RiverOfLife
Member
I just purchased a 2016 Prowler 18LX. The system monitor shows Fresh Water, Holding, Gray 1, Gray 2. The schematic defines "Holding" as brown. Can someone explain what this is?
What is the Brown Water Holding tank?
- Thread starter RiverOfLife
- Start date
jimtoo
Moderator
Hi RiverOfLife,
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.
The Holding tank or brown tank is the tank the toilet dumps into. The normal way to empty the tanks when you are ready to leave a park is to make sure your hose is hooked up and maybe test with dumping a little of the Gray 1or2 tank,,just a few gallons to test hose and connections for leaks. Then dump the Holding or brown tank and if yours is equipped with the flush, have the flush going while dumping the brown water. If you have the flush unit, it is a good idea to NEVER LEAVE THE FLUSHER RUNNING AND CLOSE THE VALVE OR EVEN WALK AWAY from the unit. It is amazing how fast a tank can overflow. After dumping the brown holding tank, then dump the kitchen and shower tanks to wash out your hoses. Most everyone buys a clear connector to place on the hose so they can see what is coming out of the tanks and when the brown tank is clean. I and a lot of others also put an extra cutoff valve where you hook up the hose as a safety valve. Sometimes the valves will leak a little and you can get a surprise when you remove the cap to hook up the hose.
Hope this helps. This is a link to our Heartland Owners Guides.
Be sure and check out our Heartland Owners Club. Join us at a rally when you can and meet lots of the great folks here and make friends for a lifetime.
Enjoy the forum and your new unit.
Jim M
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.
The Holding tank or brown tank is the tank the toilet dumps into. The normal way to empty the tanks when you are ready to leave a park is to make sure your hose is hooked up and maybe test with dumping a little of the Gray 1or2 tank,,just a few gallons to test hose and connections for leaks. Then dump the Holding or brown tank and if yours is equipped with the flush, have the flush going while dumping the brown water. If you have the flush unit, it is a good idea to NEVER LEAVE THE FLUSHER RUNNING AND CLOSE THE VALVE OR EVEN WALK AWAY from the unit. It is amazing how fast a tank can overflow. After dumping the brown holding tank, then dump the kitchen and shower tanks to wash out your hoses. Most everyone buys a clear connector to place on the hose so they can see what is coming out of the tanks and when the brown tank is clean. I and a lot of others also put an extra cutoff valve where you hook up the hose as a safety valve. Sometimes the valves will leak a little and you can get a surprise when you remove the cap to hook up the hose.
Hope this helps. This is a link to our Heartland Owners Guides.
Be sure and check out our Heartland Owners Club. Join us at a rally when you can and meet lots of the great folks here and make friends for a lifetime.
Enjoy the forum and your new unit.
Jim M
JohnD
Moved on to the next thing...
Must be a new 2016 thing as our 2015 Prowler has a 'black' tank!
I also bought the extra Volterra gate valve as I got the wet feet treatment (and I was wearing sandles - DOH!) once on our previous 2013 Heartland Trail Runner.
We also had two grey tanks as it had the rear kitchen, which had it's own grey tank that was separate from the bathroom/shower.
It was a pain in the rear having to hook up all of that hose (40 feet of it), but with only one gray tank now we fill up quicker than before as we have less grey capacity.
I also bought the extra Volterra gate valve as I got the wet feet treatment (and I was wearing sandles - DOH!) once on our previous 2013 Heartland Trail Runner.
We also had two grey tanks as it had the rear kitchen, which had it's own grey tank that was separate from the bathroom/shower.
It was a pain in the rear having to hook up all of that hose (40 feet of it), but with only one gray tank now we fill up quicker than before as we have less grey capacity.
JohnD
Moved on to the next thing...
Congrats on your new Prowler . . . you are going to love it!
We are on our second Heartland trailer in three years as we just upgraded from a 2013 Heartland Trail Runner bumper pull to a 2015 Heartland Prowler 5th-wheel.
We've only had it out three times since we bought it at the end of May, but have two more trips planned in the next six weeks, then another in February!
I just wanted to let you know that here in the Heartland forums we do have our own 'Prowler' section to ask questions and post photos of our Prowlers in action.
Here is a link: https://heartlandowners.org/forumdisplay.php/585-Prowler-Community
Also, please join the Heartland Owners Club (HOC) . . .
It is free for the first year and will connect you with not only local, but national Heartland owners . . . and the rallies are a blast!
Matter of fact, our next outing will be the Colorado HOC Fall Rally in three weeks in Central City, Colorado, and our February, 2016 trip will be to the Arizona HOC Rodeo Rally in Tucson!
We've made many new friends in the HOC and they are the best!
B
BouseBill
Guest
Why not just call it a poo tank and get over it. LOL
Opps maybe "Winnie" might be offended.
Opps maybe "Winnie" might be offended.
jmgratz
Original Owners Club Member
FYI - The 'brown' tank is more commonly called the 'black' tank. It is just sematics. Both names are used for the same tank...that is the tank in which the toilet debris is held. Keep in mind if you have more iron in your system the debris is black if not it may be brown. 
Seriously, the above suggestions are important regarding dumping, flushing etc. BTW we have replaced our outlet cover, which is a solid cover, with one which has a garden hose size fitting on it. After dumping and while traveling down the road we leave the garden hose size opening open so any liquid that is in the pipe evacuates. (keep your tank valve closed) That way we don't get a 'surprise' when we take off the large cover.
Seriously, the above suggestions are important regarding dumping, flushing etc. BTW we have replaced our outlet cover, which is a solid cover, with one which has a garden hose size fitting on it. After dumping and while traveling down the road we leave the garden hose size opening open so any liquid that is in the pipe evacuates. (keep your tank valve closed) That way we don't get a 'surprise' when we take off the large cover.RiverOfLife
Member
Thanks to everyone for the constructive comments. I will take your advice. Getting ready to head for Maine tomorrow. Hope all your travels are blessed and safe.
