Newbie Alert: Dumping Black / Gray Tanks

[Steve A]

Hello everyone!

I will be picking up my 2015 Prime Time Avenger 26BH on Saturday. We have our maiden voyage planned for the following Friday.

Prior to this we had a 206ltd pop-up so I never had to deal with a lot of things especially the Black Tank.

I have watched a few videos on it and these are the steps I have gathered but want to make sure I have the steps right.

Hook up the hose
Place hose in hole with weight of some sort on top
Open the Black tank
Then rinse through the toilet (I assume with flushing the toilet?)
Then close it again and fill the tank half way
Repeat till running clear
Close Black
Open Gray
Rinse hose
Put hose away

Is that about right? Any tips or tricks?

Thanks!

[caper]

Purchase a high quality sewer hose and a clear elbow so you can see if the water is running clear. The hose that the dealer will give you as a starter kit is poor quality and will not hold up.

[Steve A]

Originally Posted by caper

Purchase a high quality sewer hose and a clear elbow so you can see if the water is running clear. The hose that the dealer will give you as a starter kit is poor quality and will not hold up.

Thanks! Is Camco ok? I am looking on Amazon.

Also what is the best to use for chemicals?

I assume these are all things they will go over when we pick up but I rather use what is best rather than what they peddle.

[itat]

Get a RhinoFLEX sewer hose kit and an extension.
Amazon.com: Camco 39761 RhinoFLEX 15' Sewer Hose Kit with Swivel Fitting: Automotive

Also, Google "Geo Method" and use it to help prevent solids from sticking to the walls of the tanks.

Did your Avenger come from the factory with a black tank flush? If not you'll want either get a wand-type device to spray into the tank or get something like the Tornado.

[youroo]

Also you MUST have a 90deg elbow on the discharge hose,these come in Many shapes and have threads or steps to fit the ground sewer pipe! Just ( Put the Hose in the Hole) will Not fly in 99% of C/G! Youroo!!

[Evereddie]

Originally Posted by youroo

Also you MUST have a 90deg elbow on the discharge hose,these come in Many shapes and have threads or steps to fit the ground sewer pipe! Just ( Put the Hose in the Hole) will Not fly in 99% of C/G! Youroo!!

If you buy the Rhino kit that itat linked to above it includes the 90 degree elbow that youroo talked about above.

I also recommend getting a device called a Flush King ( or similar). It attached to the drain and then your Rhino hose or whatever brand you get attaches to that. Then a water hose at the dump also attaches to it. It will allow you to back fill your tank quickly with water so you can get several flushes of the tank in a shorter period of time than trying to fill via the toilet to clean it out. The Flush King is clear so it takes the place of the clear elbow mentioned above. When several trailers are waiting at the dump, keeping things moving helps all.

One thing you can do while you are still at the campsite that will help at the dump is to fill your tank at least 3/4 full just before you leave for the dump if it is not already that full. It gives you a better dump when it has all of that load behind it.

[Salt Shaker]

Hot is on the left, ship roles down hill, don't bite your finger nails...no wait a minute that is plumbing.

Black tank, flush then grey, then grey. Don't bite your finger nails.

I keep disposable gloves and a bar of soap in the tray. I also keep all my "sewer stuff" in one box.

Keep your cheap hose and get a connector. Every now and then you made need the extra length to dump somewhere.

Salt

[itat]

Before you buy something like the Flush King, watch this video.

http://youtu.be/dfTd0Slt_cU

[NYDP77]

I second the RhinoFlex and a flexible sewer hose support. The clear connection is also important to make sure you are flushing clear. Also, double check you close the black tank when hooked up at a campsite, never leave it open, and flush when 3/4 or more full.

[gofastman1]

Depending on what chemicals you choose, most will tell you to put 1 gal of water in your tank or mix it like a ratio, whatever.....so you will never know from one to the other, how much water you have in your black tank....I pre fill a milk jug before going to the dump station, then once im done dumping, I drop 2 tablets and 1 gallon of water, that way on the way home it helps wash the tank a little bit and I don't forget either. I never have a stinky camper because I forgot

[Nastyfoot]

And DON'T keep the valve to your blank tank open while at the campground thinking "stuff" will roll right through. Dried up tank in the summer full of "stuff" won't make for a pleasent experience

[RVBikers]

Originally Posted by itat

Before you buy something like the Flush King, watch this video.

http://youtu.be/dfTd0Slt_cU

X2!
definitely good info.

[Evereddie]

Originally Posted by gofastman1

Depending on what chemicals you choose, most will tell you to put 1 gal of water in your tank or mix it like a ratio, whatever.....so you will never know from one to the other, how much water you have in your black tank....I pre fill a milk jug before going to the dump station, then once im done dumping, I drop 2 tablets and 1 gallon of water, that way on the way home it helps wash the tank a little bit and I don't forget either. I never have a stinky camper because I forgot

I would use more than I gallon. The pipes on the way to the shut off valve take almost a gallon depending on your trailer.

[ColoradoRick]

We've never had any issues with our black tank (like the dreaded clog) and follow a few rules:

- Thick rubber gloves that come almost up to my elbow whenever handling the sewer lines.
- Using an old hose to stick into the toilet to fill it or rinse it. (Never use your drinking water hose)
- Never messing with the black tank at dumping stations. Always quick in and out as people are waiting.
- Never dumping the black tank unless it's almost full and NEVER leaving the valve opened when parked at a full-hookup. If we need to bug out and it's not full, we'll start the night prior by doing long flushings to get it filled up.
-After dumping it, put about a gallon in there with some disinfectant or detergent. (Simple Green is cheap and smells great.)
- When dumping, always dump the black tank first than the gray to flush out the line.

I always keep a package of baby wipes in my truck to clean up after doing just about anything...setup/teardown/sewer management.

[Steven379]

As some others have stated the Rhino hose is the way to go. I debated on if it was worth the higher price when we bought our 5er. Would not have anything else now. Ours was a kit with 2 10' hoses, the elbow and caps for the hoses. Have since bought the clear 45 elbow.

[Stlcaly]

Strongly reccomend Thetford aqua-kem liquid. You can get 6 bottles (8oz) at Walmart very inexpensively. I pour a bottle in after each dump and flush a few times. This is the only stuff that cleans the sensors (which everyone says are a bad design) so the tank indicators actually show empty. I also agree with all who mentioned the clear elbow so you can check on the flow

[tomrob1161]

Always drain your black tank then your grey, that way the gray water flushes out the hose. Double check on the black tank flush, most of the new RV' have them. That is something that will help flush out the black tank. The flush king is great for breaking a plug at the valve. If the pipe doesn't go directing into the tank (travel trailer), but up (motor home and/or 5th wheel) you'll need the flush king with the extra valve on it.


Good luck

[BamaBob]

Originally Posted by Steve A

Thanks! Is Camco ok? I am looking on Amazon.

Also what is the best to use for chemicals?

I assume these are all things they will go over when we pick up but I rather use what is best rather than what they peddle.

X2 on the Rhinoflex - buy NOTHING else. Cheap sewer hoses are a disaster waiting to happen

Check and make sure you do not have a water hookup for a black tank rinse.

a Great chemical system for black tanks is made by bluestreak.com

Finally, remember to NEVER keep the black tank valve open! Keep it closed until it's time to leave or the tank is over 3/4 full. Then dump black, rinse black, flush hose with gray tank water.

[CNYCamper]

I put a gal. of water in both gray and black tanks after dumping. This way any debris left behind won't get a chance to harden and be very difficult to remove.

[Vince and Charlette]

I like the variety at Camping World, but they don't always have the best prices. Sooner or later you will learn that Wal-Marts across the nation have a section reserved just for RVers. They carry Camco, Dometic and other familiar names for a lot less than you could get elsewhere. Here is my black water story: (everybody has one) I told the family we had a limited amount of water in our holding tank, so flush the toilet with the minimum amount of water...BIG MISTAKE! What we ended up creating looked like one of the great pyramids. Thankfully, another camper told us a quick solution: at the first opportunity, dump in a 25 pound bag of ice, then resume driving. The back-and-forth action will help loosen the mess. And, be sure to use a good chemical additive after every black water dump and every few days if you don't dump.