A NOZZLE FOR THE MACERATOR HOSE

 In April 2019 when we had the macerator in our Roadtrek replaced as it had finally broken down, we also had the Roadtrek dealer/service center that we go to in Pennsylvania install a new macerator hose - the Thetford Sani-con hose - that is much more flexible and easier to store in the outside compartment in the Roadtrek that is provided for the hose.  When they replaced the hose, I asked them to take the nozzle off the original hose and install that on the end of the Sani-con hose. For some reason they were not able to do that and instead, built a new nozzle from PVC plumbing parts that resembled the old one but was larger. It had a big turn valve on the top to open and close the valve. When put away with the valve closed any remaining water or waste in the hose would not leak into its storage compartment. 

The first time we got to use the new hose and its nozzle was on our trip in July which was only four days. As we were leaving on that trip we discovered a problem with the coach batteries - which is well documented in our articles in the summer and Fall of 2019. We spent the rest of that summer and Fall dealing with the batteries and that prevented us from taking another trip in the Roadtrek that year.  Then Covid-19 arrived and changed the world and all of our lives. For a year and a half after that we remained inside with the Roadtrek on the driveway. In November 2020, we winterized the Roadtrek and discovered that the valve handle that was on the nozzle that the service center created would not turn. To get it to turn we used spray lubricant and finally resorted to tools and force to get it to open. Once open we dumped what little was in the waste tanks. We closed the nozzle that seemed to turn due to more lubricant sprayed in and just in case put the nozzle in a plastic bag and sealed it around the hose. A few days later we opened the hose storage compartment and saw that the bag had water inside of it. We dealt with that and left it all to the Spring. 

 As it got closer to Spring I started looking at what could replace the nozzle. There is a nozzle that is made for the Sani-con hose. It is a handle piece that attaches to the hose and ends in a graduated cylinder that fits into the sewer drain hole at a campground. On the bottom of the cylinder is a screw cap to seal the hose. This looked like a good idea. It's dimensions, however, seemed big. The diameter of the cylinder at its widest point is 4" - possibly larger as dimensions were not clear in any of the specs for it. The opening to the storage area for the hose and nozzle in the Roadtrek 190 is 3.5". It seemed to me that there was no way that this would fit. I contacted Thetford and asked for the exact dimensions and they never  responded. I asked on the Facebook group and no one who replied knew.  That ruled out the nozzle made for the Sani-con hose!  That brings us to now. 

When we started to dewinterize in May 2021, we could not get the nozzle valve on the hose to open again. Once again with some more spray lubricant and a lot of force it turned, but this was never going to do for traveling. We could not take a chance that we could not dump the tanks because we could not get the nozzle open. We held off dewinterizing until we came up with a nozzle for the hose that not only was going to fit but would be very easy to use - and most important leak-proof. I had an idea in mind and I went to home store websites to look at plumbing parts. I measured the inner diameter of the part of the hose at the end - the hose itself is one inch diameter. The hose end is in an attached heavy rubber coupler. This is what we made for about ten dollars in PVC plumbing fittings, a length of 3/4 pipe which we had, and the most expensive part of the needed supplies - a package of cans of PVC pipe primer and pipe cement - used to glue the PVC pipe together. 

Here is what we made -

It is not pretty and some of the primer leaked when it went together but it works and it works really well. Most important - it fits in the storage compartment with the hose easily. To explain what you are looking at here.  On the left is a fitting that on one end fits into the hose - the end with the barbs. The other end of that fitting which is inside the pipe seal tape is a female screw into end. Attached to that end - which is also under the pipe seal tape and out of view is a male screw end and a slip end on the other side - the white on the left attached to the pipe, that is glued over the pipe. In the middle is the pipe. The pipe can be any length you want. We cut a section of pipe 8" long. On the right side attached to the pipe is a slip end to male screw on end adapter. This is glued to the pipe. On the very end is a screw on cap to seal the nozzle when stored inside the hose compartment. To attach it to the hose you use a screw band hose clamp. This is a strip of metal with rectangular holes that when the screw is turned on the clamp with a screwdriver the clamp gets smaller around the joint on the and compresses into it to make a seal. First you put the clamp open wide around the hose from the end of the hose. Then you push the barbs on the L connector into the hose. Finally, you use a screwdriver to tighten the clamp around the hose and compress it around the barbs inside the hose. The joint is solid and does not leak.   The nozzle is simple in design; it is not pretty, but it works. 

 To use it = take out the hose, point the nozzle away from you and take the screw cap off. Put the cap aside - don't lose it!  Any water in the hose will pour out so watch your shoes. Point the nozzle into the sewer drain hole and have someone push the button to start the macerator. What is in the tank coming through the macerator will be pouring from the nozzle and into the sewer. When done - raise the hose to get any water out of it and put the cap back on the nozzle.

I have only worked with PVC pipe once before. I do not like doing plumbing. With plumbing, it all looks right and when all together you come back and there is a leak someplace. This is the reason that I made sure there would be no leaks by wrapping the screw joints with pipe seal tape. This is a rubberized tape that sticks to itself - pretty much permanently. It comes on a roll and is about half an inch wide. You pull and stretch the tape as you put it on over itself a number of times. It is the pulling and stretching that affixes it to itself. After it is on you can mold it with your fingers around what it is  on. I have used this in the hose to fix leaks in pipes and it lasts. It is sold in plumbing sections of home stores and also in Walmart in the plumbing aisle. 

Here are the parts I used. You will find similar parts in most plumbing departments in home stores. I went to Ace Hardware because they were the only place locally that had the first part I will list which was hardest to find. These are in order of installation from left to right:

1) Lasco Schedule 80 1" insert X 1" diameter FPT (Female Pipe Thread) PVC 90 degree elbow.

2) Charlotte pipe Schedule 40 1" MPT (Male Pipe Thread) x 3/4" diameter Slip PVC pipe adapter.

3) 3/4" PVC Schedule 40 pipe (You can buy two foot lengths of this in Home Depot).

4) Charlotte pipe Schedule 40 3/4" slip x 3/4" MPT PVC pipe adapter

5) Charlotte pipe Schedule  40 3/4" FPT PVC Cap  (Buy two of these so that you have a spare).

You will also need PVC Pipe Primer and PVC Pipe Cement -  sold in a set of small cans. 

To learn how to put this all together there are basic PVC plumbing assembly videos on You Tube that show how to cut the pipe, join the pipe with the fittings and use the pipe primer and pipe cement. Wear gloves - and not vinyl gloves. The primer ate through the vinyl gloves that I was wearing. It also stains your skin so if you get it on you - wash it off with soap and water QUICKLY.

The finished nozzle attached to the Thetford Sani-Con hose with a plumbing screw clamp - 

Is WInterizing Necessary?

This may seem like a strange topic for an article after I have posted various articles over time about winterizing and how to do it, but recently I have been reading a number of posts from RVers (not necessarily Roadtrek RVers) on various groups who are asking "Do I need to winterize?" or "I didn't winterize and suddenly there was a sudden freeze last night and no water is running? What do I do?" My first thought when I read these is why didn't you think about this in the Fall or, at least, before you heard the temperature was going to drop? I try to be polite and understanding as the therapist side of me comes out and try to give advice on what to do now that it is too late.

I understand that some areas of the country that never got really cold in the past have been getting cold - but with last year's winter when there were ice storms in the South and sudden deep freezes where there had not been for many years before, wouldn't one take precautions this year. It seems not. I also understand that some live in their RVs full time and while many head to where it will stay warm during the winter, some have job commitments in one place and can't just pick up and go to Florida. Florida, by the way is one of the hardest places to get a vacant campsite during the winter - or so I am told - and if one is thinking of heading to the warm Florida sun from December to February or March, make a reservation well in advance.

Some RVs have heated water tanks and are able to stay out in the freezing temperatures without having to be concerned, but I recently read a cry of help from someone who "went away for the weekend" (obviously, not with their RV that has tank and plumbing heaters when plugged in 24/7, but evidently they forgot to leave them running) and when they returned found the entire water system had frozen. And what could they do? Not much but try to thaw it out, if the outside temperature was not going to cooperate. And this, thankfully, so far, has been a mild winter - at least in some parts of the Country that are usually colder.Tank and plumbing heated RVs need an ongoing power source to keep those running and without failure. 

My Roadtrek does not have any tank or plumbing heaters. It does have an interior water tank that holds less than half the water capacity of the exterior water tank it also has. There is a way to isolate that tank from the outside tank and only have water running from the interior tank. (Summer Mode/Winter Mode) This is supposed to be a way to travel in freezing weather with water. The problem is that this only works if the interior of the coach is heated 24/7 which means plugged in, run on the generator, or be able to recharge the coach batteries which will eventually run down that are needed to ignite the propane furnace and run the furnace fan that will move the hot air around inside the Roadtrek. And even this is only good to a certain exterior outside temperature. Then there are the outside waste tanks. If you run water from this interior fresh water tank, where does that water go when it runs through the sink or toilet. It goes right down the drains into the grey tank or the black tank that are both outside hanging under the van close to the ground where it stays the coldest. Will these freeze? Oh yeah! Will the pipes coming and going from these freeze with water in them. Yup, that too. There are new Roadtreks that have a different type of hot water heating system that is supposed to dump its contents outside automatically if the temperature gets toward freezing. That is good for the hot tank, but what about the waste tanks and the fresh tanks? I have not heard anything about what happens to those.

So Roadtrek or not, what do you do? (And this is all my own opinion - but formed after hearing about all of not what may happen but what does happen.) Well, the obvious is winterize and travel or stay in your RV without water through the months that will potentially freeze. What else could be done? If one's RV is not winterized and you do not have heating systems to keep all of the water system from freezing, it is extremely important to pay attention to the future weather forecasts. Yes, the weatherman is often not right. I know one nationally popular weather forecasting network that likes to make disasters out of everything and will emphasize the negative and rarely reports any weather in a positive way. I am sure that one beautiful sunny normal day they are going to report that dangerous sun rays will bring imminent disaster to anyone who goes outside. But there are several weather services including the National Weather Service that when the reports of each are taken together and compared, the chances of a more accurate forecast are greatly increased. If with this approach there is agreements that the temperatures in the coming week are going to go below freezing and there will be no daytime warm up well into the 40s, it is essential to winterize or move quick to where it will be much warmer. Winterizing is not hard - if you read my step by step guide to winterizing and you install a winterizing valve on your water pump - or get one of the hand RV antifreeze pumps that I also talk about in my step by step guide to winterizing - you can winterize in less than a half hour. It is not hard to do and the longest time required is waiting for tanks to drain on their own. RV antifreeze at Walmart is less than $3 a gallon and with a Roadtrek all you need is two and a half gallons. With another RV with more plumbing you may need more - but not much more. What do you do for water - you can do what we have done when winter traveling while winterized  and some modify this by still flushing the toilet with RV antifreeze instead of water - either pouring it in from the bottle or filling the fresh water tank with RV antifreeze to do this. Is this all inconvenient if you live full time in your RV? Of course, it is, but paying to fix burst water pipes or broken valves due to having frozen is a lot more inconvenient. Think it all through. Be prepared. Know what is ahead at all times. And keep a few gallons of RV antifreeze on hand, if you don't winterize, because once the winter starts, like winter clothes that are gone from the shelves when the coldest weather is about to hit, the RV antifreeze sells out in November and they just don't restock it.

And if you have an RV with heated plumbing and tanks, and you decide to go away for a winter weekend without the RV - leave all those heaters plugged in and running... (I have to smile every time I think of that one...)

Lubricating the Waste Tank Seals and Macerator

I was certain that I had written about this before, but searching this entire site I can find no mention of it. It is very important to regularly lubricate the tank seals in the black and grey tanks - and for those with Roadtreks or any RV with a macerator, the added benefit of the process is that it lubricates the internal parts of the macerator at the same time.

When we got our Roadtrek in 2011, the recommended lubrication to do this was coconut oil. Coconut oil is expensive and has a problem - it reacts to temperature. If you go to buy coconut oil - I found it in a gourmet food store - it is sold in a bottle as a white paste. At 75 degrees F coconut oil liquifies and becomes a clear liquid. Below 75 degrees F that same coconut oil becomes a solid fat - thus the white paste. I also found that the Camco RV supplies company sells "Coco Lube" which is a 100% coconut oil lube in a bottle. I bought that at over $6 in an RV shop. I bought it in the summer and tried it in the summer and it seemed to be fine. Then in the Fall I decided to lube the tanks again and now that bottle was full of white paste. I could have gotten it out of the bottle and put it down into the tanks but it would have been a gunk going down and likely would have staid in a lump in the tank. This is not at all what you want.

I started researching what the alternative is and learned that many use mineral oil. Mineral oil is sold in pharmacies or pharmacy departments. It is sold as a laxative - yes, it is "food grade" and can be consumed which you don't want to do unless you wish the resulting effect. You should be able to find a bottle for about $2 or $3.

To use the mineral oil to lubricate your waste tanks (and macerator):

1) Measure ONE HALF CUP of mineral oil, open the toilet flush flap and pour it down the toilet.

2) Flush the toilet with water.

3) Measure ONE HALF CUP of mineral oil, and pour it down the open drain of the kitchen sink. (Take the drain stopper out first.)

4) Run some water down the drain in the sink. 

You have just lubed your tanks and macerator. Step 1 and 2 put the oil into the Black Tank. Step 3 and 4 put the oil into the grey tank.  You are DONE.

Simple. You can't get more simple than this.

The mineral oil in the tanks will lubricate the seals in the tank. The next time you dump and use the macerator that mineral oil will come through into internal workings of the macerator and lubricate those also.

Do this two to three times each year. I do this AFTER I De-winterize. I do this Mid-summer. I do this in the Fall. This is all that is needed.

Just as an aside - always keep the flap in the RV toilet covered with water to prevent it from drying out. In the winter when winterizing, use RV antifreeze instead of water.


NEED I SAY THIS? Never put mineral oil into the FRESH WATER TANKS. It will not harm the tanks but like Eveready batteries, you will keep going, and going, and going...

For the First Time...

This will probably be one of the shortest articles I have ever written for this site. For the first time since we got the Roadtrek, my black tank sensor reads empty. This may not sound like a big deal to most but to RV owners this is a rare occurrence. At the time that I am writing this article it has read empty for three weeks now.

I have written before that we have tried the GEO method of treating the black tank. This is the mixture of Calgon water softener mixed with washing machine liquid detergent. We did this for a year it had no better result in keeping the waste flowing out of the tank and keeping odors down than just using the tank chemical - digester/deodorizer/lube - that we buy in Walmart's RV section and have used since we first got the Roadtrek. Toward the end of that year of trying this I started adding the tank chemical to the GEO mixture to see if that would improve the result. The result I was looking for was to see the black tank sensor go to Empty - the bottom LED. That never happened. I tried cleaning the tank by flushing it with water through a tank wand. I tried pouring ten gallons of clean water down the toilet into the black tank after dumping and dumping again. No change. The sensor would read 1/3 or 2/3 and as soon as we started using the toilet the sensor would read Full. Sometimes each press of the test button with the empty tank would change from 2/3 to 1/3 and back again to 2/3. We knew the tank was empty but the sensor didn't. I pretty much gave up and at the end of the 2013 season, took the bottle of Calgon and the bottle of laundry detergent out of the Roadtrek and stored them away in the basement. Meryl does not use this type of laundry detergent in the washer at home and we don't need to use Calgon so they have been sitting there since last year.

Here is how I achieved the black tank sensor reading empty - and I hesitate to put this out in case it is a fluke and one time thing. And should it turn out to be that, I will come back to this article and let you know that it was a failed hope.  So, before our last trip I saw the bottle of Calgon in the basement and decided that since it was just sitting there, I would try an experiment. Since the trip before the tank sensor was now alternating reading Full or 2/3. It had never read full after dumping before.  I took the Calgon out to the Roadtrek and filled the entire bottle cap with liquid Calgon water softener. This is about three times what is recommended in the GEO method to do. I flushed it down the toilet into the black tank and followed it with a little water to get it out of the drain pipe and into the tank. There already was our usual one gallon of clean water added to the tank after dumping and the usual two ounces of the tank chemical treatment. That was it.

We went on our next trip a week later. When we dumped the black tank and the grey tank, I took the garden hose that we carry for the tank wand, connected it to the campsite water spigot, and added a shut off valve to the end of the hose. I shut the Roadtrek water pump off as I did not want that water going into the tank at the same time.  The hose was snaked into the Roadtrek through the driver's door to the toilet. Meryl turned on the spigot and I pointed the end of the hose into the toilet with my foot on the pedal to hold the flap open and I turned on the water - full force pointing down the drain pipe into the black tank. It took a little while for the tank to fill and for me to see the water coming up the pipe toward the bowl (using my flashlight and "no drop" lanyard). I turned the valve on the hose to off and called for Meryl to shut off the water. The hose and I then went back outside. We dumped the black tank again. The water that flowed was fairly clear.  I went inside and could not believe what I saw when I pushed the test button on the monitor. It read empty. It then went to 1/3 and I thought it was worth a try.

During that day we were traveling around the area before heading home that night and I checked the tank sensor again at the first stop. The black tank read EMPTY. And it has stayed that way to now (now being when this article was written which is not the day it is published). Was it the Calgon or the hose? Since I have done both before but never as much Calgon as this, I think it was a combination of too much Calgon - a full cap - and the heavy rinse with the hose to a full tank.

We have another trip coming up - again, before this article will appear - and I will repeat this. This next trip will be the last trip of the season before winterizing and I want that black tank empty for winterizing after this trip. If it works again, I will be back and share what happens in an addendum on this article. Stay tuned for the end of this cliffhanger.

Addendum:

A week before our next trip I went in and put another full cap of Calgon into the black tank. Before I did I noticed that the black tank monitor was no longer reading empty but now was at the 1/3 LED. When we started using the tank the first night of trip the monitor went quickly up to 2/3 and was at Full by the start of the next day. The tank was far, far from full. At the end of the the trip I flushed and emptied the tank and the monitor went no lower than 2/3. Back to the same old reading and it did not go down to 1/3 as it had been. When we winterized - and the tank was definitely empty - the tank was still at 2/3 and will likely stay there until the Spring. SO - it was nice while it lasted but perhaps this was a one time thing, not to be seen again. I did purchase another bottle of Calgon and it will be used through the new RVing season when it comes> We shall see if we ever get to see the monitor say the black tank is empty again. Until then don't jump to try this.   At least I can say now that I once saw the black tank monitor read empty.

Don't Drop the Flashlight Down the TOILET!

Whether it is a Roadtrek or any other RV the one statement that comes up repeatedly on RV Forums is "The black tank monitor never works right!" - and that is so true. My black tank monitor has never shown empty. We have had the dealer/service center change two of the sensors - the bottom two - and this requires leaving the old sensors in place while two new holes are drilled into the black tank for two new sensors, and then after inserting and locking the new sensors into the tank, moving the outside wiring from the old sensors to the new ones. That did not work. Well, that worked for about a day and then the black tank sensor went back to showing 1/3 full. Our monitor either shows 1/3 or 2/3 full when it is empty - and sometimes it will change day to day between 1/3 and 2/3 when it is checked when empty. Then when we are on a trip after one or two flushes of the toilet the monitor will then show that the black tank is full - and remain that way until the tank is dumped when it will go back to 1/3 or 2/3.

I know all of the tricks that are suggested to correct this. Put a bag of ice cubes down the toilet into the black tank - NO BAG, JUST THE ICE CUBES - and drive for several hours. This did not change anything - and if you have a macerator don't do this unless it is a hot day and you know all of the ice will have melted by the time you dump the tank. Then there is flush the black tank method. With a macerator you cannot flush the usual RV way though a garden hose connected to the gravity dump hose which shoots water into the tank and cleans it out. You have to use a flexible wand - which we have - and then connect the hose (NOT A FRESH WATER HOSE) to the wand and then put the wand down through the toilet flap and into the black tank from the top down. The water pressure from the hose is supposed to clean and flush the black tank - and with the macerator you dump the tank after you do this. That did not do much. Instead of getting out and hooking up the wand which means pulling a garden hose into the Roadtrek through the door and then to the toilet. One word of caution - never let go of the toilet pedal when using a wand and let the flap close on the wand - you will break the toilet flap and you will be faced with an expensive repair bill. (I have not done it but I know someone who has.) I have poured gallon jugs of clean water down the toilet flush hole until the tank shows full and then dump again. This does about the same job as the wand - still 1/3 or 2/3 on the monitor after dumping this to empty. Then there is the GEO method. With the GEO method you put a mixture of laundry water softener and laundry detergent into the toilet and let it sit there until the next dump. This is supposed to clean the tank, the sensors and the laundry water softener (Calgon) is supposed to make the walls of the tank and the sensors slick so that nothing will stick to them. We tried this for a year - and it did not correct the monitor. We tried a combination of this with RV toilet chemical and that did nothing different. We just use RV toilet chemical now in the tanks to prevent odor, digest solids and toilet paper, and to lube the valves (the chemical I use has lube in it for this purpose). So I have tried it all and the sensors still don't work for the black tank. I happen to be lucky and the sensors do work for everything else - at least they appear to be accurate. Many find that the sensors don't work for anything -and again this is universal to RV and Travel Trailer.

So why would such poor sensors be used. I can't answer that. There are some sensors that claim to have a better design and there is even a sensor system that reads the level of contents inside the tank from outside - like sonar. The only system that I have heard really works is that outside system and it is called SeeLevel, if you want to look into it. But this article is not about that...

So how do you know when your black tank is full? It is simple you look into it. You can tell by looking into the toilet with the flap open and looking for water (or whatever else) coming up the waste pipe that connects the toilet to the black tank down below. There is only one problem. It is dark down that hole!

The way to look down into the toilet to see if the black tank is full is to use a flashlight. I have a nice little thee AAA batteries, 9 LED flashlight that fits nicely into the hand. It is more than bright enough to light up the inside of the waste pipe and if water is coming up - meaning the black tank is full - you will see it easily. I have only one problem doing this. I have been afraid that I will drop the flashlight and it will go into the bowl and down into the pipe and down into the black tank - and if that happens, disaster. It would require removing the black tank to get the flashlight out. There is nothing that will ruin a vacation more than having this happen. With a gravity dump toilet there is a slight chance that the flashlight might flow out, but with the macerator it will go into the macerator and destroy the macerator. I needed foolproof way to keep from losing the flashlight down the toilet. And I came up with one.

I created a paracord lanyard that holds the flashlight tight around my wrist so that it cannot slip off and even if I drop it, it is not going anywhere I don't want it to go!

What I have done is put a flashlight on a short leash that attaches around my wrist.  The flashlight does not have far to go as long as it is attached to the wrist with this lanyard. Of course, there are many ways to make one of these. I make mine from 550 Paracord that is made in the USA from nylon with a seven strand inner nylon core. The cord will support 550 pounds before breaking. Paracord is very popular and you will see bracelets (often worn to show support for our soldiers and first responders), key fobs, and other other accessories - like this lanyard. The slides on my lanyard are tied with a cobra knot and the end knot at the wrist is a decorative diamond knot. Any flashlight with a place to attach a cord or strap and anything strong for the strap will work. 

I seem to always be dropping things. The flashlight is now one thing I don't have to be concerned about falling down into waste pipe when I drop it. Now, when do you know when to start looking down into the tank to see if it is full. Ideally, you want to start to learn your family's pattern of use - how long typically does it take for all of you to fill the black tank - which in the case of the Roadtrek is only ten gallons. After a couple of years now, we have learned that after four to five days the black tank is just about full. After five days, it is certainly full. Knowing this, we will empty the tank after every four days on a trip. The tank should be at 2/3 when emptying - and of course, that is anyone's guess. If I am uncertain, I pour down water into the tank before we are going to dump it until - with the flashlight - I see the water coming back up the waste pipe. Then we dump the tanks.

And, of course, this cannot be reminded too often, after every time that you dump the black tank, immediately add at least one gallon of clean water into the tank. The black tank should never be dry. In the winter when winterizing, that gallon into the black tank is RV antifreeze instead of water. Keep the black tank wet and you will not have problems - this is said time and time again by RV and Travel Trailer owners.

WINTERIZING YOUR ROADTREK - STEP BY STEP

I have written two other articles about winterizing the Roadtrek - Winterizing the Roadtrek and Winterizing Observations. Many of our readers have used both of these articles successfully to winterize their own Roadtrek. Looking over both articles and just completing our second winterizing experience on our own, I felt that what is needed is one article that puts the entire process in one place and definitively goes through the process in simple to follow steps. The basic process applies not only to all Roadtreks similarly equipped, but also all RVs and many trailers. There is no mystery to winterizing unless you have never done it before. With this article anyone should be able to winterize their Roadtrek and in no more than two hours - most likely a lot less. Remember that this is STEP BY STEP IN THE SIMPLEST OF STEPS. Do not let the number of steps you see here overwhelm you or discourage you!

 NOTE: If you have not installed a winterizing valve on your Roadtrek and/or you don't have a winterizing hand pump, Just pour the RV antifreeze into your EMPTY front (exterior) fresh tank and just use your water pump to put the RV antifreeze through the plumbing and fixtures. 

IF you just have the winterizing hand pump you can use that to do the entire process. It just takes two to do this - one inside the turn on and off the water fixtures and one outside with the pump and the RV Antifreeze bottle to pump. 

THIS IS A CHANGE TO WHAT TYPE OF RV ANTIFREEZE TO USE (SEPTEMBER 2024). IT HAS RECENTLY COME TO MY ATTENTION THAT RV ANTIFREEZE THAT IS ETHANOL BASED MIX OR FULLY ETHANOL IS NOT GOOD FOR THE SEALS IN THE TANKS OR THE TOILET. IT IS RECOMMENDED TO USE RV ANTIFREEZE THAT IS PROPYLENE GLYCOL BASED.  PROPYLENE GLYCOL RV ANTIFREEZE IS SAID TO BE GOOD FOR THE SEALS AND LUBRICATES THEM. MANY OF THE BOTTLES OF RV ANTIFREEZE SOLD ARE A COMBINATION OF THE TWO BUT APPARENTLY THAT DOES NOT HELP WITH THE MAJORITY OF ETHANOL THAT IS IN THE MIX. I HAVE SEARCHED LOCALLY FOR WHO CARRIES PROPYLENE GLYCOL RV ANTIFREEZE AND FOUND THAT HOME DEPOT CARRIES  THIS PROPYLENE GLYCOL RV ANTIFREEZE:

PRIME GUARD 128 FL OZ PG FORMULA AND GLYCERIN FREE  MINUS 50 DEGREE F RV ANTIFREEZE

IT IS MORE EXPENSIVE THAN THE ETHANOL BASED ANTIFREEZE AT VARIOUS RETAILERS. CURRENTLY IT IS SELLING FOR $7.98 A BOTTLE.  HOME DEPOT ALSO HAS A ETHANOL BASED RV ANTIFREEZE FROM THIS SAME COMPANY - DO NOT BUY THAT. TO AVOID PROBLEMS WITH THE TANK SEALS I AM SWITCHING TO PROPYLENE GLYCOL RV ANTIFREEZE FOR WINTERIZIING. (I am in no way related to this RV Antifreeze company or Home Depot and am not receiving anything in return for mentioning this product.)

THERE IS A RELATED CHANGE IN THE INSTRUCTIONS SECTION ABOUT WHAT TO USE TO KEEP YOUR TOILET BOWL FLUSH SEAL MOIST WHEN WINTERIZING. PLEASE LOOK FOR THAT. IT WILL ALSO BE IN RED.

 

To start, here is a list of what you will need to follow this process and as I go through the steps I will explain alternatives for some of these items. There are some that you must have.

WHAT YOU MUST HAVE BEFORE YOU START:

 -  THREE (3) BOTTLES OF RV ANTIFREEZE (Pink, non-toxic and drinking water safe)

 -  RATCHET SOCKET WRENCH with 1 -1/16" SOCKET (For Roadtrek SUBURBAN Water Heater)

WHAT YOU SHOULD HAVE BEFORE YOU START:

-   CAMCO WATER PUMP CONVERTER WINTERIZER KIT

This is permanently installed between the pipe coming from your fresh water tank and your water pump. Here it has been installed on the intake side of the water pump filter strainer (which on my Roadtrek was moved by service to make room to install the winterizing kit - the brass valve that you see here). Some older Roadtreks do not have room for this valve to be installed. It is possible to make room by adding pipe to the intake side of the water pump as was done here bringing the connection to the floor. A service center can install this for you and make it fit. If no modifications are required for space at your water pump this is an easy DIY install with full instructions included with the kit.

-   PLASTIC WINTERIZING HAND PUMP KIT

This is distributed by several RV accessories companies. They are all the same with the exception of color. If you cannot install the water pump converter above you can winterize with just this. With the pump converter, you will also want this as you will see in the winterizing steps below.

-  8" ADJUSTABLE WRENCH
The wrench is to remove and replace the cap on the water pump converter valve as shown above.

 Before you begin here is one preliminary step - 

CLEAN THE FLOOR OF YOUR ROADTREK AROUND THE SHOWER DRAIN TO AVOID ANY DIRT GETTING WASHED INTO YOUR WASTE TANK.

NOW - You are ready to BEGIN!

1. IF YOU HAVE A 190 OR 210 (Models with two fresh water tanks) MAKE SURE YOUR TANKS ARE SET TO SUMMER MODE. 

2. OPEN THE INSIDE SHOWER DRAIN BY REMOVING THE DRAIN SCREEN/PLUG. For an aisle shower remove the plate on the aisle floor and the shower drain is inside. For the permanent bathroom, remove the shower drain screen/plug from the floor.

3. OPEN ALL FAUCETS INSIDE AND OUTSIDE. FLUSH TOILET.  Water pump OFF! Put your inside shower head down on the floor right at the drain to catch the water that will come out. Remove any water filters that you may have on your faucets first.

4. DUMP YOUR WASTE TANKS - BLACK AND GREY. Flush your black tank with clean water to full and dump again.  For convenience this can be done at the end of your last camping trip of the season. As long as it is done before you start winterizing.



5. REMOVE THE FRESH WATER TANK FILL CAP(S) IN THE DOOR FRAME(S).

6. DRAIN YOUR FRESH WATER TANK(S). Newer Roadtreks have a cap on a drain under the chassis at the rear, lower corner of the driver's door that must be unscrewed and removed. Some older Roadtreks will have a turn valve in the same location. Other older Roadtreks have other methods to drain the fresh water tank. For 190's and 210's, the rear interior tank will drain into the front exterior tank with the outside drain if your are set to Summer Mode as per Step 1. WAIT FOR ALL OF THE WATER TO DRAIN OUT. This may take some time. It will come to a slow drip and then stop. If you want to be sure, leave the drain open for 24 hours or more to allow the inside of the tank to dry out.

7. CLOSE ALL FAUCETS INSIDE AND OUT.

8. CLOSE THE FRESH WATER TANK DRAIN.

9. KEEP THE FRESH WATER TANK CAP(S) OFF FOR A FEW DAYS TO ALLOW THE TANKS TO DRY OUT BEFORE PUTTING THEM  BACK INTO THE DOOR FRAME(S) HOLE(S).

10. OPEN THE HOT WATER HEATER OUTSIDE PANEL. Turn the white plastic ring so that it matches the slit and grab the top of the panel pulling up and out.

11. OPEN THE HOT WATER PRESSURE RELEASE VALVE. This is the small handle in the middle of the photo above on the top of the compartment. Pull up gently on the metal handle. STEP BACK AND OUT OF THE WAY! Water will come rushing out with some force. Leave this open. Wait for the water to stop coming out before going to the next step.

12. OPEN THE HEX HEAD BOLT USING THE 1 1/16" SOCKET AND RATCHET WRENCH. This is seen in the exact middle of the bottom of the compartment in the photo above. This will be hard to turn at first. This hex bolt is the head of the ANODE ROD. Once completely loose pull out the Anode Rod by pulling out the head of the bolt you just turned open. ALL OF THE WATER WILL RUSH OUT OF THE HOT WATER HEATER. YOU JUST DRAINED THE HOT WATER HEATER TANK. SOME WATER WILL REMAIN IN THE BOTTOM OF THE HOT WATER TANK. Y9U CAN LEAVE THIS OR LEAVE IT OPEN FOR A FEW DAYS TO LET IT DRY OUT.

13. INSPECT THE ANODE ROD FOR CONDITION. It's purpose is to corrode. If it's diameter is less than a pencil it needs to be replaced. Replace with a new one now or make a note to replace when you de-winterize.  THIS IS A GOOD TIME TO FLUSH THE HOT WATER TANK OF ALL SEDIMENT - FOLLOW THIS ARTICLE TO SEE HOW.

14. REPLACE THE ANODE ROD AND TIGHTEN IT IN WITH THE SOCKET WRENCH. Use Teflon pipe tape or pipe sealant paste on the threads of the hex bolt.

15.  CLOSE THE PRESSURE RELIEF VALVE BY JUST GENTLY PUSHING IN THE HANDLE YOU PULLED OUT.

16. REPLACE THE HOT WATER HEATER PANEL. Put the bottom in first lining up the two points on the bottom frame with the two holes in the door. Push in with the plastic ring going through the slot. TURN THE PLASTIC RING TO LOCK.

GO INSIDE THE ROADTREK 

17.  BYPASS THE HOT WATER HEATER. Newer Roadtreks have three valves on pipes in the middle of the hot water tank inside in a cabinet. The hot water tank is covered in foam and is easy to identify. Older Roadtreks may have one valve. Roadtrek Ranger's have a very different process to drain the hot water tank and there is only one valve for the bypass.

You see above the three valves that you need to turn to bypass the water heater. The foam box behind the pipes is the hot water tank. There is a valve on the top pipe, one on the down (middle) pipe, and one on the bottom pipe. In this photo these valves are in NORMAL HOT WATER USE POSITION. TURN THEM IN THEIR OTHER DIRECTION and you have bypassed the hot water heater!   What you are doing is closing the valves on the top and bottom pipes and OPENING the valve on the down pipe. This is a bit confusing, but if you think about what you are trying to accomplish - cutting off water from the hot water tank and sending water around it, it starts to make sense as that down pipe once opened will send water around the closed connections. When in bypass water still comes out of the hot water faucets - it will just be COLD water - and that is what is should be when the hot water heater is bypassed.

18. PLUG IN YOUR ROADTREK OR TURN ON YOUR GENERATOR IF YOUR COACH BATTERIES ARE NOT FULLY CHARGED. You will now be using your water pump and you don't want to run out of battery power. If your batteries are charged, just use your batteries. TURN ON YOUR BATTERY DISCONNECT SWITCH.

19.  TURN ON YOUR WATER PUMP WITH THE SWITCH ON THE WALL.

20. OPEN AND CLOSE ALL FAUCET HANDLES INCLUDING THE SHOWER HOT AND COLD AND FLUSH THE TOILET UNTIL NO MORE WATER COMES OUT. The water pump may run on because it is now sucking air from the empty fresh water tanks.

21. TURN OFF THE WATER PUMP WITH THE SWITCH ON THE WALL. 

22. OPEN THE TOILET LID AND POUR ONE HALF GALLON OR MORE OF ANTIFREEZE INTO THE TOILET AND FLUSH IT DOWN INTO THE BLACK TANK. Doing this step now prevents the loss of antifreeze that you put into the toilet lines if you do this step later. This is to keep the black tank wet all winter with antifreeze so that it does not dry out and also puts antifreeze in that you will use later to protect the macerator. Do this even if you don't have a macerator. 

GO OUTSIDE THE ROADTREK

23. CONNECT THE HOSE ON THE ANTIFREEZE HAND PUMP ONTO THE CITY WATER INLET CONNECTION. Make sure that the CITY WATER VALVE IS SET TO USE WATER AND NOT TO FILL THE FRESH TANK(S).

24. SOMEONE NEEDS TO GO INSIDE THE ROADTREK TO THE SINK FAUCET, WHILE YOU STAY AT OUTSIDE WITH THE HAND PUMP. Open a door or a window or use a walkie-talkie so that the two of you can communicate.

25. PERSON INSIDE OPEN THE SINK FAUCET ALL THE WAY TO COLD.

26. PUT THE OTHER END OF THE HAND PUMP INTO AN OPEN, FULL ANTIFREEZE BOTTLE.

27. PUMP THE HAND PUMP UNTIL THE PERSON INSIDE SEES PURE PINK ANTIFREEZE COMING OUT INTO THE SINK FROM THE FAUCET. As soon as the person sees pink antifreeze and no water coming out and tells you, they should CLOSE THE FAUCET and YOU STOP PUMPING.

28. REMOVE THE HAND PUMP FROM THE CITY WATER HOSE CONNECTION. The pump is full of antifreeze and will spill so get both ends of the hose into the bottle quickly and empty the pump. 

29. CAP THE CITY WATER HOSE CONNECTION IF YOU HAVE A CAP.

GO INSIDE THE ROADTREK YOU ARE FINISHED WITH THE HAND PUMP. YOU HAVE JUST PROTECTED THE CITY WATER HOSE VALVE AND THE PIPES THAT GO INSIDE THE ROADTREK.

YOU ARE NOW GOING TO USE THE WATER PUMP CONVERTER VALVE. IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A WATER PUMP CONVERTER VALVE INSTALLED YOU CAN USE THE HAND PUMP BY FOLLOWING THE NEXT STEPS WITH THE HAND PUMP STILL CONNECTED AND ONE PERSON INSIDE AND ONE PERSON OUTSIDE PUMPING ANTIFREEZE INTO THE PLUMBING USING THE HAND PUMP.

30. REMOVE THE WATER PUMP CONVERTER VALVE CAP. You may need the 8" adjustable wrench to do this if the cap is on tight. 

31. CONNECT THE WATER PUMP CONVERTER VALVE ANTIFREEZE HOSE TO THE VALVE BY SCREWING IT ON WHERE YOU REMOVED THE CAP.

32. OPEN THE VALVE. Turn the brass valve to point toward the antifreeze hose (across the valve).

33. PUT THE END OF THE HOSE INTO THE ANTIFREEZE IN THE BOTTLE.

34. TURN ON THE WATER PUMP.

35. TURN ON THE KITCHEN SINK FAUCET TO COLD ALL THE WAY. In a few moments the pump will pull the antifreeze from the bottle and into the water pump, through the pipe and out the kitchen sink faucet.

36. TURN OFF THE FAUCET WHEN YOU SEE PURE PINK ANTIFREEZE ONLY COMING FROM FAUCET INTO THE SINK. First there may be a burst of air, then maybe, but unlikely water, and then antifreeze with some water, and then pure pink antifreeze. Let it go down the sink drain.

37. REPEAT STEPS 35 AND 36 FOR THE

                      KITCHEN SINK HOT WATER

                      INSIDE SHOWER COLD WATER

                      INSIDE SHOWER HOT WATER

                      OUTSIDE SHOWER HOT WATER

                      OUTSIDE SHOWER COLD WATER
                    

      IF YOU HAVE A PERMANENT BATH WITH A SINK THAT IS NOT THE SAME FAUCET AS THE SHOWER FAUCET:

 

                      BATHROOM SINK HOT WATER

                      BATHROOM SINK COLD WATER

                       QUICKLY OPEN AND CLOSE THE HOT WATER HEATER BYPASS VALVES TO ALLOW A LITTLE RV ANTIFREEZE TO FLOW INTO THE VALVES TO PROTECT THOSE. CLOSE THOSE VALVES ALMOST IMMEDIATELY!

38. FLUSH THE TOILET AND HOLD THE VALVE OPEN UNTIL YOU SEE PURE PINK ANTIFREEZE COMING INTO THE TOILET.

39. ALLOW SOME ANTIFREEZE TO REMAIN IN THE TOILET COVERING THE RUBBER FLUSH FLAP/DOOR. If there is none remaining after you flushed the antifreeze, then just pour some from an antifreeze bottle into the toilet and let an inch or so sit over the flush flap.

**** UPDATE/ADD IN -

Having followed my own directions for several years now to winterize my Roadtrek, I have found one step that needs to come at THIS POINT and not later. That step is winterizing the macerator pump. IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A MACERATOR SKIP NOW RIGHT TO STEP 49. IF YOU DO HAVE A MACERATOR, do these steps NOW.


40. POUR A HALF GALLON OF ANTIFREEZE INTO THE KITCHEN SINK DRAIN. This is to put some antifreeze into the Grey Tank.

41. TURN OFF THE WATER PUMP. LEAVE THE SETUP WITH THE A/F BOTTLE AND THE WINTERIZING VALVE IN PLACE.

 GO OUTSIDE THE ROADTREK

41. PREPARE TO DUMP THE BLACK TANK WITH THE MACERATOR.

42. POINT THE MACERATOR HOSE INTO A BUCKET AND OPEN THE BLACK TANK VALVE. RUN THE MACERATOR UNTIL PURE PINK ANTIFREEZE COMES OUT. 

43. REPEAT STEP 42, BRIEFLY OPENING THE GREY TANK VALVE. 

44. STOP AND PUT AWAY THE MACERATOR HOSE.

YOU HAVE JUST PROTECTED THE MACERATOR.    

 GO INSIDE THE ROADTREK

45. GO TO THE TOILET AND OPEN THE TOILET FLAP. POUR AT LEAST ONE HALF GALLON OF RV ANTIFREEZE DOWN THE TOILET INTO TH BLACK TANK. When you push the flush pedal you may see pink antifreeze coming from the toilet water opening even though the water pump is OFF. This is OK. This is the antifreeze sitting in the toilet valve and pipe under pressure. We will replace that NEXT.
 

46. TURN ON THE WATER PUMP AND GO BACK TO THE A/F BOTTLE AND WINTERIZING VALVE. MAKE SURE THE HOSE IS IN THE BOTTLE.

47. HAVE YOUR PARTNER PUSH DOWN THE TOILET PEDAL ALL THE WAY UNTIL PINK ANTIFREEZE FLOWS STEADILY OUT OF THE TOILET WATER OPENING INTO THE BOWL AND DOWN INTO THE BLACK TANK. STOP (FOOT OFF THE PEDAL) AS SOON AS IT FLOWS.  

48. CHANGED STEP --- 9/2024 -  WE NOW NEED TO KEEP THE RUBBER SEAL IN THE BOTTOM OF THE TOILET BOWL MOIST FOR THE WINTER.  IN THE SUMMER WE DO THIS WITH WATER. FOR THE WINTER I RECOMMEND THAT YOU GET THIS PRODUCT - OR USE THE PROPYLENE GLYCOL RV ANTIFREEZE THE PRODUCT I AM RECOMMENDING FOR THIS STEP IS THETFORD TOILET SEAL LUBRICANT AND CONDITIONER. THIS USE IS RECOMMENDED ON THE BOTTLE IN ADDITION TO THE OTHER THINGS IT IS USED FOR WITH THE TOILET SEAL. PER THE BOTTLE POUR 1/4 OF THE CONTENTS OF THE BOTTLE (6 OUNCES) ONTO THE TOILET FLAP AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BOWL WITH THE BLACK RUBBER RING AROUND ITS EDGE.  THIS WILL COVER THE FLAP UP TO THE TOP OF THAT INDENT IN THE BOWL.  IF YOU USE THE RV ANTIFREEZE INSTEAD THEN PUT 6 OUNCES OF THAT ON THE SAME WAY.  THIS PRODUCT IS NOT EASY TO FIND LOCALLY.  IT CAN BE FOUND ONLINE. IF THERE IS AN RV DEALER WITH A PARTS SHOP TRY CALLING THEM TO SEE IF THEY HAVE IT. I TRIED TWO - ONE DID NOT AND THE OTHER WAS ABLE TO GET IT FOR ME THE NEXT DAY TO COME AND PICK UP. (I am in no way related to the Thetford company and I am not receiving anything in return for mentioning this product.)

 

*49. TAKE THE HOSE OUT OF THE ANTIFREEZE BOTTLE.

50. TURN ON THE KITCHEN SINK AND LET ANTIFREEZE RUN OUT INTO THE SINK.

51. TURN OFF THE WATER PUMP.

52. TURN THE WATER PUMP CONVERTER VALVE HANDLE TO POINT TOWARD THE WATER PIPE (AS SHOWN IN THE PHOTO ABOVE). 


53. UNSCREW THE HOSE FROM THE WATER PUMP CONVERTER VALVE.

54. PUT THE CAP BACK ON THE WATER PUMP CONVERTER VALVE. Make sure the cap is on tight. Use the wrench but don't over tighten. You want to be sure that no air can leak into your water pump plumbing from here when you go to use your Roadtrek next Spring. 



55. POUR A CUP OF ANTIFREEZE SLOWLY INTO THE KITCHEN SINK DRAIN TO FILL THE TRAP.

56. POUR A CUP OF ANTIFREEZE SLOWLY INTO THE SHOWER DRAIN TO FILL THE TRAP.

57. PUT THE SHOWER DRAIN STRAINER/CAP ON BUT LEAVE IT LOOSE.

58. IF YOU DON'T HAVE A MACERATOR AND DID NOT DO THIS STEP ABOVE, POUR SOME ANTIFREEZE INTO THE TOILET TO COVER THE TOILET FLAP AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BOWL TO KEEP IT FROM DRYING OUT OVER THE WINTER.

59. TURN OFF THE BATTERY SWITCH ON THE WALL!

60. IF YOU PLUGGED IN FOR POWER UNPLUG OR TURN OFF THE GENERATOR.

61. IN A FEW DAYS, PUT THE DOOR FILL CAP(S) BACK INTO THE HOLE(S). 

 YOU HAVE JUST WINTERIZED YOUR ROADTREK!

 
When you are going to winterize your Roadtrek print these step by step directions out and cross off each step as you complete it. This will be far better than trying to use a checklist with brief and confusing wording of items. Here you have it complete and simple. 

If you do not wish to use the "toys" that make this job simple as shown in the photos at the beginning, you could just pour gallons and gallons of antifreeze down into the fresh water tank and let the water pump bring it out and into the pipes following the steps above. This method uses far more antifreeze than is necessary. With my directions you will not need more than three gallons of antifreeze, maybe less. I would rather not have the antifreeze in the tanks for my drinking water. Yes, it is in the pipes and is is non-toxic, but why have all of that antifreeze sitting in your fresh water tank(s) all winter.

Do not be concerned about the fresh water tank(s). If there is any water left in the bottom of the exterior tank at all it will be so little that it can cause no problems in a freeze. The problems come when water freezes in small places such as pipes and valves. The water when it freezes expands and has no room to go so the pipe or valve bursts. The large tanks have plenty of room for water expansion as long as they are as near empty as possible. In all of those small places you have replaced the water with antifreeze!


If you plan to travel with your Roadtrek winterized, NEVER TURN ON THE HOT WATER HEATER SWITCH. Doing so on an empty hot water tank will burn out your hot water heater and can be very dangerous. There is a wire cable coming out from the top of the foam tank that connects with a small circuit board plug to a socket on the wall to the front right of the hot water tank. By pulling that plug gently out you will prevent the hot water wall switch from operating. Just remember that you did this when you de-winterize.

Don't forget that you still need to go into your Roadtrek all winter. You must run the generator under load (in the winter this means connect an electric heater to put the half load needed on the system) for two hours every month to keep it running properly.Start the Roadtrek engine. Take a drive, but avoid roads with salt for ice and snow as the salt will corrode the under carriage and what is located there of your Roadtrek

An RV shop will charge you $50 or more to do what you just did for the price of three bottles antifreeze, a one time only investment in the water pump converter valve and the antifreeze hand pump, and less than two hours of time. The actual process goes quickly. It is the moving from spot to spot, getting things out and putting things away that take most of the time.


 

 

ANATOMY OF A TRIP Part 7

TRIP DAY 5 Saturday (Last Day and The Trip Home):

It was hot and very humid this morning. We started to prepare to dump the waste tanks – black and grey. The monitor was showing the black tank full but it has been showing full on the monitor panel since the day we arrived and started using the toilet. The black tank had a gallon of water in it before we started the trip. The grey tank had just started showing 2/3 full on the monitor panel. Our grey tank monitor is pretty close to accurate. The black tank is way off and generally shows 2/3 or full.  It is important to have at least 2/3 of the black tank full before dumping and I use the shower hose to put water down the toilet to be sure the tank is at 2/3. The tank was actually near full as it only took one gallon of water before the water rose up from the tank and into the pipe which is visible with a flashlight pointed down into the toilet with the flap open.  We were now ready to go outside and dump the tanks. Meryl is the one who holds the hose into the sewer opening as I cannot bend down to do that. She took a pair of vinyl gloves with her. We keep a box of gloves in the Roadtrek just for this purpose.

We were also going to refill the front fresh water tank so that we would have water if we needed during this last day and for the trip home. There is no sense in having a bathroom that travels with you if there is no water to use it. Meryl took a small spray bottle that we keep inside and filled it with half bleach and half water. This is really a very small spray bottle – it maybe holds two ounces total.  The bleach and water is to spray on the water spigot on our campground site to sanitize it before we connect our fresh water hose to it.

We left the A/C on inside – we were still hooked up to shore power as we were going to need some relief from the heat when we were finished. Outside Meryl pulled the macerator hose out of the compartment fully to get ready to dump. She opened the sewer cap which was just sitting in the pipe that was coming up from the ground and she pulled the black handle out. I pushed the button under the driver’s seat from the open driver’s door. Note – when the seat is not swiveled facing forward forward and is still in lounge position, there is a lot of grease under there so don’t touch the base of the seat swivel or you will get black grease on your hands as I did. (The grease is supposed to be there to keep the seat turning smoothly.) The black tank emptied quickly. There is no evidence of any solid waste that comes out or toilet paper. Everything that comes out had turned to liquid which is the job of the waste chemical. (Not so pleasant to think about but the system really does work as it is supposed to – and we do not hesitate to put toilet paper down into the tank – we shall talk about that idea at another time.) When the liquid that is flowing starts to sputter and little liquid is coming out you have reached the time to stop and then we pushed the black tank valve handle back in and pulled the grey handle out. Back to the button and the water ran clear with some evidence of the soap that we had been using when washing.  Both tanks were empty in less than ten minutes – maybe even less, I did not time it.

We went over to the campground restrooms to wash so that we were clean to fill the front fresh water tank. This could have been done first but for some reason it is just easier to dump the tanks and then get to this after. The water spigot got sprayed with the bleach mixture and we then connected a four foot hose and a ten foot hose with our water filter in between. As I had noted in the preparation for the trip, by turning the water spigot on just an 1/8 of a turn, the water will flow enough to fill the tank through the doors but not so fast that it causes any back up or air bubbles. The water tank filled with no problem.

I pulled my banner stand out of the ground and that and the banner was put away on the floor of the rear under-bed storage compartment through the rear doors. The next step is usually to pick up the leveling markers but as they were stolen that did not need to happen. I also made a visual check that the roof antenna was down.It had been up the night before and I put it down before going to bed.

It was nice and cool inside the Roadtrek. I put four ounces of tank chemical into the toilet, followed that with one cap of Calgon and two caps of detergent and a gallon of water. (A gallon of water is approximately the level of the toilet’s ledge where the water comes out.) All of these additives are kept in the storage in the third seat. While it was opened we noticed that it was wet at the bottom. The measuring cup that I use to measure mineral oil for tank seal lube had dripped out of the plastic bag i was wrapped in. Evidently, I had not wiped it down enough – perhaps I had and the intense heat inside has cause residual oil to run off. That got mopped up and that measuring cup is now stored in a ziplock bag.

We then started to go through the departure checklist and a visual inspection of the campsite just to make sure that everything that should be inside was inside and coming home with us. All was ready to go, but before we drove off, we went to the campground store with the burnt out light bulb to see if they had a replacement. There was a section with different types of RV bulbs but none looked like this. The woman at the counter said that the bulb we had was a “special’ bulb. Well, the Roadtrek is special so naturally it would have a special bulb… Needless to say, they did not have the bulb or any "special" bulbs. I asked if there was an RV accessories shop in Lancaster. There were two general RV service centers but not near by. She gave us the names and addresses for both but looking at where they were located we decided that we would not spend the last day of our vacation trip driving to one to replace a light bulb. What we still had no bulb number and could only show the burnt out bulb in hope that someone would recognize it to sell us a replacement, so we could not even call ahead to find out if either had the bulb. 

We left the campground to spend a, last for now, pleasant day. Our last day in this area is generally going back to the places we enjoy most (that are open on that day) and just leisurely spend the day, have dinner, and then drive home. By leaving late and traveling home at night, we avoid traffic and have a full day for fun.

END OF PART 7. PART 8 NEXT WEEK.

 

Living in the Roadtrek - Dumping the Waste Tanks

In this article we are going to talk about the pleasant subject of dumping your waste tanks. Some of what I will tell you about applies basically to all RVs and some applies only to Roadtreks since Roadtrek added the macerator dump system as standard equipment in all models. I will first start with the basics.

The Roadtrek has two separate waste tanks. One is called the Black Tank - and has "black water" in that tank. This is the tank that is connected only to your toilet. Everything that goes into the toilet is dropped down into the Black Tank. The other tank is called the Grey Tank and has "grey water" in it. This is the tank that is connected to your sink drain(s Roadtreks that have the enclosed bathroom option also have a bathroom sink) and your shower drain. This is water will be clean water that has flowed down the drain and also water from washing your hands, washing dishes, and taking a shower. This water is likely to have soap mixed in. The Roadtrek has a 23 gallon grey tank and a 10 gallon black tank - yes, the black tank holds only ten gallons of water mixed with waste. The grey tank size will vary with model. All models except the 170 have a ten gallon black tank (the 170 black tank is only 8 gallons).

Once those tanks fill up you need a way to empty them and that is called "dumping" your tanks. The traditional RV has a gravity dump system. With this system a three inch wide hose is connected to a connector that is part of two valves that open and close the tanks. The other end of that hose is put into a hole in the ground that leads to a sewer and by gravity, when the valves are opened one at a time the waste and water flow out through the hose from the tanks and go down into the sewer. The process can take a bit of time and requires that there be sufficient height from the bottom of the tanks where the valve enters each tank for gravity to be able to work to carry the waste and water out. Older Roadtreks have this system. Newer Roadtreks do not.

Newer Roadtreks have a MACERATOR. A macerator is an electric pump with a grinder attached. It is very much like a sink garbage disposal system. The macerator is connected to two pipes that each are connected to a valve that goes into the black tank and the grey tank. Inside the macerator is an impeller that spins pumping the water from the tank into the macerator and also a pair of stainless steel very sharp cutting blades. All of the waste the comes into the macerator with the water is ground up into liquid by the spinning cutting blades - think of a blender or food processor. That thin solution is then pushed through a flex hose that is about one inch in diameter and out a nozzle into the sewer hole. The process is quick and relatively odorless - unless you stick your nose into the sewer hole. There is a momentary switch that turns the macerator on and off - push the switch - on - let go of the switch - off. This switch is located inside the driver's door and on the newer Roadtreks it is a red button on the frame of the driver's seat facing out the door. The macerator enables the Roadtrek which is close to the ground to pump the waste and water out of the tanks with little gravity and it can even push the waste uphill if that is where the sewer hole is. Roadtrek felt that this is the better system for a Class B that is so close to the ground on the bottom.

Which system is better? There are a lot of strong opinions on this. There are positives to be said for both systems. The one reason that makes sense more than others about the traditional gravity system being better is that since it is not mechanical in any way, there is very little that can go wrong with the system. You don't need electricity (the macerator will work with either the coach battery(ies) or 120 volt hook up). Not much can clog a three inch hose. And you can always add a portable macerator to the end of a gravity hose to do the same job as the built in Roadtrek macerator. More importantly, you are not dealing with a motor that can break or an impeller that can get jammed from waste or hair that may have gone down the drain. It may sound like I don't like the macerator in my Roadtrek - and that is not true. I like how fast it empties the tanks and I also know that the way some campground sewer connections are and some dump stations can be, the fact that the macerator can move the water without gravity can be an advantage. I am not going to go into the things that people say about the macerator system in general. I will tell you that the macerator's number one enemy is HAIR. Put good hair screens on all of your drains and do not allow hair to flow down the drains. Think of a vacuum cleaner whose rotating brushes pick up hair on the floor and twist that hair around the brush until it cannot turn any more. This is exactly what hair COULD do to a macerator impeller. If you are careful you are fine.

It is important to understand one other thing that the difference between a macerator system and a gravity system effects. With a gravity system you could connect your dump hose to the sewer connection at the campground and open the grey valve (it is generally recommended not to do this with the black valve for the black tank) and let all of the grey water go into the tank and then right out again into the sewer. This permits endless showers, washing, etc. The grey tank never fills up and it empties all of the time when water goes in and you are hooked up. You will see RVs do this all the time at campgrounds. YOU CANNOT DO THIS WITH THE ROADTREK MACERATOR SYSTEM. With the macerator the tank only empties when you push and hold in the button. No water will flow through on its own. So you must rely upon your tank to hold the water that goes down the sink and shower drains and then empty it when it is full.

OK - now the fun part - the how to do it. Well, you know how to do it. You have been doing it since you were born. Now you will learn how to get rid of it in a Roadtrek.

Before you can dump the waste tanks, each tank must be at least 2/3 full. The 2/3 indicator for each tank is on the monitor panel inside your Roadtrek. It is the next to last light from the top - the top light is full (which is OK to dump at too). If you want to dump and you don't have that much in your tanks, put some more in. Open the faucet and let the water run into the grey tank and flush the toilet until you have enough water in the black tank. I use a gallon water jug that we carry and I go out to the hose faucet on the campground site and fill it and dump it down the toilet until we reach 2/3 or full. Once you get enough into the tanks you can start to dump them.

First, you must have electrical power on - either your coach batteries or 120 volt power (hookup or generator). Make sure your Battery Disconnect switch is ON - red light is lit. If I am not connected to 120 volt power I like to start the van engine just to give the macerator motor a little extra umpf to work.

Open the side compartment where your macerator is located. On my 190 it is a lift up door for the side storage compartment. Also open the door - on mine - next to the storage compartment to the front of the van - to access the grey and black tank handles.

You pull the hose out of its compartment, nozzle first. It has worked best when the entire hose is removed from the compartment until it reaches its full length. This hose is connected under your Roadtrek to the macerator. Don't pull once the hose stops coming out! In the photo above you see the green hose with the white and grey nozzle. The black handle on the top is a valve to stop the water from coming out of the nozzle. Open the driver's door to get to the macerator power button.

The sewer connection is a four inch pipe in the ground - usually plastic pipe - with a screw on cap. Always keep a box of latex surgical gloves (or the non-latex gloves if you have an allergy to latex). You can get these in boxes of a hundred in many places. Put on a pair of the gloves - remember what you are dumping through that hose that you will be holding. If you don't have a sewer connection at your campsite then there will be a dump station at the campground (or at various other places) for everyone to use. Usually there is one - and you can expect to wait in line for your turn. At these there may be a large metal plate in the ground covering a large open hole. Don't fall in. (You are laughing but in the next county to us there is a free public dump station at a sewage disposal plant, and there are large open manholes in the pavement to dump into - and one wrong step and you are down and dirty and likely to drown or wish you did.) The sewer connection at your campsite is much safer and much more pleasant. It is well worth the extra few dollars a night to have a site with your own sewer connection. OK - go over to the sewer pipe, unscrew the cap, and put the cap on the side. Remember what everyone else has been pouring around this hole and mind where you step (at least be aware of the possibility that it is not necessarily the cleanest spot in the campground).

Now, it gets really fun. Go to your Roadtrek and open the black tank valve by pulling the black handle - a newer Roadtrek will have color coordinated handles. I have heard that there are some older ones that have handles that have no difference in color - both black, both grey. The handles are easy to change and you can buy ones in black or grey at RV supply stores. A newer Roadtrek also has a label printed next to each valve. So easy. Below is a photo of our valve compartment.


What you see in this photo is both valve handles open. I will explain this later. Now, you only want to pull the black handle to open the black tank. YOU ALWAYS DUMP THE BLACK TANK FIRST - no matter if you have a gravity system or a macerator.

Dumping a Roadtrek with a macerator is a two person process. I will explain how one person can do this later. For now let's assume you have a partner to do this. This is one of those togetherness things that couples enjoy. And in the tight quarters of a Class B RV you have a lot of togetherness moments.

One person is now going to take the nozzle connected to the green hose (some older Roadtreks have different color hoses and those hoses had problems breaking - Roadtrek has since about 2008 replaced the hose with a durable hose) and bring it over the the sewer hole. Hold the end of the nozzle into the hole - you do have to bend to do this (can't bend - don't worry - I can tell you what to do). Turn the black handle on the nozzle so that it points to the opening of the nozzle - open position - look at the photo a few paragraphs back to see the nozzle in the open position (we keep ours that way all of the time - I will tell you why later).

You now give your partner the GO signal that you are ready for the sh.. I mean waste to start to flow and your partner will press the red button that is inside the driver's door. Push and hold that button - for now.

The motor of the macerator will start and you will see the hose contort a bit as it fills up and then it all flows out the end of the nozzle into the hole - hold it down enough into the sewer hold to avoid splashing on you. (I know you are saying ycch! Really, it is not bad at all if you do it correctly. We really were pleasantly surprised the first time we did this. ) You will get a full flow at first - and generally it is almost clear water and then the water turns dark brown - you really don't have to look.


Here is Meryl with the nozzle in the sewer hole. Yes, this is her job. I am at the button. She is holding the nozzle a bit high and this is JUST for the photo so that you can see what to do. See, she is wearing rubber gloves. She also has on her "OK to get wet" shoes though she really does not want to get them wet here doing this. Keep the button pressed until only spurts are coming out of the hose. At this point the black tank is as empty as it needs to be. Roadtrek and the macerator company say that you will hear a change in sound made by the macerator motor when you should stop. It is supposed to make a high pitch whine - a change in tone from the regular sound. We don't really hear that. We have been told that it is definitely different in tone. As soon as water is down to those spurts stop. At this point we have been letting go of the button and then pushing it again and another stream of water will come out - but we have been learning that this is not a good idea - so AS SOON as you see the water flow slow down to spurts, STOP. If you run the macerator motor when it is dry you will burn it out! You have now emptied the black tank - one more tank to go!

The rest is simple. Have your partner at the button pull out the grey handle. There are a lot of varying opinions about closing the black handle now by pushing it back in, leaving it open while you dump the grey tank, or opening the grey handle, allowing a little water from the grey tank to back flow into the black tank and with the soapy water cleaning that tank a little. We have tried it all. At the moment we are leaving the black handle open (pulled out) while we are dumping the grey tank (grey handle pulled out). This is a common suggestion in this process and unless we encounter some problem after having done this for a year now, we will follow the common trend. Basically, you can dump the grey tank with or without the black handle open.

The reason that you are dumping the grey tank last is that you do want that soapy water to follow that black water and clean out the macerator and the hose - and almost three times the amount of water is going to come through the grey tank and out the hose.

With the grey handle pulled out - repeat what you did for the black tank exactly the same. Nozzle into the sewer hole, push the red button, and the grey water flows out into the sewer. The grey water looks either clear or grey depending upon how much soap went down the drain. It can also be bubbly from the soap - but not always. Again, hold the button down until the water starts to spurt and then stop. The grey tank is as empty as needed.

At this point push in the grey handle and push in the black handle. Your waste tanks are empty. But that is not always the end of the process I am sorry to say. You can stop here if need be. This is what the problem COULD be. The tank monitor sensors are notoriously inaccurate. They can be made inaccurate, particularly in the black tank if something has caught on one of them - like toilet paper and causes it to make incorrect contact and result in reading as if there was water on it and the tank is full to that level. You could have an empty tank that still reads 2/3 or even Full. You know it is empty - you just emptied to the point of nothing more coming out. But that monitor panel is saying something else. What a pain!

Here is what you can do - which sometimes works and sometimes doesn't and is recommended anyway. You are going to flush the black tank with clean water and empty it again. I have done this two ways. One way with my gallon jug and I fill and dump ten gallons of clean water down the toilet letting it rush into the toilet hole with a little force from gravity (it will splash a little as you do this). I also purchased a tank cleaning wand - for the Roadtrek you must have one with a FLEXIBLE HOSE END - that is a rigid wand with a flexible hose at the end about two feet long and the end of that has either multiple small hose for water to come out or a spinning brass end that swirls water around. You connect this wand to a garden hose - you can see my olive green coil hose in the first photo in the compartment (sold at all of the home stores and Walmart in the summer). NEVER USE A FRESH WATER HOSE FOR THIS! There is a shut off valve on your end of the wand. Turn the hose water faucet on full, wand valve OFF, and put the end of the hose into the toilet. Open the toilet valve with your foot and BE CAREFUL NOT TO LET THE TOILET VALVE CLOSE ON THE WAND OR YOU WILL DAMAGE THE TOILET! Snake the end of the flex hose all the way down into the black tank. Yes, when it come out it will not be very pleasant and you need to wear latex gloves for this job and have disinfectant cleanser and paper towels on hand to clean this wand before you put it away. The wand acts like a pressure washer and you move the wand around so that it gets to every part of the tank - up and down, around and around. Anything clinging to a sensor or the tank walls will be knocked off - and all of the water going in is clean. You want to fill the tank with this now until it is at least 2/3 full. When it is full completely, you will see water come up the drain pipe toward the toilet. Stop by shutting off the valve on your end of the wand. Get the wand outside to clean it so that you don't mess up anything inside your Roadtrek.

Now, go back outside and dump your black tank only all over again. Just as you did before. Roadtrek does recommend flushing the tank every time you dump it. When you are done, and you allow the tank to dry out a little you will actually see the monitor panel read empty - if you are lucky.

Now, it is time to put away your macerator hose and finish up. First, close the sewer hole by screwing the cap back on. Keep those gloves on! Next, leave the nozzle valve OPEN. This is to allow air to escape from the macerator hose when you bend it and cram it back into its compartment. This compartment is a TIGHT fit. A few more inches would have done wonders. Push the hose back in - back end first and just keep pushing and fitting the hose in until it is all inside. Now, take the nozzle and push that in with the nozzle opening facing UP. At this point you could turn that black nozzle valve closed, but we have found that it fits inside much better with the nozzle valve handle straight to the nozzle and not across as it is in the closed position. It is also much easier to get out this way. Clean your wand and put it away - ours is in a large plastic bag in the side storage compartment and it is a pain and always in the way- but this is the best place so far we have found to keep it.

You are almost finished. Go inside the Roadtrek and pour a gallon of clean water into the toilet and let it go down into the black tank. You might add the deodorizer/digester chemical of your choice to the water now too. YOU MUST ALWAYS HAVE WATER IN YOUR BLACK TANK! You never want it to dry out or you will have big problems. When it comes to your black tank, water is your best friend - and plenty of it. Now, you are finished. The whole process can take us about 45 minutes and that is only because of the time needed to flush the black tank. If we are not flushing - like at a public dump site - it takes us about 15 minutes to empty both tanks - or less. It really goes fast.

Now - some extras!

You say - "I don't want to stand and look into the sewer hole holding the nozzle!" or you say - "I can't bend over the hole to do this!" or you say - "I am all alone, now what do I do?!". Well you have a solution - the same one for all three - you use two donuts.

Uhhh? I eat two donuts and this solves all the problems. No. An RV donut is a small rubber plug with a hole in the middle. You can buy these at RV supply shops or ... yep! Walmart. You need two different sizes and Roadtrek is nice enough to include one that fits their macerator hose nozzle with your new Roadtrek. This is a hard rubber plug. The problem though, is that the one that comes with the Roadtrek is too small to fit into the usual sewer pipe opening. The one in the stores fits these sewer pipes perfectly. The one from Roadtrek fits inside that donut perfectly. I did find that once joined together it is hard to get them apart. You don't need to get them apart but you cannot fit the nozzle back into its compartment with one or both of these attached to the nozzle. The easy fix is get some KY jelly - a water soluble lubricant at your pharmacy or pharmacy department. Put a little on the nozzle and a little around the Roadtrek donut and then put the Roadtrek, smaller donut into the hole of the larger donut, and then put the nozzle into the center of the Roadtrek donut. Now, push the larger donut into the sewer hole - no lube needed. It should stick in easily and NOT fall in. Now, you can walk away from the sewer hole with your macerator nozzle attached to it and go push the button yourself. You are not near the sewer hole. You can't smell the sewer hole. You can't see into the sewer hole - which can be a good thing but is also a bad thing because you now have no visual on the water stopping when the tank is empty. Now, you must rely on the sound. As they say, a change to a high pitch whine and it is empty. You will just have to accept that. Once the donut comes out of the sewer hole, disinfect it with a disinfectant cleaner. Put it into something that will keep it away from your fresh water hoses. We have a plastic box for the "dirty" things that we want to keep separate in that side compartment. By the way, there are some campgrounds that require that you use a donut when dumping. It is simple to use - as I have described and you should always have one in your Roadtrek that will fit the standard dump pipe, in addition to the smaller one that Roadtrek gives you. (If you lose that smaller donut or need to buy one you will find them at shops at dealers who sell Roadtreks but they are not cheap. The larger one is just a few dollars. You need BOTH.)

OK - what can go wrong? A macerator is a machine and like any machine, some can come out of the factory defective, some can break down, and some last forever. There are some Roadtrek owners that report many problems with their macerators. There are many more Roadtrek owners who never have a problem at all with the macerator. I have spoken to Roadtrek-trained technicians who have said the problems that they see with macerators are the result of hair being caught in the impeller or people who have not put enough water into their tanks. But what happens if something does go wrong. First, there is a manual crank for the macerator that will unstick something that may be stuck inside that is keeping the impeller from turning with the motor. There is a handle that is located below the Roadtrek chassis - on mine it is below the driver's door. The handle is connected to a long bar that goes into the macerator. To use this handle you must go under the Roadtrek to get to it and to turn it. You push it in to engage a screwdriver type blade on the end into a slot inside the macerator's shaft. You then can turn that shaft to free it if it is stuck- you must always ONLY turn to the right.

I recently emailed Roadtrek customer service about something unrelated to the macerator and in the reply I was told that to keep the macerator in good working condition, the manual crank should be turned BEFORE EVERY DUMP to make sure that the impeller and shaft are turning freely. This is very likely a good idea, but this added step to dumping the tanks would require one to crawl under the Roadtrek and get to that crank handle each time you are about to dump the tanks. We have not yet done this - but we may. A little prevention may mean saving a lot of inconvenience. I did check about this with the service tech at our dealer-service and he did agree that it is a good idea. If you know that the shaft is turning freely, you know that there will be nothing that could jam and burn the motor.

There is also an emergency clean out on the macerator. This is a cap that must be opened (unscrewed) - again underneath the van - and then when you open the grey and black valves the tanks will gravity dump out the clean out. This can be very messy as it just dumps the contents of the tanks down on the ground below it - there is no way really to get this over a dump hole. Someone that I know with a Roadtrek has invented a way to connect a traditional gravity hose to this clean out, but the connections come too close to the ground and they cannot be permanently attached. This is a temporary solution only, but one that will allow a traditional gravity dump into a sewer hole in an emergency. It is nice to know that this is possible. Some people will not put toilet paper into their toilets believing that it is the toilet paper that jams the macerator. The company that makes the macerator insists that it can grind much more than toilet paper. Of course, you always must use toilet paper that will dissolve in water to a slurry in a very short time. Take a piece of toilet paper and put it in a glass of water. After a minute or less, swirl the water around and the toilet paper should be gone into miniscule shreds and then gone all together. You can use RV specific toilet paper which is expensive or you can use any toilet paper that passes the test that I have described. We use Scott single ply household toilet paper and it works fine. I did not pay what I paid for my Roadtrek not to put toilet paper down the toilet and to collect it in a bag hung on the bathroom door. Remember, as I said, use plenty of water in your black tank. Of course, there are things that cannot go down the toilet - leftovers, sanitary napkins, tampons, condoms, paper towels, sanitary toilet wipes, paper napkins - use common sense. If it does not dissolve it cannot be flushed.

That now is really all there is to it. It is a nasty job but it must be done. BUT it is not so nasty with the Roadtrek macerator. Oh, and when you are done. Throw away the gloves and wash your hands - really, really well.