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Old 12-14-2011, 01:12 PM   #1
f6bits
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Leave grey water valve open?

Yes, best practice is to leave valves closed. But when we camp for 4 nights, the black tank doesn't need emptying until departure, but grey fills up at least once a day, what with the baby bottle washing and showers.

Would it upset our world if we just left the grey open until the last day? That'll save me daily trips (yes, long walk) to pull the valve, and I'll just let fill up on the last day so it gets a final full dump.

All grey drains have P-Traps, and I could always dip the sewer hose to make its own p-trap.
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Old 12-14-2011, 01:21 PM   #2
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I am guessing that you are staying in a campground with full hookups including sewer?

You want/need enough gray water to flush out the drain lines after draining the black tank. Other than that, there is no reason not to leave the gray valve open as long as you remember to close it up a day before you leave.

Some folks do prefer to keep the gray closed and fill the tank before draining during an extended stay. The rationale is that it gives enough fluid to move the inevitable food particles that get into the gray tank.

I personally would be leaving gray open until the next to last day, especially if we're taking showers in the trailer.

It is really a matter of personal preference and I am not aware of any other reasons to either leave it open all the time or keep it closed and drain when nearly full.
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Old 12-14-2011, 02:09 PM   #3
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When camping with full hookups we leave the grey valve open. No issues, just close it the day before we leave so we have enough water to chase BW dump. I also use the flush King on both tanks its amazing what is left behind.

The first time out we did leave it closed just to see how long it would take to fill. Great knowledge to have for when there are no full hookups around.

Happy Camping
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Old 12-14-2011, 03:35 PM   #4
f6bits
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Yes, Steve, full hookups, including water, which is spoiling me against being able to boondock anytime soon. With full hookups, that quickly filling grey tank has been a millstone dragging me out at odd hours to empty it. Leaving it open a) lets me relax about using water, and b) makes me less conscious of how much water I feel like I'm wasting every day of my life. Win-win.

I also have a hose flush hookup on my connection so I'll be shooting some fresh water into both tanks as part of my departure routine. But I do plan on closing the valve 24 hours before then.
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Old 12-14-2011, 03:59 PM   #5
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As you said, creating a trap in the hose and closing for the day that you are going to dump should keep any gases from getting into your gray tanks. Yes they are vented and have traps but the traps sometime empty while traveling and the smell can enter the trailer. When I stay for extended days I leave the gray valves open but with a trap in the hose and it works for me.
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Old 12-14-2011, 08:20 PM   #6
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The only reason I could identify to leave the gray tanks CLOSED is during extremely cold weather. Unless you have a direct and complete drain (in which case you don't have a "p trap" formed in the sewer line), you will probably have water standing in the sewer hose. This water will freeze overnight (or maybe even during the day) if it trickles out of the gray tank and could block your sewer hose. During very cold weather, it may be beneficial to close the valve and drain it when full, then lift the hose to empty it to prevent blockage. However, in Pasadena (lucky dog) you probably won't be encountering that kind of cold temps. In non freezing weather, we always leave our gray tank valve open and close it about 12 hours before we anticipate emptying the black tank.
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Old 12-15-2011, 02:17 PM   #7
jje1960
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Grey... Gray.... Tank

Pretty much same here as others, we open the Grey valve when we setup and like the day before shut it allowing tank fill. Tank fill with the luxury showers that my family seems to mandate does not take long!
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