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Holding tanks


jetalkington

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I just dropped my water tanks, to work on the floor above, and install my new see level gauges. I noticed something odd to me. Their sizes.  My freshwater is 26 gallons, grey is 14 gallons, and the black is 30 gallons.  This looks backward on the grey and black. They are from Ronco Plastics and the sizes are stamped on the outside.

 

My shower & sink are plumbed into the grey water and the black only has the toilet. So, for those of you with more experience on these, have you ever seen the shower plumbed into the black water tank?   I am considering doing so when I re-install them.  That, or maybe increasing the size of the grey water.  I would think the grey water should be the larger of the two. The shower also has it own interior vent and I don't think it needs it. The tank is vented out the roof on the other end Any feedback would be appreciated.

 

 

Black and Grey.jpg

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FWIW I think your logic is correct, switch tanks use.

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Our 84 Dolphin was plumbed so that shower drained into black water tank, from the factory.

 

I liked it in that I could drain the black water tank at an RV park, then a couple of shower's worth of water make a good "clean out" rinse, followed by draining grey water through the sewer hose.  Made for a cleaner sewer hose when traveling from RV park to RV park.

 

 

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I like the idea that the shower water enters the black water with all the soaps and shampoos.  Your thinking of the rinsing with all those soaps would do a good job of cleaning out the black water tank.

 

I wish I knew more about plumbing and that extra vent. It is a hole through the floor I would like to eliminate. Usually they are there to allow someplace for the air to go when draining.  But these tanks are not huge and have vents on the other end of the tank. Literally 3 feet away.

 

Thanks for feed back.

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Just a random thought, connecting the shower to the black tank and the tank fills up and guess what backs up in the shower🥴

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That would be a crappy thing to happen.    I guess once I realized my Black water was getting full I would have to pay closer attention to it or dump it. I wish there was a way to put alarms on holding tanks.  I use my toilet mostly for a late night bladder dumps and then only if it cold.  A 30 gallon tank is really big. I am still thinking it through.

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I tend to overthink things...

 

I calculated that you could take a 30 minute shower which would empty the freshwater tank, into the black water tank, and not overfill.

 

Still, not wanting to overflow into the shower pan, I never let the blackwater tank fill past 3/4 and kept an awareness of it, even when parked for a week at an RV park.

 

I suppose if connected to city water, and I overflowed the black water tank, it would be time to  "hang it up" and get out of the RV hobby.

 

As far as a high level alarm... just flush and look into the toilet,  if you see high water, then dump the tank.

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Thanks Fred. Your right, of course. With a 26 gallon FW tank and technically 44 gallons of holding tank, I would run out of fresh water long before I had to worry about the tank.  Plus I do not take 30 minute showers in my RV shower. My wife and I both take RV showers. Wet and turn off the water while washing, then rinse.   I was not really thinking it through. On a water hook up would be the only time I could possibly over flow and if I was hooked up to water I would be in a park and likely use their toilets the most. It is really not a major concern. 

So when they go back it will be plumbed to the Black water tank.  With it hooked up to the black water I can actually spend more time boondocking. 

I am also going to leave out that shower vent.  If someone is draining the sink while someone is in the shower it would also have slowed it down as the sink drain and vent are in the same pipe.  The shower will enter the black water tank from the top and be able to use the regular vent. Once I thought through the setup I saw why the shower vent was there.  It is/was a correct setup. 

 

I think the move will make it a lot better, overall.

 

Thanks for taking the time.

Edited by jetalkington
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