27 August 08 - 02:26
Dirty Talk
I keep thinking no one wants to hear about the nitty gritty of getting a new RV ready to hit the road but maybe you do. So I'm going to talk about sewer systems. If you are fastidious you may want to stop reading now.We didn't have to make any decisions about the dump system on the Free Spirit because it came with a complete system that we just used. It had a macerator pump permanently connected to the outlet with a sewer hose permanently connected to it. You just turned on the pump, dumped the black water then the gray water. They gray water helped clean up after the black water. Then you screwed the cap back on and shoved the thing into it's compartment. No hassle, no mess.
The Winnebago View comes with holding tanks that have to be emptied but no hoses for doing so. We spent about an hour on Monday at Camping World looking at sewer hoses and connectors. There are several types and, like most categories of things, each seems to have their advantages and disadvantages.
All have the same type of connector that goes to the RV outlet since all RV outlets are the same. But you still have lots of choices. Do you want a connector that screws on to the hose or one that pushes on or one that is permanently connected? Do you want a solid one or a clear one? How long a sewer hose do you need? Is thickness of hose something to consider? What type of connector do you want at the other end? Do you need supports to be sure gravity is going the right way? If so what kind of support?
All the hoses have accordion type pleats so you can stretch them out or scrunch them up. Only some of them stay scrunched when you let go. With visions of playing jack-in-the-box with a sewer hose, we decided we wanted one that would stay scrunched. That eliminated about half the choices.
We stretched out a bit of each of the remaining ones and I poked a finger into each of them. These are clean ones still in the store! We decided the degree of thickness was so minute as to not really be a factor.
We've gotten used to putting the cap on and not worrying about the hose leaving deposits in our storage compartments. Only one of the systems we looked at had end caps available. So we picked that one.
It comes in sections that can stretch to ten feet. We already know that's not enough in some parks so we bought two sections and a joiner for them.
Dave decided he wanted the clear connector so he could tell when the job was done. With the pump he could see movement through the hose but with a strictly gravity system he isn't sure that will be true. No one wants to disconnect a hose that hasn't finished emptying even if it is only gray water left in it. The new RV has a sprayer that lets you wash out the hose more if you think the gray water wasn't enough. I still like the idea of end caps, though.
For the far end we picked two connectors. One has three sizes of threads so whatever size the RV park has we can connect to it. The other one is a large rubber donut that lets us connect to a system that doesn't have any threads. No one want their hose coming loose at that end while they are dumping!
After stretching out one of the hoses a little more, we decided we'd better get a support system. If it's not all downhill between your RV and the dump you need a way to make the hose think it is if you have a gravity dump system. They had three types of supports. One was like telescoping gutters you stretch to the length you need then lay the hose in it. One was an aluminum expanding gate type that only stretched six feet that the hose sat on top of. And one was a plastic system that cradles the hose and stores in ten inches but stretches to fifteen feet and can be set up to turn around any obstacles between the van and the sewer. We picked the last one.
Now, when our huge holding tanks start getting full, we are prepared to dump them. And all that gear stores in a plastic compartment under the RV that has it's own drain--just in case.
TTYL,
Linda
one comment
the nitty gritty is exactly what intrigues me the most. [g]
are there many composting toilet systems in the RV community? I was reading that you can use a worm bin, but NOT the same worm bin as your kitchen scraps.
I like the idea of being able to boondock without having to empty tanks at all. I wonder if you could collect rainwater off the sun shade?
I’m still desperately wanting a tumbleweed house. A friend, whose family farms on leased land, had a great idea of leasing a non-farmable homestead site, where there’s an old foundation and whatnot making the land otherwise unuseable.
curiousalexa - 31 08 08
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