Black/Gray water tanks

[beatcop49]

I just brought home my 308 BHTS. In my docking station are 2 valves to pull, one marked black and one marked gray. I have also noticed 2 discharge outlets...one main, and one for the outside kitchen.

My electronic panel in the house shows 2 gray tanks. Are there 2 grays and if so, does the one valve pull empty both?

Also, does the outside kitchen have its own tank or is it plumbed straight to the discharge?

I went from a small 23 foot Jayco to this...I'm used to 2 valves, 2 tanks, and one discharge outlet.

 

[isleepu]

There is supposed to be 2 grey tanks. Your second grey tank gate valve is behind the wheels under the trailer. You'll have to bend down and look in order to see it. Just picked up my 308 this past weekend. everything appears to be in working order except for this rear grey tank. My gate valve appears to be stuck in the open or closed position. When I turn the water on at the rear kitchen with the outlet cover removed, regardless of how I position the valve lever (open or closed), the sink drains right out onto the ground. Something is wrong for sure.

 

[beatcop49]

Interesting. I was told that the rear kitchen was straight plumbing...the guy who did our walk through wasn't thst knowledgeable about this product.

Let me ask you this. Is there a quick way to dump the fresh water tank? I don't use it and the dealer filled it full for testing.

 

[isleepu]

If it's straight plumbing that's not good. It basically makes the rear sink useless. I may give GD a call today and just get to the bottom of this. My dealer lead me to believe there was a second gray tank.
The fresh water dump valve is under the trailer just behind the front stabilizer jack.

 

[Nozzlenuts11]

I have a new 308BHTS as well. The rear discharge is for the outside kitchen only and is a direct discharge (there is not a tank connected). The forward facing discharge is for the (2) grey tanks and (1) black tank. The grey valve in the front compartment is for the bathroom grey tank and the second valve behind the wheels is for the interior kitchen grey tank. I was also confused when I first brought my unit home. The dealer had no idea what valve was for what..... This could have been labeled a bit better in my opinion.

 

[isleepu]

Thanks for clearing that up. My dealer is not much help either. So, do people just let their grey water from the outside kitchen run onto the ground?

 

[Dave and Monica]

Is there a quick way to dump the fresh water tank? I don't use it and the dealer filled it full for testing.

There should be a FW tank drain near the axles on the street side...it a white 1" (?) valve. There'll be a blue pex tank vent/overflow line beside it.

Dave

 

[TucsonJim]

Most coaches with an outside kitchen have a drain that goes directly through. On our friend's Coleman trailer, he puts a 5 gallon bucket under the discharge, then dumps it in an appropriate place when needed.

 

[Barbara & Dave]

Directly dumping wastewater, even gray water, is considered an environmental no-no.

 

[LCBoyer]

True, we should not dump grey water on ground. But, I see many people wash their dishes out doors and throw dirty water near a tree or shrub

 

[Ncrzrbk]

My current SOB has an outside kitchen and the water drains into the rear gray tank on my bunkhouse model.

 

[Aljac2323]

I have a 308 as well. I just got off the phone with GD. The rear kitchen is straight plumbing. They suggested a bucket under the rear drain. As for the two grey tanks: one grey tank is for the bathroom (37.5 gallons) and the second grey tank (37.5 gallons) is for the kitchen sink. The dump valve behind the axel can be in the open position all the time because the main grey valve in the storage area is actually the one that dumps them both. I do not see why you would close the valve behind the axel.

 

[TENN22]

Is there a reason to not use a "Y" adapter into your sewer hose so the grey water from the rear kitchen goes with all other water from the unit?

 

[Chance]

I recently purchased a 2015 308 BHTS and was confounded by not being able to get the outdoor kitchen sink to drain into a grey tank. From reading these posts, (thank you to all who posted) I understand that the outdoor sink is a direct out and the pipe fills very quickly. I think that the best solution for this would be to purchase a wye connector and put that into the sani dump, and connect a hose from each discharge to the wye. That way, there is no issue with dumping in the environment.
That being said, I think that Grand Design needs to either address this issue and inform the dealers of this, so that the customer can be informed, or redesign the plumbing so that the rear sink goes to a grey tank. Just my thoughts and opinions, but they make the most sense to me for the "eco safe" way of dumping.
My previous trailer was a Trail Lite Crossover with an outdoor kitchen with sink, and it was plumbed to go into the grey tank. I hope this helps you as well as it is going to help me. Now I know I will be going on another accessories purchase for the new trailer. (sigh)

 

[JustinThyme]

Is there a reason to not use a "Y" adapter into your sewer hose so the grey water from the rear kitchen goes with all other water from the unit?

It a long run from the rear of the coach up to the front but that still does you no good if you don't have a sewer connection. I'm a bit surprised that GD recommended a bucket, it's actually illegal to do that in most places. I'm using one myself but the proprietor of the camp resort was very specific with how I had to go about doing it and hiding the bucket under the rear of the coach. Had to put a cap with hose connection then the 5 gal bucket has to have a lid with a hole just large enough for the piece of garden hose to go in and a small air vent. He also told me that if he gets flak from one of the periodic inspections they get that I would have to can the bucket and either pipe it in or do t use the sink at all. A bit disappointed that the design didn't dump this in with the island tank for the kitchen. The only legal way as mentioned is either to pipe it in yourself of use a portable sealed waste container.

 

[goldsp8]

In most places, even national parks, it is against the law to dump grey water on the ground. Better to catch it in a bucket. My brother in law has a Montana with the outside kitchen. It has no tank either. Pretty dumb ideal I think. JMHO

 

[kozzy124]

we only wash hands once in a while in our outside kitchen, so I let it go right on the ground, however, they do make a WYE so you can hook up multiple tank valves tro one sewer hose, to go to a drain. This would only work on a campsite with full hookups though

 

[Railroader]

People next to us just bought a 2017 308bht. They discovered the out door sink wouldn’t drain. Under the skirting below the sink is a white anti siphon device that acts as a P-trap. We removed it and it appeared ok, of course the water drained. We then stuck a garden hose into the open pipe and water started to flow out the drain for the tank so we verified no blockage however the gate valve is in the closed position so that is broke. Next we replaced the cap on the drain pipe, replaced the anti siphon device and again filled the sink with water and it wouldn’t drain. Removed the cap on the drain for the tank and the sink drained. So obviously the tank vent is not hooked up or it’s blocked. He is looking at returning the rv. You would think that when a dealer takes a rig in for trade they would at least check it over.

 

[Timmer]

True, we should not dump grey water on ground. But, I see many people wash their dishes out doors and throw dirty water near a tree or shrub

We use the outside kitchen sink for washing hands, rinsing out the dog dish etc. We stay in state parks where there is both RV and tent camping. Certainly what's coming out of the outside kitchen sink is no worse than what the tent campers are doing. They aren't saving all their dish water etc and carrying somewhere else.