gray water

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katgold

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Joined
Mar 4, 2011
Posts
34
Location
texas
Im going to be fulltime I was wanted to know do you leave you gray tank open when you have full hook ups.
Is it ok to leave it open? do you get a bad smell ?  ???
 
I keep all tanks closed but check them daily for the levels. I drain the black water first then the gray to help flush out the drain line. I have only had a bad smell once and when I did I put a little bleach in the sink for the gray tank. Others may do it different.
 
We leave the gray water drain open when parked with a sewer hookup.  You'll get odors only if you let a p-trap dry out.
 
It's a good idea to close the gray valve a day before you plan to dump the black tank. That way you build up some volume of gray water to flush the black goop out of the drain hose.
 
We leave the gray open. When we dump, we run the black tank spray for an extended period to make sure it flushes out completely. Usually, I'll close the black valve to let the tank fill about half full and then open it. I repeat that a couple of times.

If you don't have a flush fitting, I'd seriously consider adding one (or just use the toilet); it should be a fairly simple and economical task as long as you can access the tank (top?).

Ernie
 
I leave the grey open until a day or so before I dump my black tank, so there's grey water available to flush out the hose.

I also leave a low point in the hose to act as a P-trap (full of water) while the grey valve is left open, to keep sewer gas out and discourage sewer flies and other insects from deciding to migrate into the grey tank, although some localities frown on this practice.
 
Yup, all good advise above.  We do two weeks in Myrtle Beach every summer, full hook-ups and leave the grey open, night before leaving close it off and get the good flush action.  Latest unit has the black flush, which has been great!  Our black tank gauge actually works in this unit.  With a family of four, plenty of water flowing, don't have grey smell problem!
 
It appears that I will be among the minority, but I dump and then close all valves until I am ready to dump again.  A full tank that is dumped will, in the long run, do better than a tank that is left to air dry 24/7.  Yes, that is an opinion and not one to be argued here.
If Janet is going to be doing a number of loads of laundry I will open the grey and leave it that way (after dumping the black whether it needs it or not) until she is done and then I shut everything back up again until something reaches full.
This has worked for the last 12 years without any issues and without any chemicals so it can't be all bad!
 
I usually do as Bill does. Seems to work better for me. If the weather is hot I might add chemicals to the black water tank.
 
[quote author=judway]I usually do as Bill does. Seems to work better for me.[/quote]

Me too Wayne, and have done for 27 years.
 
One caveat to leaving drain for tanks hooked up. If you are staying for a while at a park, workers will likely need to cut the grass and weedeat your site. A couple of times we discovered damage to the stinky slinky from, what looks like, weedeater string. Since then we either disconnect the slinky after every dump or, sometimes if we use one of the plastic support inclines, set the slinky into plastic gutter (cut in 3 foot sections) to protect it.
 
We also leave our valves closed until one needs to be dumped - almost full. Even then we may not dump the black when the grey needs to be emptied unless it is at least half full.

But I do usually dump before leaving a campground when traveling unless it was just a one night stay and we plan on having hookups the next day. I like to travel with near empty black and grey tanks.

ken
 
I leave mine closed until it needs to be dumped. Once while at a FHU site, the trailer down a few sites had his drain hose tear and he did not know it for a few days, what a mess. I would just hate for this to happen to me.

Kevin
 
Just Lou said:
Me too.  Did we just take Bill out of the minority?  ;D
Click to expand...

Me too.  I think so.
We close off our tanks mainly as a courtesy, but they do also work better this way.
 
One more vote for leaving the valve closed until the tank is full. We can do a couple of loads of laundry on an empty tank. With the Splendide washer, that's about all we can do in a day.
 
HomeSweetRV said:
Me too.  I think so.
We close off our tanks mainly as a courtesy, but they do also work better this way.
Click to expand...

Same here.  All valves closed until dump time, then black first, gray second.  Flush black tank for 15 min or so, then all valves closed till next time.
 
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