Alpine 3303CK

[Bluecube]

We just purchased a 2024 Alpine 3303CK. So far, we like it a lot. I have been trying to get a couple of questions answered from Keystone RV Customer Service but have been unsuccessful so far. First, the gray water capacity is listed as 83 gallons. There are 2 gray water tanks. One for the kitchen and one for the bathroom. Does anyone know what each tank capacity is? I know there is an indicator on the in command panel. I'd just like to know how big they are. Keystone Customer Service told me they didn't know and assumed they were the same size so each tank would be 41.5 gallons. Second question. My dining chairs were damaged at some point before we bought the camper. I believe they were improperly strapped down. The chair backs are too long to stack seat to seat because if you do stack them seat to seat the 2 chairs that are legs up chair backs touch the floor. This damages the finish on the chair back tops and rubs the floor. Does anyone know how they are supposed to be strapped to prevent damage? Keystone Customer Service told me to use the straps to secure them and nothing more. To prevent damaging the new chairs my dealer owes me we plan to use towels between the chairs and the floor. Thanks in advance!

[jsb5717]

Welcome aboard! You found a very nice floor plan. For the tanks, I would assume that they are the same size. OEM's buy these tanks in bulk and fit them into limited space. I simply can't imagine that they would stock different sizes for any floorplan unless there was some odd design element that demanded it.

But, anything is possible. Your black tank is 49 gallons, so I guess it's possible that your bathroom gray tank is also 49 gallons since these 2 tanks tend to be located down in the drop frame section. The galley tank could be smaller. If it really matters that you know how big they are you could use 5 gallon buckets of water and count how many it takes to fill an empty tank. That would get you close.

In our rig we have 2 gray tanks, 1 black tank...all the same size

Our chairs have padded seats with open wood backs (no padding). I use the larger, thick pool noodles, cut to length as needed, and slit the full length to slip over the back and sides of the chairs. That keeps them from damaging the walls and each other. The floor in our dining slide is carpet and the chairs really don't move in travel so we don't strap them and have never had a problem. You don't have carpet so some kind of strapping in addition to the pool noodles might solve your issue.

[Bluecube]

Originally Posted by jsb5717

Welcome aboard! You found a very nice floor plan. For the tanks, I would assume that they are the same size. OEM's buy these tanks in bulk and fit them into limited space. I simply can't imagine that they would stock different sizes for any floorplan unless there was some odd design element that demanded it.

But, anything is possible. Your black tank is 49 gallons, so I guess it's possible that your bathroom gray tank is also 49 gallons since these 2 tanks tend to be located down in the drop frame section. The galley tank could be smaller. If it really matters that you know how big they are you could use 5 gallon buckets of water and count how many it takes to fill an empty tank. That would get you close.

In our rig we have 2 gray tanks, 1 black tank...all the same size

Our chairs have padded seats with open wood backs (no padding). I use the larger, thick pool noodles, cut to length as needed, and slit the full length to slip over the back and sides of the chairs. That keeps them from damaging the walls and each other. The floor in our dining slide is carpet and the chairs really don't move in travel so we don't strap them and have never had a problem. You don't have carpet so some kind of strapping in addition to the pool noodles might solve your issue.

Thanks for the welcome and reply!

I guess it bothers me enough to ask about the tanks. Not enough to fill it with buckets although the retired engineer in me wants to. Ha.

The pool noodles are a great idea. Or maybe some pipe insulation foam that I have out in my shop will work.

We didn't have a problem with the chairs on our Keystone Cougar 29RKS we had before the Alpine. Everything was built so they strapped properly to prevent damage. And they listed each individual tank capacity.

It's hard to take the engineer out of the country boy sometimes. Ha.

[JRTJH]

We have a Cougar XLite fifth wheel. The table/chairs was an option that we chose when we ordered the trailer. The chairs, like yours, have backs that are too tall to invert one chair on top of the other. The backs hit the floor.

What we do is place all 4 chairs at the table as they would be used and then place ONE tie down strap around the front center legs (the 4 legs closest together at the centerpoint of the table). We don't tighten the strap much, just enough to keep the chairs from moving more than an inch or so. The 4 chairs seem to stay in place with no movement, even on some roads that have broken dishes in the rear kitchen cupboards.

I can't imagine a scenario where you'd want to invert and stack chairs around the table for towing ?????

As for the size of the two gray tanks, the majority of trailers built by Keystone have the same size tanks for both gray applications. If you think about it, buying tanks in bulk means a cheaper price per tank, easier parts management/inventory management and less potential for placing the wrong tank in a location on the chassis during assembly..... For that reason, the majority of gray tanks are the same size on a floorplan. What can (and often does) affect "total tank capacity" is the location of the tank in the chassis. If there are "solid chassis crossmembers or beams" at each side of a tank location, then that tank can't "bulge to hold more". Tank size remains the same (specification calculated by tank measurements when empty) but tank capacity changes depending on whether the tank is "confined to a specific space vs being placed in a location that permits expansion.... (think balloon in a bottle vs balloon in the open atmosphere)..... So, even though you have 83 gallons of gray capacity, if your galley tank is "in the open" and your bathroom gray tank is "confined between two frame crossmembers" you may have a significant difference in capacity when measured "by the bucket procedure".....

In short, measure if you want to out of curiosity, but even if the tanks are a few gallons different when "closely tested by counting buckets", that doesn't mean the part numbers on the tanks aren't the same... It likely means the expansion or bulging space is different with the same tank in both locations.....

[Bluecube]

Originally Posted by JRTJH

We have a Cougar XLite fifth wheel. The table/chairs was an option that we chose when we ordered the trailer. The chairs, like yours, have backs that are too tall to invert one chair on top of the other. The backs hit the floor.

What we do is place all 4 chairs at the table as they would be used and then place ONE tie down strap around the front center legs (the 4 legs closest together at the centerpoint of the table). We don't tighten the strap much, just enough to keep the chairs from moving more than an inch or so. The 4 chairs seem to stay in place with no movement, even on some roads that have broken dishes in the rear kitchen cupboards.

I can't imagine a scenario where you'd want to invert and stack chairs around the table for towing ?????

As for the size of the two gray tanks, the majority of trailers built by Keystone have the same size tanks for both gray applications. If you think about it, buying tanks in bulk means a cheaper price per tank, easier parts management/inventory management and less potential for placing the wrong tank in a location on the chassis during assembly..... For that reason, the majority of gray tanks are the same size on a floorplan. What can (and often does) affect "total tank capacity" is the location of the tank in the chassis. If there are "solid chassis crossmembers or beams" at each side of a tank location, then that tank can't "bulge to hold more". Tank size remains the same (specification calculated by tank measurements when empty) but tank capacity changes depending on whether the tank is "confined to a specific space vs being placed in a location that permits expansion.... (think balloon in a bottle vs balloon in the open atmosphere)..... So, even though you have 83 gallons of gray capacity, if your galley tank is "in the open" and your bathroom gray tank is "confined between two frame crossmembers" you may have a significant difference in capacity when measured "by the bucket procedure".....

In short, measure if you want to out of curiosity, but even if the tanks are a few gallons different when "closely tested by counting buckets", that doesn't mean the part numbers on the tanks aren't the same... It likely means the expansion or bulging space is different with the same tank in both locations.....

With our 29RKS the seat backs were shorter so when you stacked the chairs seat to seat the seat back did not touch the floor. So it worked out well and prevent any damage.

I'll give your idea of positioning the chairs and strapping them a try. Maybe add a towel or pool noodles between them too just because.

Good input on the tanks. Thanks for that. I'm curious, but not curious to measure and dump buckets of water. It's just one of those things I'll have to let go.

Thanks!