city water connector

[Big Bear]

We have a new 3155rl and where trying it out this last weekend. We had two RVs parked next to us and they showed us their fancy two way connector (from a large box store from the garden department) that they had made themselves and hooked up to the black water washout and the city water. My question is, is this an good idea and will it hurt anything? I really like the idea. It will save time and the convenience is great. Thanks and safe travels.

[rohrmann]

That's what we use, along with a short hose. I have a hose valve at the fitting going to the tank flush fitting also, which makes things even easier. We have been doing this since we got the rig and have had no problems.

[CORattler]

Any connection that hooks up to black anything from your freshwater source should have a one way check valve to prevent contamination of your freshwater source (IMHO).
See http://www.amazon.com/Mueller-108-90...se+check+valve

[BB_TX]

Nothing fancy about mine. I just use a Y fitting with shutoff valve in each side of the Y (from Home Depot garden dept). Drinking water hose on one side and black tank flush hose on the other. Drinking water side stays open. Black tank side stays closed until I want to flush, then back closed.

[rohrmann]

They do, but unfortunately, it is the valve that most of the time is hidden in the wall, that when it breaks, floods the trailer.

[DQDick]

Actually the failures of the valve that concern everyone is when they leak or just don't open. What would concern me is if they allow water to back siphon. This last failure wouldn't bother anyone until you got sick from it. The fact that turning the water off when not in use doesn't protect the user is the reason restaurants are required to have the valves on the faucet or in the lines no matter what. The problem actually occurs when the line is in use and there is a blip in the water pressure allowing water to flow backwards up the line. I removed my inside troublesome valve and replaced it with an outside brass valve of the type installed on restaurant hose connections. Being in the restaurant business all my life probably has me toucher than need be, but it's cheap and avoids any problems.

[dieselguy]

From a recreational RV'ers perspective, I guess the black tank flush would be great if I were to get to use it. Most dump stations at the lakes in the central plains states have just a whip of a garden hose on a spring pole. There is no length to the garden hose nor a hose end on the hose itself. I believe the longer length gets run over too much. Stringing a hose 50' to the fresh water spigot doesn't make many friends at the Sunday dump station lines as most are in a hurry to get home. Ahhhhhhhh the perils of short stay camping! Boy Howdy ... did I digress from the posters question or what?
On Edit ... Oh I know one shouldn't hook a flush hose to a fresh water spigot, but you see it all at the lakes ... that's why I don't use the fresh water spigots at the dump stations.

[Phil P]

Hi

Keystone never installed the anti-siphon valve or a check valve in our black tank flush system.

Phil P

[Carl n Susan]

I love my HD flexible "Y" splitter too. The water supply hose for the RV goes on one side and my gray hose goes on the other. The gray hose is predominantly used to flush the black tank although I have used it with a sprayer nozzle to rinse off garden tools and equipment.

I *HIGHLY* recommend you disconnect the hose from the black tank flush connector once you are done flushing the tanks. This relieves the pressure in the line but more importantly it avoids accidentally filling the black tank if (when) someone inadvertently (or on purpose) turns the water on to that side of the "Y". Over filling a black tank will ruin your day!

[psomers]

Agree with Carl. Couple of winters ago had a neighbor whose brother was down for a visit. He used the hose hooked to flush to wash his car. When finished he hooked hose back up and turned valve on.
Not something you want to do.

[boat391]

I have seen this done before too but I don't want any part or chance of black water mixing with my fresh water so I think I'll just keep hooking up the second hose when needed. Maybe I'm crazy but getting sick isn't a good thing and I try hard to stay healthy. I would not live with myself if the grand kids or the dear wife came up sick and this was the reason for it . Just my 2 cents worth . Many happy camping trips to all take care.

[richfaa]

We just connect a "Y" to the city water connection and run two separate hoses. The white water hose to the water input and a black hose to the black input connection. No chance of anything mixing. Keep the black hose turned of till we are ready to use it.

[GreatWhite]

Also, be sure not to get the hoses mixed up.. One for black/grey.. other for fresh water.

[davidaf]

I use the outdoor shower hose to connect to the black water clean out. Clean out has a short hose connected to it with a quick connect on the end. Just hook the shower hose up, clean using hot or cold water and when done unhook. Also put a quick connect on a spray nozzle so I can spray down anything that needs spraying. In 10 plus years I've maybe used the outdoor shower a dozen times. Finally i've found a good use for it.

My gray hose goes to the clear plastic deal at my sewer hose connection to help with the clean out. That connects back to the main park water tap.

[Recumbent]

We have also connected the outdoor shower to the black-tank flush. We got thread adapter fittings from our local hardware store to do this connection. We can use both hot and cold or either one while draining the black tank. We also use the quick-connect connectors.

[Charli]

Black tank flush and outdoor shower are side by side in the convenience centre. This makes so much sense I don't know why I haven't thought of it before. Sometimes the most obvious solutions are the hardest to see.