Shower Water in black tank

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FIREandTAZ

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Hi folks, I am new to this site and this is my first topic. I recently purchased a 2012 Fun Finder XT-276 , on our first camping trip we found out that the water from the shower was going into the black tank. We took it back to the dealer expecting this to be a plumbing problem and they informed me they would look into it, I called the manufacturer to inquire if this was a common probem and they told me that all the toy haulers have the shower piped into the black tank and that the dealer should have informed me of this. As you can imagine when you are camping with no sewer hook up the tank fills up pretty quick. I have also heard horror stories from other manufacturers that did this that sewage could come up around your feet in the shower if the tank fills up.. Has anyone experienced this or have any input on this.

Thanks
 
It is becoming more common for the larger RVs to have their showers tanked to the black holding tank. On many forums (RV) there are many members asking how to re-route their gray water to be shared with the black tank. Commonly, the gray tank will fill long before the black tank does; dishes, washing hands, cooking, grooming, etc. are things that will consume the largest amount of water - directly to the gray tank and aren't "optional"...they will happen daily. Showers are something that can be put off (alternate days, every three days, etc.); navy shower techniques can be used and for the boondockers; the outside showers can be used to "hose off" children (and adults) as interim measures along with "cat baths".

My personal experience... My black tank will last a week for the two of us (toilet only), while my gray tank will last three days and we don't use our shower (we rely on campground facilities). In any event, whether gray or black tank for the shower, you will have to learn to conserve water...not only for the usage from the FW tank, but, for the "storage" in the waste tanks. As opposed to a sticks and bricks home; an RV not only has a finite supply (unless hooked to shore water), but, also a finite holding capability. If you don't have a full hook-up site, whether the shower goes into the gray or the black, the tank that it does go to will fill up quickly unless conservation measures are taken. If you have full hook up provisions, then it doesn't really matter...whichever tank fills first can be partially drained until ready to leave. Another benefit to having the shower go to the black tank is better flushing of the contents. Far too often, the black tank doesn't have enough water in it to do a good job of flushing the solids from the black tank, leading to clogs, dirty sensors and odors. The additional water the shower puts in the tank leads to a more complete emptying of the black tank. :)

Your "situation" is not an error and is actually "sought after" by many long-time RVers (myself included). Conserve and enjoy your new trailer :D
 
well now I know why my black tank fills up so fast..... I'm going to try to reroute the shower to the grey tank and the bathroom sink to the black..... that way the black tank won't fill up so fast but will still get water to help with the flushing of the tank...... not sure what this will take, but I plan on going over to the storage lot in the next few days to climb under the trailer to examine the situation.....

I don't know about the rest of you but I can not skip my showers on camping trips....
 
shower & water use generally

HI folks, we are newbies on the site, just bought our FF 214 WSD and hope to have it in the driveway next week! We have gotten quite used to water conservation from 1) working fire lookouts 35+ years ago, 2) tent camping, 3) Popup camping and finally 4) the Trailmanor we just traded. The TM had a 30 gal grey tank and we never came close to filling it unless we were out for over 12 days, and seldom emptied the 20 gal fresh tank in less than a week. This included all good points that webslave addresses for water usage, including showers.

It is very possible to drastically reduce water use by not turning the faucet on all the way and never letting it just run, by doing dishes by first wiping all dishes/utensils fairly clear of guck prior to washing them and then washing in a separate tub, starting with minimal detergent and water, washing the least gucky dishes first, then rinsing them into the tub, not down the drain. The tub fills up slowly with rinse water and allows for more soapy water for the larger plates and pots. We end up with usually using less than 1.5 gal total for dishes. IF your dishes are particular gucky (a lot of particulates and/or grease), we don't dump the water into the drain, but pack it out to the grey waste water drain in the CG. That also prevents the tank from getting too gunked up as well.

Glad to hear of this issue .. we've never had to deal with a black tank, since the TM had a recycling toilet. Oh Brave New World!! :D We hope to learn and share a good deal more here! THX in advance!
 
We bought a trailer with a shower so we could use it as much as we want. Luckily our 189 shower drains in to the grey tank. We only dry camp and I fill the fresh water daily and drain the grey daily into a bucket and down the drain at the water spigot. We dont waste water while camping but who wants to stress out about filling the toilet tank. It makes no sense to drain the grey water into the black tank, I'd try to re-plumb that.
 
on my 160x its the same, shower and toilet go into black, it does fill up quicker but its nice to have the soapy water slosh around on the way to the tank dump station, kinda cleans it out a bit. i was told theres a flap that keeps the smell and stuff from backing up into the shower, or just keep a eye on the level
 
I know i'm bringing this post back from the dead but; has anyone had the shower re-routed to the gray tank on an xt-276 or any other? Is it possible?
 
I looked into it when I first got my XT-276, but after camping a few times I realized I didn't need to and it looked like too much work. LOL
We (wife and I) can go three days taking pretty long showers and not fill it up. We've gone as long as five and still had a little room left, but the showers were shorter. I also purchased a honey wagon (Thetford Smart Tote 2) that I can pull behind the truck to a dump station, but I've only used it once. I think the reason my sensor in the black tank still works is because of the amount of water.
 
I thought the shower water in mine went into the grey tank......but could be wrong as don't recall now.

The camper has been in storage all winter ~ will have to check when I get it out of winter storage first part of April.
 
Thank you for replying. My wife son and I tested it while camping with full hookups. I got 5 normal (not short) showers out of it before I had to dump it. Not so bad, I just don't want to find out the hard way that the shower drain doesn't have a one way valve.
 
Now that I think about it and after asking the wife (women never forget anything) recall when she was showering once, water built up in the tub......not sewage just shower water so the one way valve clearly was functioning.

The black tank was full on the indicator lights and looking into the stool, water was near the top of the black water tank when flapper was opened part way to look into the black water tank.

Dumped the black water tank and all was well ....... so yes, the shower does drain into the black water tank on our 2012 XT 276 toy hauler.
 
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You can pull off the little cover on the right side of the baseboard to check for the one way valve. With that said, it's only a tapered rubber flapper and I'm not sure how much I trust it.
 
I don't trust the level indicators for the black tank and periodically do a quick visual... :-?

If your trailer has the black tank directly below the toilet as ours does, you can quickly check the black tank water level. Just turn the water off or the pump (if using the on-board fresh water) and hold the toilet flush flapper open, and see the water level in the black tank (You might need a flashlight)... It doesn't sound cool, but it beats a back-up and if you treat your tank regularly, there is really no smell for a 30 second look... :shock:

The wife and I learned to take quick showers years ago and we can easily 4 - 5 days before we need to dump the tanks... ;)
 
twinster2 said:
Interesting. I'm pretty sure that on my 189FBR the shower is hooked to the gray water tank. I will have to check it when I get it out this spring.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure our black tanks don't get the shower water. You would think the toy haulers that do would have a larger gray tank to compensate.
 
I'm sure that this (shower draining into blackwater tank) has been the case for quite some time. We have a 2007 FF x210 and I'm pretty sure that ALL of the liquid drainage from the bathroom goes into the blackwater tank! It does make some sense tho since the vanity sink, the shower and the commode, are almost directly above the blackwater tank with the layout that the x210 has.
It hasn't been an issue at all for us in the 4 years that we've had the TT. We try to use the campground facilities as much as possible and limit our open faucet running as much as possible. The graywater tank does tend to fill faster but has not been a problem. We rarely stay more than 3 days at any one campground and will empty the tanks on departure.
RipVan
 
It seems that this practice has become common in the RV industry. Reading these comments is interesting. Also more people need to read previous comments before commenting themselves. You find the same subject on Forest River and Jayco forums. But the bottom line seems to be...keep a watch on your tank levels to make sure you aren't standing in your own sewage someday in the shower.
https://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/25224369/print/true.cfm
 
I can see why the manufacturer does this sometimes but what concerns me is the fact that the dealers do not know or fail to inform the purchaser. This would be a fairly important piece of information to pass on.

Silverado
 
Silverado said:
I can see why the manufacturer does this sometimes but what concerns me is the fact that the dealers do not know or fail to inform the purchaser. This would be a fairly important piece of information to pass on.

Silverado
Click to expand...

Yes, I agree and that's what some of those commenters on my link were saying. The common knowledge is that the black tank is only for the toilet. Every piece of info tells us that, but obviously not true. Maybe the dealers don't even know or care. But the other things is that some people may be thinking s vent is another inlet into the black tank? Who knows?? It was also interesting to find out that some rvs have two gray water tanks due to plumbing placement...but makes sense. But any backup into the shower spells disaster to me.
 
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