stupid question

Doug33 wrote:
I can tell you from experience, if you don't get the tank fully drained, and let the TT set out in the summer heat for a a few days, you will be spending some time trying to get the smell out of the system. ;)

I don't seem to have this issue. I do dump and thoroughly rinse before leaving the campground, but the bathroom is used on occasion while sitting in the heat (100+ this past weekend) in my driveway. My kids and I driveway camp every Friday night. Never had any smell issues with this trailer no matter the levels in my tank or the heat.

Lynnmor wrote:

darsben wrote:
Why the necessity to get them completely empty?

So when you get home and store it in the barn it doesn't stink up the place?

I can tell you from experience, if you don't get the tank fully drained, and let the TT set out in the summer heat for a a few days, you will be spending some time trying to get the smell out of the system. ;)

I drain the black tank, and then fill it up about a third of the way, and then drain it again. That helps get rid of some of the residuals.

allen8106 wrote:

smkettner wrote:
If I want a good dump I do use the levelers to tilt the trailer toward the drain.
Certainly not needed every time.

Won't work in all cases. Some drain connections are in the center of the long side, mine included.

Yes if the pipe comes out of the center of the tank there would be no tilting needed.

Do you have a pic?

I suppose it is a function of how often you travel. We dump our black water, and then run in a couple of gallons for a fresh water flush, then dump the grey water. Finally we run in a couple of gallons of fresh water into the black tank and drop in a chemical treatment packet. We are good to go till the next outing.

I do not want to completely drain the black tank and let any residual solids solidify, so I suppose there is two to five gallons of treated water slushing around in the black tank at any given time.

Keep in mind the black tank is a temporary septic tank you carry with you. It is not supposed to be squeaky clean.

Because of the flat shallow nature of the tanks it is hard to keep crud from bridging the fill level sensors and giving you an erroneous reading. You will develop a feel for the tank level over time. In the winter I add a bit of the pink antifreeze to the few gallons of water left in the grey and black tanks.

darsben wrote:
Why the necessity to get them completely empty?

So when you get home and store it in the barn it doesn't stink up the place?

I've looked under the trailer to see how it drains but the panel prevents me from getting a look at it. I've also asked a dealer close by how the tanks actually are designed and they couldn't give me any help. There isn't a flush kit on this model so that doesn't help either. It's not that I need to empty completely each time it's just that after each use it will sit sometimes for a month or even more without using it. By giving my year and model I was hoping to hear from someone with the same but all your suggestions have been good. Thanks.

Take a peek under your trailer and see if you can see the tanks. On mine I thought they drained out the side, but found out that they actually drain out of the center.

My black tank drains fast, my gray tank sometimes seems to drain really slowly. I'm suspicious that there is something like the piece of plastic they drilled out of the tank still sitting in there and sometimes plugging it up.

smkettner wrote:
If I want a good dump I do use the levelers to tilt the trailer toward the drain.
Certainly not needed every time.

Won't work in all cases. Some drain connections are in the center of the long side, mine included.

As as been noted, light indicators for the tanks are accurate within a 20% range. After that they are useless. When the shower water backs up in the drain, the gray tank is full, when you can see or start to get some whiffs of sewer smell, the black tank is full. Before you hook up to drain the tanks, connect your water to the back flush connection, run the black flush for about 3 min. and continue to fill your black tank as you open your black tank valve. When the black tank is flushing clear liquid, open up your gray tanks. when your grays are empty, close the gray and the black valves. Let the back flush run for 5 min. and then open up your black tank value again and let it drain until only clear water is coming out. Close your black tank valve and let the back flush run for another 3 min. then disconnect your black tank value. You always want some water at the bottom of the black tank. Caution---- never walk away to do another little task or talk to someone when you are back flushing the black tank. You could end up with the black tank over filling out of your toilet:(:(:(:(

Why the necessity to get them completely empty?