A bunch of newbie "how do you do this" plumbing questions

[chrisandtara]

1. How do you keep your water hose clean when it's not connected? It sits in the dirt while we're hooked up, so when you coil it the connections can get dirt inside. I've been twist-tying a sandwich baggie over each end when I disconnect, but maybe there's a better way. Caps are available for the male end, but I can't seem to find a cap for the female end.

2. How do you coil and store your fresh hose? I was thinking of getting a hose winder to make it a little easier to coil & uncoil, but I might just default to a rubbermaid bin for it. First world problem for sure, but with the cold weather it's hard to get the hose nicely coiled back up.

3. Do you put the caps on your slinky when you store it? The temperature swings seem to be problematic, and we pulled into the campsite two days ago with the end of the slinky hanging out because the thermal expansion pushed the bumper plug out somewhere on the highway. I was thinking I'd keep using them, but drill small vent holes in the center. Keeps any residual liquid in, lets air out.

4. Most of the hookup campsites we've been to have the sewer and fresh water hookups at the opposite ends relative to our trailer. I've been trying to avoid crossing them (unnecessary I know), but that means I have to run the fresh hose in a big loop around the sewer connection. Is there some best practice here?

5. Where do you store your slinky support, i.e. the accordion-like slope thing the slinky rests on when hooked up? Yet another rubbermaid bin?

[cfowler55]

You can get both end caps and a hose caddy from Amazon. Search RV hose and it should pop up. Before I had the caps , I just screwed the hose ends together. The caps are vented though, which is actually better. Yes on caps for the sewer hose also. Collapse it to shorter than the storage. I’ve found altitude change affects it more than temp. The support should stay clean , so put it wherever there’s room.
Additionally, if you can locate one , a twist on gate valve at the waste exit point is a good addition.
Charlie

[Rob+Kath]

1. How do you keep your water hose clean when it's not connected? It sits in the dirt while we're hooked up, so when you coil it the connections can get dirt inside. I've been twist-tying a sandwich baggie over each end when I disconnect, but maybe there's a better way. Caps are available for the male end, but I can't seem to find a cap for the female end.

2. How do you coil and store your fresh hose? I was thinking of getting a hose winder to make it a little easier to coil & uncoil, but I might just default to a rubbermaid bin for it. First world problem for sure, but with the cold weather it's hard to get the hose nicely coiled back up.

3. Do you put the caps on your slinky when you store it? The temperature swings seem to be problematic, and we pulled into the campsite two days ago with the end of the slinky hanging out because the thermal expansion pushed the bumper plug out somewhere on the highway. I was thinking I'd keep using them, but drill small vent holes in the center. Keeps any residual liquid in, lets air out.

4. Most of the hookup campsites we've been to have the sewer and fresh water hookups at the opposite ends relative to our trailer. I've been trying to avoid crossing them (unnecessary I know), but that means I have to run the fresh hose in a big loop around the sewer connection. Is there some best practice here?

5. Where do you store your slinky support, i.e. the accordion-like slope thing the slinky rests on when hooked up? Yet another rubbermaid bin?

I am relatively new to this as well (two years), but here is my 2 cents so far:

1) I use quick connects for my fresh water hose to the trailer. I have the opposing connector, hand tightened, on the other end of the hose, so I can click them together. When connecting to the spigot, I remove the 'extra' connector and set in the connection bay. When leaving, I hand screw it back on and click the ends together (after draining) to hold the coiled hose.

2) Hand coiled and set in front bay on top of my plastic containers. If I had to fight the cold stiffness, I might toss it in the bed of the truck until I can deal with it later.

3) Yes, I cap them every time. I haven't had much of an issue with pressure, but it is nice to see a little puff when I un-cap them.... It tells me there are no holes.

4) I always try to not cross my connections. It just seems to be the prudent thing to do. Electric, I never cross anything, even itself. The water and sewer I try to keep clear of each other, but that has not always been possible. Usually I can route them clear of each other right where they drop from the trailer. Not always possible.

5) In the front bay, In the original box. This is going to fall apart soon, so I will probably just store it in the bay with the included velcro strap.

Keep in mind that I am one of those people that wipes everything down before it goes in the bay. There is lots of paper towel and the garbage bag gets closed after I am done with stowing the connections.
I see that you are full timing, so you might want something more convenient. I am making trips of 4 days to three weeks, so I can forgo some of my time.
Good Luck and stay safe.

Rob

[OurNewEra]

1. How do you keep your water hose clean when it's not connected? It sits in the dirt while we're hooked up, so when you coil it the connections can get dirt inside. I've been twist-tying a sandwich baggie over each end when I disconnect, but maybe there's a better way. Caps are available for the male end, but I can't seem to find a cap for the female end.

2. How do you coil and store your fresh hose? I was thinking of getting a hose winder to make it a little easier to coil & uncoil, but I might just default to a rubbermaid bin for it. First world problem for sure, but with the cold weather it's hard to get the hose nicely coiled back up.

3. Do you put the caps on your slinky when you store it? The temperature swings seem to be problematic, and we pulled into the campsite two days ago with the end of the slinky hanging out because the thermal expansion pushed the bumper plug out somewhere on the highway. I was thinking I'd keep using them, but drill small vent holes in the center. Keeps any residual liquid in, lets air out.

4. Most of the hookup campsites we've been to have the sewer and fresh water hookups at the opposite ends relative to our trailer. I've been trying to avoid crossing them (unnecessary I know), but that means I have to run the fresh hose in a big loop around the sewer connection. Is there some best practice here?

5. Where do you store your slinky support, i.e. the accordion-like slope thing the slinky rests on when hooked up? Yet another rubbermaid bin?

1) I haven't had too much of a problem with the ends of the freshwater hose. I unscrew both ends and walk the hose from one end to the other to get all the water out. Then I screw the ends together and then wrap up. For storage I put it in a bin with the back up hose, filter, regulator and all freshwater accessories/attachments. I have a storage bin solely for freshwater and one for blackwater the two shall never mix. If you are concerned with the ends of your hose being sanitary you can keep a spray bottle with 10% bleach mixture and spray the ends down.

2) Store in my freshwater bin as mentioned.

3) I store my two lengths of sewer hose in the bumper with caps on. I drilled small 1/8" holes in the caps so the hose does not expand with the heated air inside the hose. I also tethered my bumper caps together as shown in the attached photo so I don't loose them.

4) I don't think there is a Best Practice. I have on occasion run my freshwater hose on top of the tires or under the trailer. Also depending on where your slide out and connections are, I have tied my freshwater hose to the slide skirting supports. I don't really worry about the hoses crossing, I just try to make it look somewhat neat and tidy.

5) Slinky support is stored in the blackwater accessories bin. All bins in the pass through. Also in the blackwater bin I have extra caps, my elbows for connecting to the trailer and sewer inlet. Also have accessories for my Camco tote.

[traveldawg]

1. How do you keep your water hose clean when it's not connected? It sits in the dirt while we're hooked up, so when you coil it the connections can get dirt inside. I've been twist-tying a sandwich baggie over each end when I disconnect, but maybe there's a better way. Caps are available for the male end, but I can't seem to find a cap for the female end.
I use quick connects and connect the ends of the hose after draining the water in it when coiling it for storage. I just use caution when coiling so dirt doesn't get in and I can always wash it off under the campground spigot if it gets dirty or muddy. My pressure regulator screws on the campground spigot and has a quick connect on it for the hose.

2. How do you coil and store your fresh hose? I was thinking of getting a hose winder to make it a little easier to coil & uncoil, but I might just default to a rubbermaid bin for it. First world problem for sure, but with the cold weather it's hard to get the hose nicely coiled back up.
I just coil it using a reverse coil technique so it unwinds easily (reverse-wind: coil in one direction then the other - examples on YouTube). I toss it in my wet bay (I only use a 25' hose but have another 25' hose in the basement storage area on a hook if I need it). There are hoses now that don't kink in cold weather. They are more costly but seem nice. My buddy always hassles me about my 'old school' white water hoses.

3. Do you put the caps on your slinky when you store it? The temperature swings seem to be problematic, and we pulled into the campsite two days ago with the end of the slinky hanging out because the thermal expansion pushed the bumper plug out somewhere on the highway. I was thinking I'd keep using them, but drill small vent holes in the center. Keeps any residual liquid in, lets air out.
I just push mine into my storage tube (5" fence post hung under frame) along with a 10' extension in case I need it. The 2 are connected when traveling and I just unconnected them if I don't need a long length.

4. Most of the hookup campsites we've been to have the sewer and fresh water hookups at the opposite ends relative to our trailer. I've been trying to avoid crossing them (unnecessary I know), but that means I have to run the fresh hose in a big loop around the sewer connection. Is there some best practice here?
I don't think there is a best practice. I keep the sewer hose on top of others in case I need to lift it to make sure it drains completely.

5. Where do you store your slinky support, i.e. the accordion-like slope thing the slinky rests on when hooked up? Yet another rubbermaid bin?
Somewhere in my 5 gallon bucket of sewer connectors, gloves and donut is my support. I hardly ever bother with it but do use it about 10% of the time if the site needs it. It's been my misfortune that too often the sewer connection is uphill from the exit of the sewer on the RV.

Hope some of this helps.

[chrisandtara]

This is all great, thanks a ton!

[D2Reid]

I wipe water hose and electric cord down with a rag as I stuff it into a bay.

When hooking up water hose I connect to the spigot, then turn the water on filling the hose and rinsing dirt etc. out before I hook it up to the rv. This also helps in keeping air out of the internal lines reducing that coughing spitting thing the faucet does just after you hook up.

I don't cap the sewer hose. I keep it clean by using a dump sequence; black water first, kitchen sink second, shower tank last. Shower/bathroom sink water is mostly just soap and water, does a good job of "rinsing" the hose.

After replacing several rubber bumper stops and sewer hoses I finally drilled little holes in the bumper and added a small chain and hook assemble to keep the rubber bumper ends from falling off. Pain to hook and unhook each time but better than having to drive 30 miles into town to buy another sewer hose.

Caterpillar slinky support; I wrap the Velcro strap through a hole when I deploy, then its there when I put it up in a bay.

I cross utility lines all the time. Mostly I try not to set them where they will be a trip hazard.