Black/Gray drains to single sewer connection

[TammyandTony]

Hi,
Just got a new (to us) 2010 2720SL and looking at the 2 drains
- gray water tank
- direct from Thetford Electric Toilet

Wondering how people handle the hookups for this.
Going on our 1st weekend and need to get sewer connection hoses.

The options I can see:
- single hose, mostly to gray tank, move to black once a day to drain
- wye connection at sewer inlet, 2 hoses
- 2 short (custom) hoses to wye connection, longer hose to sewer

Ideally, this would all fit in the bumper box.

What do the experienced campers do ?

Tony

[Bill]

A few trailers were built this way, but very few. Someone "in authority" finally discovered what a pain it is. If you search down through this Plumbing Forum you will find discussions and solutions. As I recall, a minor re-piping of the PVC pipes to fashion a wye is the common solution. That gives you a single hose from the trailer to the sewer inlet, no special hoses, and no need to move a hose from one outlet to another.

Bill

[tentcamper]

I would save up the gray water. When dumping the black, do the black first and follow up with gray to rinse out the hose. lift up the hose so it loops up higher then the fitting and let it fill with the gray water, then let it down. it will flush out the hose.

[TammyandTony]

Originally Posted by tentcamper

I would save up the gray water. When dumping the black, do the black first and follow up with gray to rinse out the hose. lift up the hose so it loops up higher then the fitting and let it fill with the gray water, then let it down. it will flush out the hose.

I like that idea. For weekend, just do it once when closing up.

Thanks for the tip.

[tentcamper]

When lifting the hose do keep the one end of the hose in the drain or you will have a mess.

[TammyandTony]

Originally Posted by tentcamper

When lifting the hose do keep the one end of the hose in the drain or you will have a mess.

Heh heh, sounds like something you only do once !

So, when you have full hookup available, is it best to leave the gray water gate valve open, or to just open it once a day?
I expect we'll get about 8-10 gal / day of gray water.

1st trip this weekend! Big change for this backpacker / car camper.

Appreciate all the help.

[Bill]

Do not leave the gray water dump valve open, either constantly or "once a day". Since you are relying on the big whoosh of gray water to rinse the hose, it helps to have plenty of water in the gray tank when you do it.

In fact, when I have hookups, it is my habit to add water to the gray tank before dumping, to get the level up to at least half full.

I do the same with the toilet before dumping, except to bring the level up to FULL, rather than half full. Then I run the pump for 30 seconds or so, to mix the contents of the tank and break up any solids. At that point, the healthy WHOOSH when I open the dump valve does a good job of ensuring that the tank is cleaned. Then the following whoosh of gray water cleans the hose.

Overkill? Maybe. But it takes only a little effort, and could be really important.

Bill

[Shane826]

Also don’t leave the gray (or black) drain valves open when hooked to sewer because it can allow sewer gasses and smells to vent back into the camper