What's in the Black Tank?

[ttocsmi]

Help me out here.

We bought a new Vibe 243BHS. This is how the plumbing was explained to us by the dealer (to the best of my recollection):

Grey #1 - inside kitchen sink
Grey #2 - bathroom sink, outside sink, shower drain
Black - toilet

When I empty grey #1, I get a good amount of clear-ish water. This makes sense if it's connected to the inside kitchen sink.

When I empty the black tank, I get A LOT of clear-ish water (we haven't used the toilet yet, or added blue tablets to the tank), which makes me think it's connected to the shower drain and/or the outside sink drain.

When I empty grey #2, hardly anything comes out. Perhaps it's only connected to the bathroom sink drain (which we rarely use).

Is the shower drain supposed to be connected to the black tank? The outside sink, too? Does this make sense to you? Not to me.

Next time it's in my driveway, I'll run water through the various drains with the dumps open and see what's connected to what.

Thanks.

[kfd82]

If you havent used your toilet yet, its probably still full of "fresh" water from the dealership.
My dealer filled all the tanks with fresh water during their "make ready" before I picked it up. Checking for leaks and whatnot.
They did drain the tanks prior to me pulling it home though.

[mblee21]

Your shower could be connected to the black tank. I can't say for that particular model. In my last camper the shower was connected to the black tank and it was horrible. It was the main reason we sold it but we didn't know any better when we bought it.

[ttocsmi]

Originally Posted by kfd82

If you havent used your toilet yet, its probably still full of "fresh" water from the dealership.
My dealer filled all the tanks with fresh water during their "make ready" before I picked it up. Checking for leaks and whatnot.
They did drain the tanks prior to me pulling it home though.

Nope. I've drained the all tanks following previous trips. This weekend is the first time I've thought about what's actually in the black tank. Thanks.

[ttocsmi]

Originally Posted by mblee21

Your shower could be connected to the black tank. I can't say for that particular model. In my last camper the shower was connected to the black tank and it was horrible. It was the main reason we sold it but we didn't know any better when we bought it.

Greaaaaaat. Will call the dealer for confirmation.

Anyone mod the shower drain plumbing?

[ttocsmi]

Wrote Forest River customer service & got the following response:

On your model (243 BHS) it is supposed to drain into the black tank. Now with that being said it is not the preferred method, but it is not breaking any codes. Reason we had to do it that way is because of the way the bathroom is set up, and little room in the underbelly area. If you have any more questions please feel free to contact me on this.

FYI.

[mblee21]

If you mainly camp at places with full hookups it won't be a big deal. We never do so that is why we got rid of ours. We pretty much had to take all our showers at the bath house because 4 showers, even quick ones would fill it up. First world problems, right.

[jking46]

What's in the black tank? 💩

[extxn]

Originally Posted by ttocsmi

Help me out here.

We bought a new Vibe 243BHS. This is how the plumbing was explained to us by the dealer (to the best of my recollection):

Grey #1 - inside kitchen sink
Grey #2 - bathroom sink, outside sink, shower drain
Black - toilet

When I empty grey #1, I get a good amount of clear-ish water. This makes sense if it's connected to the inside kitchen sink.

When I empty the black tank, I get A LOT of clear-ish water (we haven't used the toilet yet, or added blue tablets to the tank), which makes me think it's connected to the shower drain and/or the outside sink drain.

When I empty grey #2, hardly anything comes out. Perhaps it's only connected to the bathroom sink drain (which we rarely use).

Is the shower drain supposed to be connected to the black tank? The outside sink, too? Does this make sense to you? Not to me.

Next time it's in my driveway, I'll run water through the various drains with the dumps open and see what's connected to what.

Thanks.

Totally not familiar with your unit, but you might try reducing the guessing game by using food coloring. Mix up 5 gallons or so of red water, pour into whichever drain then see which dump it comes from. Then the same with blue and again with yellow. As long as you haven't 'used' the toilet, then no problems should arise allowing the drains to run out right at home. Just use different colored water for each drain/toilet.

[ben31]

Answer was in post number 6.

You can tackle redirecting it, but it may be a lot of work. I also wouldn't try to do it, until your warranty is over, since you will likely need to move, cut, rearrange, etc.

[windsurfdog]

If your underbelly is not enclosed, it should be easy to see how it's plumbed. I just checked mine a couple of weeks ago and confirmed that shower and toilet are plumbed to black. I look at it as an advantage since the black tank always needs plenty of water. When at a campground with sewer at each site, it's a non sequitur. At a sewerless campsite, I'm taking showers at the bath house anyway...the gray tank fills with dishwashing, etc. so should I decide to shower in the trailer, I'm not contributing to the gray tank. $.02

[Jim in Halifax]

Get a bottle of red food dye and pour some down each drain and check where the water comes from......ie does shower water go to black tank??? Grey #1 or Grey #2???
ETC
Our CC was labeled backwards at the handles...I thought that the shower/sink was always left open....BUT...it was the galley!
J

[DrLewie]

Our Cardinal has the bathroom sink draining into the black tank. I didn't know until it backed up. It seems like there are a lot of different ways the manufacturers do it, probably to save $2.00 per unit.

[Sanibel]

I kind of agree with the person who said the dealer may have put water in there, as we often discuss, your black tank should never be left dry, so they may have put some in so that you didn't leave with a dry tank. You could test where your shower water goes by putting food coloring (or that blue stuff) down the drain, running some water then draining the tank it's suppose be going to.

[TheWolfPaq82]

Originally Posted by jking46

What's in the black tank? 💩

That's pretty much how I see it.

[camaraderie]

They got my black & grey handles mixed up at the factory which led to my confusion about the brown sink water! It is not necessarily a hook up issue!

[southpaw821]

Dude, that sucks.

[Eltrut]

My quirks Rainer (different name for the Vibe) had the labels wrong. The black label is on the grey dump and the grey label is on the black dump.

[southpaw821]

Same here... in a way. They had everything miss labeled. Mine had 2 separate dumps. The one in front is for the galley, but it was labeled black and grey... and only had one pull... the back that is the black and grey was labeled galley. It amazes me how inept the the people in the RV industry is...

[Jim in Halifax]

Originally Posted by camaraderie

They got my black & grey handles mixed up at the factory which led to my confusion about the brown sink water! It is not necessarily a hook up issue!

They got my two grey's mixed up....labeled wrong..........I always leave the kitchen/galley open......but it backed up......that is how I found the error!!!!