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Old 05-27-2013, 06:39 PM   #1
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Dual gray tanks

I apologize if this has already been asked and answered. I did a search and didn't see any hits.


We have a 2860 that we picked up Thursday. Headed out for our shake down cruise this weekend. We learned a lot but also now have many questions.

During the walk through they pointed out that we have 2 gray tanks and a black. On the panel it is labeled black, gray , galley.

The issue that I find strange is that there is a separate external drain to empty for each. Yes there are two sewer connections.

The black and gray are on one connection enclosed in the compartment, and the second grey(galley) is external and lower further back.

After 3 days and a few showers the 1st grey was full. We were not at a location with sewer hookups. On the way home we stopped to dump and I had to dump the grey / black and then disconnect to dump the other grey.

So now to my question, Is this normal? I have not seen any documentation that shows dual grey tanks. Also how do you mange that? Even at a campsite with full hook ups I will be manually dumping the second gray.

Thanks for helping a newbie.
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Old 05-27-2013, 08:03 PM   #2
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It's fairly common and depends on physically where the tanks are. It might not be possible to plumb them together. For instance, on my fifth wheel - there are 5 waste tanks: 3 gray and 2 black and I have 2 sewer outlets.

At each outlet I use a clear elbow so I can see the poop show when I'm dumping. From that are my sewer hoses. Each hose goes to a wye ("Y"). From the wye connects my site/sewer 90-degree adapter. I carry about 60' (2 x 20'; 2 x 10') of hose due to my 40' length and have used it all at once.
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Old 05-27-2013, 08:16 PM   #3
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I have a stupid question. We have only camped at two different campgrounds since having a camper (we are on a seasonal site). But, for our grey water, we hook up a hose to the connection, with the adapter cap, and let it flow out into a grey water area, usually a french drain type thing, or just let the hose flow down into the ditch, and then have to use the blue boy for the black tank, and actually take it to the dump station. Is this not the same at most campgrounds? I guess my question is, why bother with the grey when you can let it flow out while you are camping? Then all you need to deal with at the dump station is the black tank.
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Old 05-27-2013, 08:37 PM   #4
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djmac - that's fairly non-standard and actually against the rules or even illegal in some places.

I've never seen a French Drain setup for gray on sites with hookups. These places, you're expected to dump the gray in the sewer on the same manner as your black.

I've actually never camped anywhere that it was acceptable to allow your gray to drain onto the site or nearby brush. Even in a PA State Parks.
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Old 05-27-2013, 08:39 PM   #5
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Originally Posted by djmac1964 View Post
I have a stupid question. We have only camped at two different campgrounds since having a camper (we are on a seasonal site). But, for our grey water, we hook up a hose to the connection, with the adapter cap, and let it flow out into a grey water area, usually a french drain type thing, or just let the hose flow down into the ditch, and then have to use the blue boy for the black tank, and actually take it to the dump station. Is this not the same at most campgrounds? I guess my question is, why bother with the grey when you can let it flow out while you are camping? Then all you need to deal with at the dump station is the black tank.

Most campgrounds will not allow you to dump any grey water on the ground period. Neither black or grey are legal most places to dump on the ground.....Never been to a campground in 30 years that allows grey water to be just dumped on the ground or into a ditch....


With 2 connections a lot of campers use "y"s to the outlet hoses together to go into one dump......

The campground we go to alot has 2 sewer dumps at each site.....

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Old 05-27-2013, 09:00 PM   #6
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We've done it that way for around 5 years. The French drains are just a 55 gal drum with the Bottom cut out, burried up to about 6' from the top, filled with rocks gravel and sand. We have no dump station on site, which is why I have to use the blue boy to dump the black tank. Ive seen a couple of campgrounds that use this system, but never really thought about it until I saw this thread. Also, all of the French drains have a sign that reads "Grey water". That is the reason I asked, I didn't know if this was an accepted practice everywhere, or just a select few places. My grey water hose is run into the drainage ditch, which goes into a culvert that runs under the road, and drains into the woods and down the hill.
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Old 05-27-2013, 09:19 PM   #7
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Mind me asking if you have pictures of this gray water french drain?

And mind me asking where you're camping at that allows you to dump the gray water on the ground? That's completely new to me!
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Old 05-27-2013, 09:29 PM   #8
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I will take pics this weekend and post. We camp at Rocky Fork Ranch Resort, in Kimbolton OH.
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Old 05-27-2013, 09:35 PM   #9
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I could never understand why you cannot drain grey tanks into ground. I saw people washing there trailers on site this past weekend at a state park. Its the same water and soap that you use inside.
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Old 05-27-2013, 09:52 PM   #10
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I could never understand why you cannot drain grey tanks into ground. I saw people washing there trailers on site this past weekend at a state park. Its the same water and soap that you use inside.
Soap, food particles, human waste from showering, etc.
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Old 05-27-2013, 09:56 PM   #11
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Soap, food particles, human waste from showering, etc.
I know my gray tank for the kitchen smells pretty rank at times.

And, I should post to the secrets thread- but I make peepees in the shower! (And on trees when tent camping. Maybe it's a moot point! )
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Old 05-27-2013, 09:57 PM   #12
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OK, I found several pics on the CPU of the grey water drains. Some have signs, some don't, but they are all the same thing. Look for the blue rings sticking up out of the ground. They are plastic 55 gal barrels buried in the ground. I have no idea how deep they go, or what is in them, since I have never, nor do I plan to dig them up to see, but it should be rocks, gravel, and sand to allow for drainage. Some do not drain well, which is why my hose goes down the hill, and into the culvert, which runs into the woods. And I should add that there are no sites below us, I would never let my water drain where it might have a chance to run into someone else's camp sight.

BTW, the camper with the bunk end torn off in the one pic was our camper until the big wind storm that came through Ohio last July. We upgraded to our XLR the next week.

Edit to add; The one in the top pic is the white ring, and the one in the last pic is steel fire ring, inside the blue ring, since the blue ring has been damaged.
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Old 05-27-2013, 10:19 PM   #13
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I apologize if this has already been asked and answered. I did a search and didn't see any hits.


We have a 2860 that we picked up Thursday. Headed out for our shake down cruise this weekend. We learned a lot but also now have many questions.

During the walk through they pointed out that we have 2 gray tanks and a black. On the panel it is labeled black, gray , galley.

The issue that I find strange is that there is a separate external drain to empty for each. Yes there are two sewer connections.

The black and gray are on one connection enclosed in the compartment, and the second grey(galley) is external and lower further back.

After 3 days and a few showers the 1st grey was full. We were not at a location with sewer hookups. On the way home we stopped to dump and I had to dump the grey / black and then disconnect to dump the other grey.

So now to my question, Is this normal? I have not seen any documentation that shows dual grey tanks. Also how do you mange that? Even at a campsite with full hook ups I will be manually dumping the second gray.

Thanks for helping a newbie.
The only unit that we have 2 gray tanks is the 2860. That 2nd gray tank (the lower one outside of the heated utility station) is ONLY for the outside kitchen sink. Frankly, other guys will drain it into a 5 gallon tank that you manually dump. We couldn't drain it into the main gray tank due to sink height/drain/vent location. So we were forced to use a 2nd tank. I doubt you'd need to dump that one very often. I think we used a 12 gallon tank since it was a standard size.
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Old 05-28-2013, 02:38 PM   #14
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The only unit that we have 2 gray tanks is the 2860. That 2nd gray tank (the lower one outside of the heated utility station) is ONLY for the outside kitchen sink. Frankly, other guys will drain it into a 5 gallon tank that you manually dump. We couldn't drain it into the main gray tank due to sink height/drain/vent location. So we were forced to use a 2nd tank. I doubt you'd need to dump that one very often. I think we used a 12 gallon tank since it was a standard size.
Thank you for the explanation.
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Old 05-29-2013, 03:06 PM   #15
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Had the same issue when we picked our TT up last spring. I was able to plumb both grey tanks together though. The added capacity is nice and now I only have one connection to deal with.
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Old 06-02-2013, 09:16 PM   #16
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That's weird. My second RV was a 2860 and I had the dual gray tanks. I don't remember having to move the sewer hose. I left the sewer hose on where it hooks up, and when I needed to dump the shower tank, just pull the plug and it would go.
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Old 06-03-2013, 08:00 AM   #17
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That was before we added the outside kitchen to the 2860
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