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Old 04-20-2015, 03:37 AM   #1
NotyetMHCowner
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Additional Waste Valve on Discharge Pipe?

We just purchased a 2015 Montana High Country 305RL that has two 52 gallon gray tanks. One is for the bathroom and one for the Kitchen. My question is could I purchase a twist-on waste tank valve to add to the discharge pipe where you connect the sewer hose? My idea is, the bathroom tank will fill up much more quickly than the kitchen tank. When we are staying somewhere without a sewer connection and the bathroom tank is getting full, I could twist on the additional valve, open the 2 gray valves, and balance out the load capacity. Then just leave the twist on valve in place until I pull the camper to the dump station. I don't have any plans to travel down the road with in on. This would just give me a couple of additional days before having to dump, then I could actually use ALL of my 104 gallon gray capacity.

Any thoughts?
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Old 04-20-2015, 04:10 AM   #2
Javi
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It sounds good in theory but from my experience falls a bit short in execution. My solution has been to buy a 35 gallon tote and dump into it then tow it to the dump station.. Really pretty simple and easy in practice.

Also I find that the galley tank fills pretty quick if you eat any meals in the trailer.. Just washing foods and dishes can use a surprising amount of water..
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Old 04-20-2015, 04:42 AM   #3
NotyetMHCowner
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We have a 27 gallon tote that we used with our last TT that only had 25 gallon tanks on it. I was hoping that the 104 gallon capacity with the fiver would be more usable. We have camped since Friday evening, and our bathroom tank just hit 2/3 and the kitchen is still 1/3. We are staying until Wednesday afternoon, so we will be close with the bathroom tank while taking showers each night, but I don't think we will ever fill up the kitchen tank.

I could bring the tote with us on extended trips, but I would love to just be able to utilize both tanks to their potential before worrying about a dump. Also, with the auto leveling and such, I would probably rather just hook up, go to the dump station, and set it back up. I swear I don't think it would be much more trouble than using the tote, and then I would be able to get rid of potentially over 150 gallons instead of just 27.
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Old 04-20-2015, 05:04 AM   #4
Javi
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The DW and I usually get a total of 6 showers out of our 38 gallon tank and it only takes me about 20 minutes to hook up and dump it..

I'd spend more time than that bringing in the slides and un-hooking the water and electric then raising the levelers and hooking up... Not to mention setting it all back up.. even with auto level.. that ain't gonna happen for me..

We usually camp for 7 nights at Goose Island SP 2 or 3 times a year and I usually make 3 and sometimes 4 trips to the dump station during that week.. just part of the routine...
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Old 04-20-2015, 05:36 AM   #5
NotyetMHCowner
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Yea, it would take longer to un hook and dump than to use the tote, but I am absolutely amazed with how quick I can set up and take down with this fiver as compared to our previous TT and especially our popup.

I believe I am going to get one of the twist on valves though and keep it just in case the circumstance presents itself. My black tank valve is not closing fully and seeping through so I have to get that fixed first (probably warranty). But it would be nice to utilize all 104 gallons. My plans were after I balanced the tanks out, then shut the gray valves. That way if something went wrong, I would only loose what is in the pipe instead of the tanks.
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Old 04-20-2015, 06:33 AM   #6
rjsurfer
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I have one and it works as advertised its easy for me to equalize the tanks and get another few days without dumping. I don't go camping to make dump runs, only on the way out.

The valve is also good insurance in case a valve develops a leak, keeps you from getting surprised.

On rare occasions I will even equalize my black tank sometimes as well, mixing with grey. I'm sure I'll hear about that :-)

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Old 04-20-2015, 07:21 AM   #7
NotyetMHCowner
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That's what I was wanting to hear. I just hate to have to make dump runs when I have 30 gallons or so of empty gray tank sitting there. I will make the runs when I have to, that's part of camping in an RV, but only when all my tanks are full.
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Old 04-20-2015, 08:45 AM   #8
JRTJH
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We have an add on valve that we use to "equalize" the gray tanks. One thing that you need to keep in mind when doing this: If the bathroom is "above the kitchen", there is a possibility that if you leave both gray tank valves open, you can possibly backfill the kitchen sink. Water "seeks it's own level" meaning that as the tanks fill, if you're putting water into the "front tank" from the bathroom sink, it will drain "down" into the front gray tank, but it will also "seep back to the kitchen gray tank". When both tanks are full, the nearest "out" is up into the kitchen sink.

Granted, both tanks have to be full and "it's only gray water," but after sitting for a few days, even gray water can be "ripe" and I wouldn't want it backflowing into my kitchen sink.

Just keep in mind that as the tanks get completely full, you've got to use a bit more caution.
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Old 04-20-2015, 08:58 AM   #9
Javi
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To add to what John has said, this is exactly the case in my 333MKS. Also in my case the grey tank is plumbed with a 3" line while the galley tank is plumbed with an 1-1/2" which make it difficult to equalize them as well. In fact it is pretty darn slow just dumping the galley tank through the maze that is the plumbing on the 333MKS..

When I had the 2890RL I used a valve as you describe to equalize the tanks and it worked well, so I thought it would work on the new trailer as well..

NOPE... It didn't work as well.. because the shower and sink are in the upstairs and the galley is much lower. The first time I did it the wife shouted..... There is water shooting out of the sink...
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Old 04-20-2015, 09:30 AM   #10
NotyetMHCowner
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Haha, that's funny! I never planned on leaving the valves open, just equalize and shut them back closed for an extra day or two. The black tank and the bathroom gray tank are under the dropped basement area. The kitchen gray tank is actually higher because it is in the part of the frame that is not dropped. I do realize though, that the lowest point is probably the kitchen sink. If I left both valves open and kept filling them, eventually it would start coming up through the kitchen sink before the shower drain.

Once with our last TT (2008 Rockwood 2603), My wife had over filled the gray while I was at work and it backed up into the shower. She texted me that something is really wrong because the whole camper stinks real bad. As soon as I got there, I saw what had happened. We always had our tote with us, because of the small tanks, so I filled up the tote and made a dump. I was amazed how smelly gray water could be. It was probably mostly food particles down the kitchen sink, but it was pretty bad. Luckily a few minutes with the fantastic fan on, all was good.
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Trucks:
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1992 Ford F150 SC, SB, 4x4
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Old 04-23-2015, 11:13 AM   #11
NotyetMHCowner
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Well I bought the twist on valve and a 45 degree clear elbow as well (since I didn't have a clear piece). We ended up not needing to balance the tanks out. We took 8 showers and used the sink quite a bit. The gray tank was showing full for about a day and a half to two days, but never came up into the shower. We will be camping for 9 days over the forth of July without sewer, so I will probably get to try it out then to see if it works like I think it will. I will definitely be bringing the blue tote with us on that trip anyway.
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1992 Ford F150 SC, SB, 4x4
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Old 04-24-2015, 03:43 AM   #12
Bob Landry
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We camp a lot in the COE parks and in Texas they don't have sewer connections. I use the twist on valve to equalize my tanks on my Outback and it works great. We easily make it through a weekend with no sewer connections, but all of my tanks are at the same level. The black tank is pretty much reserved for Number 1 use. I also have a dump valve cap with a hose connection and a 115V pump rigged to pump grey water into my blue grey tank. That lets me set the grey tank in the back of the truck so I don't have to tow it through the campground to the dump station. That's much easier than unhooking and having to setup re-level, etc.

The grey tanks can get to smelling pretty bad so when I get to a CG with FHU, I use that oppourtinity to pour some detergent down the drain and do a good flush on all of the tanks.
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