2 sewer drains into 1?

Jvd2999 · 03-22-2014, 10:02 AM

Hello to all. First thanks for all the helpful hints. I've enjoyed getting smarter. I have a springdale bunkhouse. It's our first trailer and we love the experience so far. I do have a little hangup with having to move my sewer hose or attach a garden hose to drain the grey. I'm looking for anyone with experience in converting this 2 pipe system into 1 with a saws all and some replacement parts? Seems like as long as I keep a down slope and make sure there are valves isolating the black and grey from each other it would work. I thank you in advance and apologize if I'm starting a duplicate topic. I tried a search and didn't find a whole lot.

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**JRTJH** · 03-22-2014, 12:09 PM

I think what you're trying to do is connect a common outlet for what is now two separate outlets for your waste water???

If that is the situation, then yes, you can do it as long as you keep a downslope to the final RV outlet. One consideration would be exposure to cold. None of our campers are really "4 season" capable, but in most, the plumbing runs are all inside the coroplast giving them some protection. If you do a run to connect your gray and black outlets to a common "dump hose port" and move your tank valves, you may have "standing water" in the discharge pipes under the RV. If they are exposed to the weather, they may freeze sooner than expected, causing some problems. If, on the other hand, the valves are left where they currently are located, the new "connector pipe" will not have water in it and you should not have any freeze problems.

Making one discharge port for all your tanks is a convenient way to dump and not only saves time and frustration, but allows for much more convenient camping when using your RV. When you're planning this project, make sure that you don't position the discharge port under the slide (your knees will thank you every time you don't have to crawl under the slide) !!!!!

bikabill · 05-19-2021, 08:23 AM

This is a really old thread (2014), but I have been seeking the same solution. I don't know why any RV mfg. ever thought that two sewer connections was a good idea!

I ran across this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tstF9odI0RE

I have a 2021 2608B (2680B?) Keystone, and I plan to route the front (kitchen) grey water drain to the back (bath) grey water drain, like in the attached video, so that I only have one sewer connection.

Any ideas, thoughts? Anyone else done this?

Bika

LewisB · 05-19-2021, 09:27 AM

You probably can do what you suggest. Just a couple of thoughts come to mind.

If you are changing the routing for a black tank, you will need to use 3" pipe, not 1-1/2". You will need that 3" to avoid any "clogs". In the video, I'm guessing all that was re-routed was a grey water tank.
Our Raptor has the 2 outlet issue, but each individual pipe has both black and grey tanks connected.
For us, given the distance between the two existing pipes plus the fact that they are on either side of the axles, there would not be adequate space to do this with 3" pipe and maintain the fall requirement.

At first I didn't like our system, but with some use I found it really isn't a problem. We can go for at least a week between dumps. At a dump station, I use a shorter hose and do each outlet individually. If we are parked for an extended time, I can set up the two lines with a "Y".

Best of luck.

JDDilly · 05-19-2021, 10:23 AM

We have two outlets on ours also. It really isn't an issue.

**JRTJH** · 05-19-2021, 07:04 PM

Also keep in mind that the tanks are only 5-8" deep with the drain at one end. What that means is on SOME (not all) dump stations, you may not be able to dump the "low end tank" if the contents need to run "uphill to the other end of the trailer"... In other words, if there's a 6" rise at the dump station and both ends of your trailer have a tank that's 6" deep, positioned at the ends of the trailer, then the top of the "low tank" will be below the drain and the tank won't empty until you reposition the trailer...

One of the major reasons why almost all of the RV manufacturers install two drain connections is to make it easier to actually get the waste water out of the tanks. If you notice, the trailer in that video is a GD Reflections. It's not "just Keystone that is thoughtless about camper convenience"... I'd urge you to "think through the implications" before "jumping for the simple solution"...

bikabill · 05-21-2021, 07:08 AM

[/QUOTE]...One of the major reasons why almost all of the RV manufacturers install two drain connections is to make it easier to actually get the waste water out of the tanks. If you notice, the trailer in that video is a GD Reflections. It's not "just Keystone that is thoughtless about camper convenience"... I'd urge you to "think through the implications" before "jumping for the simple solution"...[/QUOTE]

Thanks, John. With my camper the front connection is centered below the front slide, which makes the valve in-operable while camping and so I just just leave it open, which probably defeats the design intent of proper draining. Some designs can look real good on paper contrary to real-world operation.

But thanks a bunch for the caution, I'll think it thru and measure everything before making cuts, but somehow it's got to happen.

dutchmensport · 05-21-2021, 08:10 AM

I agree with others above, if you have the clearance and have the space to create a good "fall", there is no reason why you could not replumb the outlets. Consider though, your camper is new and under warranty though. What impact will this have. No doubt you'll have to remove the underbelly covering, cut and refit new pipes. Do you really want to do this with a new camper?

My current Montana has 3 drain valves and 2 outlets. The outlets are probably 15 feet apart from each other. When at dump stations, I always dump the front one first, pull forward, and then dump the back one. At full hook-up sites, I use a Y in my sewer hoses. When I use my Barker Blue Tote, I leave hoses attached to both outlets for easy, rather than switching one hose back and forth.

The front outlet drains the kitchen sink only. The back outlet drains the toilet black water tank, and the shower-/bathroom sink-/washing machine (grey tank).

As far as "convenience", when the camper was brand new, and I've never experienced 3 tanks before, it was a learning curve. But after a short while, I adapted. The thought of doing all the extra work to connect everything into one outlet now ... well.... I'd rather spend the time and money to do that work camping instead.

LnS · 06-01-2021, 07:39 PM

added a sewer manifold to connect 2 outlets into 1 with a washout input in one end. All swivel connectors with 3" rigid pipe between makes for easy on and off considering the low clearance issue to park at the side of our house. Easy to position the output closest to the hole in the ground at the camp site.

bikabill · 06-02-2021, 12:59 AM

Thanks, LnS. I hadn't thought of adding the Y connectors at the trailer end of the hoses.

I plan to tackle reconstruction on mine this week... getting help from an RV tech.

LnS · 06-02-2021, 06:54 AM

I employ the KISS rule first then go on from there
good luck with your project

LnS · 06-16-2021, 05:44 PM

How did your sewer project turn out?

bikabill · 06-19-2021, 02:12 PM

Completed the fix a couple of weeks ago, but I waited to post until after making a trip. We spent 5 days/4 nights at Riverwalk RV Park near Elkin, NC. Just got back today.

The fix worked Great! It is not as perfect as I had envisioned, since my RV Tech couldn't get an offset reducer within the time I needed it, so he used a standard reducer which does let some water stand in the line at the reducer... maybe an inch or so.

We removed the valve completely, installed the reducer and then ran the smaller line to the exit line of the other grey tank, just upstream of its valve. So both greys dump from the same valve.

I can't tell you how much this simplified hooking up and unhooking. Tremendous difference. I know some may not understand my pain, but with a puppy that freaks out when opening/closing slides, with one sewer connection dead center of the long slide, it meant everything revolved around hooking up that dual sewer hose. Wife had to walk around the cmgrnd with puppy while I leveled, hooked up sewer, then let slides out.

Now, I can hook up the one sewer anytime I want, even wait till the next day. No hassel.

If I knew how to upload a pic I would - when I tried it just posted the URL as text. No pic.

BTW, I understand that this is not unique to Rockwood. I never meant to single out a mfg. Many mfgs do the two sewer connection, but to me the comfort of the customer should come first -- IMO.

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