Grey water going to black tank

[clockcuff_66]

Originally Posted by caseymyers

And if you over fill it, it won't show up in the sink, it'll go up the vent pipe and overflow the roof. Ask me how I know.

[MovnOn]

Anyone come up with a way to reroute the washer (maybe a switch?) so that when you do have full hook ups you can switch it to a third outlet which can be opened to go into dump? Hope this makes sense.....

This explains why the black fills so quickly. And I have been doing absolutely nothing by making sure grey valve open when I use the washer. I have small dogs who are “pee pad” trained— and have to wash daily.

Long story but the pups (small schnauzers) love to eat, shred paper— including pee pads so I have to use washable pee pads!

Open to suggestions—-

Thanks, Gerry

[ependydad]

Originally Posted by bclemens

Lav is lower...but ehhh, let's keep it a surprise

I'll admit, I'm here and not owning a Dynamax but having had black water get into my clothing washer/dryer, please consider re-doing this. It's a sanitation nightmare.

[ependydad]

Originally Posted by MovnOn

Anyone come up with a way to reroute the washer (maybe a switch?) so that when you do have full hook ups you can switch it to a third outlet which can be opened to go into dump? Hope this makes sense.....

I did it my toy hauler. First, we like to keep our drain open for the washer/dryer so that we can run multiple loads of laundry a day without emptying it every 3rd load (family of 4 and we don't re-wear clothes). As well, I wanted to be able to dump the washer/dryer water on the ground in the right situation (private land where the land owner didn't want it in their septic tank).

Here's what I started with:



So, here's what I did...

First things first, my Splendide XC2100 combo washer/dryer called for 1 1/2" pipes. I tried doing this initially with 1" pipes and PVC ball valves and ended up with super messy geysers.

I bought a 3-way 1 1/2" pool diverter valve (link).

I cut my drain pipe shorter so that I could install the diverter valve above it.



Note, while doing all of this, I had to cut out the RV box for holding these hookups and that meant cutting off the ends of the water hookups. Shark-bite fittings to the rescue here.



On the right-side, I have an inlet from the washer/dryer. Note the height requirements in your owner's manual. They were very specific about how high this can be.

On the left-side, I added a new outlet. I cut through the floor (with much measuring and a little bit of wishing that I didn't hit anything). This 1 1/2" outlet drops down to below my under belly. Down there, I installed a P-Trap (from Home Depot or Lowes). I picked one with a cap on the bottom thinking that if I ever needed to clean it out or empty it, I'd have a way.



In my case, this sticks below the under belly.


I then ran a PVC line to my camper's sewer outlet. It should have been ABS for weight but I couldn't easily find ABS.

I cut off the sewer outlet which was just a single straight shot. (Which yes, did include me getting one heck of a warm gray water bath because my idiot self told my daughter to grab a shower while I ran to the hardware store and then promptly forgot!)



I replaced it with one that had a 1 1/2" inlet off to the side (link). I also added a T with a ball-valve so that I could dump this washer/dryer water straight to the ground without having to open my sewer cap. Note, I had to make sure I had specific glue for gluing PVC to ABS.






I did eventually close the area up with the same panel that was originally there with the corner trim and all. It's not the prettiest solution but for me, functionality was more important than pretty.

And, I'm pretty incompetent when it comes to doing things with my hands. Shark-bite fittings, PVC glue, and a whole lot of redo + trips to the hardware store .. I got it done. Anyone else likely would have done a nicer job than me.


Now, since this new washer/dryer hookup goes straight to the sewer outlet, you will have a geyser if you ever forget to open it.

Now I have my choice, I can let this washer/dryer water go to the black tank or straight to the sewer or straight to the ground.

Obviously, you'll need to tweak this for your Dynamax. But longest story shortest, it's possible.

[ependydad]

Originally Posted by johndjmix

Urgh. The issue with having the washer and bathroom sink go into black is when your in a situation where you want to just let the shower/washer etc drain onto the ground, you can’t do that with it in the black.

A buddy of mine is who led me down the path to the diverter valve. In his motorhome, he literally has 1 giant tank. Everything goes to it.

He's added a pair of T-valves under each of his sinks + shower so that he can control if they go into the tank or if they dump out to the ground.

Should be too hard to do in your Dynamax. Heck, I'm in Orlando too. I love cutting holes in other people's rigs. Give me a hollar!

[MovnOn]

Originally Posted by ependydad

A buddy of mine is who led me down the path to the diverter valve. In his motorhome, he literally has 1 giant tank. Everything goes to it.

He's added a pair of T-valves under each of his sinks + shower so that he can control if they go into the tank or if they dump out to the ground.

Should be too hard to do in your Dynamax. Heck, I'm in Orlando too. I love cutting holes in other people's rigs. Give me a hollar!

Thank you— will show hubby!

[MAC D]

Originally Posted by steadfast

I was using the pump to drain water that I had in the fresh tank and opened the kitchen and bathroom faucets. Black and grey tanks were empty to start with. I was surprised that when I went to dump, the water was in both the grey and black tanks. I am guessing that it is the kitchen sink that drains into the black tank because it is closer to the black than to grey. I am not sure that this is going to be a problem, just didn't expect it.

This is in our 2021 DX3 37TS.

Did a factory tour today. With the XL & DX3 - TS's the bath lav goes in the black and the washing machine goes in the grey. Was unable to track the shower and kitchen sink with the floors in or plumbing not installed.

[steadfast]

Originally Posted by MAC D

Did a factory tour today. With the XL & DX3 - TS's the bath lav goes in the black and the washing machine goes in the grey. Was unable to track the shower and kitchen sink with the floors in or plumbing not installed.

Washing machine going to the grey is good news. This is, however, counter to what Bclemens posted.

[MAC D]

My grey tank is to the rear of the RV and my black is toward the front. The washing machine is going to the rear tank on the new units which I assume is the grey.

[snapcap14]

Originally Posted by steadfast

I was using the pump to drain water that I had in the fresh tank and opened the kitchen and bathroom faucets. Black and grey tanks were empty to start with. I was surprised that when I went to dump, the water was in both the grey and black tanks. I am guessing that it is the kitchen sink that drains into the black tank because it is closer to the black than to grey. I am not sure that this is going to be a problem, just didn't expect it.

This is in our 2021 DX3 37TS.

Welcome to the world of Rockwood thinking.
I got a 2604 in 2010. First trip out we bondocked 5 of us. What a shock on day 2 of a 5 day camp. To find the black tank full. And the gray 1/4 full. And no way to dump. Luckily for out houses. Could only get washed found the shower dumps into the black tank.
Called Rockwood come to find out it was designed that way. And legal to do. Well they had a fix for it. Dealer said no fix for it. Had to have Rockwood call the dealership to get it done. Was no charge. Rockwood did have a reason why they did it that way.

[DavidJ]

Originally Posted by steadfast

I was using the pump to drain water that I had in the fresh tank and opened the kitchen and bathroom faucets. Black and grey tanks were empty to start with. I was surprised that when I went to dump, the water was in both the grey and black tanks. I am guessing that it is the kitchen sink that drains into the black tank because it is closer to the black than to grey. I am not sure that this is going to be a problem, just didn't expect it.

This is in our 2021 DX3 37TS.

Our 2017 RockWood 2504s bathroom sink emptied into the black water tank. We found out the hard way. Freezing night and we left the sink trickle water to prevent from freezing. Well guess what happened? Thanks RockWood. Ya jerks!

[dlambers]

Many folks just drain the gray water into a soak hole when dry camping. In some areas of the country, where folks do a lot of dry camping, it's a requirement that the kitchen sink be plumbed into the black water tank because of the grease and food bits it may contain.
As I recall Idaho is one such state. Had a Kit RoadRanger bunkhouse, bought in Boise, that was plumbed like that.

[SunNRain]

Originally Posted by bclemens

When the black and gray tanks are equally sized, they will not fill at the same rate. In theory, you either want the gray tank larger, or you want to find something to also go into the black tank to balance out usage...so they fill up at more equal rates.

Or, in some cases, we just can't plumb to the gray tank.

TS. The washer/dryer, toilet and lav plumb into the black tank. Shower and kitchen sink into gray.

Thank you. I had a laugh at first thinking it must be "Monk" making the sizing and balance statements I quoted. But now,... I understand this thread was started in the Motorhome section of the forum so I'll just add that this doesn't hold true to other Forest River products that say some trailer owners for instance may read. My Cottage is a destination trailer not meant or designed to be towed down the road frequently and only plumbs the toilet into the sizable black water tank. All the fresh water faucets, shower, and washers (dish or clothes) drain into the grey water tank(s).

Yes,... I had to go out and test it myself to confirm what I knew before stepping into - you know what.

[johndjmix]

Just did a test (well did the laundry too). MY 2018 DX3 37TS washer/dryer empty’s to the GRAY tank! Yes! Happy camper (pardon the pub).

—john

[caseymyers]

Originally Posted by SunNRain

Thank you. I had a laugh at first thinking it must be "Monk" making the sizing and balance statements I quoted. But now,... I understand this thread was started in the Motorhome section of the forum so I'll just add that this doesn't hold true to other Forest River products that say some trailer owners for instance may read. My Cottage is a destination trailer not meant or designed to be towed down the road frequently and only plumbs the toilet into the sizable black water tank. All the fresh water faucets, shower, and washers (dish or clothes) drain into the grey water tank(s).

Yes,... I had to go out and test it myself to confirm what I knew before stepping into - you know what.

Yes you wandered into the Dynamax subcategory of the FR Forums, most of what you'll find on here are Dynamax specific issues and solutions. Mr. Clemens who you saw on this thread is the GM of this FR division. Some of the drain layouts are specific to these coaches because of tank placement and model configurations. When I first got my rig I was surprised that any grey water went into a black tank, but now that I know why it makes sense and has not been an issue for me in three years of ownership.