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Old 10-08-2018, 09:57 AM   #1
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What?? Grey and Black water drains different

My husband and I recently purchased a Flagstaff High Wall popup camper. Upon prepping it for our first camping trip we noticed that the Galley tank and the Black water tank have seaparate discharge ports. In all of our previous travel tailers, the grey and blank water tanks share the same discharge port allowing the grey water to flush the sewer hose after discharging the black tank. So, how does this work in my new popup? Please help!
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Old 10-08-2018, 10:08 AM   #2
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No big problem. After draining your black tank first, close the blank tank valve....move your sewer hose to the gray discharge port.

Pull valve and your gray water discharge cleans the sewer hose.

If the discharge ports are close enough, buy one of these

https://www.amazon.ca/Camco-39812-Rh...70940344&psc=1
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Old 10-08-2018, 10:13 AM   #3
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Thanks for the quick reply! The only minor problem is that the grey (or Galley) drain port is so much smaller than the Black water drain port. Looks like the Galley port is just large enough for a water hose??
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Old 10-08-2018, 10:16 AM   #4
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Originally Posted by kenandterry View Post
No big problem. After draining your black tank first, close the blank tank valve....move your sewer hose to the gray discharge port.

Pull valve and your gray water discharge cleans the sewer hose.

If the discharge ports are close enough, buy one of these

https://www.amazon.ca/Camco-39812-Rh...70940344&psc=1
Wasn’t there a thread here, not too long ago, where the OP said the gray tank discharge is now a different, oddball size than the black tank discharge? I may have misunderstood what they were talking about, but if that is the case, it may not be as simple as shifting the hose from one outlet to the other.

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Old 10-08-2018, 10:17 AM   #5
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Originally Posted by Sherry Branlund View Post
Thanks for the quick reply! The only minor problem is that the grey (or Galley) drain port is so much smaller than the Black water drain port. Looks like the Galley port is just large enough for a water hose??
This is what I was talking about.

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Old 10-08-2018, 10:26 AM   #6
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Thought I saw an attachment for sale that connects a water hose to the black discharge hose for flushing/cleaning it. Don't know how effective it is.
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Old 10-08-2018, 10:28 AM   #7
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Originally Posted by Sherry Branlund View Post
Thanks for the quick reply! The only minor problem is that the grey (or Galley) drain port is so much smaller than the Black water drain port. Looks like the Galley port is just large enough for a water hose??
Then get one of these: Camco 39080 Rhino Blaster Sewer Tank Rinser and a short garden hose.
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Old 10-08-2018, 10:30 AM   #8
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Thought I saw an attachment for sale that connects a water hose to the black discharge hose for flushing/cleaning it. Don't know how effective it is.
Somebody’s solution was to connect a Flush King (or something similar) to the black discharge and connect to the garden hose connection.

It’s all coming back to me now.

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Old 10-08-2018, 10:32 AM   #9
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Then get one of these: Camco 39080 Rhino Blaster Sewer Tank Rinser and a short garden hose.
Somebody always beats me to the answer. I only just passed typing class in high school.

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Old 10-08-2018, 10:37 AM   #10
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Old 10-08-2018, 10:38 AM   #11
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Originally Posted by Sherry Branlund View Post
Thanks for the quick reply! The only minor problem is that the grey (or Galley) drain port is so much smaller than the Black water drain port. Looks like the Galley port is just large enough for a water hose??
Is your grey drain port on the side like this?

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Old 10-08-2018, 10:54 AM   #12
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Grey (small) and black (large) tank discharges have been different diameters for years, probably decades. They're typically tied to a single discharge the same diameter as the lager black discharge but tank placement may make this an expense or inconvenience for the manufacturer.

Not sure if it's worth the effort to combine them but perhaps looking at a similar trailer with a single exit will help.

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Old 10-08-2018, 10:57 AM   #13
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The site team has edited the thread title to be more indicative of the question (for search reasons).
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Old 10-08-2018, 12:59 PM   #14
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We have a 2014 Surveyor Select. Three tanks for "discharge" Black and Grey are side by side with one discharge port that is large but two handles, one for black and one for grey. Galley has a seperate tank with a seperate discharge port. Check to see there are not two pull handles around your black water release. By the way our discharge ports are all the large size so not did not need to purchase an adaptor.
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Old 10-08-2018, 01:04 PM   #15
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Ours has only a Galley drain port and a separate Black water drain with only one handle release.
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Old 10-08-2018, 01:20 PM   #16
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Sounds like it's simlair to the picture I posted in post #11 then. You just need one of these https://www.amazon.com/Valterra-T01-.../dp/B0006MTREC a hose and then a tote or something to drain the grey water into.

As for the black tank discharge, it's easy enough to clean out with a flush king or something similair as posted above or get a wand that you can put down into the toilet itself.

Something like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Valterra-A01-...le+toilet+wand
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Old 10-08-2018, 03:23 PM   #17
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Grey/Black Discharge

You mentioned the Galley. My Rockwood 5er has one discharge tube for the black and gray tanks and a separate discharge tube for the Galley. When I am camping somewhere for a week or so I have a "Y" fitting that connect all the discharges to one sewer line. But when I am simply dumping I first dump the black tank, then pull the sewer hose and put it on the Galley discharge to dump that greasy kitchen sink water, then I dump the gray tank last to flush out the tube.
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Old 10-08-2018, 03:28 PM   #18
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You mentioned the Galley. My Rockwood 5er has one discharge tube for the black and gray tanks and a separate discharge tube for the Galley. When I am camping somewhere for a week or so I have a "Y" fitting that connect all the discharges to one sewer line. But when I am simply dumping I first dump the black tank, then pull the sewer hose and put it on the Galley discharge to dump that greasy kitchen sink water, then I dump the gray tank last to flush out the tube.
The OP has a pop-up and from the description, doesn't even have a grey tank. Quite different from a 5th wheel.
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Old 10-08-2018, 03:52 PM   #19
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I have the same arrangement. I actually prefer this arrangement. Why?
A 12 gallon grey-water tank is FAR too small for a camping weekend. Having a separate, smaller discharge enables you to drain the grey tank on the fly several times over a camping trip.

Most popup campers (PUPS) have nothing more than a drain port out the side of the camper. One attaches a short length of hose and captures grey water in a bucket or proprietary container. What you do with it after that depends on your location...another discussion. In a campground, you can tote the grey water to a pit toilet or bathroom and dump it.

Now, if your grey water dumps thru the black-water port and hose, suddenly otherwise innocuous grey water is contaminated by flowing through the black-tank valve and hose. Furthermore, if someone sees you dumping from the black tank port and thru the black water drain hose into a bucket, they would be justifiably concerned. That's no longer grey water. And that's the case even if you adapt the black-tank fitting to a garden hose. The end of that pipe passed sewage.

On a typical 3 or 4 day camping trip, I dump no less than 20 gallons of grey water...and use the bucket tote method to dispose of it. And that still leaves a significant amount in the grey-water tank.

To fully take advantage of your setup, I recommend the following.
  • Valtera (or other brand) grey-water tank dump pipe adapter to garden hose.
  • About 10 feet of pliable, non-kink garden hose...cut the end of an old hose so long as it doesn't kink easily. Tip: lay it out in the sun to warm up so it lays flat between the dump valve and the bucket.
  • 5 gallon bucket...say the one you had with your "low-wall" PUP.
  • And to thoroughly clean your black tank and hose, this adapter is terrific. It actually back-flushes the tank (I back-flush 3 or 4 times until the water coming out is absolutely clear).
    This goes between your black tank dump valve and your black-water hose. The extra gate valve and garden hose fitting enables you to use fresh-water to thoroughly rinse the black tank AND flush out the black-tank hose. I've been using one for years. Tip: I store mine in 2 1/2 gallon ziplok bag in a cubby on the PUP that I dedicate exclusively to "yukky" stuff.

    (Another story, but my PUP has a U-shaped dinette in a slide. Under the bench seats of the dinette is a large, continuous area accessible thru a cabinet door, lifting the seat bench, AND an outside hatch. I added a small plywood partition to divide the lion's share of that "L-shaped" space into storage for pots & pans {accessible thru the interior cabinet door and bench seat} and a small space for the yukky stuff accessible thru the outside hatch. (The other leg of the dinette is occupied by the hot water heater and a bit more interior cabinet space.) I keep the sewer adapter (bagged), the grey-water hose and Valtera adapter, nitrile gloves and some miscellaneous other yukky stuff in that compartment separated from my cooking utensils. Forest River should have added that partition themselves, because there really isn't another good place for the yukky stuff. The black-water dump hose is stored in its own tube under the camper.)

So, in my opinion, you have a vastly superior setup for a PUP that has a pathetically small grey-tank. Without routine grey-water dumping, grey water will back up into your shower, and with the other kind of dump arrangement, you may be forced to go to the dump station or use a portable black-water storage tank...assuming you don't want neighbors thinking you're dumping poop into a bucket.

The good news is that a 12 gallon black tank is adequate for a couple for at least 5 days. Unlike grey-water, which is often used with reckless abandon, human waste and the tiny amount of water required for an PUP toilet flush do not fill the tank very quickly.

One other suggestion. The fresh tank on most HW-PUPS is pretty small. Mine is about 20 gallons. I supplement with 4 of these 7-gallon reliance jugs...in my tow vehicle (TV). This more than doubles my fresh-water capacity. Even over 5 days, I've never used all 4--even with showers. In many cases, I've "donated" a 7 gallon jug to a neighbor in need.
Why these jugs? The cap. Buy a couple spare caps. One's a spare, and one is the makings of a fill adapter.
Add a 1/2" to barb plastic adapter, a hose clamp, and about 18" of clear plastic hose (buy this stuff at a local hardware store or Home Depot for about $5 total), and you can adapt the jug to very easily pour its contents into the gravity fill for your fresh tank without dumping precious water all over the place (including you) as happens with funnels and rigid plastic pour spouts. Just lift the jug with one hand and stuff the soft plastic hose into the fill port with the other...then lift the jug until empty.

7 gallons of water is kind of heavy...about 60 pounds. You might need two people to manage. Or you could look for a similar jug (cap) with a smaller capacity. My jugs date back to about 2012 with my previous camper.

If you have plenty of water, your grey-water tank will be overwhelmed pretty quickly, but with the Valtera adapter, an old garden hose and a bucket, you can empty your grey tank daily and never worry about running out of capacity.

And, if you're boondocking you can safely water the trees with your grey water knowing that it's not contaminated by the black-tank dump and hose. That comment may spark another discussion about grey-water "safety," but it's just dishwater and shower water, and the soaps are good for the soil.

Last thought on your fresh tank...assuming you use it. It needs additional support. If you drive full, things will fail. My PUP allowed for the modification in the photo. That's just 1/2" galvanized water pipe, two clevis pins, a bit of rubber floor mat, a bit of plywood, and two 1/2" pipe hold-down clamps. The hanging brackets are built into the frame to guide propane pipes and so on. But you could fabricate a mount if you must. Quick and dirty, and it works great. If you look closely, you'll see that my fresh tank is stepped down below the frame supports, so a simple additional cross-member would not be possible.
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Old 10-08-2018, 03:59 PM   #20
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They make a threaded sewer port adapter that accepts both a 4" sewer hose and a garden hose.

My mobile connection isn't good enough to find a photo right now.
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