Dumping your water tanks

[Stevej3658]

So I get conflicting reports on when you are set up at you camp site and connected to camp site sewer wheather or not to leave the valves to you black / gray tank open the entire time to allow waste to flow freely into the camp site sewer system. I say why wouldn’t you ? I have heard some say leave it closed and flush once a day but why would you want to allow waste to build up no matter how small. I don’t flush my toilet at home once a day, I flush every time I use it.

[Homebrew]

Always leave your black tank closed until the last day of your trip unless it gets full. This will help remove all the solids in the tank.
If you leave your black tank valve opened the solids will build up and create a hard mass which could cause issues later.
We also leave our grey tank closed so we have plenty of water to flush the sewer hose out after dumping the black tank.

[kenandterry]

Originally Posted by Stevej3658

So I get conflicting reports on when you are set up at you camp site and connected to camp site sewer wheather or not to leave the valves to you black / gray tank open the entire time to allow waste to flow freely into the camp site sewer system. I say why wouldn’t you ? I have heard some say leave it closed and flush once a day but why would you want to allow waste to build up no matter how small. I don’t flush my toilet at home once a day, I flush every time I use it.

They’re holding tanks……not septic tanks.
They will only flush clean with lots of volume. That means, leave the valves closed until there’s a good percentage of fluids to exit the sewer hose at a strong flow. Anyone who says leave them open, doesn’t understand how they actually work best, even if they state they’ve had no problems.
If you don’t believe me, Google some reputable demonstrations as opposed to getting your conflicting reports from the sources you have so far.

[RangeMaggotBob]

The main reason you need to keep them closed is the smell. If they are open, that wonderful smell is going to waft through your camper...

[Iwritecode]

Originally Posted by Stevej3658

So I get conflicting reports on when you are set up at you camp site and connected to camp site sewer wheather or not to leave the valves to you black / gray tank open the entire time to allow waste to flow freely into the camp site sewer system. I say why wouldn’t you ? I have heard some say leave it closed and flush once a day but why would you want to allow waste to build up no matter how small. I don’t flush my toilet at home once a day, I flush every time I use it.

Because you need a lot of water to flush the solids from your tank. If you leave the valve open, the solids tend to settle on the bottom while the liquid drains out too fast to do much good. Then after a while they build up and cause problems.

If you wait until it's fuller, then you have a much larger volume of liquid to get all the solids out.

Just do a search on the site for "poop pyramid" and you'll likely find lots of results.

[Oaklevel]

X2

You have holding tanks to hold the waste. If you leave them open you will have a poop pyramid under the toilet which will cause a problem.

The grey tank water can flush the hose after dumping the black tank.

Leaving the grey open can allow critters to climb into the tanks.

[Iwritecode]

Originally Posted by RangeMaggotBob

The main reason you need to keep them closed is the smell. If they are open, that wonderful smell is going to waft through your camper...

As long as the toilet has water in it, the smell shouldn't permeate the trailer.

[Oaklevel]

Originally Posted by RangeMaggotBob

The main reason you need to keep them closed is the smell. If they are open, that wonderful smell is going to waft through your camper...

With that theory your holding tanks would offer a nice odor back into thet trailer. That is the reason sink traps and the toilet bowl hold water.

[fipntdot]

These other posts are correct. Keep the tanks closed. If you don't you run the risk of paper/solids drying out and getting stuck in tank or hose. Also as mentioned above, there may not be anything to stop sewer gas from coming up into your system. Your home toilet uses more water and flushes into a smooth pipe with a proper fall. The camper hose is not as efficient as a home's sewer pipes, and the camper toilet is designed to use much less water per flush.

[Larry-NC]

Originally Posted by Iwritecode

As long as the toilet has water in it, the smell shouldn't permeate the trailer.

And when you flush and hold the flap open, the breeze will pull putrid air right through the toilet. Even worse if you have the vent fan on-a clear path from sewer to bathroom.

[Larry-NC]

Originally Posted by Oaklevel

Leaving the grey open can allow critters to climb into the tanks.

Sewer gnats. From the sewer to the tank. And when the flap opens, right into the bathroom.

[Reverse_snowbird]

Originally Posted by Stevej3658

I don’t flush my toilet at home once a day, I flush every time I use it.

That's true, but think about the amount of water it takes to flush your toilet. You don't have that in an rv. At home, you're also flushing into a pipe into the sewer.
The rv toilet pipe goes to a black 'tank' not a pipe and directly to the sewer. That's why you use chemicals to break up the 'poo' to liquify it and use a 3/4 or fuller tank to flush it out.
Follow the above advice. Keep the valves closed, use black water 'treatment'.

[Guspech750]

Originally Posted by kenandterry

They’re holding tanks……not septic tanks.
They will only flush clean with lots of volume. That means, leave the valves closed until there’s a good percentage of fluids to exit the sewer hose at a strong flow. Anyone who says leave them open, doesn’t understand how they actually work best, even if they state they’ve had no problems.
If you don’t believe me, Google some reputable demonstrations as opposed to getting your conflicting reports from the sources you have so far.

[kcmusa]

https://uniquecampingmarine.com/blog...v-pyramid-plug

[DouglasReid]

Originally Posted by Stevej3658

So I get conflicting reports on when you are set up at you camp site and connected to camp site sewer wheather or not to leave the valves to you black / gray tank open the entire time to allow waste to flow freely into the camp site sewer system.

What conflicting reports? kindly share the source for those.

I say why wouldn’t you ? I have heard some say leave it closed and flush once a day but why would you want to allow waste to build up no matter how small.

I do not know where you heard that but NO knowledgeable camper would leave them open.

I don’t flush my toilet at home once a day, I flush every time I use it.

Your residential toilet flushes at least 1.5 gallons each time. That amount of water is needed to move the solids down the smooth pipe in the drain.

Your RV toilet flushes a small fraction of that each time it flushes. As someone said earlier, you will build a brown pyramid inside your tank if you leave the valve open. Or it will get stuck in the corrugated pipe outside your camper.

[wildmanabe]

Water in your blk tank is your friend. "sort of:.
After i flush tank when leaving to go home. i always put/add a lot of water in blk tank along with a reddish solution i got at walmart. For smell and breakdown. As i drive home then back to CG again, it swirls around tank.

[Martsing]

For us, we keep the black tank closed for 3 or 4 days at a time. We use Happy Camper t keep things moving. We keep the grey tank OPEN with a small drop in the sewer hose to create a P-trap. The day be fore we flush the black tank I close the grey and let it fill. Then I dump the black and flush it with the grey then start the process over again. On travel days I put a few gallons in the black just to slosh it around.

This works for us.

Marty

[NavyLCDR]

Originally Posted by Stevej3658

I say why wouldn’t you ? I have heard some say leave it closed and flush once a day but why would you want to allow waste to build up no matter how small.

With the black tank drain valve left open you ARE allowing the waste to build up. The solid waste is building up in a pile under the toilet and the water is just flowing right down the drain. RV holding tanks are called holding tanks for a reason. The are designed to Hold and Empty in two separate evolutions.

[jbflag21ds]

You can leave the grey tank open if you use your sinks and shower a lot. You shouldn't leave the black tank valve open.

But if you leave the grey open, you should close it a day or so before you you need to dump the black. This is so you can flush out the pipe after the valves and the sewer hose.

[Nodakjoe]

Takes about 5 to 10 gallons of water to prevent poo and toilet paper from sticking to the tank walls, and another 5 or so gallons to force flush all the solid matter left behind after the tank is drained.

If you leave the valve open on the grey tank, the sewer gas will try to escape through the drains. Usually there is enough water in the traps to prevent it, but if one were to dry out, or a bumpy road on the way to the camp site drains them, it’ll become unbearably stinky inside.