Tag Archives: Dump Tank

Don’t Like Your RV Faucets? Change Them!

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As you might have guessed, RV manufactures do not use the best or the most expensive faucets when building your RV.  You might just love your sticks and bricks faucets and hate your RV faucets. What can you do with those RV faucets?  Replace them with new faucets.  You can use regular sticks and bricks faucets.  The only thing you need to do is measure the spacing between the handle holes.

Faucet Hole Spacing

Be sure to turn off the water to the RV and relieve the pressure (if any) in the hot water tank. Then turn on the hot and cold handles of the faucet you want to replace.  Clean out the stuff underneath the sink. Get a flashlight and look up underneath the sink and see how the water lines are hooked to the current faucet. You may have to get yourself up under the sink bottom to see what is going on. But you should see something like the photo below.

Faucet Water Connection Under The Sink
Sometimes a red plastic pipe is used for hot water and a blue or white plastic pipe is used for cold.
The fittings should only be hand tight.  If they are on the faucet stem harder than hand tight use a Channel Lock Pliers
Channel Lock Pliers 
and carefully loosen the fittings. Now you should see two black or blue flat plastic nuts with wings sticking out. See photo above for the flat nuts above the white water line.  Use you channel lock pliers to loosen and then remove these nuts.  What you have left should look like below.
Bottom of faucet shafts without water lines or black plastic wing nuts
Now you can pull the faucet out from the top.  Clean off the area where the old faucet was and get ready to install the new one.
For the kitchen faucet you can use. (Low Cost Kitchen Faucet )
Low Cost Kitchen Faucet 
You can also use a kitchen faucet with an integrated sprayer. (Kitchen Built-in Sprayer Faucet)
Kitchen Built-in Sprayer Faucet
You should double check the water feed line spacing before you make your purchase.
Here is a chance to put the faucet of your choice in the color and style you want into your kitchen.
So how do you put everything back together? Clean the area that the old faucet sat on with your favorite cleaner.  You want to make sure there is nothing on the top of the sink where the new faucet will be going.
Put the new faucet together according to the manufacturer’s instructions.   Then apply some Kitchen and Bathroom Caulk
Kitchen and Bathroom Caulk
around the bottom of the faucet (unless the faucet manufacturer says not to.)
and put the water stems into the holes in the top of the sink.
Bottom of faucet shafts without water lines or black plastic wing nuts

 
Put the black flat nuts back on and tighten them down tight.  You can use your pliers to tighten the black nuts down to be sure they are tight.  Then put the water lines back on.
Faucet Water Connection Under The Sink
Caution If the faucet stems are metal you may need to use plumbers tape.
Plumbers Tape
Just wrapped the tape around the metal stem before you screw the plastic water line back on.  If the faucet stem is plastic you should not need the plumbers tape. Make sure the new faucet is turned off and then turn on your RV water CHECK FOR LEAKS and enjoy your new faucet.
For the bathroom sink you can just follow the above instructions for that sink as well.  The bathroom sink is where you can get fancy and make something that is really yours.
Bathroom Faucet
Brass Bathroom Faucet

Until next time.

The Waste Treatment Tank

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I do not plan on explaining how to dump the grey and black tanks on your RV.  What I would like to do is to explain how to stay out of trouble in dumping your tanks and dis-spell some of myths on when to dump your tanks.

So what is the main differences between a sticks and bricks waste disposal and your RV.  First there is no worry about getting rid of the waste at your sticks and bricks.  You let water splash into the sink and it just disappears down the drain.  No matter how much water you put into the sink.  You flush the toilet you never have to worry about sewer smell coming back-up  and if the toilet gets clogged up you just plunge a few times and presto the waste is gone.

None of the above is true for your RV.  If you put too much water down your sink, you will over fill the grey water tank and the waste water will flow into your bathtub or shower.  If you leave your waste slinky hose hooked up with the open/close valve on you RV open you will invite sewer gas from the campground into your RV.  Because your toilet is on top of your black water tank there is a limit to how much waste you can put down there as well.  Also if it gets plugged up, plunging it will not help!

So what to do.  For the smell problem that might occur in the grey water tank I use Grey Water Tank Smell Killer.  It works.

Grey Water Tank Smell Killer

As for the water back-up you should dump your grey tank every two days while camping or sooner if the water starts to back up.  This is the tank you can dump before you leave for home.

The grey water tank should be the last tank you dump before you head for home.  After dumping it you need to add approximately 1 gallon of clean water back into it and one of the grey water tank smell killers and you are good to go.

BLACK WATER TANK

Now the black water tank the scourge of RV camping.  There are a lot of does  and don’t about this tank so let’s get started.

No matter what you hear or read most all of the sensors that are supposed to tell you how full the black water tank is, do not work.  I have been told and it has been proven that the sensors mounted on the outside of the tank do seem to do a better job than those sensors that are inside the blackwater tank.  Most of the crazy ideas floating around about how to make the sensors inside the black water tank work also do not work.  To fix the problem of , how full is the blackwater tank.  So how do you know when it is time to dump the tank?  Look down inside the toilet and if you see blackwater, hear gurgling, and stuff floating, it’s time to dump the tank.  So what can you do to improve how the black water tank works.

Use only quick dissolving toilet paper in this tank.  Toilet paper made just for RV is fine such as RV 2ply Toilet Paper or septic tank safe toilet paper.  But you can use just about any toilet paper that will quickly dissolve.  To test any brand of toilet paper to see if it can be used,  take a glass jar with a lid.  Fill the jar about 3/4 full and add a single sheet of your toilet paper to be tested.  Put on the lid and give the jar three quick shakes.  If most of the sheet of toilet paper is broken up and coming apart you are ok to use the toilet paper tested.

Check here for more details RV Toilet Paper Safe .

We have safe paper what next?  How about something to get rid of the smell and help break down the waste. I would suggest Black Holding Tank Deodorizer and Dissolver

Black Holding Tank Deodorizer and Dissolver

This should be added to your black water tank regularly.  I add one tablet after each time I dump my black water tank and another during hot weather if there is a smell problem.

Oxy-Kem 

Here is another possible black tank treatment Oxy-Kem that comes highly recommended.  I have not tried it so I can’t comment on how well it works, but I do plan to and will let you know.

Here is an all natural black tank cleaner that really cleans the tank as well as the sensors.  I have not tried it myself but all of the reports I am getting say it works.Unique Black Tank Cleaner

Do not dump your tank unless it is full or near full.  I know what you must be thinking but we never fill it over a weekend trip.  I realize that maybe the case but, you need to fill it up manually and dump it before you leave the park.  You do not need a hose or make this a big deal just flush the toilet and insert one of these things.

Johnny Chock

Johnny Chock

Let the toilet run for approximately 10 to 15 minutes depending on how full your tank is.  If you can see the water in the black tank from the toilet that is full enough.  Remove the Johnny Chock and store.  Now dump the black tank like you usually do.  Add about a gallon or more of water (you can run the toilet with the Johnny Chock for 2 to 3 minutes and that should do it.  Drop in one of your black tank tablets and you are ready for the next outing.

Never leave the black tank drain valve open.  You are just asking for the smells of your neighbor’s sewer to come up into your RV.  If you dump your holding tank to frequently you will have a build up of solid waste called the black pyramid of death (just an expression).  This is a problem you do not want and could cause an very expensive repair.  To prevent the “pyramid of death” you need to flush your black tank when it is at least 3/4 full and refill it so that there is some water splashing inside as you  drive back home.

One of the things you hear and I have tried is to add one cup of cheap dish washer liquid soap to break-up waste and Calgon to lube the inside of the tank.  Does it work?  I have been using it and have not seen much of an improvement.  I plan on using this in the grey water tank next to see if it makes a difference to that tank.

Quick Guide To Waste Tank Dumping

  1. Grey Water Tank can be dumped anytime.
  2. Use a tank treatment when needed. (to reduce smell and add microbes)
  3. Dump Black Tank when at least 3/4 full.
  4. Add small amount of water to both tanks after dumping. (up to 2 gallons)
  5. Use the grey water to flush out sewer hoses.

 

Until Next Time.

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