Emptying waste water tank on a Trooper....

Well, friends, we've just got our Hattie and are finding out all sorts of things, but one that's defeated us so far is how to empty our waste water tank!! I know, I know.... Yes, there's a tap on the front edge, offside, but it only drips rather than pouring water out. Plus, I'd love to know how to direct that yucky waste somewhere sociable. 

Solutions, please, experienced Trooper owners 

I have a 24ltrs waste water container from E-Bay, with wheels and a long handle, I just open the tap when empty, and let the waste water go straight into the container, easy to empty at the disposal point ,  no hassle trying to get to a dumping point, which I believe are few and far between on UK  sites, if a waste water container will not go under your van ,which wouldn`t on my Topaz. fit  a pipe on the end of your tap to go in the container, and leave the waste container alongside.

the tap is obviously blocked .poke it with a bit of wire.

I carry an old aquaroll filler pipe which I hold tight against the waste water outlet and then blow very strongly forcing the blockage back into the tank where hopefully it will empty in a more orderly fashion.
It helps to be a euphonium player.  

Mick.

Guys, thank you!! Will try all of the above.... We should have a rollalong waste carrier arriving this week courtesy of Freecycle, so that will help as long as I can get the tank to empty in the first place. All good advice, thank you

Having just aquired a 2003 Topaz after 25 plus years of caravaning I to have also are come across the problem that other forum member have discussed regarding that of emptying the waste water tank I purchased just before we traded in our Lunar caravan a Fiamma 23 litre waste water trolly which is higher than the lowest point of the waste tank therefore because we tend to use CLs a lot is to take a more radical approach and that is to remove the onboard waste tank and connecting the existing hoses  to a normal caravan type outlet mounted  in front of the rear LH wheel also under consideration in to remove the fresh water tank and fit a Whale Aquasmart inlet system linking that to the Shurflo pump,has anyone gone this far?

bodger wrote:Having just aquired a 2003 Topaz after 25 plus years of caravaning I to have also are come across the problem that other forum member have discussed regarding that of emptying the waste water tank I purchased just before we traded in our Lunar caravan a Fiamma 23 litre waste water trolly which is higher than the lowest point of the waste tank therefore because we tend to use CLs a lot is to take a more radical approach and that is to remove the onboard waste tank and connecting the existing hoses  to a normal caravan type outlet mounted  in front of the rear LH wheel also under consideration in to remove the fresh water tank and fit a Whale Aquasmart inlet system linking that to the Shurflo pump,has anyone gone this far?

Surely far easier to use the onboard tanks rather than lugging water (Clean & Dirty) around a site. The beauty of a motorhome is that it is possible to carry it with you and you don't have to faff about on sites to get fresh water and empty grey every day. If you have unusable caravan items it's better to sell them on than butcher the motorhome and make life harder for yourself.

I suppose it depends how long you are stationary for. We do as you and empty when convenient but I did one time when on site for a few days have a full grey tank I had to empty.

matchlessman wrote:
Surely far easier to use the onboard tanks rather than lugging water (Clean & Dirty) around a site. The beauty of a motorhome is that it is possible to carry it with you and you don't have to faff about on sites to get fresh water and empty grey every day. If you have unusable caravan items it's better to sell them on than butcher the motorhome and make life harder for yourself.

I agree 100% and why do you want to carry portable tanks inside a small van to trip over when you stop for a picnic, shopping etc?

I would use the van as it is for a few months before doing something you may well regret and that would make the van very difficult to sell on.

Peter

fisherman3 wrote:the tap is obviously blocked .poke it with a bit of wire.

Does sound like a simple blockage. I have just had to replace both the tank taps on our Trident (I assume they are identical to the Trooper). Both the taps had become very hard to open and close and the 'tab' had snapped off the fresh tank.

Anyhow, the tanks come off very easily and have large inspection openings in the top. You have to simply undo one end of the undertank straps and unhook the pipes and the tank will virtually fall off. Once off you can easily give the tank a good clean out.

HTH
Steve

Thank you, Steve - that sounds all very sensible and I'll have a look under ours to see if I can locate these straps just as soon as I get a clean and dry hardstanding to do it on!! Very helpful. If I have probs, I'll be back :-)

aqv1957 wrote:Thank you, Steve - that sounds all very sensible and I'll have a look under ours to see if I can locate these straps just as soon as I get a clean and dry hardstanding to do it on!! Very helpful. If I have probs, I'll be back :-)

No problem! I'm away on hold for a couple of weeks from tonight so probably wont be able to reply. But there are lots of very knowledgeable people on here who will be able to help if you get stuck.

The only issue we did have was the strap bolts being a bit rusty. Give them a good soak in WD40 and take your time undoing them. I did snap one - but it's a piece of cake to make a new one up with a bit of threaded bar - so don't panic at all if one breaks.

Steve

Great stuff - thanks for the extra tips. I don't know when this is going to get done, and since we're not actually camping in Hattie at this time of year, the incentive isn't quite there -it could be a while….. 

Just replying to Matchlessmans comments regarding my letter regarding waste water and fresh water we intend to use the campervan in the same way as if we had a car at our disposal when on site, I know by observing owners of motorhomes/campervans when caravanning that the vehicle tends to "stay put" this is not our intension so the thought of lugging litres of fresh and grey water about in the onboard tanks does,nt appeal as mentioned in my letter we prefer to use CLs two we use on a regular basis being close to our daughters one has no grey water facility the water is disposed of beside the hedges (as instructed by the farmer) and the other site the only grey water disposal is in a raised drain, I personnaly cannot see a problem trundling 23 litres of grey water over to a disposal point , adopting a similar routine using another 23litre trolly for fresh water is also not a problem,far easier to empty 2x23litres when moving off sight.

We take two water 'trollies' with us, one for fresh and one for waste. We don't always move off site every day so find this system quite acceptable but if we are going off site, empty grey water on way out and fill fresh on way in, that way we aren't carrying the weight of all that water around all day.

bodger wrote:Just replying to Matchlessmans comments regarding my letter regarding waste water and fresh water we intend to use the campervan in the same way as if we had a car at our disposal when on site, I know by observing owners of motorhomes/campervans when caravanning that the vehicle tends to "stay put" this is not our intension so the thought of lugging litres of fresh and grey water about in the onboard tanks does,nt appeal as mentioned in my letter we prefer to use CLs two we use on a regular basis being close to our daughters one has no grey water facility the water is disposed of beside the hedges (as instructed by the farmer) and the other site the only grey water disposal is in a raised drain, I personnaly cannot see a problem trundling 23 litres of grey water over to a disposal point , adopting a similar routine using another 23litre trolly for fresh water is also not a problem,far easier to empty 2x23litres when moving off sight.

Bodger
Each to his own obviously, but a topaz is a small van conversion and if I've read your post correctly carry 2 x 23litres trolley water containers is rather eating up storage in your van. Surely the beauty of a motorhome is not to use it like a car as it has so much more to offer?   


Regards
John

hoopman wrote:

bodger wrote:Just replying to Matchlessmans comments regarding my letter regarding waste water and fresh water we intend to use the campervan in the same way as if we had a car at our disposal when on site, I know by observing owners of motorhomes/campervans when caravanning that the vehicle tends to "stay put" this is not our intension so the thought of lugging litres of fresh and grey water about in the onboard tanks does,nt appeal as mentioned in my letter we prefer to use CLs two we use on a regular basis being close to our daughters one has no grey water facility the water is disposed of beside the hedges (as instructed by the farmer) and the other site the only grey water disposal is in a raised drain, I personnaly cannot see a problem trundling 23 litres of grey water over to a disposal point , adopting a similar routine using another 23litre trolly for fresh water is also not a problem,far easier to empty 2x23litres when moving off sight.

Bodger
Each to his own obviously, but a topaz is a small van conversion and if I've read your post correctly carry 2 x 23litres trolley water containers is rather eating up storage in your van. Surely the beauty of a motorhome is not to use it like a car as it has so much more to offer?   


Regards
John

Rather than carry the fresh & waste water carriers, I use a piece of old garden hose with a silicon tube adapter on one end which i use fro draining the grey water and a different long plastic tube for filling fresh. Waste dumped on the way out, fresh on the way in as others have suggested & I too was a caravanner, but love the convenience of a motorhome when compared to tugging a 'van around.