Gray & black tank valves. Which is which?

[markq]

We just purchased a 2013 cyclone 3800. It has a bath and a half. There are two compartments outside with dump valve handles, but none are marked. Each compartment has two valve handles. The tech that did the walkthrough with us didn't know which was which. I haven't been able to find any info in the owners manual. Which is which?

 

[NWILSON]

Congratulations on the new Cyclone and welcome to the forum!
From other posts on the subject there doesn't seem to be a lot of standardization of valve order. Our '11 CY3850 valves (from front to rear) are Black-Gray-Gray-Black. The 2 gray water tanks drain from the forward dump.
The best way to find out for sure is to spend about $8 for a clear fitting to use between your dump connection and the stinky slinky. The fitting is available most anywhere that sells rv drain hoses.
Another handy gadget to prevent an undesirable mess is a gate valve at your connection point behind the cap. It's about $25 and attaches just like the hose. It will prevent any water in the drain line from being discharged when the cap is removed should the tank valves leak or have been left open.

 

[Bob&Patty]

Neale is refering the the add-on "Voltera" gate valve that goes on the drain pipe end of your rig. They are about $25 and just twist on. They are a god sent if a drain valve sticks open and even worse when it's the black tank. Don't ask how some of us know. Yours sounds like it has 2 drain pipes.

 

[ILH]

The Cyclones and Road Warriors come down the same assembly line and share similar floor plans. On my rig, the forward compartment has two release handles - one of which has a red tag on it. That's my black tank release. From what I've read, not all rigs get the tags added to the handles.

Nevertheless, Neale is correct, get a clear collar and next time you release the tanks one at a time, note the black water one. And yes... even though my valves do not leak, the long runs allow an accumulation of fluid to build up after I've capped the end. A waste gate valve at the very end will save you from ugly spills.

 

[TXTiger]

I have a 2012 Cyclone 4014. I too have two compartments. The front one has two handles, neither are marked as to black or grey, but the rear has only one, a grey water valve. I believe you have a bathroom in the garage, I do not, that may be why your rear compartment has two. I purchased a see thru clear fitting which I installed between the drain pipe and the sewer hose and determined by operation of the valves one at a time that the valve on the right in the front compartment was for the black and the valve on the left was the grey water. You can tell by the color of the water coming out. My next purchase will be a gate valve at the end of the drain pipe ahead of the cap for obvious reasons!!!!

 

[NWILSON]

I took a look at the labels on the access doors for the drain valves last night. The front label showed Waste over Gray while the aft label showed Gray over Waste. In other words the upper descriptor applied to the valve on the left.
I can't say that this will hold true on all units but it might. Again, the clear coupler on the drain hose is the only way to know for sure.

 

[Bksvo]

We just purchased a 2013 cyclone 3800. It has a bath and a half. There are two compartments outside with dump valve handles, but none are marked. Each compartment has two valve handles. The tech that did the walkthrough with us didn't know which was which. I haven't been able to find any info in the owners manual. Which is which?

Our 2012 3800 is (from front to back) black - gray - black - gray.

I remember you always dump black first, so black is in front.

Also - only the rear lav tank dumps out of the rear pipe, so we dump that one first, then move the hose to the front to dump the front black, followed by the grays to clean out the hose. We also added a Valterra valve on the front pipe to avoid any surprises when removing the cover.

 

[dominiccretella]

Hello, I just took delivery of a Fairfield 403BH Park Model. The unit only has two visible tank levers. The unit has a label that says Grey Tank #1, below that says waste holding tank, below that says black holding tank. Which lever is the Gray and which one is the Black? Also, the unit says it has two Gray tanks, where is the lever and discharge for the second tank? Please help!! Tanks are filling up and the dealer can't answer these questions....... PS - During the first shower we flooded the camper, the P-Trap was never connected to the shower drain!! How should we dry out the underbelly???

 

[jimtoo]

HI dominiccretella,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum and to the family. We have a great bunch of folks here with lots of information and all willing to share their knowledge when needed.

I wish I could help, but I know nothing about the park models. Hopefully some of out other members will jump in soon with an answer for you... if not,, and your hooked up, put a clear connector in the line and open a valve and look to see what is coming out. You can close the valve before it drains completely and try another till you find the black tank.

Jim M

 

[danemayer]

Hi dominiccretella,

Congratulations on your new Fairfield and welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum.

I'm not familiar with the configuration of the Fairfield, but if you have a basement storage area near the front of the trailer, the rear wall of that storage area probably unscrews. That would give you access to the plumbing area and you could put a large fan there to circulate air in the area that got wet. How did the p-trap repair get made? That would have been the time to dry the area.

Are you absolutely certain that even though there are three labels there are only two valve handles? I suppose it's possible the two gray tanks are plumbed together and have only a single valve. So that leave the question of whether the label position matches the valve handle function. Unless another Fairfield owner chimes in, I'd go with the bottom one that has the label "black holding tank."

A transparent drain extension like this is a great addition to put on your sewer outlet so you can see what's coming out. It really helps when it's time to dump the black tank. If you need to backflush, it has that capability and you'll find the external gate valve will come in handy when backflushing.

Our owner-written Water Systems User Guide explains a lot of this. It's not specific to the Fairfield, but covers most of the issues you'll face.