I'm still developing a system when I camp ,I've only used the black 2 times. If I'm connected to full hookup, I do leave the black closed so the waste water will build up for a good dump, but leave the grey's open and connected to stay drained. I add water and chemical to both tanks for the ride home. At home I have a large concrete drive way in front of the garage with a drain in the middle and both halves pitch to the drain. So when I back the trailer into the driveway the trailer leans in favor of the drivers side where the valves are. I fill the greys the rest of the way up up, and open the valves while leaning in the driveway and they get flushed well. So far no bugs, maybe cause the tanks are squeaky clean, I pop in there once a week and check. I was more concerned about mice and such crawling into the open valve.

 

A little water or even better, RV antifreeze sitting against the closed gate valves will keep the rubber seals in good shape, Im far from an expert, but having them sit open and dry may accelerate that seal failure, replacing those seals is a crappy job. I'm actually a little surprised that your very cool looking retro TT has 3 waste tanks and that they are not all plumbed to the same outlet, we have dual greys and the black that are all tied to the common outlet.

So long as there is water in each P trap there shouldn't be an exposure to any flying bugs entering via the dump outlets. I always leave my grey tank drain valve open while at a full hookup site until the night before leaving to ensure a mostly full tank to give the slinky a good post blank tank drain flush, have never had any issue with bugs doing this.

 

[QUOTE=WE3ZS;19254741]A little water or even better, RV antifreeze sitting against the closed gate valves will keep the rubber seals in good shape, Im far from an expert, but having them sit open and dry may accelerate that seal failure, replacing those seals is a crappy job. I'm actually a little surprised that your very cool looking retro TT has 3 waste tanks and that they are not all plumbed to the same outlet, we have dual greys and the black that are all tied to the common outlet.


Not to mention that the factory mis labeled all 3 dump valves. Don't remember how I discovered it, it wasn't from opening a full black tank valve at least. I actually called Heartland while under warranty and they sent me a new set of labels since I couldn't reuse the old ones. The front grey tank is for the kitchen sink, the middle grey is for the bathroom grey water, those two are the ones tied together, I would've preferred that the middle grey been Y'd together with the black as I wanted to remove the toilet and install a composter from day one. That would allow me to join the black and grey for more grey storage when on hookups. I had to re-wire the tank indicators too in the control panel, they were just labeled tank 1,2,3 in a random order. They are now left to right 1,2,3, which represents 1,2,3 front to back. I think you are correct about the dump valve seals. I didn't winterize the camper this year since I blew out the entire water system. This winter I may feed it some antifreeze and let it flow to the valves. I actually apply silicone lube to the toilet ball seal to keep it good.
Oh man you're gonna get me started on the mods and fit and finish issues I've had to correct...!!!!
I love the trailer, it camps very well, but at the end of the day, it's still a stick and tin tossed together camper.

 

I leave my grey tank closed at full hookup just to make sure I get the little food particles and other objects that sneak down the drain out.
I have 2 grey tanks, the galley and main tank, main tank has to dump first and the galley second as all 3 tanks have a single hose outlet, each tank has a gate valve.

I think we all have the itch to get camping!

 

I picked up my TT just before you in November. None of my tanks join together. I don't put out my hose until its time to dump. I dump black, kitchen then shower to clean out the hose.
I'm ready to social distance at a state park!

 

Keeping the black tank closed while hooked up is so that you don't get poop pyramid

All this talk about camping..man I sure would rather be doing some actual camping right about now. I just keep readjusting my campsite dates as they get canceled. I'm like, ok you cancel date... how about this one lol!!!

I like that vent idea for storage, I too would be concerned about bugs though. Post back and let us know how it works out @01_excursion

 

Yeah, my reservations too. We are still scheduled for a WV trip the end of next month and NC parks in June, SC, PA, NC in July, NC in October and FL in December/January. We are determined to get our camping in!

 

We were supposed to be camping in NC this week. Hopefully we can do it in June.

 

I'm still very liberal with water usage in the kitchen, learning curve there, close to full on the front grey tank more than once, I'm **** about washing dishes, and stuff including the dogs stuff after each meal, or mess. City connect is on the side at the entry, which is standard I guess, so I need to split the water line and add a spray nozzle, or a table and use the outdoor shower on that side to wash stuff.

 

I check on the T/T weekly, doing good still smells new, no bugs. It took the spot of the pontoon boat under the carport that was erected for the boat in 2016. When the garage was built in 2017, the boat moved in there, and the carport was shortened and moved elsewhere on the property to park the pontoon under, 2018 the T/T arrived and kicked out the pontoon. I added a lean-too to the carport for the pontoon. No more crap. I'm done buying stuff. When the garage gets it's own power service, I'll add a pedestal in the carport for the T/T to plug in. In the meantime I pull power from the well house once in a while to charge the battery, or run a portable dehumidifier as needed.

 

30 Amp 110 power is easy to run, that is all a camper at home needs, I have run both of my A/C units on it.
My camper and boat sit out, only have a 2 car garage. Where I want to put a building is my flippin septic field.

 

You are correct, my T/T is only a simple 30A, I have an outlet I added to the well house disconnect for now, that service is on a 20A breaker all the way back at the house, of which I have run the rooftop A/C unit. The surge protector I added to the camper has a low/high/reverse voltage protection to disconnect power if it drops too low. When I built the garage I re-trenched the electrical supply to the well house and upgraded the wire to #10 underground in PVC to help reduce the voltage drop. It was #12 underground wire.

 

My wife introduced a nice system for us that a lot of other campers I know also use. We have a tub about the same size as the dirty side of our sink (can be used with single basin sinks too) where we wash our dishes out of. It is initially filled halfway with hot soapy water. We can wash out of that until it undoubtedly gets soiled. Cuts back on the water significantly. I only care when not at full hook-ups but we use it no matter we camp to keep the practice of water conservation going. Try it to see if it works for ya!

Umm, I could camp and be very happy on your property!!! LOL, this coming from a Cali boy with just 8k sqft. of land . I park my trailer at a lot most of the time when not in use. Would love to have some property to keep all the toys at home.

 

I'd like to plumb a hose bib or another shower on the entry side (passenger) so I can do just that. I can use the tiny shower in there and learned to save water there, shower head off while soaping etc. I need to add the propane quick disconnect on that side too.
Only 3 acres here, 2 across the street which I bought for a rental, in the country, a few neighbors 3 or more acres apart, we mostly mind our own business.

 

Camping calls, a one night spot booked w/full hookups at the local state park on the lake coming up. Time to wash the roof, and the pollen from the camper. I need a break, not from staying home, as I've worked a regular schedule through all of this, but been a regular slave to home projects. Last 2 weekends were removing asbestos from the rental property in preparation for demolition.