# Tricks For Dumping Tanks?



## Cajun Duckman (Feb 17, 2006)

Any tricks for when you do the ol' tank dump? Both times I had been at the dump station it seems that I just can't get the black tank to flow very good and I am continuosly holding the hose to keep it flowing on through. I am contemplating throwing some boards under the front tires to raise up the trailer when I dump but that seems like a lot of work to do.

I bought a flush king and hopefully that will aid me as well, but with only about 6" of clearance I don't have much slope to run.

I am also contemplating flipping the leaf springs to get more height but that is an off-season mod most likely.


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## HootBob (Apr 26, 2004)

I often run into the same thing depending on the site.
other than that I usually use Flexible Sewer Hose Support that usaually does the trick for me

Don


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## tdvffjohn (Mar 10, 2005)

I think it is slower from its design. The tank outlet is in the center of the tank and not a big angle. Speed it does not have compared to my other TT. Even when it is only water it is somewhat slow. That is why the Tornado is such a big help for the extra rinse.

John


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## Bull Elk (Feb 28, 2005)

About half way through last season, I started putting boards (about 3") under the rear tires of the tow vehicle and it seemed to give the right angle for things to drain. It did not seem to make a lot of sense, but the tanks were empty.
Rich


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## camping479 (Aug 27, 2003)

Flipping the axles will definitely help some as well as raising the tongue a bit when you are emptying the tank. The drains in the outbacks are in the center of the tanks and the black tank on the 26rs drains towards the back so tilting up the front a bit will help.

The black and gray tanks drain to a common tee and then down to the outlet connection. The drawback of that design is lots of turbulence as the effluent hits that tee and swirls around before it goes down to the outlet, like John said it doesn't really get a good flow going. The black tank doesn't always empty all that great, takes lots of flushing to get it cleaned out. The gray tank empties fine because there are no solids, but the black tank needs a good flow to empty really well. I was never able to get our black tank to drain very well and got really tired of flushing, filling and flushing so I redid the entire plumbing from the black and gray tanks down but that's a whole other story









We flipped the axles on ours mainly for the extra height to get it in our driveway, one of the unexpected benefits was having the tank outlet higher off the ground.

Mike


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## Thor (Apr 7, 2004)

I just get my DW to do it









A quickie flush makes a huge difference







This should be a std options.

Thor


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

Lots of water for the first flush.

Top off the black tank to the very top before you dump. Also a Quicky Flush or Flush king is a great way to rinse the tank.

Flat tanks and very little slope do not make it very easy to drain.


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## campmg (Dec 24, 2005)

Eat more fiber


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## PDX_Doug (Nov 16, 2004)

I never noticed ours to be all that slow to start with, but the axle flip definitely speeds things up!









Happy Trails,
Doug


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## summergames84 (Mar 6, 2004)

This is another good reason to spend the money and go see "RV - The Movie". You will get lots of good tips for dumping those tanks.


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## GoVols (Oct 7, 2005)

Your model year 26RS must be built lower to the ground than mine. I have got at least 10 inches clearance to the ground from the bottom of the outlet pipe.


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## Cajun Duckman (Feb 17, 2006)

GoVols said:


> Your model year 26RS must be built lower to the ground than mine. I have got at least 10 inches clearance to the ground from the bottom of the outlet pipe.
> [snapback]106465[/snapback]​


Yes, I think your leaf packs are on top of your axles, whereas mine are below. If I had a welding rig I would do the job myself but I don't so I won't.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who encounters the whole slow drain issue.

For the meantime, if I understand correctly, I should lift it nose high a little to do the dump? Better to lift from tongue or a couple of boards under the front axle tires?

Thanks again, ya'll!


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## CamperDave (May 2, 2006)

I have had my 2004 23RS two full seasons now and I have to say draining the black tank sucks! It is slow and never empties well enough. I have a wand to flush it but can not use it at the dump station. I am going to clean it out with some softener and the soap trick I read here. I am thinking about the quickie flush too. Any links on those please.
Great site.


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

CamperAndy has the best tip....fill the tank all the way and then let er' rip.....


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## LarryTheOutback (Jun 15, 2005)

I used to think it drained slowly. Then I tried dumping it full. Whoosh! Done in 2 minutes.

Ed


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## camping479 (Aug 27, 2003)

> For the meantime, if I understand correctly, I should lift it nose high a little to do the dump? Better to lift from tongue or a couple of boards under the front axle tires?


There was a suggestion to pull the rear wheels of your truck onto a couple of boards at the dump station, that would work to get the nose up. Pulling the front trailer axle onto a couple of boards won't help much since the truck and front end of the trailer will not be raised. If you're dumping at your campsite, just jack up the tongue a bit and you'll be good to go.

Mike


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## GlenninTexas (Aug 11, 2004)

I think the black tank is purposely designed this way. In home construction the sewer drains must be done at 1/8" per foot of drop. The point being to not allow the liquid to drain off leaving the solids behind to clog. This allows the weight of the liquid to push the solids along down the drain. I imagine the same principle applies to an RV. 
Completely filling the black tank with water before you go to the dump station will help. I don't know if lifting the front end is going to help much, since the drains exits the tank in the middle. Seems you would just create a situation where solids would collect in the backside of the tank.

Regards, Glenn


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## nascarcamper (Jan 27, 2005)

I've found that most dump stations are on a slight tilt toward the sewer which in my model doesn't allow for a complete empty. The black tank is in the rear and the drain pipe comes out of the center as others have indicated. This means if the tt isn't level front to rear and left to right it won't completely drain. I've found if I put blocks under the drivers side of the tt and get it level it drains much better but by design I don't think you can get a complete drain. I usually don't worry about it until the last dump of the season then I dump and fill several times while level and it seems to do the trick. I keep a couple of gallons of water and treatment in mine the whole camping season anyway. I discovered this on mine by removing the underbelly so I could get a peek under there.


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## tdvffjohn (Mar 10, 2005)

I dump, I tornado the tank to almost fill, I dump again. I add chemicals and calgon and a few gallons of water. I only get crazy about perfection in the last one before winterizing.

John


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## camping479 (Aug 27, 2003)

GlenninTexas said:


> I think the black tank is purposely designed this way. In home construction the sewer drains must be done at 1/8" per foot of drop. The point being to not allow the liquid to drain off leaving the solids behind to clog. This allows the weight of the liquid to push the solids along down the drain. I imagine the same principle applies to an RV.
> Completely filling the black tank with water before you go to the dump station will help. I don't know if lifting the front end is going to help much, since the drains exits the tank in the middle. Seems you would just create a situation where solids would collect in the backside of the tank.
> 
> Regards, Glenn
> [snapback]106728[/snapback]​


Since the drain is at the backside of the tank in the 26rs I think tilting the front up would get a better flow going and help drain it better. Having the drain in the middle of a shallow tank is a bad design for an RV system IMO. The drain pipes for the black and gray tank meeting at a tee near the tank outlets just compounds the problem. To dump the tanks efficiently you need as much force as possible and as few restrictions as possible to get the solids moving with the liquid. In a home system everything is going down a relatively small diameter pipe, nothing's going to get hung up and left behind like it could in a tank setup. My dad's motorhome has a tall rectangular shaped tank with the drain in the bottom corner, his drains at least 3 times faster than mine does because there's a lot of force behind it since the tank is tall. We used to have a coachmen trailer, the black tank was shallow at one end and sloped down towards the other end where the drain was, never had any trouble emptying that tank, lots of force and it drained very quickly. Also in both of those systems the plumbing for the black tank is seperate from the gray tank, in fact if you look at a lot of trailers the black and gray tank plumbing meet near where the sewer hookup is, not further up like the outbacks where a tee can slow down the flow.

Mike


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## nascarcamper (Jan 27, 2005)

camping479 said:


> GlenninTexas said:
> 
> 
> > I think the black tank is purposely designed this way.Â In home construction the sewer drains must be done at 1/8" per foot of drop.Â The point being to not allow the liquid to drain off leaving the solids behind to clog.Â This allows the weight of the liquid to push the solids along down the drain. I imagine the same principle applies to an RV.Â
> ...


My Springdale was like the coachman where they come together it was a sweeping y. Poor design in the Outback line but still functional.


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## camping479 (Aug 27, 2003)

> My Springdale was like the coachman where they come together it was a sweeping y. Poor design in the Outback line but still functional.


Agreed, still funtional

Mike


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## Humpty (Apr 20, 2005)

Agree with Nascar......"This means if the tt isn't level front to rear and left to right it won't completely drain".

When I have WAY to much time at a CG, I use the tongue jack to lower the nose while dumping the black tank (which is in the rear position on a 28BHS) and raise the nose to dump the Grey.

Dumping when full seems to really help. Be sure to start with plenty of water (5 gal) with the tank chemicals after each dump.

Get some sort of flushing device - Flush King - Quickie - Tornado -

I have a Quickie Flush in the Black and Gray tanks.


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