Emptying the galley tank question - RV-Dreams Community Forum

scrappy · RV-Dreams Family Member

Emptying the galley tank question

Workinrvers · RV-Dreams Family Member

What you are describing sounds as if you have 2 waste discharge points and need to move the 3" slinky hose? Is that correct?
Assuming so, disconnecting and moving the hose will work for the short term. You can purchase a Y connector and run 2 hoses into one discharge hose that hooks into the campground connection to make things easier so you would not have to move the hose from one discharge to the other.

As far as what drains into the grey tank depends on the manufacturer. We had a 5er that had 2 grey tanks (one for bedroom sink and shower, the other was for kitchen sink). On our current MH we have one grey and one black tank and is plumbed accordingly.

Hope this helps some,

Phil

scrappy · RV-Dreams Family Member

Exactly.

Thank you Phil.

The Bear II · RV-Dreams Family Member

You can get a sewer connection (for the park side of the sewer hose) has a garden hose connection along with the 3" connection.

You hook up your 3" sewer hose for the black and grey from the bathroom and then get a sewer cap with a garden hose outlet for the galley sewer outlet. This allows you to run a garden hose from the galley to the park sewer.

I leave the galley valve open so that the grey water runs freely, just like I do the grey water from the bathroom.

This saves you from having to deal with two 3" sewer hoses or switching the sewer hose from the bathroom to the galley.

-- Edited by The Bear II on Tuesday 30th of July 2013 08:14:39 AM

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

I am not Terry, but can answer for ourselves. We leave ours open and close it to get it at least half full before we dump the black tank. Since we have a washer, that is easy since one load and one day of dish washing and showers will get us to a half full grey tank. We then dump black, a bit of black tank flushing and then dump the grey tank. When sitting still that is about every 10 days with our small, 35 gallon, black tank. In our old RV, without a washer, we closed the grey tank about 4 days before black tank dumping day. You have to figure this out for your tanks and water usage, your number of days could be very different than ours.

BTW: Especially when static, you want the black tank as full as possible when you dump to keep solids from accumulating. That means it should burp when you flush the toilet.

-- Edited by bjoyce on Tuesday 30th of July 2013 01:22:21 PM

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

I am so glad that our fifth wheel only has one grey tank. So far, I've been pretty observant to notice when the black tank needs drained and flushed because I can see down into the tank when I flush the commode. More than once, I've noticed water standing in the shower or suddenly hear a "bubbling" sound from the kitchen sink, which sends me running for the tank valves to open the grey tank. I'd hate to think that when the bubbling sound came that I wouldn't then know which tank to open.

The less I have to be confused about, the better off I am. Plus, I don't have to have an extra hose and fitting.

Terry

D and M · RV-Dreams Family Member

Terry,

Do you always keep your gray tank closed until its time to empty? We've been leaving ours open since we're static.

Dave

D and M · RV-Dreams Family Member

Thanks Bill,

We do close the gray and make sure there is liquid in it before we dump the black...learned that the hard way.

Dave

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

Dave,

We are like Bill Joyce in that we also keep ours open most of the time, especially since we are "static" ourselves. While our black tank needs emptying more than some of the others speak of, I keep a flashlight handy for checking it. Jo generally washes at least the clothes we wore "that day" in the evening so that things don't pile up and require a lot of washing on the weekend. The last clothes, the bedding and towels usually get washed on the weekend.

Now, having said all of that, there are those that say it does things good to NOT keep the grey tank open, because with water in the tank, should any food wash into the tank, it has a better chance of being liquified for easier discharge. It may also be helpful to have water in the tank to help the tank level indicators. There was also someone that mentioned that water in the gray helped to dissipate any other oils or whatever that washes off of ourselves or other sources.

Speaking of the level indicators, ours got to where they showed 3 lights out of 4 all the time. Then one day, after flushing, it went down to 1. Those things can drive a guy nuts. That is why I check the shower for standing water and listen for bubbling in the plumbing.

Terry

D and M · RV-Dreams Family Member

Thanks Terry.

That all makes good sense. I have the same problem with the level indicators...they do drive me crazy.

Dave