Karl
Moderator Emeritus
Tom,
I know, but Moab comes too late in the year for me. Sorry I missed it :'(
I know, but Moab comes too late in the year for me. Sorry I missed it :'(
RV Hookups at Home
- Thread starter GaryB
- Start date
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If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
Tom
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Wanna hear the end of the story Karl? ;D
Karl said:
How is the beginning of May 'too late in the year'? Must have something to do with racing.
I've got the DVD for the RV movie. Somehow it wasn't as funny watching it in the living room with Mike and Sam as it was in the Moab theater with 50 fellow RVers.
Karl
Moderator Emeritus
Wendy,
Absolutely correct. Our season starts in the middle of April - rain (sometimes snow) or shine ;D
Like my previous post to you about the Tom Cruise movie, Days of Thunder", I can understand why having a group of people 'in the know' would make it that much more funny
Absolutely correct. Our season starts in the middle of April - rain (sometimes snow) or shine ;D
Like my previous post to you about the Tom Cruise movie, Days of Thunder", I can understand why having a group of people 'in the know' would make it that much more funny
Karl,
Days of Thunder was just pathetic to any racing fan....Cruise's character would have been banned for life (although Carl Edwards did something a bit similar to DE last week). RV is still funny, maybe because I can understand just about everything he did. And I'd still like to have that motorhome....60 miles an hour up dirt roads, a day at the bottom of a lake, and it still keeps running ! Kind of sad though that they had to use Canada pretending to be Colorado for filming.
Days of Thunder was just pathetic to any racing fan....Cruise's character would have been banned for life (although Carl Edwards did something a bit similar to DE last week). RV is still funny, maybe because I can understand just about everything he did. And I'd still like to have that motorhome....60 miles an hour up dirt roads, a day at the bottom of a lake, and it still keeps running ! Kind of sad though that they had to use Canada pretending to be Colorado for filming.
Gary,
Don't know where you are, but in FL the code requires a sewer cleanout within 5 ft of the building exterior. Anyhow, you can ask the builder to put one in closer to your RV spot and using a macerator, empty into the sewer cleanout. Just tell your builder what you want to do and he should help you out. I have a macerator and the specs say max 50 ft 3/4 inch hose and max 25 ft 5/8 inch hose. I run mine into the laundry room and down the washing machine pipe. Works like a charm.
Yes, I attach my hose to one of the outside hose bibs all the time. No problem with that...that's what you do in a campground anyhow.
Don't know where you are, but in FL the code requires a sewer cleanout within 5 ft of the building exterior. Anyhow, you can ask the builder to put one in closer to your RV spot and using a macerator, empty into the sewer cleanout. Just tell your builder what you want to do and he should help you out. I have a macerator and the specs say max 50 ft 3/4 inch hose and max 25 ft 5/8 inch hose. I run mine into the laundry room and down the washing machine pipe. Works like a charm.
Yes, I attach my hose to one of the outside hose bibs all the time. No problem with that...that's what you do in a campground anyhow.
GaryB
Well-known member
Bruce
Is a macerator required in a regular campground, or is it not necessary because the dump is much closer to RV than if parked in a driveway? Just wondering.
Thanks
Gary
Is a macerator required in a regular campground, or is it not necessary because the dump is much closer to RV than if parked in a driveway? Just wondering.
Thanks
Gary
Alaskansnowbirds
Site Team
wendycoke said:
Now wait a minute Wendy, who hit who first?
Carl L
Moderator Emeritus
GaryB said:
No, I have never seen such a requirement
Yes, they often do place the sewer inlet near enough to be reached. At least by a 20 foot hose. Tho I have seen one creative park, in Seattle, that placed the sewer under the RV position. But then that park also had sites so situated that you stepped out of your RV directlly into the stream of traffic in the main park entrance. They were, as I said, creative.
And then there are parks that seem to believe, in defiance of the prime law of military/bureaucratic organization, that 'sewage' flows up hill. So I guess a macerator pump does have its advantages. :
GaryB
Well-known member
Thanks Carl,
Are you saying there is not any greater need to have a mascerator pump while dumping at home than there is while in a CG, as long as the hose is < 20 ft long and dump direction is downhill?
Sounds like a mascerator may be useful at some times, whether in CG or at home in driveway.
Gary
Are you saying there is not any greater need to have a mascerator pump while dumping at home than there is while in a CG, as long as the hose is < 20 ft long and dump direction is downhill?
Sounds like a mascerator may be useful at some times, whether in CG or at home in driveway.
Gary
GaryB said:
Gary, most sewer cleanouts are elevated and create problems depending on gravity for dumping. If you can install one at ground level close to the spot you will use for parking then a macerator is not necessary. I use a Sewer Solution which used the venturi effect of streaming water through the center of a 3/4" hose. Less cost, simple installation, and maintenance.
Tom
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Carl,
You've either figured out how to make the brown stuff roll uphill or haven't camped in some of the same campgrounds as us.
OTOH 95% (or more?) of the CGs didn't need it. Our main use of the macerator is to pump out into the sewer cleanout when we get home. But, after our last trip, I decided to make the macerator a semi-permanent installation and use it regularly. The smaller diameter hose is a lot easier to handle and store.
You've either figured out how to make the brown stuff roll uphill or haven't camped in some of the same campgrounds as us.
OTOH 95% (or more?) of the CGs didn't need it. Our main use of the macerator is to pump out into the sewer cleanout when we get home. But, after our last trip, I decided to make the macerator a semi-permanent installation and use it regularly. The smaller diameter hose is a lot easier to handle and store.
Lou Schneider
Site Team
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Hi Gary -
I recently added a RV port to a vacation home that uses a septic tank. Prior to this the septic tank was plugged by a root from a tree that had penetrated the lid so we had to dig up the tank and have it pumped. This was the first time it had been serviced since it was installed in 1960.
When a septic tank is operating normally there is a layer of scum on top, a layer of sludge on the bottom and a layer of relatively clean water in between. The output of the tank has a baffle that extends down into the clear water and this is what should go into your leach field. The problem with "overloading" a septic system is introducing enough effluent to displace the clear water and force unprocessed (or semi-processed) effluent over or under the output baffle so it gets into the leach field. This can plug the field and cause you to dig up and re-lay the drain lines.
Dumping your tanks at the end of a weekend will introduce 40-50 gallons of liquid into the septic tank at once. This is the same as doing a couple loads of laundry so if the septic system will withstand the laundry load it won't be hurt by the the volume of fluids in a RV tank. Just don't do everything at once - maybe let the laundry wait until the next day.
Of vital importance, do NOT use any kind of "-aldehyde" chemical in your RV tank. This will kill the bacterial action in your septic tank just as it does in the RV tank. Instead, just pre-charge the tank by adding 5 gallons or so of fresh water at the start of the weekend. Fill the toilet bowl and flush it 5 or 6 times. This will let the solids spread out and start to dissolve in the RV tank instead of just sitting on the bottom. Odor should not be a problem - if a smell does start to build afer several days, just dump the tank and start over with a fresh charge of water.
I recently added a RV port to a vacation home that uses a septic tank. Prior to this the septic tank was plugged by a root from a tree that had penetrated the lid so we had to dig up the tank and have it pumped. This was the first time it had been serviced since it was installed in 1960.
When a septic tank is operating normally there is a layer of scum on top, a layer of sludge on the bottom and a layer of relatively clean water in between. The output of the tank has a baffle that extends down into the clear water and this is what should go into your leach field. The problem with "overloading" a septic system is introducing enough effluent to displace the clear water and force unprocessed (or semi-processed) effluent over or under the output baffle so it gets into the leach field. This can plug the field and cause you to dig up and re-lay the drain lines.
Dumping your tanks at the end of a weekend will introduce 40-50 gallons of liquid into the septic tank at once. This is the same as doing a couple loads of laundry so if the septic system will withstand the laundry load it won't be hurt by the the volume of fluids in a RV tank. Just don't do everything at once - maybe let the laundry wait until the next day.
Of vital importance, do NOT use any kind of "-aldehyde" chemical in your RV tank. This will kill the bacterial action in your septic tank just as it does in the RV tank. Instead, just pre-charge the tank by adding 5 gallons or so of fresh water at the start of the weekend. Fill the toilet bowl and flush it 5 or 6 times. This will let the solids spread out and start to dissolve in the RV tank instead of just sitting on the bottom. Odor should not be a problem - if a smell does start to build afer several days, just dump the tank and start over with a fresh charge of water.
Carl L
Moderator Emeritus
Tom said:
I have camped in many an odd cg. The secret of my success is....
1. The use of a 20' sewer hose in two coupling 10-foot sections;
2. The use of a Slinky and a folding aluminum hose support;
3. Avoiding parks with names like Happy Daze Trailer Heaven;
4. Using an RV somewhat shorter than the Queen Elizabeth II to permit picking of a best position in a campsite.
Tom
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Carl,
None of those would help in one of the CGs we found north of the border. They put the sewer inlet literally in the bushes and it was a vertical pipe that stuck way up out of the ground.
None of those would help in one of the CGs we found north of the border. They put the sewer inlet literally in the bushes and it was a vertical pipe that stuck way up out of the ground.
John From Detroit
Well-known member
Carl Lundquist said:
Comments:
1: I have 10-15 & 20 foot sections
2: I also use the Slunkey plus the 20' hose has it's own pipe holder
3: Sounds like good advice
4: ROFL
GaryB said:
What Carl said. Not required in a campground but may come in handy at home or when visiting a friend. For me, it's nice to have it so I can dump at my liesure at home when I get back from a trip. Camping World has them on sale now for $239 and change. Check it out here: FloJet Macerator This is the one I have. There is also the Sani-Con. See it here: Sani-Con
Tom
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Both the FloJet and Sani-Con that Bruce mentioned are good products and both use the same basic macerator pump. The FloJet uses a garden hose, whereas the Sani-con uses a (better) more flexible and slightly larger diameter hose. In retrospect, I'd have bought a Sani-con instead of the FloJet.
I could buy the Sani-con hose and add it to my FloJet, but they want $80 for the hose.
I got what I got and it works.
I could buy the Sani-con hose and add it to my FloJet, but they want $80 for the hose.
I got what I got and it works.
ocnative1964
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as for dumping in your septic tank. if the same people are using the RV or the house, there is absolutely NO difference in the amount of waste produced. so whether it is flushed from the house or drained from the RV no difference.
even if you are out for a week and come home and dump, you still have dumped what you would have done at home had you not been on Vacation.
a standard pipe teed off the pipe between your house and the septic tank, run to where the RV will be parked should do it, the only issue being propper slope. since your rv parking is uphill from your septic, your plumber should be able to run the propper sloped pipes no problem.
even if you are out for a week and come home and dump, you still have dumped what you would have done at home had you not been on Vacation.
a standard pipe teed off the pipe between your house and the septic tank, run to where the RV will be parked should do it, the only issue being propper slope. since your rv parking is uphill from your septic, your plumber should be able to run the propper sloped pipes no problem.
