Lazy Daze Owners' Group

Happy Holidays everyone,
I thought I'd share our experience with what we think is the best improvement we've made to our 2016 TK yet. It's actually a +/- $35 accessory for dumping the grey and black tanks by Valterra called the Reverse RV Flush Valve (available on Amazon: Amazon.com: Valterra F02-4350 Reverse RV Flush Valve: Automotive . It makes the job of flushing the tanks so fast and easy, we almost can't believe it.

We were looking for an option to the way the LD manual tells you to flush the tank (only directions to flush the black tank are provided). LD says to drag a garden hose into the bathroom and fill the black tank through the toilet. We used this technique and didn't like the water that inevitably drips on the floor, or having to stand there holding the hose. But, worse was that opening and closing the toilet and holding your foot on the pedal; and/or leaving the bowl valve open as you fill the black tank from above, allows the stench to enter the RV.  And, also annoying was how long it takes to fill the tank this way.

Reading up on alternatives and watching lots of youtubes, it was clear that a better way would be to do the whole job from outside. I considered adding a flush valve to the black tank but the kit was a little expensive for what it was and I couldn't see any easy way to access the black tank with an electric drill to install the flush valve. I didn't really want to mess with Lazy Day's careful construction either.

Since the Valterra Flush King simply connects to the dump pipe on the Lazy Daze, I decided to forget about trying to modify the black tank and just go with the Flush King. It twist connects the same way the hose does so it goes on easy and fast. Then you connect a water hose to the inlet on the Flush King and you're ready to dump and flush and repeat as much as you want. And the only reason to enter the Lazy Daze during the process is to press the button on the control panel to determine when the black tank is full (it also works for the grey tank).

Using the Flush King, we were able to fill the black tank enough for the red light to glow on the control panel is a mere 3 minutes (we haven't tried flushing the grey tank yet). Not a drop of water was spilled inside the LD and no smells, either. Since it fills so fast, as an experiment, I filled and emptied the tank 3 times and even on the third time there was some debris remaining. Which just makes us even happier we have a much easier way to flush the tanks now.

Hope this is helpful,
Jim and Deb
Santa Cruz, California
2016 24' TK

Flush Kings work great on tanks where the outlet enters directly into the holding  tanks.
On holding tanks drains that have a long run, from the tank to the outlet, they don't have much mechanical flushing force.
Here is a photo of our LD's holding tank plumbing. The small pipe is from the gray water tank.
Drain pipes | Shows location of second set of drain valves. | lw5315us | Flickr
The small 1-1/2" pipe, combined with long run and two turns, slows the flushing action to the point where it is ineffective.
In this situation, an in-tank flusher works much better.
Holding tank flusher | Flickr
Camco in tank flusher.
Amazon.com: Camco 40123 Quickie Flush with Back Flow Preventer: Automotive

Larry

It took more cycles than that the first time with the new coach, which happens to have a tank rinse system. I'm not sure the prior owners used it. This coach's tank rinse system is slow, and its "impingement" minimal, so I'll probably continue to back-flush in addition to using the rinse system

Glad you're happy with what apparently works for you.

One thought... since I'm not familiar with your plumbing I wondered if there are any twists or turns or elbows involved in the process of flushing? In other words, are you sure all of the flush water is reaching the back of the tank? I recall that Andy Baird once used a camera to inspect the insides of his tank. 

Just filling and draining the tanks does mot necessarily knock things off the side of the tank, as there is no blasting action,  especially in  tanks with  constricted outlets. The 1-1/2" drain pipe does not drain quickly, the low flow havng little debris carrying power.
In-tank flushers are actual spray nozzles that scour the inside of the tank.
I have compared the Flush King to the in-tank flushers and the flushers get more 'stuff' out.
The other advantage with flushers is that much less water is needed to clean the tank.
We too live in an area with water use restrictions.

Larry

Jim

Your word picture helped me visualize the process quite well. So the flushing action begins with the opening of the gate valve once you have determined that the tank is as full as needed... I get that.

Now I'll interject my procedure. Even prior to the acquisition of my 2004 LD I had a 30' HR TT which I owned for ten years (1994-2004). On both RVs I have always used Eco-Save toilet chemical. I NEVER open the BW tank valve unless I intend to dump, regardless of the fluid level inside. I dump the BW first, followed by the GW to rinse the hose. Once the dump process is complete I recharge the BW tank with the Eco-Save and one bowl full of fresh water. And that's how she rides until the next dump cycle. I have never, in twenty-two (22) years, felt the need to 'flush' my BW tank. And so it goes!