# Grey Tank Filling Up



## campntn (Feb 20, 2005)

After reading all this water/electric water heater stuff, I have to ask: does your grey tank fill up on a 2 niter?
Ours does. I have cautioned the kids to not leave the water running. We conserve the water when washing dishes. I dunno what else to do really. I have the outside blue tank. But I don't see other campers pulling that thing around to the dump for a 2 niter.
Do you wash the dishes outside?? (Dishwashing takes a LOT of water) Showers are the Navy type, wet/soap/rinse quickly.
just wondered.


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## camping479 (Aug 27, 2003)

Fills up on a two nighter? I have to empty ours twice a day, but we always camp with full hookups









I've heard of some using a dish pan wash dishes and putting it down the black tank to conserve grey tank space.

Mike


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## campntn (Feb 20, 2005)

WOW< I thought of that dishpan trick on our last trip. haven't tried it yet, tho. I love the full hookups, but not everywhere we go has them.


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## tdvffjohn (Mar 10, 2005)

wash dishes in dishpan, dump water, tenters do not carry grey water holding tanks. just watch food scraps cause of animals and ants,


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## hatcityhosehauler (Feb 13, 2004)

Use paper plates. They don't need to be washed, and can help start the campfire later. Like Mike, I rarely don't have a sewer hookup, and I usually empty gray tank once a day, but then again, my kids are still small, so on a weekend, they might not get a shower.

Tim

Forgot to ask...is the tank full (backing up into the tub) or is the gauge reading full. There can be quite a difference. Try filling the tank up with a two gallon bucket dumped into the tub, checking the gauge after each one. I think you will find that the gauge will read full a few gallons before it is.


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## campingwiththe6pac (Sep 22, 2004)

I need full hook up! With 8 of us (the 6pac in the handle is not beer, it is children) it takes no time at all for the gray to fill. I have seen the gray fill in hours, and that is before the little ones get baths/showers before bed. We can make it 4 days on the black if the tank is truly empty when we start. Part of why we bought a travel trailer was the convince of the bath and kitchen, so we use those functions. Before this we had a large pop up, but the amount of work required to manage space and no facilities took all the fun out of a weekend away.

28RSS
8 children, 6 who camp
1 wife who makes it possible to camp.
02 X V-10 to move it all


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## 54telluride (Feb 1, 2005)

Two words Teenage Daughter

We have always camp with full hoopups and with three kids we check twice daily and dump the gray at least once if not twice a day. The black tank has lasted for 4-5 days with no problem. I like the black tank to fill above half before I empty it so as to get a agitation of the solids.

54telluride


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## Momto4boyz62 (Feb 20, 2005)

Forgot to ask...is the tank full (backing up into the tub) or is the gauge reading full. There can be quite a difference. Try filling the tank up with a two gallon bucket dumped into the tub, checking the gauge after each one. I think you will find that the gauge will read full a few gallons before it is.>>>>

Oh my gosh!!! This is exactly what happened to us when we did our shake down!! I was the only one that took a shower but we washed dishes a lot because it was raining all weekend.

At least now I know to check the gray tank this time. (thought the lights lit up on their own







)

Our fresh water tank was reading 3/4 full (which we did not fill) I am wondering if the RV place had filled it and put RV antifreeze in it since it had been a trade in and came out of winter storage and our March and April were so cold here in NE.


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## rdowns (Oct 20, 2004)

Seems like it is filling pretty quickly with the wa you describe using it. What are your capacities? 
It will fill another showers worth after the monitor reads full.


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## Y-Guy (Jan 30, 2004)

When we are camping without hook up's in a place where I can't empty the grey water on the ground here are some steps I take to save water.

1) Turn off Hot Water heater (less used if its not warm)
2) All paper plates/bowls, etc (avoid washing dishes inside)
3) Shower/rinse off using the outside shower when you can
4) Turn off water pump
5) Bring bottled water to drink
6) Bring 5 gallon jugs of water for washing hands outside

Showers use the most amount of water, so learning to shower quick military style is key to saving water and avoiding filling your tanks, next comes washing dishes. Saving a little here and there goes a long long way.


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## vdub (Jun 19, 2004)

> learning to shower quick military style


Hmmm, wasn't aware there was another way.....







But, I'm blessed, dw and dd are both military, son is, well, a guy.....


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## charles (Mar 14, 2005)

Went camping last week and filled ours in a half of day. Just me and my wife. I suspect the meter is wrong. I am however going to buy one of those 4 wheeler tanks anyway. This way I dont have to worry about the tank filling up and have to get on to everyone about conserving water. Camping is suppose to be relaxing. So if getting one of those transfer tanks lets me not worry about the tank filling up I would say its a great investment.


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## Ghosty (Jan 17, 2005)

Y-Guy said:


> 6) Bring 5 gallon jugs of water for washing hands outside


Why dont you just use one of the two shower heads thats outside instead?


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## Fire44 (Mar 6, 2005)

Buy two dish pans for washing your dishes. (I really hate paper plates) Use one to wash and one to rinse...dump the water outside. Short showers are a must.

Gary


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## Y-Guy (Jan 30, 2004)

Ghosty said:


> Why dont you just use one of the two shower heads thats outside instead?
> [snapback]37265[/snapback]​


Mostly since I can't control how much water is used an the kids will tend to let it run longer, when I'm conserving water a 5 gallon jug lets me have better control of what water is used. Then again now with the 100 gallon water tank I may not need to be such a scrooge while camping!


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## Castle Rock Outbackers (Jan 18, 2004)

Y-Guy said:


> Ghosty said:
> 
> 
> > Why dont you just use one of the two shower heads thats outside instead?
> ...


If there is one thing I could change about the Outback, if would be tank capacity. Black is fine. I would love to see 70 gallons fresh and 60 gallons grey. That kind of capacity is not available until you get a Raptor or Everest or some other unit meant for full-timing.

Randy


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## campntn (Feb 20, 2005)

Wow, had no idea this would get so much traffic! Yes, I agree, I'd make the grey tank bigger. And also, I think I'd design some sort of tank "bypass". That way, when you do have the sewer hookups, you don't even use the holding tank. hmmmm. Seems a lever outside would do that trick.








OH well, that's "pipe dreaming". haha, pardon the pun.
I see that we've all had to come to grips with the grey tank issue. Don't we all feel normal now.


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## Thor (Apr 7, 2004)

I learned a few things dry camping. The grey tank is never big enough!!!

Couple things I do to help with grey tank.

1 - Wash dishes outside (I use the outside shower)
2 - Take showers outside if you can. Even a navy shower fills up the tank 
3 - Make sure the tank is actually full. I do not go by the meter. If the tub does not drain anymore it is full.









Thor


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

Most of the ideas you guys have said are good, but the one trick we use to save fresh water and avoid filling up the grey water tank is to simply bring the larger dirty dishes home to be washed.

Dishwasher as home does a better job and it saves us time by not doing them while camping.


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## hatcityhosehauler (Feb 13, 2004)

vdub-I thought all you Air Force folks always had hot and cold running water with plenty of it....







. The original name of the aforementioned "military shower" was the "Navy Shower", and it was short 'cause they only made so much fresh water on board ship, and most of that went to the boilers, and catapults (for us aircraft carrier types).

Y-Guy, 833 lbs of fresh water? That's alot of weight to add. What's the gray capacity on the USS Raptor? the black?

Tim


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## Mtn.Mike (May 3, 2005)

We stayed at the campsite Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday AM and DW and I both took showers Saturday and Sunday as well as washing dishes both days. We used about 2/3 of the gray tank capacity and 1/3 of the black tank. I saw on another forum that a 
camper with a Jayco Jayfeather discovered that his shower drained into his black tank and the tank only had an 11 gallon capacity.







Mike


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## Y-Guy (Jan 30, 2004)

hatcityhosehauler said:


> Y-Guy, 833 lbs of fresh water? That's a lot of weight to add. What's the gray capacity on the USS Raptor? the black?


Yep a lot of weight, I try to avoid driving with it full except for the last leg of a trip. Getting good about calling ahead! The Grey water capacity is 67 gallons and the black 39, and the fresh is actually 112 with the 12 gallon water heater! Kick in the 25 gallon gas tank and there is a lot to slosh around!


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## c_rad91 (Feb 18, 2005)

The brochure for the 5th wheels shows a grey water capacity of 60 gallons. I presume this to be true but I only have one dump for grey. I hope I don't find out that I only have one 30 gallon tank. We've been out twice since we bought it and haven't had trouble with filling it up to fast but we conserve using all the aforementioned countermeasures. The one problem I do have is when I go to dump grey water. Each time I've pulled the cap off there has been water in the pipes before the valve is pulled. The flow is significant, more than a seep. When I pull the valve it really speed things up. Has anyone else seen this happen? We haven't used the black tank yet but is does have a gallon or so of water and some chemical just in case. I'd like to know about 60 gallons vs. 30 gallons also if anyone has been up under the bellypan of a FBHS too. Thanks.


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