Friday, March 26, 2010

Real Men Have Fun... Playing With Their RV's Black Water Tank!

'Member when I told ya'll I had a PHD?... P-iled H-igher and D-eeper! ... Well... I'm movin' up the educational ladder amongst those who get goin' RV Boondocking!... I'm now the proud holder of a PIFF!

PIFF, You ask?

Yup... a PIFF! P-ump I-t F-arther and F-aster! :o)

Picked up a portable Macerator Pump kit at Camping World yesterday afternoon... made a temporary hookup late in the afternoon and went to pumping...



But, you know me... I just felt it only proper to invite that Murphy bugger... who activated one of his laws... and  the pump popped a 20 amp fuse the instant I turned the switch on... aaaargggghhhh!

Put a fresh fuse in, checked the armature for free movement... and hit the switch again... without issue... I've no idea what the first fuse was about...

Now... Flojet, the company that built this lil' sewer pump setup, directs that you shouldn't pump any farther than 50 feet, or you're in danger of over heating the macerator pump... hmmm... that's considerable shorter than the 200 feet I'm movin' the sh_ _... uh ... stuff!



The hose is actually running a lil' downhill... so I just knew I'd get away with it... :o) ... if I didn't... I was gonna have a lil' different story to tell.

We've been here, a month now and the Black Water tank had finally filled up... but it took us a whole dang month to fill that tank. That's an example of how you can stretch the performance of your holding tanks... if you put some thought into it... use the facilities when you're fueling, eating at the McDonalds... etc... and you can stretch out the time you need to dump.

In this case, that tank that was full is now... still 'bout 3/4... maybe a lil' less.

Ya see... I don't feel comfortable pumping an entire tank full into a residential septic tank... I don't know for sure and for certain, but I'm pretty comfortable believing that putting 40 or 50 gallons of raw sewage into a residential septic tank would shock load it and could cause difficulties...

So... my method is to put a bit at a time... maybe a 1/4 tank every few days... that will have me pumping out... faster than I'm collecting "fresh"... :o) ... I also treat the RV Tank with a bit of RID X. That way, I'm actually treating the residential septic every time I dump... and there should be no troubles.

If you're on a sewer system... just dump away... being on our friends septic system... I'm gonna be a lil' more cautious.

Outside of that first popped fuse, this Flojet Macerator pump worked real easy... and sure beats draggin' around that "Blue Boy" you can see sittin' under the rig. I did the pumping I did in something like two minutes... This outfit will come in real handy, in a remote RV boondocking camp, when I'll need to pump into the "Blue Boy", sitting up on the bed of the truck... so I don't have to move the rig to dump.

I'd say... SWEET!  ... but ... uh... none of... This... is That... is it? :o)

As I was finishing up my work, Heidi an' Krea came riding in. They'd gone out for an hour or so, making one of the first rides on these horses since last fall... That can often get a lil' bit western... unfortunately, these guys behaved just fine... no fireworks... shucks... :o)
 How can you call it western... when there ain't even a squeal?... sheesh!

What's up for Today?... Most of what we'd planned for yesterday! We're back to tryin' to finish up the chores I'd lined out for yesterday... our "phone kid" isn't on till noon today... an' we want to deal with him... just liked how "he" works... and the laundry didn't get done 'cause 'somebody' went to havin' too much fun gettin' Horseback... while the 'Brains' of the outfit was havin' such a great time with the sewer! :o)

Take Good Care
Brian

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7 comments:

Anonymous said...

so you maserate into the blue boy in a remote boondocking area and then have to go find a public dump station? So now you gotta keep those in mind where you boondock? As well as laundry facilities? Boy, if that's all ya gotta worry about (and the closest Walmart, of course) then life will be ideal! LOL!

Brian said...

You thought there was more to life than Sewage, laundry and Wal Mart? :o)...

There is!

... YAMAHA RAIDERS! Hoo! Ya! :o)

Anonymous said...

Hey Brian, unless they have change that start switch for the pump there should be a 5 amp fuse in the starter handle also. If and it will happen, Murphy you know, when hair gets wrapped around that impeller it will blow that 5 amp fuse, been there done that. Gummy

John said...

Hi Brain, like the picture of Heidi and Krea on a ride. Just sold my last 2 horses 2 weeks ago so we could spend the summer working at a National park in Wash. Only been without horses a couple times in my life, so will see how it goes. Last winter down in Quartzsite a 5th. wheel camped close to our spot never did move his rig to dump. He had 2 tanks for fresh and waste in his truck. Take the waste to town and bring back the fresh. A lot easer than moving the whole rig and waiting in line with just the truck was no problem.
Have a good day. John

Anonymous said...

Hey Brian, how big is your black water? Hubby and I just bought our first Fiver....it has a 54gal black and 108 gray. We have no idea how long that will last us. We want to boon-dock, but think we will camp at facilities with dumps for awhile and see how long it takes us to fill the black. I am also somewhat worried about the smell as the puppy begins to get full. Had that problem with a rental we used last year before we bought our own rig.

Sue.

Brian said...

Sue... you guys should have room to work! our black and fresh both are 'bout 50 gallons...

In camp Heidi and I can average less than 15 gallons a day... if we concentrate on it :o)

as for smell... I don't use any chemicals at all... just haven't found the need... you shouldn't get any smell... unless something blocks the vent pipe... if you did, I think they likely had that vent run too deep into the tank... it should vent out the roof vent... and draw air in through the stool when you open the valve to 'flush'...

Anonymous said...

Hello, my name is Brian. I will shortly buy a vintage Airstream Argosy travel trailer and will be staying in it on a friend's land for about a year (I'm a graduate student). Anyway, besides investing in a composting marine style toilet (Nature's Head), I was thinking about using an external tank to take the waste to the local RV dump station. I see in this article you say you routed your waste to a friend's septic tank. I had this idea before,but my girlfriend who has a septic tank buried underground at her house said they are completely sealed. One would have to cut into the main sewer line and put in sewer piping at an angle to come up to the ground with a cap on it. I can't do all that. How did you get this sewage in your friend's septic tank? Thanks.