IntoTheMystery13 Checks out Class Bs

[BBQ]

.

... and thus, into the mystery

[DCHitt]

This holding tank debate was interesting and I did come to my own conclusions. Despite the personal attacks the debate was good.

1. Big black tanks are good. They must be dumped properly and sometimes cost $ to do so. So the less often I have to do it the better. I have two black tanks. One under the potty and it runs into one under the floor. Gravity dump with large hose on the drivers side.

2. Small gray tanks are good. Usually filled with soapy water and it is OK to have an overflow to ground. Can be dumped into storm drains so it is good to have the outlet on the passenger side. I'm not forced to a dump station when it gets full.

3. I liked the idea of using the gray tank water for potty flushes. That would save on the fresh water supply. If anyone is doing this I would like to hear more about it. Maybe a Y valve to choose between fresh and gray. It would take an additional pump of some kind.

These ideas are a little different than what is currently available in any of the B's that are on the market.

[BBQ]

Originally Posted by DCHitt

::

2. Small gray tanks are good. Usually filled with soapy water and it is OK to have an overflow to ground. Can be dumped into storm drains so it is good to have the outlet on the passenger side. I'm not forced to a dump station when it gets full.

::

Most of the urban municipality forbidden dumping of non-rain water into the storm drain. You can't even dump your swimming pool water without treatment first.


ps. I am not talking about dirty water from your car wash on the driveway. I am talking about dumping gray water. I am sure the law is very specific. I do not have the specific words.

[Boxster1971]

Originally Posted by DCHitt

This holding tank debate was interesting and I did come to my own conclusions. Despite the personal attacks the debate was good.

1. Big black tanks are good. They must be dumped properly and sometimes cost $ to do so. So the less often I have to do it the better. I have two black tanks. One under the potty and it runs into one under the floor. Gravity dump with large hose on the drivers side.

2. Small gray tanks are good. Usually filled with soapy water and it is OK to have an overflow to ground. Can be dumped into storm drains so it is good to have the outlet on the passenger side. I'm not forced to a dump station when it gets full.

3. I liked the idea of using the gray tank water for potty flushes. That would save on the fresh water supply. If anyone is doing this I would like to hear more about it. Maybe a Y valve to choose between fresh and gray. It would take an additional pump of some kind.

These ideas are a little different than what is currently available in any of the B's that are on the market.

This system will allow you to use gray water to flush toilets.
http://www.usi-rv.com/product.sc?productId=7

I don't have it in my van, it does require a second pump but would be hard to fit into B-van.


- - Mike
2012 Sprinter 3500 Extended converted B-Van by Airstream

[DCHitt]

Originally Posted by BBQ

Most of the urban municipality forbidden dumping of non-rain water into the storm drain. You can't even dump your swimming pool water without treatment first.


ps. I am not talking about dirty water from your car wash on the driveway. I am talking about dumping gray water. I am sure the law is very specific. I do not have the specific words.

I guess it does depend on where you are. Where I live the sewer and storm drain go into the same pipe. When I asked at the sewer plant they pointed out that the runoff water had to be treated anyway.

[DCHitt]

Originally Posted by Boxster1971

This system will allow you to use gray water to flush toilets.
Recycle RV Grey Water kit - Valve switch assembled

I don't have it in my van, it does require a second pump but would be hard to fit into B-van.

Thanks for the pointer. The big filter would take some room and I didn't see the extra pump in the kit. Seems a little expensive. I think I will work on this idea.

[Davydd]

Originally Posted by cruising7388

Asked why a single black tank won't work, the only answer or clear explanation offered so far offered is that...nobody does it that way.

I hereby dub this thread to be the forum equivalent of the highway to nowhere.

When Don Quixote Avanti convinces the whole RV industry they are full of it in two tanks we can revisit this.

[avanti]

I read somewhere about a guy who spent a small fortune installing a pair of iPhone-controlled articulated recliner lounges in his van instead of beds. Turns out that not a single major RV upfitter does this. He must be feeling pretty foolish right now.

[BBQ]

Originally Posted by avanti

I read somewhere about a guy who spent a small fortune installing a pair of iPhone-controlled articulated recliner lounges in his van instead of beds. Turns out that not a single major RV upfitter does this. He must be feeling pretty foolish right now.

If others are doing it also,
then it won't be a custom job.

[SiennaGuy]

Originally Posted by avanti

I read somewhere about a guy who spent a small fortune installing a pair of iPhone-controlled articulated recliner lounges in his van instead of beds. Turns out that not a single major RV upfitter does this. He must be feeling pretty foolish right now.

I think you're referring to Davydd's custom rig built to his specs by Advanced RV. Leslie Gore sang, "It's My Party and I Can Cry If I Want To." It's his rig and he can recline if he wants to. I doubt he feels foolish if that's what he really wanted. I have a articulated reclining bed at home and I love it.

[Davydd]

Originally Posted by avanti

I read somewhere about a guy who spent a small fortune installing a pair of iPhone-controlled articulated recliner lounges in his van instead of beds. Turns out that not a single major RV upfitter does this. He must be feeling pretty foolish right now.

Yep and many people have followed with the same design at Advanced RV.

Well one upfitter has gotten close and figured out how to manually prop the back of a twin bed.

[cruising7388]

Originally Posted by Davydd

Historically RVs had single waste tanks. Separating black from grey is a more recent refined development and you find one converter out of all that either is not with it in how people use Bs, is looking for a cut corner cheap solution or hasn't been in the market all that long. Who really knows? Are you even sure it is a single tank? Brochure information is not always clear or accurate. I think Avanti alluded to his first Airstream having a single tank? I know my vintage Airstream trailer had a single tank but Airstream no longer does that. They evidently learned. Airstream, Roadtrek, Winnebago, Pleasure-way, Leisure Travel Vans, Advanced RV and all disagree. Those in the business have all gravitated to the two tank system and it was not driven by customers but from their own common sense practical space matters working out the details. That's a lot of overwhelming agreement.

To answer your question, there is no question that the Avion Azur B uses a single waste tank. You can take that to the bank. Their Class B volume I am guessing is somewhere between ARV and LTV and after three years if their single tank approach produced the draconian consequences suggested on this thread, I doubt that they would still retain the design.

Avion has been in the trailer business quite a while and this is their first and only Class B product which they have been producing for around three years. Their trailer history doesn't guarantee success in Class B design, (the warts reported in Airstream's B demonstrates this), but they are certainly no strangers to waste tanks and were fully aware of the conventional two tank approach when they decided to implement a single tank.

So, the good news is that unlike some discussions that never leave the theoretical, at least there is a real world case where a single waste tank is being supplied in a Sprinter B and history will eventually demonstrate whether the owners love it or hate it or more likely, IMO, just accept and adjust to it.

[SiennaGuy]

Originally Posted by cruising7388

To answer your question, there is no question that the Avion Azur B uses a single waste tank. You can take that to the bank.

I asked them and they answered:

"We use a combined gray and black tank to save space the macerating toilet does a great job. "

[cruising7388]

Originally Posted by SiennaGuy

I asked them and they answered:

"We use a combined gray and black tank to save space the macerating toilet does a great job. "

I'm shooting from the hip here, but I think the combination tank is probably not located directly under the toilet and the macerator produces a slurry that will move to the tank with less plumbing pitch than solids require.

Regardless of the tank(s) array, strictly from a functional viewpoint, I think the macerator is better placed at the toilet than at the outboard end. However, that said, there may be some ugly consequences if the toilet macerator fails. Even if there is a provision to bypass it and dump directly, will the plumbing design permit the transit of solids rather than slurry from the toilet into the tank? Presumably, a builder designs for worst case scenarios but history demonstrates that sometimes this assumption is ....optimistic?

[BBQ]

.

I think I will stop now.

[cruising7388]

Originally Posted by BBQ

.

I think I will stop now.

Say it isn't so! Such a crying shame considering how far we've traversed.... into the mystery.

[avanti]

I can see the advantage of having a macerator at the toilet. But it is really serving a different function then a pump-out macerator. The biggest reason I am committed to the latter is that it permits a totally sealed system that never gets gross. They are really separate issues.

[cruising7388]

Originally Posted by avanti

I can see the advantage of having a macerator at the toilet. But it is really serving a different function then a pump-out macerator. The biggest reason I am committed to the latter is that it permits a totally sealed system that never gets gross. They are really separate issues.

Is there anything that precludes employing a macerator at both points?

[Bud]

Originally Posted by avanti

I can see the advantage of having a macerator at the toilet. But it is really serving a different function then a pump-out macerator. The biggest reason I am committed to the latter is that it permits a totally sealed system that never gets gross. They are really separate issues.

avanti, so you macerate your stuff into the gray water, now time for dumping. When does the bad stuff go to the bottom you talked about. How long do you have to wait?

Bud

[avanti]

Originally Posted by Bud

avanti, so you macerate your stuff into the gray water, now time for dumping. When does the bad stuff go to the bottom you talked about. How long do you have to wait?

Bud

Agree. My description of that phenomenon did not assume a toilet-side macerator. If you have one, you need to select a design that does not assume this. There are many choices.


@cruising: No, there is no reason you can't have two macerators.