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Old 08-12-2019, 04:53 PM   #1
BarkingCrow
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How do you know when it's actually full?

2019 High Country 331RL - 49 gallon black tank.

The reading on our gauge will show the black tank is completely full after 2 days, which is obviously incorrect. There are only 2 of us, so a tank this size is not going to go from 'completely empty' to 'full' in 48 hours. It's never been a concern, as we have always been at a park with full connections, so I'd just dump the tank after a week or so. But now we're parked at the farm where we'll be building our house. We don't have a septic tank yet, so I'll have to take it over to the RV park to dump the tank. I'd rather not have to deal with packing up the loose stuff, connecting, etc., once a week, much less paying the dump fee this frequently, as I highly doubt it is necessary.

So... how do I know when it's actually full, since the gauge is pretty much useless? Any tips?

Thanks,
D
 
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Old 08-12-2019, 05:06 PM   #2
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Normally you will get a burp of air from the toilet when you flush it. It is getting real close to full when that happens but let me warn you not to let it get that full. Even with the new tanks in the new units they can still split and that is not a pretty sight when it happens. I normally dump the black tank about every three or four days along with the two gray tanks (galley tank first then the shower tank to clean out the slinky line of any debri that may have hung up in the line on it's way to the campground dump line or sewer line at the sight..
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Old 08-12-2019, 05:34 PM   #3
AZ Traveler
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D,

Your should be able to get at least 8-10 days for 2 people unless you are "high producers" or use a very large amount of flush water. Agree with Rondo on getting the tank too full. Tank breakage is fairly rare with the new tanks but its not pretty.
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Old 08-12-2019, 07:34 PM   #4
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We used to dump every two weeks, but once in a while that was too long so now we dump once a week and it works fine.
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Old 08-12-2019, 08:11 PM   #5
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I believe with your newer rig that you have the new seamless roto-cast holding tanks, and these are supposed to be much less likely to split like the older two piece ABS tanks. I added supports to our older tanks and do not worry about a tank failure, but when it is needed, we wait until the toilet burps. If you are building a house, it is likely you may have a porta-potty on site, and maybe you can pay a little extra to have your rig pumped out when they service the out house.
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Old 08-12-2019, 08:22 PM   #6
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I would look into getting a 40 gal portable tote and a macerater pump. Put the tote in your pickup and pump the black water into it. Drive to the dump station and empty tote through supplied hose. No breaking your back and you don't have to move your trailer. This would also let you dump your grey water (if legal) somewhere on your property away from your trailer so your not living in a swamp.
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Old 08-12-2019, 08:36 PM   #7
Hblick48
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rondo View Post
Normally you will get a burp of air from the toilet when you flush it. It is getting real close to full when that happens but let me warn you not to let it get that full. Even with the new tanks in the new units they can still split and that is not a pretty sight when it happens. I normally dump the black tank about every three or four days along with the two gray tanks (galley tank first then the shower tank to clean out the slinky line of any debri that may have hung up in the line on it's way to the campground dump line or sewer line at the sight..
I let ours get too full, burped when flushing (first time that's ever happened to me). Then tank then started to leak around the discharge outlet. I replaced it yesterday. During replacement process, I filled and flushed old tank multiple times. When full, water leaked from both the inlet and vent fittings on top of tank. After removing tank, I found an errant saw cut near where the factory cut the original inlet hole, been there since new.

Factory defect from 2002, wonder if I can file a warranty claim?

Lesson learned...never let tank get full!
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Old 08-12-2019, 08:51 PM   #8
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Originally Posted by AZ Traveler View Post
D,

Your should be able to get at least 8-10 days for 2 people unless you are "high producers" or use a very large amount of flush water. Agree with Rondo on getting the tank too full. Tank breakage is fairly rare with the new tanks but its not pretty.
I highly recommend large amounts of flush water as it reduces the chance of solids build up in your tank. For that reason we flush topside with lots of water and drain more often. BUT we are at a site with full hookups (also happen to have dual drain connections which works great with our HC381TH dual outlets (grey and black are separate on our model).
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Old 08-12-2019, 08:58 PM   #9
Daryles
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In the video of the factory tour
https://youtu.be/cV0OZv0bCgc
The rep talks about the tanks at 3.55 and 9 minutes. At the 9min mark he mentions raising the front end to facilitate draining the black tank. I'm not sure what model he is talking about. We are in Leander Tx for 2 weeks and I just connected 2 days ago and flushed the tanks. I added some water and chemicals to the black tank to prevent the pyramid. Today it is showing 2/3. There is only 2 of us. No way.
Next time I will try raising the front end when I flush.
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Old 08-12-2019, 09:10 PM   #10
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You can stand the trailer on end or even turn it upside down. If you're real energetic then cut a big hole in the bottom of the tank, but those ridiculous idiot lights will still show you to be at least 1/3 full. DO NOT BELIEVE THE LIGHTS,
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Old 08-12-2019, 09:19 PM   #11
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I know you probably don’t want to think about dropping the belly, but SeaLevel gages are a fairly easy install and for those that boondock a lot, it’s nice to know the real level. We did them and the solid core Valterra valves for the black and gray tanks.
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Old 08-13-2019, 01:57 AM   #12
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Old 08-18-2019, 01:18 PM   #13
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Might help if you think about the actual volume of a 55 gallon barrel. Two people who flush continuously most likely would not be able to fill a 49 gallon tank in 2 weeks. We had a 50 gallon black tank that without flushing the yellow, we could go 28 days, we're conservative boondockers. We fixed that problem by buying a Nature'sHead composting toilet. We can now carry 120 gallons of grey water before needing to dump.
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Old 08-18-2019, 02:24 PM   #14
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Originally Posted by Theunz View Post
I would look into getting a 40 gal portable tote and a macerater pump. Put the tote in your pickup and pump the black water into it. Drive to the dump station and empty tote through supplied hose. No breaking your back and you don't have to move your trailer. This would also let you dump your grey water (if legal) somewhere on your property away from your trailer so your not living in a swamp.
That's how we manage our waste in our summer location in Colorado. We stay here from memorial to labor day. The dump is an outhouse on the property. We put our 45 gal blueboy in the back of our Prowler Pro and use a Macerator pump on the 3 inch waste valve exit to pump black tank into blue boy. Drive it about 200 yards away and dump into outhouse. Then dump grey water on plants around RV. Never move the trailer.
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Old 08-18-2019, 02:28 PM   #15
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Our ‘06 2955 RL shows full all the time, even after dumping, and has since new. We just wait for the burp.
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Old 08-18-2019, 02:35 PM   #16
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When hooked up to full hookups I dump after 7 to 10 days max. Never an issue. We also use plenty of water with solids. When on the road I dump every 2 or three days.
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Old 08-18-2019, 03:18 PM   #17
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should start burping and stinking when gets close to full. May have to dump once in 7 days if its hot
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Old 08-18-2019, 03:21 PM   #18
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I don't know of too many folks that rely on the indicators. You will know when the tank is near full. We have a 2015 High Country. We normally have to empty once a week. You learn more and more about the quirks of your unit the longer you stay in it and you will begin to rely on your own instincts. You will soon pay no attention to the lights.
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Old 08-18-2019, 03:28 PM   #19
MidMOTraveler
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Ok just asking your parked at the farm.
Building a house ,gotta be a backhoe around?
Now where we lived 100’ of PVC and a hole would suffice until septic was installed. While your building put in a full hook up for your camper it’ll never be cheaper.
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Old 08-18-2019, 03:29 PM   #20
phillyg
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The cheap sensors/lights are worthless, IMHO. I usually dump every 4-5 days if it's just the two of us, and even then, there's not much in there.
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