Waste Tank test lights

[fredf]

I bought a 2011 used Big Country three weeks ago in Maine. I am now in Arkansas. It was winterized when I bought it and I ran water through the fresh water system when I reached Tenn.
After I drain the holding tanks, the black water tank still reads 2/3 full. I don't think there is anything left in the tanks. The two grey water tanks read empty. I've left the valves open for hours, but the black water stills reads 2/3 full. I've put two gallons of water down the toilet, too.
This has done this since I bought the RV.

I assume it is best to leave the tanks closed, even when at a campsite with full hook up. I know some leave their greywater tanks open.

Fred

 

[jbeletti]

Hi Fred,

Congrats on your Big Country purchase and welcome to the Heartland family.

Standard RV waste tank monitors are not known for long-terms accuracy, especially with the black tank. Here, debris can hang on the probes and foul them. Experience will tell you when you need to empty the black tank. A couple can usually go at least 1 full week on the black tank.

Yes - always keep the black tank valve closed while in use. Open the black tank valve only when you are connected to a proper sewer/dump site.

On the gray tanks - I'd say this is 50/50. Some leave them open, some leave them closed. Each have their pros and cons. Whichever you do, be sure that a day or two before you plan to leave the campground, that you close both gray tank valves in order to accumulate some gray water in the tanks. This water will be used to clean out your sewer hose once you dump the black tank.

So - dump the black tank, use black tank flush system (if so equipped - and don't forget about it!), close the black tank valve when the tank is empty. Then pull both gray tank valves. When they are empty, close the valves. Disconnect the sewer hose from the RV and hold it up off the ground. Walk the hose over to the sewer connection point in the ground of the campground. By doing so, the gray water remaining in the hose is allowed to further flush and empty the hose.

Happy camping - join the Heartland Owners Club, join us at some rallies and learn a bunch about your coach and make friends you didn't know you needed!

Jim

 

[funntheson]

I would suggest something I use. I think it is called Flush King. It is made by Valterra. This allows you to back flush your tank and seems to do a pretty good job at helping to keep things clean. I use the built in black tank flush every time I empty the black tank. I use the Flush King when I will be heading home to make sure everything is as clean as possible.

 

[Birchwood]

The only thing with leaving the grey water tanks closed is if a faucet is slightly on and you leave your RV
for the day you could come home to a flooded rig.Don't be concerned with the tanks monitoring system as they
never work and I have never looked at ours for 4 years.Leave the grey water tanks open if you are connected but always
close the black and add lots of water down the flush(if you have no hook up use the water sparingly)

 

[Nabo]

Congratulations on your new "condo on wheels" and welcome to the forum. We have had 2 Big Countrys, the 1st one the monitoring systems worked great on all tanks but our current coach, the black tank doesn't work at all. As mentioned above, we can go right at a week before we feel like it needs to be dumped. You can hear how high the contents (water levels) are in the tank as you are flushing. If DW starts to feel uncomfortable, then it's time to dump. We are living in your coach full time because of work at this time and so far everything has worked out ok. We do leave the grey tanks open until right before back washing the black tank.

 

[happykraut]

You might want to check into these at http://www.horstmiracleprobe.com/

 

[donr827]

One of the best things to do to keep the black tank operating is to use plenty of water when flushing the toilet. Lack of using a lot of water caused a lot of the problems.
Don

 

[NWILSON]

There are plenty of opinions on the best way to manage black water tanks.
Here are a couple links to some helpful information on the sensors and also something called the "GEO METHOD" which uses the concept of water softener and detergent to help keep things from adhering to the tanks and sensors.
http://wheelingit.wordpress.com/2012/03/21/rv-tank-sensors-the-geo-method/
https://sites.google.com/site/cbruni/