Grey water tank question.
 

The capacity on our grey water tank on our 2861 is 39 gallons. Why oh why does it fill up after only one short shower and doing a few dishes? This would not work for boondocking. What tips/advice do any of you have so this tank doesn't fill up so fast? Do I wash my hands too much??

Could your tank’s full sensor be activating prematurely?

Not sure.

don't count on sensors they go bad all the time. if its not backing up into the low point (shower pan) it may not be full. I don't know your shower habits but mine why camping are either go to the shower house or take a very quick "military" shower. The only other options are tote it or dump if on the ground. (may not be allowed)

It is surprising how much water we use. We have a 2013 2650S and it only has 28 gallon gray and black water tanks. I was doing some plumbing repairs on bathroom sink and each fill was a good part of a 4 liter milk jug... that is about 1 gallon. The kitchen sink could be double that if filled.
When we are dry camping on the road, we realized that showers used way too much water. We now use bathroom sink for pre wash and soap up. Shower is only for a quick rinse. We can go about 3 days using this method. It is always a luxury when we stop at a full service camp ground and get to have a real shower.
And as many have commented, the sensors can be off. Parking on a slope can affect readings... depending upon what side of the tank has the sensor.

A few thoughts, is the camper level? How long have you had it and is this a recent problem? Kimber was right about the back up, you may want to run some water and let it fill to a point where it backs into the tub to get a better feel for the capacity and then dump it. Also, you may have a panel by the tub area where you could remove it and get a visual of the tank.

The RV was level. I think I will run water into the grey tank next time to determine if this is a sensor issue or not and give me an idea of what the capacity is.

I noticed the same thing the first time I was at a state park with no sewer hookup. I thought maybe the sensors were wrong, but after a few trips to the dump station with my "honey pot" I realized how fast that tank fills up. I wish RVs were designed with grey tanks that had twice the capacity of the black tank as it fills up far faster, at least for me.
I really boned up on my water conversion routine even though I was hooked up. I also found out how useful the outside shower can be!

We picked up a Rainwave RW-9FM LCD Digital Water Flow Meter that attaches between the water source and the hose to the rig. Checked it before and after a shower and found out how little water it took for our meters to show the grey water tank full. We don't trust our meters.

If your grey water fills up, you'll see in the bottom of the shower first (assuming your rig is level)

We do the navy showers when boondocking and the wife has a plastic container that fits in the sink and then dumps the dish water on a tree it's amazing how much that helps

I just bought a 2017 Forester 3011 DS and have used it twice - both at state parks. We had the same issue - after 24 hours the grey water tank was full - backing up in the bathroom sink - and we did not take any showers. I also have a 39 gallon tank. My wife does let a lot of water run when washing dishes so I suspect that may be my main issue. I am home now - will fill it in the next few days and then measure the dump water to see if it indeed holds 39 gallons. Only 24 hours and having to dump is the pits.

If she leaves the water running doing dishes that is your problem. Take a dish, water on for quick rinse, then off. Repeat as needed. Don't even leave the water running for teeth brushing. If you are using water from your tank you quickly learn to conserve, or do without.

Many RVs ARE designed with Gray tanks that have twice the capacity or more, of the black tanks.
It's up to the consumer to choose wiser.

Our current TT has a 60 gallon Gray tank and 30 gallon black tank.

Yeah, I never run the water when doing dishes or any other time.

I've lived 90% of a long life in houses with well/septic. Although we've never had problems it does make you aware of water usage. We camp mostly in provincial parks which have hydro only and with spacious clean showers houses. I do dishes once/day and use two plastic pails. One fits in the sink and I use it as a dish pan. The other I put 3 inches or so of water in it for rinsing. The buckets get emptied into the black tank or campground bathrooms. Just the two of us and we can last more than a week.

Using a cheapo disposable paper plate on top of "real" plates makes cleaning the real plate almost trivial...saves a lot of water.

With only a 38 gallon fresh water tank what do you need with 60 gallon of gray water storage? Wouldn't work for boon docking for sure, guess you could carry 5 gallon buckets of fresh water along to use :D Then you could stay a lot longer but then your black water tank would overflow. ;)

Well, we do dry camp a lot and our old HTT had smaller Gray tank than FW tank.
I did a lot of toting my Barker full of Gray water.

I don't worry about it now.

Backing up in the bathroom sink? That happens in my rig because the bathroom sink is linked to the black water tank ( macerating toilet ).

Normally grey water backs up into the shower.

Lots of the tanks are of shallow depth , so if off level toward the sensor side readings will not be accurate.