Lazy Daze Owners' Group

Dale, phred Tinseth's Poop Sheets are a terrific source of

daunting to a newcomer, because phred goes into so much detail about

alternatives. So the main thing I want to get across is what Barry

deal.

First, 98% of us don't use macerator pumps. They can be handy in

but the vast majority of RVers do just fine without one. So you can

of complications off your worry list.

We have been pleasure-camping in our '83 for over 11 years now, we use Charmin Ultra tp (!), we use a commonly available RV tank deodorant after dumping, I have only rinsed the tanks a couple of times when servicing or replacing the dump valves, and we have never had any problem with level sensors. It takes about 5 min to dump both tanks, including an extra toilet-bowlful of water dumped as a flush and one more as a refill, about every 3-7 days of use. That's it.

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The everyday dumping is a simple matter of pulling the hose out of the> LD, twisting it on, sticking it in the dump hole, opening the black water valve, waiting until it is finished, opening the grey water valve, and waiting until that is finished.  A simple rinse of the hose  and sticking it back in the LD storage location, and adding chemicals to the tanks is sufficient to drive away.

Of course, we are not full-time and do not put paper down the

drain,
 

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so this may help, but as far as we are concerned, dumping is one of the least of our problems.

For storage, we dump, add chemicals and a littl water, and leave

it.

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Barry

Hi Dale, I feel the need to clarify something Barry wrote. He posted that "everyday dumping is a simple matter"; I'm not trying to speak for Barry, he is very eloquent on his own, but I don't think he meant that he dumps his tanks "everyday". Folks who do dump their tanks, particularly the "Black water" tank everyday are usually the ones who end up with problems. Barry correct me if I'm wrong about what you meant.

I went back to look at Phred's article that you referenced. It can scare you; I know that dumping the holding tanks was one thing

that I

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had a lot of concern with when I was a new camper.

There are plenty of places to read about how to dump your tanks.
Here is the short version of what we do.no  We dump the black tank ONLY when its nearly full and follow by dumping the gray water tank then as well. We will dump the gray tank more frequently if we are driving far to avoid carrying unnecessary weight. We DO put TP (read up on RV friendly tissues and choose wisely) in the tank, don't use a maceator, and have not had problems with odor, sludge build up or tanks sensor problems. As far a the heavy duty rinsing and

cleaning,
 

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we do use a rinse wand and reverse flush device several times a

year,
 

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usually at home, not in campgrounds. When storing the rig for the winter, we dump, clean and rinse, then leave the tanks empty for the winter. We live where it is cold; if we lived where freezing was not an issue, we would leave some water and tank treatmant in the black tank.

I also want to put in a plug for Eco-Save tank treatmant. Phred speaks highly of this treatmant in the article you referenced. We switched to it last summer and are happy we did. Cleaning the tank thoroughly to remove any trace of harmful chemicals BEFORE switching to this kind biological treatmant is important; the chemical residue could kill the good bacteria from the Eco-Save.

Don't let the tank dumping stuff intimidate you! As Barry said, its no bid deal.

Steve K.

Steve,

You said you only dump the black tank when nearly full.  Does that mean if you went a couple months during the summer on short weekend trips you would still wait until its almost full?

Jeff (still with two LDs)

You said you only dump the black tank when nearly full.  Does that mean if you went a couple months during the summer on short weekend trips you would still wait until its almost full?