Full timers... Tanks open or closed

[chisumbella]

We are newbies and I have been opening and closing the tanks for 6 months and I am wondering if you can just leave them open always..

[Pipeman]

Do not leave your black tank open all the time. You will end up with the MOUND and you really don't want to play with that. Water is your friend when it comes to the black tank. You can leave your gray water lines open all the time until it gets close to dumping your black tank. Shut the gray water valves for a day or two so you can flush out your hose after dropping your black water tank. Drop black tank, close black tank, open gray water valves to flush out your hose and pipe. If you have a black water flush, you may want to use that before using the gray water. Your black tank should be at the least 3/4 full before dumping. I never look at my gauges. When flushing the toilet, I look for a large bubble. That's an indication that the black tank is getting near full for me. I'm sure others will chime in.

[Duckogram]

X2 for what Pipeman wrote. Also consider not leaving your stinky slinky on the ground.
Additionally, I suggest not leaving the gray valve full open. 1/2 or 1/4 will work. That way you can "work" it open and closed so when its time to break camp you will not have a stuck valve.

Note: I full timed in a 36CKTS.

[cpaulsen]

Originally Posted by Pipeman

Do not leave your black tank open all the time. You will end up with the MOUND and you really don't want to play with that. Water is your friend when it comes to the black tank. You can leave your gray water lines open all the time until it gets close to dumping your black tank. Shut the gray water valves for a day or two so you can flush out your hose after dropping your black water tank. Drop black tank, close black tank, open gray water valves to flush out your hose and pipe. If you have a black water flush, you may want to use that before using the gray water. Your black tank should be at the least 3/4 full before dumping. I never look at my gauges. When flushing the toilet, I look for a large bubble. That's an indication that the black tank is getting near full for me. I'm sure others will chime in.

X2!

[elrand]

Definitely leave the black closed. I leave 1 grey open all the time and the other is closed to use to flush the lines after dumping the black.

[Jim34RL]

Did you read your owner’s manual? I am not trying to be a smart ___ but in your OM guide: It states for best results of your holding tanks empty them when they are at least 2/3 full.
Why? This prevents build-up of dry crude on the sensors and helps to eliminate odors from entering the trailer from open tank drains.
Another point you should rinse the black tank at least once a week to insure that all of the wastes has been removed when draining the tank. I have found that wastes will not completely leave the tank when the waste water is removed. We have taken between three and four two gallon buckets full of water and dump them down the toilet. This will help in cleaning the tank.

[Dennis and Julie]

Oh full timers but stay where we have full hook up. Always leave tanks closed until full and make sure both gray are full before dumping black.

[caburn]

I agree with leaving the gray tank line open and the black tank closed. We have lived in our 390 rb for over a year. We had an issue with the sensor on the black tank not registering the correct levels. We were I. casa Grande As and had the tanks cleaned. We received quite an education that the owners manual does not suggest: first use the right chemicals, when you flush toilet paper, depending on how your system is built, I.E. tank is a straight shot or has a shelf before the holding tank, this means after flushing flush again with water. This helps avoid the toilet paper from building into a "pyramid" and causing blockages. The other things that help are, place a clear tube on the top of your sewer dump line so you can see when the tank is running clean, water is clear. Refill the black tank at 3/4s full and flush. This helps with keeping the sensors clean. I hope this helps.

[BamaBob]

Originally Posted by chisumbella

We are newbies and I have been opening and closing the tanks for 6 months and I am wondering if you can just leave them open always..

No...never do this or you will end up with the dreaded "Pyramid of Poo"

I also disagree with leaving your grey tank open (the gray tank is a great "flush" for your hose after you dump your black tank.

If you have not done so already, get a high quality sewer hose - either a Rhinoflex or Wastemaster.

As far as maintaining your black tank just get this - it is the best thing you can do for your black tank

Chemical Dispensing Systems for RV & Marine | Blue Streak LLC

X2 on the black tank rinse. Most (if not all) modern RVs have a black tank rinse system. After *every* black tank dump I will run our turbo rinse for 20-30 min to make sure everything is cleaned out. Remember these are holding tanks, not septic tanks and routine maintenance is the cost of doing RV business

[fander]

I left my grey water valve open and was getting a sewer smell outside. My neighbor told me if I leave the grey valve open I can end up venting the parks sewer system through the vent on top of my trailer. Closed the grey water valve and the smell went away.

[Radio]

When camping ours stay closed until time to dump. We are mostly state park campers and there is usually no sewer connection.

When there is a sewer connection we leave the valves closed until time to dump, too. Our black and shower grey are on the same outlet. As others have stated you don't want a "poo pile" in your tank, so use lots of water when you flush and then dump the black first, followed by the grey. As to the galley grey, leaving the valve open will allow bits of food to collect in there and that can get smelly. Allowing that tank to fill and then dump all at once washes the stuff out.

I put 1/4 cup (or so) of laundry soap in all my tanks along with TST or Thetford stuff, what ever formaldehyde-free stuff Walmart has on sale. Makes the tanks clean easier. Stuff doesn't tend to stick to the sides.

And when in storage, I un-cork the outlets and open the valves to let the tanks air out. YMMV. I might get poo-poo'ed for the suggestion, and it might eventually bite me, but thus far it's been odor free camping and all is swell for 8 years now.

[bend302]

[/QUOTE]

And when in storage, I un-cork the outlets and open the valves to let the tanks air out. YMMV. I might get poo-poo'ed for the suggestion, and it might eventually bite me, but thus far it's been odor free camping and all is swell for 8 years now.[/QUOTE]

I always use laundry soap as well but leave some water in the black tank to keep things "lubricated". Do the rest of you keep tAnks closed in storage?

[BamaBob]

And when in storage, I un-cork the outlets and open the valves to let the tanks air out. YMMV. I might get poo-poo'ed for the suggestion, and it might eventually bite me, but thus far it's been odor free camping and all is swell for 8 years now.[/QUOTE]

I always use laundry soap as well but leave some water in the black tank to keep things "lubricated". Do the rest of you keep tAnks closed in storage?[/QUOTE]

ALWAYS keep tanks closed when not dumping ...don't want to provide a home to critters

Here is a great home brew:
Equal parts of
Water
Pine Sol
Dawn Dish Soap (and ONLY Dawn - it is the best de-greaser out there)
Super Clean

To the above (assuming you made a gallon) add 1 cup:
Calvin water softener (Liquid)
RV Digestit

I put this mix in my bluestreak [http://www.bluestreakchem.net]

And 4 or so OZ in each grey water tank

[Rvdixie]

Here is another way to not get a smell from the park's system. When you lay the hose out, using your hose support, create an S in the hose. In other words create a "p trap with your hose. As the water drains from the grey tanks (which I leave open) they will keep the trap full that you created and eliminate any odor coming back at you.

[OldCoot]

Best and easiest solution is just keep all the valves shut until ready to dump.

[Rvdixie]

We are full timers and draining the grey tanks every day gets old quickly and it's not necessary. Once a month I run the hose through the Camco reverse flush into all the tanks and I never have any problems. We try to make our experience as close to the comforts of home as possible and fooling with the holding tanks really distracts from the experience. Of course we keep the black tank closed until it is full.

[wbdavey]

Although not quite full time, we used to stay in our 5th wheel for 5 months in winter. Always left both tank drain valves closed. Trash day was Monday and Thursday, so on every trash day both tanks got dumped. Simple and almost foolproof.

[Malabarbob]

Never, ever, leave our valves open. Worried about sewer gases backing up into the RV. It only take 10 minutes to dump and I always want plenty of Grey water to flush the Black. An open line is an invitation to methane gas. That gas can seep thru the smallest of opening. Full closed for me - all the time.

[Rvdixie]

Sounds like a good plan. I'm just too lazy to deal with it as we both shower two or three times a day and I would have to drain the tanks daily. The bottom line is everyone has their own method and whatever works for you it what counts.

[Rvdixie]

Leaving a "P" trap in the line eliminates the "open line" and therefore any chance of methane gas running back up into the RV.