.

It's easy to spend someone else's money! LOL :)

Anyway, good luck with the system. I love the SS. I use it almost exclusively now, even at campgrounds, unless they have a water shortage.

~Rick

Thanks for the update. Glad to see it worked out for you.

Ok - all done. It works great! That is, once I read the instructions and realized that the water has 2 settings - pump and rinse. At first it was filling up the tanks and couldn't figure out why. The rinse feature is awesome. I couldn't believe the, er, junk that came out of the black tank even after it was empty. I rinsed it and drained it about 5 times until it was clear. Ditto with the gray tank.

Not a drop spilled in the basement since I let it drain for about 30 minutes before I disconnected it. It's not elegant but it works. I may come up with a more permanent solution in the future, but this is great for now.

Ok now I have a situation. I had friends staying in the RV for the past week (long story). The black tank is full to the point where it's now overflowing. I plan to go to Home Depot to get supplies today. Here's the plan - advice would be appreciated.

This is the end of my sewer run - it runs about 45 feet to the left, takes a 90 and goes another 30 feet, takes another 90 and goes about 5 feet and then out through the wall. I plan to take that cap off the end and replace it with some sort of reducer that will allow me to hook up the sprinkler line adapter in the 2nd picture:






Here's the sewer line relative to the window where I plan to bring the sprinkler line in.



So hopefully it will all work okay. I plan to run fresh water through it first to make sure it's all good.

I personally like the Flojet, but it has more moving parts and is less reliable than the Sewer Solution. However, I just hate wasting water, being in an area prone to droughts.

Thanks all for the replies.

My basement only has a sanitary sewer line - no storm drains. The only storm drains are the ones that collect water from the roof and that I mistakenly though were sewer clean-outs.

The sanitary sewer line runs from the front of the house, all along the basement wall and almost to that window in the picture. It's 4" pipe that collects waste from the whole house along the way. It has a 4" cap at the end of the run. I'm going to remove it and put a "T" of some kind there (more likely a "Y") for the Sewer Solution. Yes it will be an airtight connection.

Water pressure is really good so it sounds like it will work for me. I have 1" plastic underground sprinkler line with PVC adapters on each end. I bought the sprinkler line because it's flexible. I plan to put a threaded fitting at the "T" I will install so I can remove the line and cap it when not in use.

My trailer is parked on the left side of my house, garage is on the right. I use a sewer solutions to empty the trailer through aprox 60ft of 1" PVC I temporarily put together and then up 3ft to reach the washer stand pipe in my garage. It works. I do have pretty good water pressure which was important in making this long a run with elevation gain. Looks like it should work fine for you. Make sure you use the recommended hose / PVC diameter for extending. Once over the sill the siphon should help keep it going. I have been very pleased with my sewer solution.