Things I learned on a bad camping trip

[Mainiac]

Usually the last trip home of the season, after dumping, we put a couple pounds of ice cubes into the tank with some water. The "splash blending" going down the road really cleans the tank. By the time we are home it is mostly water. That can be dumped into a 5 gallon bucket and the poured into a cleanout or the home toilet. I like to use Eco-Save during the season, as an additive. I think it smells good and has no chemicals. It is bacterial and you only add when waste is present and it digests that. Just not easy to find everywhere...

[Free2Roam]

Usually the last trip home of the season, after dumping, we put a couple pounds of ice cubes into the tank with some water. The “splash blending” going down the road really cleans the tank. By the time we are home it is mostly water. That can be dumped into a 5 gallon bucket and the poured into a cleanout or the home toilet. I like to use Eco-Save during the season, as an additive. I think it smells good and has no chemicals. It is bacterial and you only add when waste is present and it digests that. Just not easy to find everywhere…

 

Thanks Canoe12! Do you just put the ice down through the toilet?

[KarenLukens]

Also, question for anyone, we have the macerator and I was wondering if you are supposed to turn it on and then pull the black tank lever or pull first and then turn it on. I also assumed we leave the macerator going for the gray tank too. -Angela

 

You don't need the macerator for the gray tank. After filling the black tank and letting it run out the first time, I leave the water flush system running and walk away for a few minutes to let it run. When clear water comes out, I fill it up to 80%+ to 95% at the most on accident... Lol, then pull the handle and let it run clean again. Then refill it again and it should run clean from start to finish, letting you know that it's perfectly clean.

 

These 2 movies go together but had to be listed separately on this page,so there's another page now... Haha Oliver :)

 

Reed

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[KarenLukens]

But had to be posted here separately...

 

[Mainiac]

Yes, we just empty ice cube trays into the toilet and flush. Simple and effective.

[Free2Roam]

 

You don’t need the macerator for the gray tank. After filling the black tank and letting it run out the first time, I leave the water flush system running and walk away for a few minutes to let it run. When clear water comes out, I fill it up to 80%+ to 95% at the most on accident… Lol, then pull the handle and let it run clean again. Then refill it again and it should run clean from start to finish, letting you know that it’s perfectly clean. These 2 movies go together but had to be listed separately on this page,so there’s another page now… Haha Oliver ???? Reed

<iframe id="fitvid0" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/m1BcI56Y7lc?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>

 

Thank you for this, Reed!! So very helpful!! -Angela

[Mike and Carol]

 

We filled it about 20% full on our flushes (did 3). Wasn’t sure how much to fill. We had only used it about a day and a half. When you are “leaving the water running while draining”, are you leaving the valve under the dinette seat open too or do you mean you close the valve and let it fill back up while draining? -Angela

 

If we need to dump and we’re not at 70 or 80% I turn on the water for the black flush until it gets up to 80%. Then I pull, leaving the water running into the black tank. When it gets down to zero or 5% I close the valve and fill again. Sometimes with the water running it won’t get below 5%. Then I do it a third time. When it gets down to zero I shut the black flush water off and let the tank drain. Then I do the gray tank. I leave the valve under the dinette seat open most of the time. I have a back flow preventer on my hose and I think there might be one built in. Mike

[Free2Roam]

 

If we need to dump and we’re not at 70 or 80% I turn on the water for the black flush until it gets up to 80%. Then I pull, leaving the water running into the black tank. When it gets down to zero or 5% I close the valve and fill again. Sometimes with the water running it won’t get below 5%. Then I do it a third time. When it gets down to zero I shut the black flush water off and let the tank drain. Then I do the gray tank. I leave the valve under the dinette seat open most of the time. I have a back flow preventer on my hose and I think there might be one built in. Mike

 

thanks, Mike! This is very helpful.   -Angela

[hellsbay988]

I agree with the post above. Why not just leave your sewer hose hooked up all the time. Not sure about leaving brass and another metal hooked up all the time. Electrolysis can be a nasty unintended consequence.

[ccarole]

Hellsbay,

 

What are the consequences?  Do the metals fuse together? Corrode?

 

Carole

[hellsbay988]

Electrolysis occurs when an electrically charged metal comes in contact with salt or similar elements . Since salt and many other trace elements are often found in drinking water I would use a plastic hookup. Many of the other elements found in water are corrosive over time especially if it’s well water. It would depend on the water but why take a chance. With plastic you will never strip the threads by accident. If there is leakage it’s probably because the the threads are stripped or the hose washer needs replacing.

[ccarole]

Good info. Thank you hellsbay. Good reasons to go pvc....and ugh,the dreaded cross threads.

[Geronimo John]

I have two replacement knees and totally agree with your suggestion about knee padding.  I carry a standard inexpensive boat throw cushion.  Walmart for about $8, the kind that are square, orange,and about 3" thick.  It makes reaching those water valves a lot nicer.  But mostly it makes changing a spare tire possible.  I keep one in my TV and one in the shop.  They are also handy to sit on when riding in the boat!

[SeaDawg]

Good suggestion.  We always have some type of padding available in the truck bed..

 

Btw, did you know that trumpetguy sold his trailer at least a year or two ago? Just an fyi...I know it's  not easy to see on the forum.

 

Sherry

 

 

[Spike]

the act  of kneeling, stooping, hauling, and all the physical activities associated with setting up and breaking down camp place a huge strain on the knees

 

One of the best purchases we have made for traveling with our Oliver are two of these GCI Outdoor Quick-E-Seat Folding Tripod Field Chairs. Liz and I are guitarists, and we originally bought these to be able to carry with us along with our guitars when attending outdoor jams with other musicians, etc.

 

I have found the chair a great help when working on various tasks associated with our Oliver II: hooking up tow cables and wires, working on the tires, accessing stuff in the basement, hooking and unhooking the water lines, placing chocks, etc. I don't need to kneel or stoop. We carry a foam knee pad in the basement but have yet to need it. The travel chairs are just about the right height for all of those tasks otherwise requiring one to kneel.

 

 

They fold up and unfold easily. They also have a shoulder strap, so one can easily transport them. We have found them useful for things like events where we have had to stand in line; we can sit when we want. As musicians, we love them, for we can walk into the woods, find a nice place to practice, and have some relatively comfortable seating. They would, it seems, be great for fisherpeople to take to the lake, stream, or beach.

[Trainman]

Quick question, since we don't have our new Oliver until July,  will I have to raise the dinette seat everytime to to open the flush value so the water will come in from the connected hose outside. Looks like a one-way valve would work here and save the flush time by not having to move the cushion and seat base to get to it. Has there be an upgrade to this system or does it still operate this way.

 

 

 

trainman

[ScubaRx]

Our trailer (hull # 050) does not have an interior valve in the black flush line. It does have a one-way check valve and that is all you need to prevent black water from running back into the flush hose.  And, never having to raise the cushion to manually operate the on-off valve.

 

If one wanted to keep the original concept in place, I would remove the manual valve and replace it with an electric valve with a switch mounted in a convenient location. I did this with the winterizing valves at my pump so as to not have to jump through hoops in order to get to them when we wanted to pump water into our fresh tank while boondocking.  Set up my water cans, flip the switch for the valves, turn on the water pump and voilà, refilling the tank.

[Rumline]

Ours (#344) has the valve, but I keep it open all the time and have not suffered any ill effects, including odor wafting out the fill port.  I remember reading somewhere else on this forum that there is a check valve installed in addition to the manual valve.

[topgun2]

Yes, on these newer Olivers there is both a check valve and a ball valve.  If you chose to leave the ball valve in the open position be very careful as to making sure that you do NOT attach your water hose to the incorrect inlet.  If, by mistake, you attached your hose to the black tank flush thinking that you had actually attached it to the city or fresh water inlet you would shortly have a BIG mess on your hands (first the blank tank would fill and then it would overflow into the interior of your Oliver).

 

Bill

[Rumline]

Yikes!  No bueno.  Fortunately the fresh/city water inlet and the black tank flush connector have considerable separation from each other, to the point that I don't think I'll ever make that mistake.  And if I do, you'll get to say "I told you so!"  lol

 

But your warning is well taken.

[Ray and Susan Huff]

On 8/23/2016 at 1:33 PM, Hap said:

 but now we are in Dodge City, Kansas meandering back to Florida. Who turned on the heat? Two days ago in Wyoming we were having morning temps of 36 degrees. I think it hit 100 in Dodge today.

 

 

 

 

The second Oliver I've read that visited Dodge City.  It's on my bucket list as my dad lived there as a young boy until dust pneumonia forced his family to move him to California.  If not for the dust bowl, I wouldn't be . . . . . . . deep thought, I know.

Anyway, I'm anxious to see where dad spent his boyhood, visit a museum and see what his life was like as a child.  

 

[Ray and Susan Huff]

On 10/15/2017 at 4:54 PM, KarenLukens said:

 

You don't need the macerator for the gray tank. After filling the black tank and letting it run out the first time, I leave the water flush system running and walk away for a few minutes to let it run. When clear water comes out, I fill it up to 80%+ to 95% at the most on accident... Lol, then pull the handle and let it run clean again. Then refill it again and it should run clean from start to finish, letting you know that it's perfectly clean.

 

 

We have a macerator on our small motorhome.  It is a lot less messy than gravity dump.  Did Oliver used to offer the macerator option?  They don't now.  Or did you add it DIY?

I know this is an old post . . . . . maybe someone will comment 😇

[John E Davies]

Macerators are cool, when they work. The first time you have to rebuild a busted impeller you will most likely wonder why you ever thought it was a bright idea. I installed one on a 1988 Searay 250 Sundancer so I could empty the holding tank into the house toilet when the boat was parked in the driveway, through a 3/4” garden hose. It worked absolutely great, but I always was super paranoid that the hose sticking down the toilet would slip out while I was outside in the boat pumping 50 gallons of sewage through it.

Having lived with a composting toilet for four seasons, I would never ever have a black tank and a macerator. Yuck.

John Davies

Spokane WA

 

[DavidS]

17 hours ago, Susan Huff said:

Did Oliver used to offer the macerator option?  They don't now.  Or did you add it DIY?

When we were ordering our Ollie in 2016, there was a blog post and a forum thread on macerators on the Oliver Forum. Then, lo and behold, while our trailer was being built, Oliver offered the Thetford Sani-Con as an option. I read more about macerators on the web, and people really liked them. We decided to include it on our Ollie order. 

I am really happy we got it! It works really well. No problems with getting the slope of the sewer hose just right, without any low spots. And, of course, it is a pump so it drains much more quickly than via gravity. 

I really like it. I don't know why Oliver doesn't offer it any longer as an option. It would be pretty easy to install DIY. They put the macerator in the rear bumper storage area. The hardest part about putting it in DIY would be connecting it to the 12 V power system. 

[SeaDawg]

As noted in the forum thread link DavidS provided, we've had two, of different brands. Paul rebuilt the first one, one time. 🤔 

When it died again, we bought a different brand. When it died, we went back to gravity dump.

When we first got our trailer, the home cleanout/dump was too far away for gravity. Therefore,  got the maceration. Since 2015, we have a convenient, planned dump for the trailer at home. We don't need or want the maceration anymore. None of our friends replaced theirs, either. 

DavidS, I'm glad you like yours. I don't think either of ours was the Thetford. 

Sherry