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Old 06-25-2007, 09:40 AM   #1
Frankenstien
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M.O.C. #7274
Gray water/Galley Water Confusion

I am just confused about the 2 different gray water tanks... is there a way to "load" Balance the two?..... Allow me to elaborate a bit... WE did our shake down in the front yard this week... I completely filled and emptied the fresh water tank... filled the Black and the Gray water tanks... then as a "hmmmm I wonder if this would work" I pulled the Galley lever (no not the black), and the Gray lever with the cap on thinking the two would ..level not the case, as the 3 inches of water remained in the bath tub. So perhaps my question is..... is there a way to do this?....Thanks in advance all..
 
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Old 06-25-2007, 10:03 AM   #2
skypilot
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M.O.C. #1846
If I understand what you are trying; you want to use both the galley and bath gray tanks in such a way as to fill both equally (or use both at the same time). Logically, if you pull both drain valves, and have the main cap sealed, the water should equalize. However, logic doesn't work in my Mountaineer -- the galley tank is apparently higher than the bath gray; when I tried to do what you said, I just filled the shower up even higher. At some point they might of equalized but I was running out of headspace (the remaining room to the lip of the shower) and didn't want an overflow.

One last note - heaven forbid that the black tank lever be pulled as well (or be leaking). The cross contamination would be horrendous.

If you are in need of more gray tank space you might look at some of these 'tote' type containers where you can off-load some of your gray water.
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Old 06-25-2007, 10:15 AM   #3
Frankenstien
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M.O.C. #7274
Thanks for the fast response... I do believe you are correct, as the indications I received were that the bath continued to fill once both valves where opened. So that would make sense. I think the Grey water capacity is adequate.. for what we do... usually no more than 2 weeks of dry camping. When the opportunity presents itself, I will pull the belly pan and investigate the positioning of the tanks to see if it feasible to bring the levels more on an equal plain.
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Old 06-25-2007, 11:58 AM   #4
awaywego
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M.O.C. #40
The newer models may be different but on my Montana, I installed another dump valve just ahead of the cap. I fill the gray then open the gray and galley valves and leave the black and 3RD valve closed and it will equalize in the two gray tanks.
I use the third valve so I don't get flooded when I remove the cap.
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Old 06-25-2007, 12:05 PM   #5
Frankenstien
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Thanks "awaywego"... that will probably be the end result of my quandary. btw your rig in the sig looks very much like mine... :-D
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Old 06-25-2007, 03:18 PM   #6
TheCoachPotatoes
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As Awaywego just mentioned, we also installed a third valve and the gray and the galley equalize when they are opened. Works great for us.
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Old 06-25-2007, 03:21 PM   #7
indy roadrunner
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M.O.C. #5634
I too bought a Knife valve at Camping World that fastens to the Drain pipe just like a sewer hose. I close that valve and open the two gray tank valves and the gray tanks will last much longer before having to dump. We just didn't use the gally tank all that much. When you are ready to dump just hook up the sewer hose to the male side of the Knife valve and you are ready to go.
Thanks to Steve Reigle for showing me this trick.
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Old 06-25-2007, 06:45 PM   #8
markwick
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Here is the valve you need from Camping World -It works really well. I have the 3075. The kitchen sink is higher than the bottom of the shower so I can 'Equalize' the levels by using this valve without any overflow, and opening both grey tanks.

http://www.campingworld.com/browse/s...e/skunum=27868
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Old 06-26-2007, 04:10 PM   #9
Frankenstien
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I like it... we'll be starting our Vac. tomorrow for a week and a half out at Ocean Shore WA... I'll give it a shot.
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Old 06-28-2007, 06:13 AM   #10
simonsrf
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Same for us too.

Installed a Blade type valve at the end of the pipe. When closed, open both Grey and Galley. I can hear the water transferring from tank to tank. (equalizing).

A word of caution: Galley water stinks....so make sure you are OK with contaminating the sweet smelling soapy water from the shower!

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Old 07-01-2007, 03:01 PM   #11
sreigle
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Many of us have added that extra valve at the dump cap in order to share capacity among the two gray tanks. It worked well on our 2003 3295RK and also works well on this 2007 3400RL. I guess so long as the two tanks are mounted at the same height it should work. Plus you get the capacity held by the dump pipes, as well.
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Old 07-02-2007, 02:03 PM   #12
markwick
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I have used this method for quite a while - the only thing you may want to be careful with is not traveling too far with the drain pipes full. They don't look like they could be too secure. We use this method when camping with no sewer hook up and only drive to the nearest dump with the drain pipes full. It must add a few gallons to the original capacity though.
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Old 07-08-2007, 11:42 AM   #13
Frankenstien
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M.O.C. #7274
So heres the .....yuk of the story.... Well we did our first "REAL" trip last week.... shot out to Ocean Shores WA for the Annual "Blow your Mortgage" carnage on the Beach.... tens of Millions of Dollars in fire works get wasted there every year..... any way turns out someone had switched the "Black" Label and the "Gray" label.... so I tried to level the load just a bit.... and .... yuk....... so lesson 1 learned.... the galley and the Gray did load level fine however once I re-affixed the proper label to the proper handle..... Thanks for the replies all..... hope every one enjoys the Summer....
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Old 07-08-2007, 08:52 PM   #14
patodonn
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We also use the added valve at the dump pipe end..works great. By "interconnecting" the two tanks, we gain at last one, maybe two days before dumping is necessary. Also prevents unpleasant surprises when you open the cap when setting up.

Wondering if your rig was level when you did your shake down test...might have made a slight difference.
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Old 07-10-2007, 10:16 AM   #15
sreigle
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Thanks for the kudos but I was shown the extra valve trick by HamRad. So the kudos go to Dennis.
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Old 07-10-2007, 03:47 PM   #16
Frankenstien
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M.O.C. #7274
Yup we were level the 1st time.... problem was... I had opened the Black tank.... thinking it was the Gray.... thats why the Bath tub level never dropped...... as the Trailer was new to us and had been serviced very thoroughly the "Black Water" was clean, thats why my perception of the Load leveling not to work was ... at it was.
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