New Campers

[ssearight]

My wife and I just joined the camping world and are trying to figure it out with our 2022 Cougar 316RLS and 2004 Chevy 2500 HD.

[chuckster57]

Welcome to the forum

Congrats on your new purchase. We can help you figure it out, lots of good information and loads of great people here.

[Canonman]

From Utah!!
You're gonna have a great time with your new Cougar.
Any plans to come out west? Lots of new stuff to see and do.

[Gegrad]

Welcome to the forum from Pennsylvania!

[Roper46]

Welcome from south Georgia and congrats on your new Cougar.

[Gary R.]

Greetings and welcome!

Congrats on the new Cougar, too!

Have many great times, and take care!

[spicercars]

Welcome from northern MN.

[revrusty]

welcome from southside Virginia. You will gain lots of good insight and info here. Which Greenville? Have some family down in Greenville SC. And not far from Greenville NC.

[86GT2r]

Welcome & enjoy your RV!

[dutchmensport]

Welcome to the forums and congrats on your new Cougar. The easiest way to start figuring everything out on your camper is to spend several nights sleeping in it, in your drive way (if you are able to park at home). Use everything in your camper and figure out how to deal with filling your fresh water, dumping your black and grey tanks, using the electricity and the propane. Also, start stocking your camper with your personal items, kitchen ware, bathroom, and bed room items. Figure out what you'll need if you are camping on an uneven and unlevel campsite where it's sloped forward to back, or back to forward, or side to side. Use everything, get familiar with everything, practice towing it and find an empty parking lot and practice back it into a simulated campsite. In an open parking lot, figure out how much "swing" the tail of the trailer needs, how sharp you can turn, and where you "jack knife" position is between truck and camper when back up.

Then, when you hit the road, you'll not be so blind sided attempting to learn everything from scratch. And by the way .... absolutely every campsite you encounter, it's a new learning experience! Every one is different, every one has it's own challenges, every one will make you sweat! But getting the basics and a foundation going now will pay off big dividends in your future.

Again, welcome and Congrats!

[ssearight]

Thank you all for welcoming us and for the helpful tips!! Tomorrow will be a new learning experience as we dump our Black tank for the first time. I'll take whatever tips you have.

[P & T]

Welcome from Nevada!

Make sure your black tank is at least 2/3 full before you dump and it's good to have a pretty full gray tank to flush the line after. Sounds basic but thought I'd throw it out there.

[travelin texans]

Originally Posted by ssearight

Thank you all for welcoming us and for the helpful tips!! Tomorrow will be a new learning experience as we dump our Black tank for the first time. I'll take whatever tips you have.

Dump the black tank 1st & if equipped with the black tank flush connection, using a dedicated hose not your drinking water hose, rinse a couple times at least. If you don't have a clear fitting to connect before the sewer hose, get one so you can tell when the water is running mostly clear.
I like to follow the black with the kitchen grey tank as it's often times as bad smelling & nasty as the black depending the amount of food scraps that may get rinsed into it.
Then the bath grey, as it's just soapy water, to semi clean out the hose.
Be sure to store your drain hose separately as far away from any of your drinking water hoses or other items as possible.
If at full hook up sites NEVER leave your black tank valve open, fill & drain as needed or you'll have the dreaded poop pyramid in the tank that's a real s####y mess to clear out.

[Canonman]

Best tip I can give is to think of the black tank as large toilet bowl. Use the black tank flush to fill the tank almost full. Dump and fill again to get a good rinse. The key is plenty of water and a good rinse. Then the kitchen grey followed by the bathroom grey. Be sure to add some water to the black tank along with your choice of chemical treatment (Happy Camper is pretty well known). We just use a cup of cheap powdered laundry soap and a cup of Calgon water softener.
Be sure to practice "cross-contamination" safe practices as mentioned by others.
Once you successfully complete your first DUMP you'll be real RVers

[sourdough]

A belated welcome to the forum! Ahh, the first black tank dump! Great advice above. Water is key in that black tank, both flushing and as you use it daily...lots of water keeps the problems minimized. On the black tank flush be aware that you can overfill it and flood the trailer so ALWAYS be aware of how much water you are putting into the tank while that dump is closed. I watched mine closely the first time while timing then just go with time from then on. Some use a water meter - just don't overfill. Also if you don't have a clear elbow extension somewhere on the sewer line (I have one at the dump valve and on the end of the sewer hose) get one. They are very handy for knowing what the water looks like coming out of the black tank. Good luck and have fun!

[meaz93*]

Welcome and Happy Camping!.... have a good set of rubber gloves available when handling those dump hoses[emoji6]

[travelin texans]

One other tip!
Don't rely on the tank sensors for any accurate information on tank levels, they are notorious for being completely useless.