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Back from first long trip and need a couple things

rvshrinker
Explorer III
Explorer III
Just towed. ~2200 miles and had a blast. Need a few things, hope you can help me out.

I finally fully understand my coupler lock. I need a pin, or better yet a little lock to secure it. Any tips?

Couple of the places we camped had sewer dumps which were elevated out of the ground so that gravity wasn’t effective at draining the stinky slinky. Time to buy one of those whatchimacalits that guides and cradles/supports the sewer line to the dump. What is it called? Any things to look for?

The safety chains from my trailer cross and then hook onto my TV. There is a final wire from the trailer which is also supposed to provide a measure of last resort if the chains break. What do you attach that to, and what do you attach it with?

I was thinking about long term storage of water in the frest water tanks. Or even if mostly empty, say I drain it when I get home, but naturally there’s still some moisture in there. How do you prevent mold, or worse, listeria, from growing in there?

We took 5 of us for 8 days to Yellowstone and the Tetons and had a great time.
16 REPLIES 16

rvshrinker
Explorer III
Explorer III
Oh, and I discovered I wasn’t using the breakaway trailer brake lanyard correctly. 😮

Now have a solid carabiner attached and it hooked up to my TV frame, as I’m supposed to.

still torn on that sewer line brace. I’m not going to invest in a macerator at this point.

seaeagle2
Explorer
Explorer
I hate extra keys so I use the Bolt locks for the coupler and the receiver and I have a pad lock too.
2014 F 250 Gasser
2019 Outdoors RV 21RD
"one life, don't blow it", Kona Brewing
"If people concentrated on the really important things in life there'd be a shortage of fishing poles" Doug Larson

rbpru
Explorer
Explorer
We use on of the hitch pins shown above. I is simple and effective plus I do not drop the nut into the grass. 🙂
Twenty six foot 2010 Dutchmen Lite pulled with a 2011 EcoBoost F-150 4x4.

Just right for Grandpa, Grandma and the dog.

wnjj
Explorer II
Explorer II
2112 wrote:
For the coupler I used a 3/16 X 3" bolt with a nylon lock nut. I would hand tighten the lock nut onto the bolt.


Bolts work in a pinch but these pins are much easier and more secure. https://www.etrailer.com/Hitch-Pins-and-Clips/Redline/14-212TR.html

rbpru
Explorer
Explorer
I bought one of those hose bridges to provide the proper slant to the dump pipe, it was one of those things you cannot live without. I have never use it in four years of cross county camping.

We started with full hook up campgrounds but always seem to have the whiff of sewer gas from one of the campsites in the park. Now we usually just stay at State or National parks with just electricity and at times water. It opened up a lot more camping options .

Even with full hooks ups we rarely connect the sewer line, we dump when we leave. We do that so we have a fair amount of black water in the tank to avoid the dreaded poop pile. So too the gray water so we can flush the black water from the slinky, then rinse it. I prefer to do this at a dump station rather than at the campsite. Rinsing the slinky splashed water all over.

As far as winter tank drainage is concerned, we dump the black and gray water before storage and drain the fresh tank. What little water remains is not enough to damage the tanks when it freezes. Plus, it picks up the excess antifreeze when we winterize the fresh water lines and drains.

In the spring we do the standard fresh water spring bleaching. The hot water tank drains from the bottom, leaving little water. After bleaching the fresh water lines we open the bypass. Our hot water is very very hot, so sanitizing it is not necessary for us.

Good luck
Twenty six foot 2010 Dutchmen Lite pulled with a 2011 EcoBoost F-150 4x4.

Just right for Grandpa, Grandma and the dog.

rvshrinker
Explorer III
Explorer III
2112 wrote:
Couple of the places we camped had sewer dumps which were elevated out of the ground so that gravity wasn’t effective at draining the stinky slinky.
Was the dump inlet higher that your trailer outlet?

For the coupler I used a 3/16 X 3" bolt with a nylon lock nut. I would hand tighten the lock nut onto the bolt.

I used a carabiner to connect the breakaway cable to a bracket under my bumper


the outlet itself was probably lower, but it required an elbow (which I have), and then the way the screw were aligned, it was only snug when the elbow was pointing straight up. So the effluent had to be high enough to get into the part of the tube pointing straight up, then into the elbow, then into the outlet. With a well aligned support/cradle, the force of the effluent might have been enough but as it was, I walked it out repeatedly (five people showering daily means lots of grey water).

Bobbo
Explorer II
Explorer II
rvshrinker wrote:
I finally fully understand my coupler lock. I need a pin, or better yet a little lock to secure it. Any tips?

I have one of these Bolt padlocks. It is keyed to my truck ignition key so I don't have to carry yet another key.

rvshrinker wrote:
Couple of the places we camped had sewer dumps which were elevated out of the ground so that gravity wasn’t effective at draining the stinky slinky. Time to buy one of those whatchimacalits that guides and cradles/supports the sewer line to the dump. What is it called? Any things to look for?

I, also, am of the camp (pun, pun) that doesn't bother with those. After I dump (but before closing the valve since you need a vent) I lift the stinky slinky and walk it to the dump station. That completely empties it. Much easier and faster.

rvshrinker wrote:
The safety chains from my trailer cross and then hook onto my TV. There is a final wire from the trailer which is also supposed to provide a measure of last resort if the chains break. What do you attach that to, and what do you attach it with?

I use a large carabiner to hook that wire to a pair of holes in my truck's frame behind and to the left of the receiver. I don't hook to the receiver, itself, because of the vanishing small, but still real, risk of the receiver failing and falling off the truck.

rvshrinker wrote:
I was thinking about long term storage of water in the frest water tanks. Or even if mostly empty, say I drain it when I get home, but naturally there’s still some moisture in there. How do you prevent mold, or worse, listeria, from growing in there?

I use bleach (1/4 cup per 15 gallon capacity of the water tank for 4 hours) to disinfect the tank every spring, and if the trailer sits unused for more than 4 weeks. Otherwise, I trust the chlorine in the water to keep it clean. If you have well water, or another non-chlorinated water, you will need more aggressive treatment.
Bobbo and Lin
2017 F-150 XLT 4x4 SuperCab w/Max Tow Package 3.5l EcoBoost V6
2017 Airstream Flying Cloud 23FB

2112
Explorer II
Explorer II
Couple of the places we camped had sewer dumps which were elevated out of the ground so that gravity wasn’t effective at draining the stinky slinky.
Was the dump inlet higher that your trailer outlet?

For the coupler I used a 3/16 X 3" bolt with a nylon lock nut. I would hand tighten the lock nut onto the bolt.

I used a carabiner to connect the breakaway cable to a bracket under my bumper
2011 Ford F-150 EcoBoost SuperCab Max Tow, 2084# Payload, 11,300# Tow,
Timbrens
2013 KZ Durango 2857

BarabooBob
Explorer III
Explorer III
I bought a kit that included a coupler lock, receiver pin with lock and a ball with lock to leave inserted into the coupler so that nobody can disassembler the coupler to get around the locks. I paid about $25 for the set and all of the locks use the same key. It included 4 keys.
Bob & Dawn Married 34 years
2017 Viking 17RD
2011 Ford F150 3.5L Ecoboost 420 lb/ft
Retired

Lwiddis
Explorer
Explorer
I disagree with Ken. I sanitized my fresh water tank before every trip and monthly when on a long one.
Winnebago 2101DS TT & 2022 Chevy Silverado 1500 LTZ Z71, WindyNation 300 watt solar-Lossigy 200 AH Lithium battery. Prefer boondocking, USFS, COE, BLM, NPS, TVA, state camps. Bicyclist. 14 yr. Army -11B40 then 11A - (MOS 1542 & 1560) IOBC & IOAC grad

Lynnmor
Explorer
Explorer
An ordinary padlock will work on most couplers.

The sewer hose does not have to perfectly straight or sloped, with a fast dump, the stuff will follow OK, and when doing the final dump before leaving, lift the low spots to fully drain.

myredracer
Explorer II
Explorer II
As far as the hose goes, as long as the outlet on the TT is say 6" or so or more above the CG sewer inlet, you can just dump as usual and then raise the hose up at your TT end a bit and "walk" it along the ground to get what's left in the hose out. Way faster and easier than setting up a hose support. We bought a Camco hose support in the very beginning but only used it a few times and haven't used it in years. Still have it in case a CG somewhere ever insists on using them. The majority of folks in CGs that I see don't use a sewer support.

We have two outlets on our TT and I regularly walk it to the 2nd one every time I dump and it can sometimes be full of effluent the entire length. Very easy to do. On the rare occasion that the CG sewer inlet is on the wrong side of a site , I end up needing to crawl partly under our TT so it won't drain back out. But you can buy a cap for the hose end if you want.

The sewer hose supports or ramps are simply a waste of time IMHO plus they take up valuable storage space. Some states or CGs require them to be used but I always see folks without them and no issues. They don't help the effluent flow any better.

hondapro
Explorer
Explorer
I use a long shank master lock thru the coupler to ensure it stays latched,and also to prevent someone to fool with it when we stop for fuel or to eat.
Steve
2023 Ram 3500 6.7 Cummins Turbo Diesel
2022 Keystone Sprinter 32BH
B&W Companion

SoundGuy
Explorer
Explorer
I use a coupler lock similar to this when towing to ensure the coupler latch doesn't disengage while towing and a coupler lock like this when the trailer is parked on a campsite.

An alternative to using a stinky slinky and support is a waste macerator which will pump the waste even when there is a negative slope.

In theory the breakaway chains should be connected to the TV itself but like most others I simply snap them on to the hitch bracket which has holes in it for just that purpose. The key is to make sure the coupler is correctly latched to the hitch ball in the first place, in which case a total breakaway is highly unlikely. Simply put, I've got better things to worry about. 😉

I sanitize the fresh water tank in the spring with a bit of chorine, then fill the tank for the season and don't empty it fully until I winterize. Any water we ingest I bring from home or if on a long trip simply buy it as we go along.
2012 Silverado 1500 Crew Cab
2014 Coachmen Freedom Express 192RBS
2003 Fleetwood Yuma * 2008 K-Z Spree 240BH-LX
2007 TrailCruiser C21RBH * 2000 Fleetwood Santa Fe
1998 Jayco 10UD * 1969 Coleman CT380