Pyramid of Doom
Brown Mound
Pooh Pooh Hill
Hurdle of Turd
Call it what you like, it is all the same. My trailers, motor homes, campers hand holding tanks. Depending on the size of your unit you should have at least 2 or more. One tank is referred to as the "Grey Tank". This tank holds the waist from your sinks and or shower.
The second tank is called the "Black Tank". This tank holds the waist from your toilet. Both tanks are separate in that the only place they are joined is at the drain point, so there is cross-contamination of fluids.
While your camping if there are no sewer facilities you keep the valves closed till you find a sani-dump. A sani-dump is a drain to the sewer where you can hook up a hose and drain both tanks. Many camping facilities have these dumps as your leaving the park or campground.
For us being stationary we have a sewer hose hooked up 24/7. I have two grey tanks and both the valves are open all the time (there is some debate if this is wise or not). If I was to close all the valves I would be opening them every other day if not sooner. It doesn't take long to fill 40 gallons when you have a kitchen and bathroom sink, plus a shower filling them up.
The black tank I need to drain about once a week depending on how much it is used and how often we have company over. We flush our toilet just like every other house hold with the exception that out toilet does not have a "toilet tank". Hence when we flush the amount of water that gets flushed at the time of departure depends on how long we hold the valve open for. In a normal house the solids fall down a pipe and exit to the sewer, in our case the solids fall down a pipe and into the tank. There they wait for the weekly "flush". Not wanting to fill the tank so quickly, we were perhaps a little to sparing on the amount of water being flushed. This results in a pyramid of waist forming where the pipe enters the tank. If it goes unresolved it could block the pipe and prevent the toilet from flushing and if left long enough solidify into an even more difficult mess to clean.
Ask me how I know..! There are all kinds of remedies to fix the problem from vacuum trucks to water flushing valves, water hose down the toilet, cleaners, filling the tank and driving around, etc. Lesson learned in that it takes more water to flush the brown down. How much water does it take may need to be a government study with years of research, federal grants and a few million of our hard earned taxes.......OK....just kidding.
Also note it is wise to make sure those tank valves are closed all the way to prevent the fluids from draining off and leaving the solids behind, this too can cause a mess. The proper order to flush your tanks when the time comes is: Black Tank first, then close this valve, second is the grey tank. This way all your waist water from the sinks washes the pipe, drain, valve and the hose. Close all the valves and the drain valve, remove hose and clean with water, chances are you will not run into a brown mess. Run a good volume of water down the inside of the hose, at the same time slowly pull the hose from the drain in the ground and wash the outside of the hose. I still use a good pair of rubber long sleeve gloves every time..!
P.S. make sure you have enough hose in the drain in the ground or place something heavy on the edge of the hose. You wouldn't want the hose to pop out of the hole and spray you or others with waist.........and yes, I have seen it happen.
Thursday 28 February 2013
Sunday 17 February 2013
Little Tricks and Tips
Hey All
Not much new and earth shattering to post. We are all cleaned up from Christmas and have had a few nice days to be able to get outside and keep up on a few things there.
I hurt my arm/shoulder at work a few weeks ago, so big heavy things are not being done right now, not that there are a lot of things to do....lol.
I was able to build an enclosure for the nose of our coach, built from 2x4 and light plywood. I am hoping to use this area for small painting projects and small things to be etched. I am by some peoples definition an artist with an airbrush. I am hoping to break into the glass etching side once all set up. We have been looking at skirting for the side and back of the coach to help keep the cool air from surrounding us...lol.
There are several local companies who can sew together a "skirt" and mount it to the side of the coach, for each company there are different ideas and ways to do it. So we have been exploring those avenues. Even went to a local RV show to expand our brains however we were disappointed by the lack of vendors and products. So we returned home with our un-expanded brains...lol. We will keep searching till we find something that suits our needs, it has to be able to be packed up as small as possible and stored away for travelling, as well as easy to attach when we arrive at our new destination, without taking hours to do either.
As for other tips. Keep the outside clean..! It would seem one beast to RV'ers is the black streak demon. These are the black streaks that you see down the side of an RV. I believe they are from the different sealers used on the roof the seal and plug holes or around fixtures that protrude. Not being able to coat this area or change it we are forced to wash it. Tried the Camping black streak remover sold in stores was not impressed. Someone suggested some C.L.R., maybe next time..! One thing that did work very well was a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. It would be a long day to have to wash the whole unit with one but very it did the trick, good thing there are only a few spots with black streaks. I am also using a soap that has wax built in it. I washed one side of the RV about a month ago and the black streaks seemed to come off that much easier and faster. I will continue to use it....can't hurt..!
Another good trick was the suggestion of rain X on the shower doors on the inside. Yes, had to say that cause someone is going to say why put it on the outside of the doors....lol.
As for other tricks I have a 30ft hose for washing and outside stuff. My suggestion is to buy one longer than your unit or at least as long as....not all water connections are conveniently located. Same thought applies to power cables..!
I am very glad I was able to have a set of parents who liked to go camping and as such I am not new to the RV world. Many things I take for granted as knowing already seem to be such grand ideas for others....well I do have almost 75 years combined experience from my parents and myself, not all full time but we are now..!
Happy on peeps..! Any ideas or other suggestions and comments are always welcome..! There is always more than two ways to "skin" a cat..!
Puff
Disclaimer:
P.S. NO cats were harmed or meant harm by this posting.
Not much new and earth shattering to post. We are all cleaned up from Christmas and have had a few nice days to be able to get outside and keep up on a few things there.
I hurt my arm/shoulder at work a few weeks ago, so big heavy things are not being done right now, not that there are a lot of things to do....lol.
I was able to build an enclosure for the nose of our coach, built from 2x4 and light plywood. I am hoping to use this area for small painting projects and small things to be etched. I am by some peoples definition an artist with an airbrush. I am hoping to break into the glass etching side once all set up. We have been looking at skirting for the side and back of the coach to help keep the cool air from surrounding us...lol.
There are several local companies who can sew together a "skirt" and mount it to the side of the coach, for each company there are different ideas and ways to do it. So we have been exploring those avenues. Even went to a local RV show to expand our brains however we were disappointed by the lack of vendors and products. So we returned home with our un-expanded brains...lol. We will keep searching till we find something that suits our needs, it has to be able to be packed up as small as possible and stored away for travelling, as well as easy to attach when we arrive at our new destination, without taking hours to do either.
As for other tips. Keep the outside clean..! It would seem one beast to RV'ers is the black streak demon. These are the black streaks that you see down the side of an RV. I believe they are from the different sealers used on the roof the seal and plug holes or around fixtures that protrude. Not being able to coat this area or change it we are forced to wash it. Tried the Camping black streak remover sold in stores was not impressed. Someone suggested some C.L.R., maybe next time..! One thing that did work very well was a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. It would be a long day to have to wash the whole unit with one but very it did the trick, good thing there are only a few spots with black streaks. I am also using a soap that has wax built in it. I washed one side of the RV about a month ago and the black streaks seemed to come off that much easier and faster. I will continue to use it....can't hurt..!
Another good trick was the suggestion of rain X on the shower doors on the inside. Yes, had to say that cause someone is going to say why put it on the outside of the doors....lol.
As for other tricks I have a 30ft hose for washing and outside stuff. My suggestion is to buy one longer than your unit or at least as long as....not all water connections are conveniently located. Same thought applies to power cables..!
I am very glad I was able to have a set of parents who liked to go camping and as such I am not new to the RV world. Many things I take for granted as knowing already seem to be such grand ideas for others....well I do have almost 75 years combined experience from my parents and myself, not all full time but we are now..!
Happy on peeps..! Any ideas or other suggestions and comments are always welcome..! There is always more than two ways to "skin" a cat..!
Puff
Disclaimer:
P.S. NO cats were harmed or meant harm by this posting.
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