Driving with fluid in tanks

[dix39]

I'm with the full fresh water crowd. When the fresh water is gone/nearly gone, or when the grey or black is full it is time to find a place to dump them and fill the fresh water. You will soon get a feel for how long your supply will last, and generally the grey will fill first because of showers. Whatever you do about TP, do not ever let the black water tank go un-emptied for a long period of time. I did this once with only a very small amount in it. It sat over the Winter until Summer when we started our annual trip from OR to WV and other places along the way. I filled with fresh water at home and we traveled until the water was nearly gone and found a place to dump. Pulling the dump valve produced only a few drips. I very gingerly removed the slinky, probably closed the valve first but I don't remember. Anyway, looking into the dump valve with a flashlight revealed a dam of TP that had to be removed before anything could get out. One of the most memorable situations I've ever been in, like looking down the barrel of a loaded gun, maybe worse. My solution was to park near the drain so if the worst happened I would be able to wash it down, and find a stick long enough to reach and dislodge the TP. I was hoping to be able to get out of the way and close the valve before too much got out and that is the way it happened. That was probably 20 or 30 years ago and I have never left a black water tank with anything in it since.

Best of luck, and enjoy!

Steve

[SuperGewl]

Personally fill the Fresh Water Tank and see how the TT handles, you can always drain some if it doesn't handle well. Normally the Fresh Water tank is in a place over the axles to help with ballast. As the Black and Grey tank start to fill up you may notice that the TT doesn't handle as well due to where these tanks are, that is when it's time to empty them.

[Forza Tom]

Originally Posted by sylvia43

Hi everyone,

I am sorry if this has been asked before and I missed it. I searched but didn't see this addressed. We have a 2015 Winnebago 1801FB TT. We are new to RVing. We are planning to drive across country and stop along the way. Some days we will be stopping for just a night. Is it ok to drive with fluid in the black/grey/fresh water tanks? Is there a limit to the amount of fluid you feel comfortable with in long drive (6 or so hours on highway)? We have had a few people tell us it will crack the tanks.

TIA for your advice!
Jessica

The only issue we ever had was a little smell coming from the grey water tank. A little lemon freshener will take care of that until you can reach your next dump.

A great way to clean your black water tank is to after you empty and are getting ready to head home or to your next spot put a bag of ice down the toilet. It will slash around while you are driving and assist in the cleaning. From time to time we add a small amount of Biz detergent.

[prsmith]

Originally Posted by jones47172

We travel with full fresh water tank and mostly empty grey and black. If we get stuck for some reason or broken down we have use of the coach in an emergency. Also, we don't travel with less than 1/2 fuel since the generator cannot run on the last 1/4 of tank. Our coach has been weighed on all for wheels as loaded and weight is not a concern in our situation. Neither does fuel consumption change noticeably with the extra weight.

Aye! We have been broken down a couple of times and stranded in strange places looking for parts (once for a number of days). Empty gray/black tanks and a full H2O minimized the negative impact. In addition, our filled fuel tank (always more than 1/2 meant we could use the genny at will)

We are thinking alike

Preston

[dix39]

[QUOTE=Forza Tom;2912789]The only issue we ever had was a little smell coming from the grey water tank. A little lemon freshener will take care of that until you can reach your next dump.

We've had the same thing happen when it was hot, I think the stuff in there just soured. I just put some of the same concoction that goes in the black tank in there which took care of the smell. Just another option.

Steve