Flojet to Theford

[Merlisk]

I was thinking of using a Flojet and pumping my gray tank into a Thetford in the bed of my truck. This would allow me to easily tote the Tote to the dump station when we have a multi-day stay at a campground that doesn't have sewer connections at the site.

Has anyone done this? Any suggestions or warnings?

(Note: I don't plan on emptying the black tank this way since it's large enough for my family to use for a week+ without dumping.)

[thetechie01]

I do something similar, I pump into a 55gallon barrel with a flojet. The pump has a check valve, so once you shut the pump off, it doesn't come back thru. I then have a ball valve on the barrel that I shut off, then when I am ready to dump, I disconnect the outlet hose from the flojet ( the ball valve being shut off on the barrel holds the water inside the hose) and stick that end in the ground, then turn on the ball valve and drain away. I do both black and grey, never had an issue with getting messy. On a long weekend, I will pump over 300 gallons between my trailer and other family. It's a great set up

[PAThwacker]

I have done it before. I have a macerator flo jet. I bought 40 feet of 1" hose so I could monitor the action.


Issue is: once you shut down the pump. You have 40 feet of yuck water stuck in the hose and attached to tote in back of truck. You have to walk the yuck hose elevated and towards the truck.


You choose whatever you are pumping!

[CavemanCharlie]

Merlisk wrote:

RJS3 wrote:
I may be missing something here but, you should be able to tow the Thetford Portable Tank using your hitch and the handle on the portable tank.
Of course what you suggested would work IMHO it would be time consuming.

Well, I do that now, but the problem is that sometimes the dump is quite some distance away from the RV, and it seems like everyone's watching me drag it. 🙂

Putting it in the back of the truck just seems easier to haul.

Everyone is watching you drag the tank because those little plastic wheels on the tank make a terrible noise on the road. lol I sometimes camp at a campground that is a mostly seasonal campground with a few weekend sites mixed in. It has water hook-up but no dump hook up. Just a dump station over in the corner of the park. First time I camped there, around 8 AM, on Sunday morning I start to hear this terrible noise going by my TT while I'm sleeping. It wakes me up. I think nothing of it. A little while later it happens again. Then again, and again. By this time I'm fully awake and jump out the door in my sweat pants to see what the heck is going on. I find a whole line of pickups pulling this little blue tanks to the dump station. Bump, bump, bumping along on the gravel road as they go. Looked like a parade. They should have been throwing candy at us gawkers as they passed by. I've gotten used to it but, it is kinda annoying.

Your pump idea should work. OR, maybe you could put small rubber tires on the tote so that it doesn't make that terrible noise.

It ought to be a law. lol

[mbopp]

Merlisk wrote:
That's a much cheaper alternative for sure. According to the manual, it says "Do not use the pump for other fluids, especially not fuels, cleaning fluids, or other chemical products." Have you had any issue with pumping the gray water since it has cleaning fluids?

Thanks.

No problems to date. "Cleaning fluids" probably means paint thinner, acetone, alcohol, or other strong solvents. My guess is that the soap residue lubricates the pump.

[ckwjl]

Emptying my gray tank with a tote tank placed in the bed of my truck has worked well for me. I did not spend $200 on a macerator pump as I do not use the tote to empty my black tank. I bought a $70 Flojet 2.9 GPM 12 volt pump and wired it to the hot lead of a 7-pin trailer plug. I place the pump in the truck’s bed next to the tote and plug it into the truck’s trailer connection (have to turn the ignition switch to ‘accessory’ to power the pump). I use garden hose connectors and a 25 foot ½ inch hose to connect the pump to the gray tank and a short piece of hose attaches to the tote. The pump self-primes fine over this distance. I thought hair going through the pump might be a problem, but have not had any issues with hair or other gray contents after two years of use.

[wmoses]

Merlisk wrote:
... According to the manual, it says "Do not use the pump for other fluids, especially not fuels, cleaning fluids, or other chemical products." Have you had any issue with pumping the gray water since it has cleaning fluids?

I hope that you get an answer to your question. In the interim I will say this - I have a FloJet macerator pump and a 40 gallon Thetford SmartTote which is certainly easier to transport in the bed of the truck than pulled behind by the hitch, although I have done this a few times without incident. It does make some noise however, which is one of the reasons you said you preferred putting it in the bed. I see no problem with using the FloJet as long as it will pump to that head, which I am sure that it will do so go for it.

As for the cautions - I suspect because the FloJet can get quite hot, they warn against pumping flammable liquids such as fuels because of the fire hazard. Cleaning fluids and chemicals can be corrosive but the tank chemicals are not supposed to be corrosive so I see no reason you can't pump your grey water int it. For added peace of mind you could not treat the grey water especially if you will be dumping often.

[Merlisk]

mbopp wrote:
I've used one of these to pump gray water. Use one of these and some recycled garden hose to get the gray water to your tank. It's not as fast as a Flojet but it's cheaper.

I have a surplus 30-gallon barrel strapped in the truck bed to transport the gray water. Way cheaper than a tote. It was set up with a garden hose connector and 3/4" ball valve but is getting re-worked for an 1-1/2" RV waste valve & hose.

That's a much cheaper alternative for sure. According to the manual, it says "Do not use the pump for other fluids, especially not fuels, cleaning fluids, or other chemical products." Have you had any issue with pumping the gray water since it has cleaning fluids?

Thanks.

[Merlisk]

RJS3 wrote:
I may be missing something here but, you should be able to tow the Thetford Portable Tank using your hitch and the handle on the portable tank.
Of course what you suggested would work IMHO it would be time consuming.

Well, I do that now, but the problem is that sometimes the dump is quite some distance away from the RV, and it seems like everyone's watching me drag it. 🙂

Putting it in the back of the truck just seems easier to haul.

[mbopp]

I've used one of these to pump gray water. Use one of these and some recycled garden hose to get the gray water to your tank. It's not as fast as a Flojet but it's cheaper.

I have a surplus 30-gallon barrel strapped in the truck bed to transport the gray water. Way cheaper than a tote. It was set up with a garden hose connector and 3/4" ball valve but is getting re-worked for an 1-1/2" RV waste valve & hose.

[RJS3]

I may be missing something here but, you should be able to tow the Thetford Portable Tank using your hitch and the handle on the portable tank.
Of course what you suggested would work IMHO it would be time consuming.