Dumping Tanks

[JeffM31]

I have an 06 Dip that is new to me. Outside today, I was in the wet bay looking things over. Is there a special elbow to use for dumping without the sanicon? The elbows I have won't mount to get through the wet bay floor.

Thanks in advance

[Rick A]

Here is the bend that gets me out of that situation. Valterra T1026-1 45° Clearview Adapter with 3" Bay Lug https://a.co/d/3ysBHJU
There are better quality option available. 

[Walker]

I rotated mine down to about a 45 and hook my hose straight to it.

[JeffM31]

I ordered this short el so hopefully it works. I was curious if Monaco had some weird adapter for it. 
 

[Wrayj1]

Jeff, sometimes the solution is more difficult than expected.  On my '07 Holiday Rambler I turned the head of the 3" discharge down, but the port below it was installed in a location that wouldn't accept the 3" discharge hose or any extension adapter.  I had to remove the 7" port and install a 10" port then it worked perfectly.  Yours may be OK, but it seems the discharge install was at the mercy of how much time the installer took to align it, mine may have been installed on a Friday or a Monday if you get my drift?

[JeffM31]

2 minutes ago, Wrayj1 said:

Jeff, sometimes the solution is more difficult than expected.  On my '07 Holiday Rambler I turned the head of the 3" discharge down, but the port below it was installed in a location that wouldn't accept the 3" discharge hose or any extension adapter.  I had to remove the 7" port and install a 10" port then it worked perfectly.  Yours may be OK, but it seems the discharge install was at the mercy of how much time the installer took to align it, mine may have been installed on a Friday or a Monday if you get my drift?

Hahaha maybe the same person installed both of ours. Super crappy design. I’ll see it the el I ordered works, if no a 10” will be the solution

[cbr046]

A clear 45 through the hole in wet bay floor works for my setup. 

Maybe mine was built on a Tuesday.

- bob

 

[Tom Cherry]

RED ALERT….RED ALERT.  The following statement will be flamed to charcoal and require many “extinguishers” to put out.  FWIW, YES, if you want to hook up a slinky stinky, getting it to come out the hole in the bottom of the bay can be challenging.  I had a Winnebago and needed 3 sections to get to the drain I installed on my septic tank at home.

We purchased the Camelot new and used the Sanicon on the way home for a few nights.  OPPS.  Will need a 4th section due to where we have to back it in and it is diagonally parked in the driveway and you have to walk in the grass to load and such.

Then, i used the slinky for one or two outings and really don’t enjoy the cleanup.  My bay 4” hole cap doesn’t fit worth a flip due to a slightly warped bottom and if you don’t get it exactly tight….water seeps in from driving in the rain.

I also had to use plumbers silicone grease to seal the 90 deg fitting and one of the locking ears broke off.  

THAT WAS Enough.  I abandoned the Slinky and it is stored in a very inaccessible place in the MH.  We stay maybe 7 nights max and have been out over 700 days and average a little over 2 nights.  I learned a lot about the proper use of the Sanicon.  I had to rebuild it once. I replaced the drain cover in the shower with a SS bowl filter and all the “hair” is caught there and nor wrapped around the impeller shaft.  I nicked the hose a few years ago and a dot of JB Weld plastic epoxy and two wraps of 1” duct tape is holding up fine….but i have a spare.

It is not time or effort efficient due to our travels to dump with a slinky….and i have to use the Sanicon when i get home. So…we use it.  It is simple.  I don’t have to break connections or “ears or do the cleanup.

Now that BOTH of us have replacement joints, we have to be careful about infections.  I am an Ex Safety Director and taught Blood Borne Pathogens cleanup and such.  I have the mask, Tyvex “ arm covers, nitrile gloves and such.  That is what I would need to make sure that I did not get some fecal matter in a small cut or such.  SO….my situation….my decision.  

But, I spend way less time using the Sanicon.  Even if we spent a month, I probably would not set up a slinky….much less every two days….

Each needs to access their situation….but too many times the comments are “threw away that blankety blank piece of blankety blank”….REAL campers use the Slinky…. 

My advice…..use both and see which fits your lifestyle.  Add the 2” SS bowl filter (most hardwares have them) to the shower.  The little grate pops off and it fits perfectly and easy to clean.  Folks with long haired GK or shedding pets always use them…especially if they use or frequently use the Sanicon.  
 

 

 

[Scotty Hutto]

@JeffM31,

Try the easy fix first:  On my 2006 DIp, and on every 2006 Dip I've seen, the section of pipe between the two dump valves (black and gray) will rotate.  Gently try to rotate that down (or up) until the dump hose will fit through the hole.

Longer term fix (Thanks @Doug Hoegh, Moderator of the FB Monacoers Group for the idea and link to the 6" port) is to replace the 4" port with a 6" port.  Here's the one I used and it completely eliminated any issues:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01HRAUSMK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Photo credit @Doug Hoegh too.  🙂

 

[1nolaguy]

Jeff M, welcome on board the RV train. As you may have realized by now every RV, even within the same design and sometimes even with in the same model and model year are different. In my case our 2005 Safari Cheetah is designed so there is no way to add a clear (straight or elbow) connection and take the slinky hose out the hole in the bay floor. In fact, I can not even close the bay door if the hose is attached, even without a clear extension. I have given in and use the clear elbow you show above and leave the door partly open at the bottom. That said, if you are new to this process I will offer a few following practices that work well for me.

1) I use a hose support (plastic or aluminum that sissor compact for storing) to keep most if not all of the slinky off the ground and tilted down hill from the RV to the sewer connection.

2) At the RV side I use the clear 90 you show above as the first connection from the RV sewer outlet to the hose. Although you may fine this gross it is the best way to insure the line is empty and the water clear before you start to disconnect the lines. This helps avoid really unpleasant accidents inside your wet bay.

3) where the slinky first attaches to the RV I decend directly from the clear elbow to the ground and then back up to the hose support that carries the hose elevated and down hill toward the sewer connection. I do this for two important reasons a) to support the hose and reduce tension when emptying the tanks and b) to create a "J" bend in the hose. This will hold water and prevent sewer gasses from backing up into you tanks and potentially your rig. 

4) I keep both gray and black take valves closed except when emptying. This serves multiple purposes. It prevent sewer gasses and flies from going into your rig. It makes the tanks easier to flush clean. The one exception is if we are doing multiple loads of laundry in the RV or numerous people are showering back to back. Always keep the black tank closed until you are ready to dump and try to always have you grey tank at least 1/2 full when you dump. Also, after emptying the black tank add about 1/2 of fresh water to the tank before using the toilets. This will help keeping solids from sticking to the floor of the tank and drying out, much in the way you maintain some water in the toilet bowl.

5) Always dump the black tank first then then empty dump the grey. This will use the grey water to flush out the black water residue from the hose. A hack I use is after I empty the black tank I leave the black tank valve open, raise the slinky at the RV about a foot above above the discharge (this is between the "J" bend and the RV discharge) from the valves and open the grey valve briefly, then shut the grey valve and drop the slinky to normal position. What this does is essentially back flush the black tank with grey water. Water pressure will prevent that wash water from going back to the grey tank. I usually will do this twice each flush and then allow the balance of the grey water out emptying the tank and flushing the hose. This helps keep the black tank free of debris build up. Using this process I have never needed to use tank additives to mask or fight odors or break down solid build ups. In addition, before putting the RV in storage after each trip, I hose out the tanks from inside the RV with fresh water and leave a inch or so clean water in the tank so that is does not dry out while in storage. I would not do this in winter months in areas that freeze but maybe use some pink RV anti freeze that you use in your water system.

6) Also my practice, when changing locations, I go through the same process above then disconnect the slinky at the RV, and raise and walk the end of the hose back to the sewer connection before disconnecting there. This helps prevent and nasty spills. After emptying the hose and before disconnecting from the sewer connection I flush the hose with some fresh water to help clean the slinky out. I collapse the accordion to make it as compact as possible and connect the two ends to make a closed circle. I do not have a separate slinky storage on my rig so I keep the hose in a container in a closed bay.

Follow the same process whether you have a sewer connection at you site or are using a dump station. Good habits can be your friend.

For the many in this group that have been RV'ing for years this is may not be a valuable read but for the newbie it may help make what is likely the most unpleasant part of RVing less of an issue. 

Hope you find this helpful.

[Paul J A]

THIS is not my coach , just a C&P i kept.

You may want to consider this trick to keep the critters out. 

Could do it for the power cord and water hose in another, together.   Changing the deck fitting[s] as Scotty's has,  provides obvious room needed in some configurations. 

Edited July 10, 2023 by Paul A.

[Ivan K]

Yes, these work well for like $2.80 at Home Depot. 

[JeffM31]

So I had no other choice. Hopefully this help someone. I went overkill with the 8" model. Used a rotozip to cut the hole. 

I used this one.  Thank you everyone for the replies

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07ST8XDQD?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

[Tom Cherry]

On 7/10/2023 at 12:39 PM, 1nolaguy said:

Jeff M, welcome on board the RV train. As you may have realized by now every RV, even within the same design and sometimes even with in the same model and model year are different. In my case our 2005 Safari Cheetah is designed so there is no way to add a clear (straight or elbow) connection and take the slinky hose out the hole in the bay floor. In fact, I can not even close the bay door if the hose is attached, even without a clear extension. I have given in and use the clear elbow you show above and leave the door partly open at the bottom. That said, if you are new to this process I will offer a few following practices that work well for me.

1) I use a hose support (plastic or aluminum that sissor compact for storing) to keep most if not all of the slinky off the ground and tilted down hill from the RV to the sewer connection.

2) At the RV side I use the clear 90 you show above as the first connection from the RV sewer outlet to the hose. Although you may fine this gross it is the best way to insure the line is empty and the water clear before you start to disconnect the lines. This helps avoid really unpleasant accidents inside your wet bay.

3) where the slinky first attaches to the RV I decend directly from the clear elbow to the ground and then back up to the hose support that carries the hose elevated and down hill toward the sewer connection. I do this for two important reasons a) to support the hose and reduce tension when emptying the tanks and b) to create a "J" bend in the hose. This will hold water and prevent sewer gasses from backing up into you tanks and potentially your rig. 

4) I keep both gray and black take valves closed except when emptying. This serves multiple purposes. It prevent sewer gasses and flies from going into your rig. It makes the tanks easier to flush clean. The one exception is if we are doing multiple loads of laundry in the RV or numerous people are showering back to back. Always keep the black tank closed until you are ready to dump and try to always have you grey tank at least 1/2 full when you dump. Also, after emptying the black tank add about 1/2 of fresh water to the tank before using the toilets. This will help keeping solids from sticking to the floor of the tank and drying out, much in the way you maintain some water in the toilet bowl.

5) Always dump the black tank first then then empty dump the grey. This will use the grey water to flush out the black water residue from the hose. A hack I use is after I empty the black tank I leave the black tank valve open, raise the slinky at the RV about a foot above above the discharge (this is between the "J" bend and the RV discharge) from the valves and open the grey valve briefly, then shut the grey valve and drop the slinky to normal position. What this does is essentially back flush the black tank with grey water. Water pressure will prevent that wash water from going back to the grey tank. I usually will do this twice each flush and then allow the balance of the grey water out emptying the tank and flushing the hose. This helps keep the black tank free of debris build up. Using this process I have never needed to use tank additives to mask or fight odors or break down solid build ups. In addition, before putting the RV in storage after each trip, I hose out the tanks from inside the RV with fresh water and leave a inch or so clean water in the tank so that is does not dry out while in storage. I would not do this in winter months in areas that freeze but maybe use some pink RV anti freeze that you use in your water system.

6) Also my practice, when changing locations, I go through the same process above then disconnect the slinky at the RV, and raise and walk the end of the hose back to the sewer connection before disconnecting there. This helps prevent and nasty spills. After emptying the hose and before disconnecting from the sewer connection I flush the hose with some fresh water to help clean the slinky out. I collapse the accordion to make it as compact as possible and connect the two ends to make a closed circle. I do not have a separate slinky storage on my rig so I keep the hose in a container in a closed bay.

Follow the same process whether you have a sewer connection at you site or are using a dump station. Good habits can be your friend.

For the many in this group that have been RV'ing for years this is may not be a valuable read but for the newbie it may help make what is likely the most unpleasant part of RVing less of an issue. 

Hope you find this helpful.

That was very detailed.  Should work well.  It prompted me to share my experience….

Dumping, whether using Slinky or Sanicon, has many iterations and personal preferences.  I talked at length to one of the development techs that worked for the guy who invented the Sanicon.  He developed a technique that was a handout and put in to many models of Monaco’s and was written up in some of the RV magazines.

Basically they set up two clear plastic tanks and simulated dumping and developed a procedure to improve the process.  It was for the Sanicon as many folks didn’t understand how to get max benefit or the physics or the water dynamics.  The fluid flow is a bit different for a Sanicon vs slinky.  However, the issues of getting the tanks as clean as possible apply or are the same as what doesn't want to come out or is caught in a corner is the same.  I think the Sanicon clear tank experiment also applies to conventional dumping.  Now, I did not ask how they got their supply of black and gray….LOL… But the tech said they experimented with total dumps from each side as well as their final process.

Hookup the backflush.  NOTE, I came up with a short nose extension and used a washing screen filter on the tank connection and teflon taped it to a 3 ft hose.  On the end of that hose, was a full flow quarter turn valve.  So, I can control the on and off from the back flush.  That filter screen has saved me grief as the bugs and critters will invade a garden hose with klittle use and I clean it maybe once every few years or when the “sound” tells me that there is little flow.

Leave both valves closed.  Backflush for about 3 - 4 minutes.  This puts maybe 25 gallons of “head pressure” or a hydraulic load on the black tank.  The black tank is rarely full.  But I don’t spend time setting up a flow all the time hose like some do.  Then open the black valve.  Leave the backflush on for a minute or two….obviously shorter with a slinky.  That head or top pressure mixes the black waste so that all the crap and paper are homogeneous and start to flow out evenly with little buildup in the corner.

Turn off (I don’t let the backflush run all the time when the tank is dumping….only at the start) the backflush.  Let the tank empty.  Open the gray and let the tank levels  equalize….maybe a minute or so.  I have a clear fitting on my valve so you can see the bubbles or the liquid moving…plus “observe” the flow….more on that later.  Yes, I am an engineer.

Shut off the gray tank.  Turn on the backwash….don’t need as much this time as the bulk of the black tank is gone.  This is basically a “soapy rinse” cycle.  Turn off back flush and dump the black tank. Repeat maybe once more.  You can easiy see that there were corners or pockets of crap and paper that did not flow out and this bottom filling and backwashing stirs up the contents so you get a more complete dump.

Close the black tank and then dump the gray or whatecer is left.  You will be surprised at the last gallon or so.  It is really “gray” as in all the food prep (rinsing them in the sink) and dishwashing water is really cloudy. My clear fitting, since I use my Sanicon, is turned to the right, so I get a “full flow view of the  waste stream”…..something that would not be that detailed with a fitting like in the picture and my streams move slower.. BTW… THIS IS A SEPTIC SOLUTION.  Small bits of food prep scraps, even if you use a paper towel to wipe a plate or cutting board, but then rinse.  Same deal for washing dishes.  

This food waste is never totally dumped from the tank, as is the crap and TP from the black.  So, unless you somehow power wash or have a backflush on the gray tank, there is a residual waste in there that is always septic…YES, soap does help it rinse….but it is there. So, any concerns about mixing liquids and “contamination” of a pristine gray tank with the ooky pooky black tank are, from my 14 years of dumping, are not valid.  I think that the gray tank is really septic if it sits for a while in storage and ferments or degrades.  

OK…a final comment.  The above was suggested and discussed many times on the old forum….if you go way back.  One of our founders, Fred White, was a mechanical engineer that designed torpedo propulsion systems so he knew a bit about fluid flow and dynamics.  He was an adamant Sanicon user as he had to pump UP a hill when he returned before he full timed.  He modified his backflush and we talked about dumping….things engineers do…LOL.  He and the Colonel had also talked about odors and smells.  If you read some of the packaging on the odor preventers and also the SeeLevel systems, unless you had a flexible power washing multi-jet wand inside each tank, you never get rid of a septic mix.  BUT, for best results and minimal smell potential, many folks leave a little water in the tanks and that actually allows the bacteria (same process as in a home septic tank) to grow and helps start the degradation process when you stsrt to use the MH.  I washed and washed….but never had any odors.  I started using Happy Camper and left some liquid from both tanks…probably a little commingled and I get better readings from my simple probe leveling system.

That’s my take after a lot of “watching” and reading and talking to folks that actually did some experiments….others will differ….but it works for me.