2017 30' FC Bath Sink Plumbed to BW Tank ?

[AlinCal]

All the sinks in your house are plumbed to sewer, yes the sink shares the same pipes as the toilet.... unless you have a grey water system that is.

[slowmover]

Let’s remember that the addition of grey tanks was legislated into existence to begin with the 1972/3 model year expressly to avoid contamination.

I’ve no problem with the bath sink draining into the black tank to preserve grey tank capacity — as it’s not my kitchen sink — use is differentiated where it matters most.

Flip a coin, or sanitize the bath sink & plumbing with some water & bleach to fill. The majority of trailer drain plumbing is also “dirty”, just not in the same way, and might also benefit.

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[HeadWest]

Originally Posted by AlinCal

All the sinks in your house are plumbed to sewer, yes the sink shares the same pipes as the toilet.... unless you have a grey water system that is.

Best response yes.

I guess all builders should be warning their home buyers of the potential safety issue.

[HowieE]

You are starting to tilt at windmills here.

It makes no difference where the gray water goes it all ends up in the campground sewer system. The number of individuals that will open a continues water flow into a closed system will only do it once.

We commonly put kitchen sink water, via a dish tray, into the toilet while camping without sewer to keep the gray tank from filling. I have re-plumbed the tanks on several trailers, housing kids, that had abnormally small holding tanks to insure they would make it through a 3 day weekend.

Lastly. If my gray tank does fill before we are scheduled to leave I will leave the drain cap on and open the gray tank valve than the black tank valve and count to 15, close the black tank valve and then the gray tank valve. That generally gets us another day or 2.

[Ted S.]

the best solution would be to have an option to where the sink drains.

[basaltfan]

When we bought our 17 30 FC I noticed first time out that I could hear water draining directly into the black water tank, realized it was inconsistent with the generic manual, but not a bad thing with the limited grey water capacity. I agree a backflow preventer is not necessary. When we are out in cold weather I put some extra water in the on-board tank and remove the hose from the trailer and crack it open at the post so water drains out of the hose and away from the fitting. Never had a problem and we have been in some pretty cold conditions. I suspect the bath sinks drains into the black water tank because it was easier/cheaper to run it there.....I doubt they were trying to address sanitation or capacity issue, just save some plumbing costs.

[AirstreamJim]

Originally Posted by AlinCal

All the sinks in your house are plumbed to sewer, yes the sink shares the same pipes as the toilet.... unless you have a grey water system that is.

Originally Posted by HeadWest

I guess all builders should be warning their home buyers of the potential safety issue.

But what you're ignoring is that the sinks and toilets in homes do not drain into a relatively small tank inside the home that has its drain capped such that under normal conditions it can fill, and then overfill, potentially filling the sink with icky black water. If you inadvertently leave the bathroom sink faucet running at home, you're not going to wake up the next day to a bathroom filled with water contaminated with pee and poop.

Airstream's manual is wrong, and that is the issue. If they provided an owner's manual that did not explicitly contradict the actual working of the trailer's plumbing systems, then there would be no reason for anyone to complain. But they don't, and that's inexcusable.

Jim

[AlinCal]

True to some degree, sewer lines can and do back up in some cases...but using an RV of any kind takes some knowledge of the systems or lots of things can happen.

[Adventure.AS]

Originally Posted by AirstreamJim

...
Airstream's manual is wrong, and that is the issue. If they provided an owner's manual that did not explicitly contradict the actual working of the trailer's plumbing systems, then there would be no reason for anyone to complain. But they don't, and that's inexcusable.

Jim

Your blanket statement is false. My manual shows the correct plumbing diagrams for each trailer floor plan. (Perhaps incorrect schematics were provided on older trailers. )

New owners should familiarize themselves with the systems on their rigs. There is no value in trying to blame AS for operator error.

[overlander63]

This has ben repeatedly addressed on this forum over the years. It is not a new issue, nor is it really an issue for people with a modicum of situational awareness.
Remember, the 16 Sport has a combined black/grey tank, and no one has yet died using it.

[jamieb1086]

OK. Before running the test, does anyone know if the lavatory sink is plumbed to the black tank of a 2016 FC RBT??

[Adventure.AS]

Originally Posted by jamieb1086

OK. Before running the test, does anyone know if the lavatory sink is plumbed to the black tank of a 2016 FC RBT??

Check the diagrams in post #29 (or your manual). The schematic for each trailer is posted there.

[jamieb1086]

The 2017 International manual (post#29) shows the 23FB setup with the lav draining to the grey tank. This is the same (and only) diagram showing the tank setup to ALL 2016 flying clouds. But post 29 shows several diagrams, one of which shows the 25 RB lav draining to the black on the international. What totally useless manuals.

I guess I WILL have to do the test to find out for sure where the lav water goes.

[Adventure.AS]

Originally Posted by jamieb1086

... But post 29 shows several diagrams, one of which shows the 25 RB lav draining to the black on the international. What totally useless manuals.

I guess I WILL have to do the test to find out for sure where the lav water goes.

The 25 Rear Bedroom lavatory sink drains to the black tank.

[AlinCal]

Went to the online manuals and downloaded the 2018 Flying Cloud manual and on the plumbing diagram pages for the different models some have a good usable diagram and some have worthless diagrams.
For instance the 23FB is useable and the 25FB is unusable.

[OTRA15]

The manuals can be wrong.

The as-built plumbing can differ from the manual.

Sales reps and dealers can be clueless.

Best to check your own trailer.

[zapper]

Originally Posted by Adventure.AS

Your blanket statement is false. My manual shows the correct plumbing diagrams for each trailer floor plan. (Perhaps incorrect schematics were provided on older trailers. )

New owners should familiarize themselves with the systems on their rigs. There is no value in trying to blame AS for operator error.
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Actually he isn't wrong or promoting "false statements"

See 2017 Flying Cloud Owner's Manual, Pub. Date July 2016, REV#2 pg. 5-6 Drain and Waste System, second paragraph down last sentence "The wastewater from the sink, shower, bath and lavatory drains into the auxiliary(Gray Water) holding tank" Which is what I read first, before discovering it was a misstatement. The plumbing diagrams are only helpful after discovering a problem exist and assists in the search for a solution.