Didn't flush black tank & hose adaptor

[brianosaur]

We went for the first time this weekend in our new TT (as per my other thread).

It was only for Fri & Sat nights and we had city water but no sewer on site. The site's city water spigot/hydrant had a regular male hose connector on it and we attached our white water hose while camping.

This morning (Sunday) before leaving the CG we towed over to the dump station and emptied the tanks. When I went to attach my non-potable water hose to the onboard black tank flush I saw the dump station spigot did not have a male hose connector.

The guy at the second dump station next to me said I need to carry a hose adaptor.

The dump station hydrant looked like this but only the blue part not the brass tip:


Is the brass adaptor a 3/4" male pipe thread to 3/4" male hose connector?

The crazy thing was the campground had the same hydrant at the campsites WITH the brass hose adaptor tip on them.

Secondly, should I flush my black tank now that I am home and wait a few weeks until the next time I camp to empty it?

[bukhrn]

Allworth wrote:
That is in compliance with the National Sanitary Code. If the faucet (or any attached hose) has a male end, some dummy will hook up and fill his onboard fresh water tank. E-Coli is not nice to your stomach.

There must be a whole lot of places NOT in compliance, as I've never seen one without the male threaded part, at a dump station, but then I've also never seen one that wasn't somehow marked as "Not for human consumption" or "do not use the faucet for drinking", or some other warning to that affect.

[Allworth]

Drink it if you want to. That will NOT make ME sick.

The Airport Bathroom Faucet is probably the best comparison.

Some people don't have the best hand washing routine. That is their business. My gut is my business.

[drsteve]

If others are waiting to use the dump station, I do not mess around with the black tank flush.

[tenbear]

After dumping my black tank I fill the toilet and flush it 3 times to add water to the empty tank. The only time I flush the tank is before putting the MH into winter storage.

[valhalla360]

Been camping since I was a kid...haven't flushed the black tank yet.

As long as you use a decent amount of water and let it fill at least 3/4 full before dumping, there is no need (If you are just weekend camping, add some extra water before going to the dump station if you are only 1/4 full).

You aren't going to eat or drink out of the tank, so who cares if there is a scum line on the sides. Where you get issues is if you only have an inch of water in the bottom and drain it. There isn't enough water flow to carry the solids out and they can dry out, solidify and build up if you do it repeatedly. After a few years, you can wind up with a pyramid of poo that blocks the toilet.

Use plenty of water and let the tank be mostly full before dumping.

[Bobbo]

I never flush my black tank if I dump with the Stinky Slinky. I only flush it when using my macerator, and I only use my macerator when dumping at home. My clean out plug is 60' away.

[ScottG]

wa8yxm wrote:
Why bother fulshing the black tank less it's going into long term storage?

No I'd not flush it. The adapter I do flush once I take it off the RV and you can do that with the pictured hydrant.

But . WARNING. That Hydrant is a "Frost proof" design (I know have used them since I was in single digits, no in 60's) how it works is the valve is not where you see. but underground. and it's a 3-way valve.. When you shout off the water the water in the pipe drains into a gravel pit around the "T" fitting at the bottom.. SO IT CAN SIPHON STUFF DOWN INTO THE PIPE.

This is why it has no hose fitting,, Fill a bucket with it or use it to rinse the adapter and fill the hose with fresh you can walk into the ground (hold at least 3 inches below water outlet on hydrant) DO NOT connect a hose to it.

Best answer yet.
I forgot about it siphoning into the pipe before it drains underground.

[wa8yxm]

Why bother fulshing the black tank less it's going into long term storage?

No I'd not flush it. The adapter I do flush once I take it off the RV and you can do that with the pictured hydrant.

But . WARNING. That Hydrant is a "Frost proof" design (I know have used them since I was in single digits, no in 60's) how it works is the valve is not where you see. but underground. and it's a 3-way valve.. When you shout off the water the water in the pipe drains into a gravel pit around the "T" fitting at the bottom.. SO IT CAN SIPHON STUFF DOWN INTO THE PIPE.

This is why it has no hose fitting,, Fill a bucket with it or use it to rinse the adapter and fill the hose with fresh you can walk into the ground (hold at least 3 inches below water outlet on hydrant) DO NOT connect a hose to it.

[ScottG]

It's kind of bad form to use your cleanout while people are waiting in line behind you anyway.
I'm going to try something else this year.
I installed another gate valve at the sewer hose connection.
I'll dump black and close the new valve,
Then open grey tank and let it flow back into black tank.
Close grey and dump black again, then finally dump grey.

Should be a quick way to stir up the black take stuff.
(Wont do it if there's someone waiting).

[DutchmenSport]

I very seldom use my black tank flusher at the dump station. I will use it at home and I'll use it if the camp site has full hook-up, but not at dump stations.

My black and grey tank both exist at one outlet. I picked up a Flush King (a 3rd valve with a clear section of pipe on it) and attach it to the trailer sewer outlet, then attach the hose to the sewer hook-up (or my Barker Blue Tote).

I then back-flush the grey water into the black tank to rinse it out. This process takes virtually no longer than dumping both tanks separately, and it cleans out black tank marvelously. By doing this, I don't have to wait for the black tank to be full.

The steps are simple. Drain the black tank completely. You can see when it quits running because of the clear section of pipe on the Flush King. When it quits running, close the Flush King valve and open the grey water valve. This will back-flush the grey into the black. Leave the grey open for about 10 seconds and close it. Then open the Flush King again. This will drain the black tank a second time. Once it quits running again, close the Flush King, open the grey for 10 seconds again, close the grey and open the Flush King and drain the black tank again. I do this 3 times.

How do I know when it's time to dump the black tank? After 6 Navy showers. If we empty the black tank and back flush the grey and empty the grey, it's never enough (between them both) to overfill my 32 gallon Barker Blue tote.

I do this every time I dump my black tank. It uses no extra water, it really takes very, very little extra time, opposed to draining all the black and then all grey. It cleans out the black tank (unbelievable, the amount of paper and stuff that will come out the 2nd and 3rd flush), and if I go into the trailer, look down the toilet hole, I can see the bottom of the tank and the pop-rivets shining. So I know it's clean. And this keep all smells away.

At home, or if I have more time, not having folks waiting behind me to dump, I'll use the black tank flusher AFTER doing the 3 time back flush. And when traveling on the road, I keep 2 or 3 gallons of water in the black tank with a few squirts of Dawn Dishwashing Liquid to slosh around when traveling. This also keep the black tank extremely clean!

After doing this a few times, it becomes so second nature, you don't even think about it any more. There are better ways to flush and rinse the black tank without using a lot of extra water unnecessary.

About that "Water Thief"...??? I cut the end of a large diameter garden hose and it does the same thing. Although I have to hold it to keep it from blowing off. Works very will with campgrounds that don't have non-threaded shared single faucets.

[AJR]

When the black tank is close to full I drive to my next stop and dump it first thing. Nothing like a good drive of a hundred or more miles to mix thing up.

I also prep every tank after a dump with water, Calgon and Dawn soap. I do the same for the grey tank.

[classic_31]

That brass thing is a back flow preventer so when you hook up at the camp site if the campground looses water pressure you don't contaminate the water system in the park.some town it is mandatory for all the sites to have them.

[doxiemom11]

I would just put some water in the tank to make sure it doesn't dry out and then dump and rinse next time. Water in the tank will also keep it from smelling while it sits. Water should be in the toilet too to keep odor from coming up into the rv.

[Walaby]

MarkTwain wrote:
I flush and then close the black tank valve, let the tank fill up for 10 min.

Wow... You must have a heckuva large black tank to allow running water for 10 minutes.

Mike