Winterize with black tank partially full?

[hampal]

Next week I'll be winterizing for the first time. We own a 2500 RL TT. When we finished our last camping trip of the season and dumped our tanks the trailer must not have been level and even though nothing was coming out of the tanks, when we got home (and level) we we noticed that the tanks were showing 1/3 full. I dumped the 2 gray tanks onto my yard but what to do about the black tank? If I had to guess I'd say about 5 gallons came out of each gray tank so there's probably 5 gallons left in the black tank. The black tank holds 45 gallons.. Am I OK to leave leave that in there and just add extra antifreeze to the black tank?

[Riverbug]

You might be okay if you put a gallon or two of antifreeze in there if you're sure there's not too much in it. Personally, I'd find a way to empty it. I've dealt with a cracked tank and it's not a fun repair. Suffer the headache of getting it emptied one way or another if you ask me...

[hampal]

I'd say there's 5 gallons in it at most.

Is it OK to put black water in a tote? I've got one that I've never used. I could empty into the tote and wheel it to my septic system which is which is too far to reach with a hose but I could easily take the tote there and dump it into the inspection port.

[Riverbug]

I'd say there's 5 gallons in it at most.

Is it OK to put black water in a tote? I've got one that I've never used. I could empty into the tote and wheel it to my septic system which is which is too far to reach with a hose but I could easily take the tote there and dump it into the inspection port.

Absolutely. If you cannot get the trailer close enough to dump directly into the septic, then a tote would work perfectly.

[Scott'n'Wendy]

It won't matter if the black tank contents freezes over the winter. 5 gallons of 'stuff' freezing in a 40 gallon tank?...no issue in my mind.

But....it would be good for the grass....lol...ya know..... if you really want it out of there.....

[Ynot4me2]

We regularly dump in our septic. We're lucky and only need an extra 20ft of hose to do so. In your case, I'd use the tote and dump. Better to be safe then sorry.

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[WhittleBurner]

It won't matter if the black tank contents freezes over the winter. 5 gallons of 'stuff' freezing in a 40 gallon tank?...no issue in my mind.

But....it would be good for the grass....lol...ya know..... if you really want it out of there.....

The Atwood repair guy told us not to worry about putting antifreeze in our hot water heater tank or of draining it completely. A little water in a large tank has enough room for expansion so even when it freezes it wouldn't hurt anything.

[hampal]

I decided to opt on the side of caution and dumped the black tank into a rhino tote. A whopping 1-2 quarts came out. Not sure why I got so much less black water than gray water.

Three gallons of antifreeze later my first winterization is done. Can't wait to start camping again next year.

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[ForBruce]

black tank indicators are never accurate once toilet paper covers the probes....suggest listening to the sound of the flush you can hear the change when it get somewhat full..

also i dumped my black to the point of no water coming out and then lifted the front of the trailer up to have a good stream coming out again.

so now before we leave a camp ground we always lift before we go.

i would never take the chance of letting toilet paper staying in my tank over the winter ,antifreeze or not. especially in the piping area

[hampal]

black tank indicators are never accurate once toilet paper covers the probes....suggest listening to the sound of the flush you can hear the change when it get somewhat full..

also i dumped my black to the point of no water coming out and then lifted the front of the trailer up to have a good stream coming out again.

so now before we leave a camp ground we always lift before we go.

i would never take the chance of letting toilet paper staying in my tank over the winter ,antifreeze or not. especially in the piping area

Wouldn't you want to lift the side opposite the dump pipe rather than the front to get everything out?

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