Safari 30' Bunk: why 18 gallon black tank?

[Silvertwinkie]

Originally Posted by Minnie's Mate

I'm short for a guy (5'-6") and my wife is the same hight. I don't need it any higher off the floor. Without a little foot stool to rest my feet on they would dangle above the floor! My six year old son...well lets just say there would be a lot of puddles on the platform to clean up if it were any higher.

I hear ya...not the most comfy, even in it's current config. One of the reasons that 9 and 18 are most likely as big as they may get without severe structure upgrades to the frame and outriggers.

On my 25', even if say they did manage to pipe it to a larger tank over the axles, outside of the amount of water needed to move the contents, on my 25', that could be nearly a 6-7 foot trip....on a 30', even longer.

Bad day in my 25' SS bathroom, beats a great day on a porta potty or outhouse.

[Minnie's Mate]

The fresh water tank is located transverse between the axles on the 30' and the gray water tank is located transverse behind the rear Axel. Both span the width of the trailer so really, the black tank can't be over/between or behind the axles. I guess Airstream could have extended the black tank under the vanity cabinet, but I don't think there is room for the tank and to also have the ductwork for the furnace to be run to the bunk area. My guess is that was the largest that could be installed without a separate frame design or other out of the ordinary configuration that might not have been desirable.

[BillTex]

The size of the tanks alone is justification enough to go with the Classic (Excella) lines...I hate small tanks, a real PIA!

[Dureedesign]

Hi folks...along the same line....please enlighten me....I have a '66 Overlander and it's total holding capacity is 13 Gal. (I think) for everthing!...I'm new at this and was orginally told that the cap over the dump valve or hole, has a little hose attachement to it and that I could just add a hose to that and dig a gopher hole and put the other end of the hose there...and that would in essence keep the black water in and let the grey water out....what is your all's take on it....seems like at that point it is mixing grey and black and just keeping the solids sunk down at the bottom? Please advise. Andra

[fastrob]

Originally Posted by Dureedesign

Hi folks...along the same line....please enlighten me....I have a '66 Overlander and it's total holding capacity is 13 Gal. (I think) for everthing!...I'm new at this and was orginally told that the cap over the dump valve or hole, has a little hose attachement to it and that I could just add a hose to that and dig a gopher hole and put the other end of the hose there...and that would in essence keep the black water in and let the grey water out....what is your all's take on it....seems like at that point it is mixing grey and black and just keeping the solids sunk down at the bottom? Please advise. Andra

E. Coli can kill. All of the contents of your 1 tank are considered black.

As with newer things capacity, complexity and weight increase. How lucky you are to have a light trailer.

R

[Minnie's Mate]

Prior to the early '70's, Airstreams didn't have gray tanks as standard. There was a black tank(toilet only), but you typically dug the gofer hole and let the gray water (sinks and shower, but not the toilet) run into it as you described and covered it when you left the camp site. Most states will not allow this practice anymore in or out of a camp ground. Some states will, but virtually all camp grounds have banned the practice. Unless you pull the valve release lever, the black tank remains sealed and only the gray water comes out.

When you leave the camp site you go to the dump station and dump the black tank in the older vintage units. With those units that don't have gray tanks, you will need an external tank often called a blue tote or blue boy or honey wagon, etc. You let your gray water go directly into it and transport it to the gray water dump station and empty it into it or into the sewer dump station when it is full. If you have a sewer hook up, you connect the hose to the sewer outlet and keep the black tank valve closed until the black tank is half full or more and dump it at that time. This allows for enough affluent/black water to flush the hose and get any solids and paper to go through the hose. You can then add clean water to the black water tank through the toilet to rinse any remaining items from the black tank into the sewer. This last step should be performed at the dump station if you don't have sewer connections to help keep odors down.

[InsideOut]

Originally Posted by Dureedesign

please enlighten me....I have a '66 Overlander and it's total holding capacity is 13 Gal. (I think) for everthing!

Trailers prior to '73/4 did not originaly come with grey tanks, some did not come with any. But your '66 only has a black tank, unless a PO retrofit in a grey, which it doesn't sound like they did. The way our '64 is set-up is there is a 'Y' in the plumbing below the black tank valve which allows the grey water to come out when the valve is closed. When you are camping with hook-ups, the grey water just goes down the sewer drain. When you don't have hook-ups, you have several options:

1) allow your grey to go on the ground or in a gopher hole as the previous owner suggested - however, most places won't let you do this anymore.
2) capture your grey water in an exterior tank - called a Blue Boy, Blue Tote, etc.
3) put your dump cap on the sewr outlet, open up the black valve and let the grey water back-up into the black tank. This can be tricky, because #1, your tank MUST be below the floor or lower than the shower because the water will come out at the lowest opportunity and #2, you must CLOSE the valve before removing the cap or else your entire tank contents will come spilling out. As it is, you will end up with a smal amount of "nasty water" that will come out when the cap is removed anyway...be prepared with a container. Another problem is, you usually don't have much warning as to when the tank is "FULL"...and as you know, the tank is very small.

We opt for keeping our grey & black separate using a blue tank when we aren't camping where we can use a golpher hole or hook-ups.

Shari

[InsideOut]

Looks like we were all responding at the same time!

Shari

[Silvertwinkie]

Originally Posted by Minnie's Mate

The fresh water tank is located transverse between the axles on the 30' and the gray water tank is located transverse behind the rear Axel. Both span the width of the trailer so really, the black tank can't be over/between or behind the axles. I guess Airstream could have extended the black tank under the vanity cabinet, but I don't think there is room for the tank and to also have the ductwork for the furnace to be run to the bunk area. My guess is that was the largest that could be installed without a separate frame design or other out of the ordinary configuration that might not have been desirable.

We'll remember I'm no engineer, but if one really wanted to, maybe, one tank in front of the front most axle, one tank in between axles and one directly aft of the axles. Maybe be the same setup as found on side bath units.

In the end, I agree, I really like having black and grey seperated. In some areas, you can discharge dishwater, but in no areas I know of can you discharge black contents to the ground. I particularly like the fact that when I dump the tanks, I pull the black, then close the black and open the grey to get out any other materials that may be lingering in the hose.

FWIW, 18 gallons of black, even when boondocking in my case works well up around a week....your mileage may vary.

[Dureedesign]

Thanks all again, you are the best...I think I understand.......A.

[InsideOut]

Here's a picture of the "business end" of our plumbing...you can see where the smaller grey water comes into the larger sewer outlet - on the right. The black valve is "upstream" of the "Y" on the large pipe...



Hope this helps make things a little clearer Andra.

Shari

[SafariSS]

Wow, thats a little closer to the poop shoot that I wanted to be with a large monitor! Maybe use a little bleach!

[thecatsandi]

Mine in my Classic 31 is nearly 40 gallons. Way too big. I would gladly give up that space for some more grey water space. 25-20 for the black and nearly 60 for the grey would be perfect.

[InsideOut]

Originally Posted by SafariSS

Wow, thats a little closer to the poop shoot that I wanted to be with a large monitor! Maybe use a little bleach!

Geeez - give me a break! It's 43+ years old and been broken & repaired with various glues, thus the discoloration it is clean ~

Shari