Leave a gray water open?

[JandC]

The move is almost complete and we start full timing Sunday. I was talking to a neighbor at the RV park who had SOB. He did have two gray water tanks and a black though. He said he kept one gray water open all the time. Just wondering what most folks here do. I have been dumping my black, then the gray tanks, and then closing all.

[WaltBennett]

For certain, DON'T leave the black one open. Let the tank fill and then dump it. I've left grey valves open for months when full timing and not moving. I did close and let it fill about half way to flush it out periodically though. Only 'stuff' that should get into a grey tank would be food things from the kitchen sink.

[racerjoe]

we leave ours open when we can. But if we are planning to dump the black I will shut the gray off to flush out the system at the same time

[8.1al]

We have fulltimed for 9 yrs. We leave the gray for the bathroom open but leave the one for the kitchen closed for fear some of the food particles will solidify. So far so good.

[DQDick]

As has been stated, we dump the black once every two weeks. About four days before I close the larger gray tank and let it begin to fill. I then dump the black tank, flush the black tank and then close the black tank and dump the grey leaving it open after that until the next cycle. Dumping a grey tank after the black will help clean out your pipes and hose. We have a clear elbow so I can make sure everything goes well and even after the flush runs clear when I open the grey a good deal of material still comes out right at first.

[GreatWhite]

I don't leave either of the gray tanks open. I don't like the idea of stuff sticking to the bottom.. much less the walls if I can help it. I don't full-time.. so, maybe my thoughts would be different if I did.. But, I dump all three at the park and refill with about 10 gallons of fresh water before leaving. That sloshes not only the gray particulates.. but keeps the dreaded cone from forming in the black tank. Just my habit.

[mhs4771]

Because our Washer dumps into the Gray, I leave it open until a couple of days prior to dumping the Black. The Galley Gray I generally leave closed, and of course the Black stays closed until dumping time. On our 2955RL because the Washer dumped directly into the discharge pipe, both Grays and the Black were closed until dump time.

[Art-n-Marge]

I don't fulltime and therefore typically keep the tanks closed to assist with dumping, since it could be anytime we vacate a spot anywhere. We've been known to leave early and I like to have some grey to flush any black debris.

But what I have read in many places (forums, articles, etc.) for fulltimers or long timers is that they often leave the lavatory/shower tank open to allow for long showers and running the water at will and not the galley tank for the reasons mentioned that something might collect in the tank. Some comment they leave this one open, too. While all debris should be disposed of in a trash can, sometimes this is difficult, and one should try to minimize the chance for the debris to collect and harden and become a permanent fixture to your tank. In our rig, we wash dishes QUICK before everything hardens especially in pots, pans and bakeware. We also travel with outside kitchen gear and if the need arises I've broken out the basins for tough stains to keep out the debris from the tank. Unfortunately draining the basins becomes a tough problem and if we were fulltimers, this would be plain irritating (covered basins or a tote then might be a solution). What do others do for the "big chunks" from the galley?

In any case if you know your departure date, close the gate valves to collect as much grey for backflushing after the black tank has been drained. While using a black tank tornado helps keep the sewer pipe cleaner than not, everyone feels comfortable that, the kitchen gray helps clean out the drains a little bit as it typically contains dishwashing liquid, then followed by the bathroom gray with its soap debris for more added affect.

I guess the best question now is, which gray tank goes first? I do the kitchen first like I mentioned above, but does it matter? I only do this just in case the drain needs to be cleared of food particulates and don't think the shower/lavatory tank's particulates are as prevalent, but with these gray tanks at opposite ends of the sewer drain it probably doesn't matter much unless I have a way to stop at the main drain to run some water to backfill and flush the main (like with a FlushKing). I do wish I had tornado flushers in my gray and galley tanks, but can do without it at this time.

[ols1932]

quote:Originally posted by GreatWhite

I don't leave either of the gray tanks open. I don't like the idea of stuff sticking to the bottom.. much less the walls if I can help it. I don't full-time.. so, maybe my thoughts would be different if I did.. But, I dump all three at the park and refill with about 10 gallons of fresh water before leaving. That sloshes not only the gray particulates.. but keeps the dreaded cone from forming in the black tank. Just my habit.

We've full timed for over 12 years and we also keep all valves closed until time to dump which is generally every 7 days. If by chance we get a full grey water tank before the 7-day period ends, I just dump a little of the grey water and then close the valve so that I have grey water to back flush the black tank with. So far we've had no clogs or anything like that. All the tanks drain better if they're full when needing to dump.

Orv

[grampachet]

I leave both grey valves open. Since I use the Sewer Solution system I dont need to have a grey tank of water to wash out the stinky slinky. My theory of leaving the grey tanks closed...as the grey water sits in the tank the solids however small will settle to the bottom and have the potental of building up and at sometime coming loose and causing a blockage. Thats my .02. Never had a problem since 1969.

[GreatWhite]

One thing I've done on past units it to install an aftermarket valve between the dump outlet (where the hose connects) and the rest of the system. I haven't done that on the new Monty yet.. but, the reason for doing that is/can be twofold. If I can dump the black tank with no issues.. fine.. I dump it and close the accessory valve and flow one of the full gray tanks back into the black tank. That puts a lot of water in there for a 2nd pretty full flush. I usually do this with the kitchen gray tank as it has some debris in it.. like coffee grounds, etc. Then close the gray valve, open the accy valve and re-flush the black. Doing this, I can also do it a 2nd time using the other gray tank from the shower and bathroom sinks. Then close everything and fill each tank with about 5-10g of fresh water.

The other reason I initially did this is because.. for some reason, I had a problem dumping my black tank.. Huge turd collection or too much paper or ?? It just jammed. Some of the back flushing accessories don't work well with pipes that have a lot of bends. Closing that accy valve and pushing more liquid back into the black tank from the gray tank broke that stuff up and then started flowing freely. That problem only happened a couple of times.. but the mod helped. The plastic elbows that have a hose fitting on them don't seem to work quite as well as the volume is small compared to the 4" pipe coming out of the gray tank.

[bncinwv]

DW will not allow any valves to remain open as a preventative measure. Although the possibilities are slight, there are creatures who reside in places that can find a path into the rig through the dump system. Insects (spiders, centipedes, silverfish, etc.) are not her favorites, so no leaving any valve open - house rules. Just what we do and why.
Bingo

[DQDick]

This has been an interesting discussion. Quite a few different ways of looking at it.

[1retired06]

We have always left gray tanks open with no problem whatsoever; We have found it best to exercise the valve mechanisms, particularly cable controlled, on a regular basis.

[BB_TX]

I am in the grey tank valve open group, black and galley closed. And like some others, I close the grey tank when I see the black tank getting toward full so I can use it to flush the pipe.
Primary reason I leave the grey open is that our washer drains into the grey tank and more than once I found myself standing in an inch or two of water when in the shower pan when the tank filled while I was showering not remembering to check the tank level first. Washer fills it pretty fast and I sure don't want it to overfill while the washer is draining.

[steelpony5555]

I usually keep the shower tank open and close the kitchen tank for water to flush the slinky. Buuuuuuutttttt do not let it fill the whole way up to where it backs up into the sink. Your tank may split, out did. Never happened on anyother rig I have ever had but did the first time it filled up full. Not sure if it was just a weak spot or what

[fulltimerv]

I've only been in my RV for two months and I was under the impression that both greys and black should be open since I'm hooked up to the sewer. But you guys are saying I should keep the black and grey closed and dump every week or so?

[JandC]

I may lean toward keeping the bathroom/front gray tank open, but now I have another question. We are getting a washer/dryer combo installed in the next couple of months, which gray tank does that drain in to on a 3400RL?

[Rondo]

Mike(fulltimerv)the reason a lot of us all leave the black tank valve closed is because if you leave it open all of the liquid will flow out and the SOLIDS will not. This will eventually create the dreaded "Pyramid" in the tank and those solids have a tendency to harden and eventually your toilet will not drain anymore because the "pyramid" will plug up the drain pipe and that is not good. It's not an easy job to empty that tank once that happens and dealers do not like to work on the tank when that happens either.

We don't have the washer/dryer in our unit so there is no need to leave the valve of which ever grey tank it empties into. I leave all my tanks closed while set up in both city hookups or boondocking. I try to empty them about every 7 days unless my tanks fill up sooner. I dump the tanks in this order when dumping them-- black tank, galley(kitchen) grey tank, and then the bathroom grey tank. The reason I do it in this order is because once I empty the black tank and I usually use the tank flush while dumping it and then close the valve and let the tank flush fill the tank partially and dump it again and do this until I see clear water coming out of the clear elbow I've attached to the aftermarket valve I've added to the dump pipe and then even let the tank flush fill the tank partway again and dump it then close the black tank valve. I then pull the galley grey tank handle, dump it, close the valve and then dump the bathroom grey tank and thus the two grey tank dumps clean out the sewer hose of any possible solids or water from the black tank. As Carol(MRSCOUNTRYGUY) says the use of MORE WATER in the black tank is a must if you want to avoid the "pyramid".

[TYR]

We leave all three closed unless emptying for various reasons, most of which have been mentioned in previous posts.