Delicate topic from a dry camper.... black water tank

If the tank gauge is confused as to the content level, well, like an outhouse, look down the hole. :)

Ron

Ron in BC, a man after my own heart! :thumb::thumb::thumb: We don't even use the gauge, we just "know'' how much $#!+ is down there. it's pretty easy to take a peak.:cool:

steve
 
Stick 'em up, cowboy.
 

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window screen question

Yup, that's why it's there. No contest when choosing between using my always clean trailer toilet or an iffy camp facility.

Never use any additives. I do the outside dump valves and hand my wife the rinse out hose through the opening bathroom window. Love that window. She gives the tank a hose down, we do that every dump if there's a hose available. No problems, no odor. If the tank gage is confused as to the content level, well, like an outhouse, look down the hole. :)

Ron
Hi, Ron, how do you get the screen out of the window in the bathroom? My husband and I have tried many times and have not been successful. We have a 2015 19. We are able to remove the screens on all our other windows.

Thanks,
Sandi in Port Townsend, WA
 
As for using public facilities, there are to many that are absolutely gross. Loren
I wonder if this is a regional thing, as I have yet to see one that is bad. Sure, some are dated and could use some remodelling, but for me, as long as they are clean that is good enough for me. I have heard others say that they find campground bathrooms unfit for their use as well. I do wonder if it is a tolerance level. I am quite used to using a garden trowel to dig a cat hole when travelling in the backcountry, and have used many an outhouse before too. Maybe this lends me to think that anything with a clean toilet seat is a major upgrade. :)
If anyone attempts a Tornado on the fifth wheel post some pictures.
Bob, I have had one sitting around for a few years. I was going to install it in the 19, but never got around to it. I will look at installing it in the 5.0 when I get it.
 
Hum I must have lower standards then other people as I never think about cleaning or rinsing our black tank that much. Although I do have a fancy new wand with a spinning brass head.
My intention was to use it before storing the trailer for the winter but that never much happens.
We empty it then use it again, can't quite figure out why I'd want to clean it in between [emoji848].
On the odd occasion our tank indicator does read as partially full after dumping, oh well so be it, got much more fun/important things to do then worry about the [emoji90]level [emoji23].
Cheers
Doug
(No offence intended, just me thinking out loud)
 
Here's Reace's wand adaptation.
He plugged two of the four original holes and then drilled one at a 45 degree angle to direct water up toward the handle.
You do have to be careful using it, or you will fire water up through the open trap.
 

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I wonder if this is a regional thing, as I have yet to see one that is bad. Sure, some are dated and could use some remodelling, but for me, as long as they are clean that is good enough for me. I have heard others say that they find campground bathrooms unfit for their use as well. I do wonder if it is a tolerance level. I am quite used to using a garden trowel to dig a cat hole when travelling in the backcountry, and have used many an outhouse before too. Maybe this lends me to think that anything with a clean toilet seat is a major upgrade. :)

I think it's both a regional (population density) and a tolerance thing.. and it really only take one person (or a few) to turn things side ways... This past September we camped at a campground where the review(s) all said they have great/clean bathrooms.. We dont care that much but we thought it was amusing to read about clean bathroom as a plus of the campground (there's a river next to the campground, that _should_ be the plus!) I mean, it's a port-a-potty, it's either full to the brim.. or it's not full.. right? Well.. first day it was really nice.. then came a group of campers who looks like they were new to the camping things and were discussing by campfire the (creative) ways they have to use the bathroom so they dont have to "touch" any part of it.. the resulting bathroom was.. :banghead:

campgrounds that are busy tend to be bad (whether or not it's port-a-potty, chemical or flush toilet)... and in some parts of the continent it's kind of hard to avoid people ;D
 
I think technology exists that would allow you to filter the urine and add it to the fresh water tank.
:laugh: :rofl2:

Seriously, if one were to use proper sewage faciliites for the grey waste (not just dump it beside the trailer as you leave :sick:), the urine could be routed to the grey waste tank. I'm still not interested in a composting toilet in an RV.
 
Hey Alf, filtering urine out of waste water so you can then drink it ? ?? Who does that??!:nonono:
 
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Hi, Ron, how do you get the screen out of the window in the bathroom? My husband and I have tried many times and have not been successful. We have a 2015 19. We are able to remove the screens on all our other windows.

Thanks,
Sandi in Port Townsend, WA

If your window looks like this then the screen should just slide upwards. Not a huge opening but lot's of room to put the hose through.

We don't make an effort to get the interior of the black tank spotless, just to flood out any solids that might not have gone out in the first rush of water.

We also do add any sink water etc. we have handy before dumping in the theory that liquids drain better than solids. :)

Ron
 

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I wonder if this is a regional thing, as I have yet to see one that is bad

Jim, trust me, do some longer cross country type travelling and you'll see some that are so gross that it's hold your breath and try not to pass out. :eek:

Then there's the ones at the beaches in Baja. :( One of the reasons I have a portable tank. Use the nice trailer bathroom and only use the facilities to dump it every few days.

Ron
 
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Jim Bennett;167342 I wonder if this is a regional thing said:
Jim, trust me, do some longer cross country type travelling and you'll see some that are so gross that it's hold your breath and try not to pass out. :eek:

Then there's the ones at the beaches in Baja. :( One of the reasons I have a portable tank. Use the nice trailer bathroom and only use the facilities to dump it every few days.

Ron


Ron has it correct. It's the facilities where you have to hold your breath that I had in mind.

I have a cousin that bought a motor home and travel all over North America. Yet they use their bathroom only for storage. :confused: Loren
 
Yup, that's why it's there. No contest when choosing between using my always clean trailer toilet or an iffy camp facility.

Never use any additives. I do the outside dump valves and hand my wife the rinse out hose through the opening bathroom window. Love that window. She gives the tank a hose down, we do that every dump if there's a hose available. No problems, no odor. If the tank gage is confused as to the content level, well, like an outhouse, look down the hole. :)

Ron

My Goodness Ron we are so much alike . Agree on a lot of camp facilities . Also love , love the bath window , and do the same rinsing out the black tank every time if it is possible . :)Pat
 
If your window looks like this then the screen should just slide upwards. Not a huge opening but lot's of room to put the hose through.

We don't make an effort to get the interior of the black tank spotless, just to flood out any solids that might not have gone out in the first rush of water.

We also do add any sink water etc. we have handy before dumping in the theory that liquids drain better than solids. :)

Ron

The windows were changed I believe and the screen does not come up on ours either as with Sandi's.
 
Since I only clean the tank every week or so while on the road, I just drag in a hose, and fill and drain the tank a couple of times with fresh water directly at the toilet after the first dump (of the tank). I want to take reasonable precautions to avoid build-up in the tank. It''s really easy to do, and my tank stays well serviced.
 
Well.. first day it was really nice.. then came a group of campers who looks like they were new to the camping things and were discussing by campfire the (creative) ways they have to use the bathroom so they dont have to "touch" any part of it.. the resulting bathroom was.. :banghead:
This whole hovering thing, mostly by women it seems, cannot only be potential messy, but is also less healthy as supposedly it can urinary problems and disease (listened to the topic being discussed on talk radio a short while ago). Besides, a person’s bottom and upper thighs, which are covered most of the day, are usually much cleaner than a person’s hands, and we tend to have no qualms about social situations that require a handshake, nor do we consider what may lurk on the door knob we grab heading into the bathroom.
Jim, trust me, do some longer cross country type travelling and you'll see some that are so gross that it's hold your breath and try not to pass out. :eek:

Then there's the ones at the beaches in Baja. :( One of the reasons I have a portable tank. Use the nice trailer bathroom and only use the facilities to dump it every few days.

Ron

I don't doubt it for a minute. I have seen public washrooms like that lots, just not in campgrounds.

I have wondered about someday needing a portable tank as opposed to hauling the trailer to dump.
 
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I don't doubt it for a minute. I have seen public washrooms like that lots, just not in campgrounds.

Many times we prefer to use the trailers bathroom when stopping at rest areas.

As for campgrounds, the occasional pit toilets we run into can stink bad enough to avoid.
 
I make full use of the bathroom in my trailer and I think I have rinsed the black tank out only once. The black tank gauge no longer works but that isn't a problem for me, as the gray water tank is my constraint since it fills first. When it is full I dump both tanks.

I started using Odorlos and put it in the black tank with a gallon of water after dumping the tanks. So far I haven't noticed a problem with the black tank other than the gauge not working.
 

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