Full Hookup Camping

[mattre69]

I wasn't sure how to search for this topic, so I am posting a new thread. My question is, when full hookup camping which we don't do much of, do you keep your waste valves closed and just empty occasionally, or leave them open the whole time?

[Weezer]

Leave the black tank CLOSED until you need to empty it.

Otherwise you'll end up with what everyone here calls the "dry mountain of death" at the bottom of the potty drain.

Others we can/sometimes do leave open.

[camper1999]

I leave them all closed and open them occasionally. Full tanks you get a good flow upon emptying

[Campster]

I leave everything closed...Both grey water valves and black water valves. This lets the black tank fill up and helps to clean it out better by having a "bigger push" of waste coming out of it. Having the grey tanks full helps in cleaning out the drain hose after draining the black tank. If the grey tank fills up before the black tank I drain some out of it then reclose the valve and let it fill back up for later black tank draining.

[WFD]

Best to leave them all closed...some will say its ok to leave your gray tanks open but the problem is that if you leave those open..when you come to empty your black tank, you want some gray water so you can rinse your sewer hose after dumping the black....we just leave them all closed and empty them as needed...depending on your usage you may find you are good for a few days and may only have to dump at the end of your stay.......whatever works for you...but never ever ever...did I say ever.. leave your black drain open.

[Cypressloser]

Closed, unless we do laundry then one gray stays open.

[jtstromsburg]

All closed, unless we are staying 4 nights or longer with hookups. Then I close black, but leave grey for shower open until a couple days before leaving. That way we can shower without worrying about tanks. Otherwise it seems I end up going out in the dark to pull the valve when it backs up into the shower. But, I've got three daughters and we use lots of water when on hookups. They seem to understand being careful when not on hookups though

[OutlawAdventurer]

Closed........open drain a needed and close back....

[Terier]

I also keep them closed until dumping.

[Phil57]

I keep both closed unless we are doing laundry. Some keep the gray open but I'm worried that if the CG sewer were to back up I could end up with a mess in the MH. I don't know if there is a check valve in the system or not but I'm not taking the chance.


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[Kaadk]

I keep both closed and can usually make it through a 2 day weekend without dumping until we leave. And that's with a couple of toddlers who don't know about water conservation:

"Look daddy, the water's going down the hole!"
"Yes dear, but you're filling up daddy's tanks!"

On a 3 or longer I'll usually dump sometime mid trip, just to be safe as I want relatively full tanks at the end of the trip. I'll do the grey either way, but only dump the black as long as it's reading 2/3rds, which I assume to be about 1/2 a tank.

When we did the Rally, I dumped 4 times that trip. Thankfully I managed to snag one of the hookup sites.

On another trip, I dumped about 20 times, but that was the weekend trip where my son flushed his underwear and I was constantly filling the tank and dumping to try to clear them through the system.

[RollingDownTheHighway]

hmm, interesting replies to this. I keep my tanks open but I close my black tank a day before we leave, then I dump it then run tank flush for it. So far I've never had any issues with keeping the valves opened.

Is there any benefits in keeping them closed while camping on a site with full hookups?

[Kaadk]

Originally Posted by bagged123

hmm, interesting replies to this. I keep my tanks open but I close my black tank a day before we leave, then I dump it then run tank flush for it. So far I've never had any issues with keeping the valves opened.

Is there any benefits in keeping them closed while camping on a site with full hookups?

Grey seems to be personal choice. I prefer to keep closed because I don't want things crawling up from below.

Black definitely has a difference. Without water in the tank, your poo and TP and stuff is accumulating in a pile instead of breaking down in a liquid. The more it sits in liquid, the more it dissolves, the easier it gets out of the tank. Secondly, keeping that stuff underwater keeps it from smelling as bad. Tank deodorizers aren't going to help either since they're just going to go out the open valve and not remain in the tank to deal with the 'stuff'.

Basically, a full hookup site should be treated as a personal dump station with no waiting and no pressure to hurry up. They shouldn't be treated as an active sewer. I've been known to not even hookup my lines until it's time to dump.

[mark0224]

Grey for bathroom is accessible so its closed and black is closed. Grey for the kitchen is open and hooked up to a garden hose that has a valve on its end, because its not accessible.

[Timex]

Originally Posted by Kaadk

Basically, a full hookup site should be treated as a personal dump station with no waiting and no pressure to hurry up. They shouldn't be treated as an active sewer. I've been known to not even hookup my lines until it's time to dump.

I too, don't usually drag out the hose until time to dump. The last trip, we were staying 8 nights, so when I was setting up, I went ahead and hooked up the hose. Usually, we can take about 5 showers(with other sink usage as well) and the grey tank is full. So after the 2nd night, after I dumped, I experimented leaving the grey dump valve open. During the day, the BOSS said she smelled the toilet and I need to dump the black tank. Well, I knew the black tank wasn't full yet, so I went out and closed the grey dump valve. (SHE THINKS I DUMPED THE BLACK TANK). After an hour or so, she said she didn't smell anything and was glad I dumped the black tank. I never told her otherwise! But what she was smelling was the "perfume" from the sewer lines wafting up the hose, past the p-traps in the sink drains. By closing the dump valve, that solved that problem. Yea, the roof vent "should have" lifted the smell but it didn't.

Lesson learned.

[Platokidd]

both closed and dump as needed

[jtstromsburg]

Originally Posted by Timex

[/COLOR]
I too, don't usually drag out the hose until time to dump. The last trip, we were staying 8 nights, so when I was setting up, I went ahead and hooked up the hose. Usually, we can take about 5 showers(with other sink usage as well) and the grey tank is full. So after the 2nd night, after I dumped, I experimented leaving the grey dump valve open. During the day, the BOSS said she smelled the toilet and I need to dump the black tank. Well, I knew the black tank wasn't full yet, so I went out and closed the grey dump valve. (SHE THINKS I DUMPED THE BLACK TANK). After an hour or so, she said she didn't smell anything and was glad I dumped the black tank. I never told her otherwise! But what she was smelling was the "perfume" from the sewer lines wafting up the hose, past the p-traps in the sink drains. By closing the dump valve, that solved that problem. Yea, the roof vent "should have" lifted the smell but it didn't.

Lesson learned.

I always make a "trap" in the hose to eliminate this.

[Timex]

Originally Posted by jtstromsburg

I always make a "trap" in the hose to eliminate this.

Ok, I give. What is a trap?

[jtstromsburg]

Like a plumbing p trap. When I lay the hose out, I prop it up about 2ft from the valve, causing an area where water stays until it is pushed by water pressure from the tank. Make sense ? Wish I had a pic

[Timex]

I guess I understand that better now.