Here is the Newbie Quetion of the Day

[RKassl]

Our first outing with our new Montana will be to a campground where we have water and sewer hookups. So does this mean that you put on the sewer pipe connect it to the trailer and to the sewer and let it all go? Or do you just dump at the site as needed? Please don't laugh!

[8.1al]

Bob,
There are no stupid questions on this site. What I do is hook the hose to the rv and the park sewer. I open the valve for the bathroom grey water tank and leave it open. The kitchen grey water tank I leave closed untill it is full. If you leave it open all the time the food solids will collect on the bottom of the tank and harden. The same goes for the black water tank from the toilet. I will dump the black and then the kitchen which helps rinse residue from the black out of the hose.

[Chester]

I leave all valves closed until the tank needs dumping. This is especially important for the black tank since you want the tank relatively full so when you dump it there is enough fluid to "clean" the tank out. I then rinse the black tank a couple of times and leave some water in after I'm done.

I will always dump the black tank first then the grey tanks. This way the grey tanks help clean out the hose.

Good luck.

[Countryfolks]

The black should only be dumped when its about full otherwise the liquid drains out leaving the solids, plugging everything up. The gray is used to clean the lines after dumping the black. Let the gray fill several days before dumping the black. The galley is your choice, some leave it open, some don't. We always allow the gray to fill up a day or three before moving so we can "rinse" the lines.

Skip

[stiles watson]

I ain't laffin'. At least not much. Keep askin' questions 'cause there are no dumb ones, just some dumb answers at times. Yes, I would hook up the sewer line to the site dump station. I would not leave it open. you need to have about four gallons of water with you black water treatment chemicals in the black water tank. This is so that the chemicals have a chance to break up the solids and bring your black water into solution. Let you black water accumulate for four or five days and then dump and flush out the black water tank. When flushing the WC, don't be too conservative with the water used to do so.

If you are just doing a weekender, then dumping the tanks is a part of your wrap up/hook up protocol. I leave my grey water valve open for continual draining until closing it for accumulation the day before we are leaving. Same with the Galley tank if you have one. This allows you to have "rinse" water to clean out the sewer line after dumping your black water.

One reason I leave the grey valve open is because we have a washer and dryer on board. I learned the hard way that without the valve open we get a geyser in the lavatory during spin cycle. If this is not clear, feel free to ask pointed questions. Maybe someone will come along soon and do a better job.

[sreigle]

I do it the same as the others and they said it very well but I would like to add one thing. If we are in a location for just a couple of days, maybe three, and plan to dump before we leave there, then I leave all three tanks closed so to accumulate plenty of water to flush out the black tank and the hose.

Otherwise, I do as others mentioned. The black tank stays closed until time to dump. Don't want the solids hardening on the bottom and don't want the sewer smells coming back through the toilet when flushing the toilet. I also recently started keeping the galley gray valve closed, to keep the food particles from solidifying on the tank's floor. And I normally leave the bath gray tank valve open except as noted in the prior paragraph. I used to close the bath tank valve a day or two before dumping but lately have found the galley tank is full just about the same time as the black tank so no longer close the bath tank a day or two before.

My dump sequence is also similar to others. Make sure all three valves are closed. Open the black tank and wait for it to finish draining. Leave the black tank open. Open the galley gray tank. That soapy water will flush the sewer hose and also will back up into the black tank and help flush it out. If you use a clear connector you will see evidence of this. When the water flow stops, then open the bath tank if it has water in it. At this point all three valves are open. I close the black tank and the galley gray tank and leave the bath gray tank open, except as in the first paragraph.

When we were weekending, it wasn't feasible for us to accumulate a nearly full black tank in just a weekend. And letting it sit in the tank for a couple of weeks while parked at home in very hot weather wasn't desirable either. So I always dumped the black tank at the end of our weekend. That's the reason I kept both gray tanks closed so there would be lots of water to flush out the black tank. I think it's better to do as Skip suggests and not dump until the black tank is at least 3/4 full but that was not always an option for us.

[prariepoodle]

WOW! Are you all great or what, We have always left the black tank closed and the gray and galley open. Well after reading this thread I decided to check the galley tank and it says it's full. WHAT! I think what is going on. Now I have it closed and if I let it fill up is there anywhere else it can leak except to back up into the kitchen sink??? I think that there is just something stuck on the sensor but I am a worry wart and just have to know..LOL.

[faeb and genb]

I think you are right Linda. But by leaving it closed it will loosen. If you feel that it isn't. Leave about 5 gal. water in tank when traveling & that should loosen it up.
Gene

[old turbo]

If I am on the road or if I have a place to dump on the way to home base I put a cup of twenty mule team borax water conditioner to a gallon of warm water ,one for the black water, one for the galley tank and pour it in the toilet and down the galley drain. I also add a quarter cup of dish soap into each tank. The movement of the trailer mixes the solution and it will clean the tanks and sensors. When I park for a week or better and I am going to leave I will put this mixture in the black water tank and add a bag of ice cubes into the toilet, with no water running in , this really breaks up any solids in the black tank, and off course the cubes turn back to liquid form.

[BillyRay]

the only one I leave closed is the black. then when I dump I use the sewer flusher. the galley I don't worry about as I don't dump any food particles in the sink to harden in the tank. even if so, the little bit that may be in there would take 20 yrs. to be a problem for me.

[sreigle]

Another thing, when on a trip. If we're on the road for several days we'll not dump until the black tank is nearly full. We'll just carry it along with us from park to park. Even when it's just about full, if timing allows, we'll carry the nearly full tank to the next park and dump when we arrive there. The sloshing in the tank while on the road tends to puree/liquify (sounds great, doesn't it?) the solids in the tank reducing or eliminating the solids staying in the tank.

[VanMan]

Same routine here except we have a sewer hookup at home to a dedicated septic tank so the last steps are a little different. We leave the black and galley closed and the gray open during the stay and accumulate enough rinse in the gray before dumping. When leaving camp, we'll pull the black tank (rinsing the toilet with the shower head), close it and pull the galley, then the gray. We will put some liquid dishwasher soap in each and run a littl water in for sloshing on the way home. As soon as we pull in unhook the rig, hook up the sewer hose, and empty and rinse out well with a hose and toilet wand in the same order. I'll try the ice trick if I can ever remember it. I always remember when we are cleaning out the freezer and I still have ice cubes left over that go down the sink !!