K.I.S.S.

[Parrothead]

Don,
I'm sorry but I am laughing. So glad your method works for you. Just wait until that one time that hose decides to jump. It is not pretty.LOL Don,please belive me I am not being a meany. It just struck me funny.
Happy trails.....................

[Wrenchtraveller]

Actually I have seen sewer hose accidents many times but thank heavens they have not happened to me. In our Canadian Rockies we have many Europeans that fly over, rent motorhomes, and tour around.The are wonderful folks but many can not speak english so when they pick up the RV, they don't always get the instructions clear.

I gave one couple a sign language course on how to dump. It was a challenge but we got it all figured out. The RV rentals should have instructions in all the different languages and maybe they do. The Japanese tourists seem to like bus tours and you see a few in rental cars but for some reason they don't rent the motorhomes as much as the Euoropeans do.

OK, back on topic, I like this thread, some great ideas. I also print out a little sticker with the height of my unit in both the understandable units and metric units because we travel in both the US and Canada. I tape this litle sticker on the rear view mirror when we tow and it is a reminder when we do have to go under a canopy or bridge. This unit is about 12" 10" high so I need 13 feet or 3.9 metres. Many Canadians over 55 are still more comfortable in the old Imperial measurements and the younger people are more comfortable in metric but in Industry we still are mainly the old system so you get a young kid helping you and tell him you need your 15/16" wrench, he looks at you with a puzzled look in his eye.
They learn fast though and my two kids are pretty comfortable in both systems.

[Parrothead]

Don, I'm so glad you were not offended by my remark. I thought about it later and was worried.
Happy trails.......................

[gkbutler]

The plexiglass reminded me; we cut two pieces of plexiglass about 12" high and velcroed them to the wall behind the stove. Works great as a grease stopper.

[sreigle]

quote:Originally posted by Wrenchtraveller


I see no need to go to the time and trouble of setting up a drain hose on a folding stand and using a weight to hold down the hose.

Don, I started using a support when the hose is on a hard surface or gravel after I watched a bunch of pinhole leaks start while I was dumping the tanks. Further investigation and it was clear the multiple pinholes were where the metal coil touches the fabric and the hard surface. When dumping, the hose shimmies, rubbing that contact point along the surface. I then realized why my sewer hoses didn't last more as long as they should. Since using the supports, no more problems. I do not usually use supports on grass.

[Wrenchtraveller]

Sue, you could never offend me. I enjoy your outgoing personality. Steve, maybe I've got away with my sewer hose on the ground as long as I have is because the main hose I have is extremely thick plastic. It does not really fold for storage and I have always kept in a PVC pipe under my units. It is over 20 years old and I have never seen one as heavy as this one was. I carry two extra heavy duty folding hoses for longer reaches but my old main hose has outlasted many of my spares. I used to have two of these heavy hoses and one of my Dobermans chewed a hole in one and I had to chuck it. That dog was like an aligator with fur. Take care and thanks for the tip.

[deadeye]

I have seen some very good suggestions posted here. Thanks!!!!
Here are a couple which are kind of guy things.
If you are in an area that has freezing tempatures this season and your windows of your vehicle gets frost on it, this is for you. Before leaving your home if you have a permanent residence, get some plexiglass that is 1/4 inch thick. Take this to your table saw or a friends table saw and cut it into 4 inch squares with a real FINE tooth blade. These make wonderful ice and frost scrapers. They have 8 different scraping edges and they are handy to store in the door pocket of your tow vehicle. I usually cut a few when sawing these and take a few on the road and give them to friends that we meet on the way.
Another idea that I have is a toothpick holder for your pocket. I know there are wooden ones that you can get in truck stops. I went to one of the Lowe's, Home Depot's, Menard's, or Fleet Farm stores and got some 3/8 in. ridgid copper pipe. I also got a couple end caps of the same size. Measure a length of pipe the length of a toothpick and cut it off. Solder one end cap on one end. Kind of crimp the other end cap a little so it goes on snug (not too tight). Fill with toohpicks and put in pocket. This is only good if you are a toothpick user. Don't think you will break or wear this one out, like the wood ones. I started this 22 years ago when I quit smoking. Replace a habit with another habit. Chew on a toothpick, lot cheaper, not dangerous to your health and don't smell things up....JB

[bob n pam]

To protect our sewer hose from rocks, etc., we slide it inside a dryer vent hose. Keeps the sun from deteriorating the hose, too. The dryer vent hose squishes back up for compact storage when not in use.

[sreigle]

Regarding sewer hose accidents... With our first fifthwheel I once pulled up to a dump station, opposite a Class A driver. I popped the dump cap to have the black tank instantly dump out onto the ground. The Class A driver suggested next time I first put the sewer hose into the dump hole before popping the cap.

What had happened is the black tank valve got caught on something and was just a little bit open. Closing it doesn't keep what's already in the dump pipe from exiting when the cap is removed. I now have one of those twist on dump valves on the end of the dump pipe and the cap is attaced to that. I can make sure that valve is closed before I pop the cap. That way nothing in the pipe comes out until I open that valve. This valve is less than twenty bucks from camping world.

http://www.campingworld.com/browse/s...27868&src=SRQB

[illapah]

I like that one Steve (Twist on valve).

[sreigle]

Illapah, I have another reason for using the twist on valve. When we are not hooked up to sewer for a few days I can close this twist on valve, open the galley and shower tank valves, and the tanks will share capacity. Since we fill the shower tank more quickly than the galley tank, this gets us an extra day or two before we have to dump. We have the full 76 gallon (38x2) capacity plus the capacity of the dump pipes.

[c5racer]

You can just take the gasket out of the cap and you won't find any fluid there when you take it off.

[rickfox]

We got tired of finding the toilet paper unrolled when we got to our next destination. Now we use the cardboard tube left from the last fully used roll and stuff it between the current roll and the wall. Stops things from unrolling. It's sort of like recycling some of the last roll so to speak!?

We also use a strand of yarn to tie a bow around the paper towel roll to keep it from unrolling. We also use the trash can/coffee pot storage location. And of course, like also mentioned earlier, a roll of double back velcro is to the inside of the trailer, as a roll of good duct tape is to the expert repairman - you can do wonders with it.

[jrgwdenner]

Rick and Wanda and others, We stick a straight pin into our paper towel roll to keep it from unrolling on the road. You can easily store it on the window valance above the kitchen window. Thanks for your tips.

[Bowie]

Judy, you and Pat must be reading the same book just slightly different chapters. She uses a quilters pin--the ones with the little beads on the end. That way it won't bury itself in the paper. We sometimes use museum putty to tack down decorative items- blue tack may leave a greasey spot. This is a fun topic which we've both enjoyed.

[jrgwdenner]

Bill, being a quilter myself, that is exactly the type of pin that I use. Great minds....

Thanks for the info about the blue tack being greasy.

[illapah]

We just use a rubber band around the tp and paper towel rolls.

[campbud]

We have a little one and a big one with us, so we purchased a lightweight plastic in the material section at Wal~Mart. We covered each cushion on the kitchen chairs(we stapled to the back) Now we just wipe them off and no worries as to food or drink being spilled.
We use the velcro from the awning flappers on the awning arms while traveling.
we put tea hooks under the wooden cell phone holder to hold our keys.
A blow up baby bathtub works great for small toddlers when needing a bath and only having a shower...could be used for a pet if we had one too!