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Gray Water By-Pass / Holding tanks?
Ok , So on most coach/RV descriptions I see that they have Gray water holding tanks and Black water holding tanks. On My 96 Liberty, I only have one dump switch on the dash , And it Dumps the holding tank that the Monitor is hooked up to in the overhead compartment. Is there a combined holding tank for both Gray and Black water on Liberty’s ? And How do I go about using the Gray water By-Pass ? There is a switch in the Bathroom panel that says Gray water By-Pass. But when I turn it on , and leave the faucet running and go outside. There is no water draining. I have read about someone talking about running a hose from their By-pass to a drain. So , Is there a valve somewhere that I have to open ? Hook a hose to , Etc? On the drivers side in the bay where the water hookup is. There is a Spigot / Valve. And I have found out that You do not want to stand in front of it when You open it ! LOL So I thought that it was a fresh water tap to use to spray out Your Dump hose maybe ?
Thanks in advance !
Rocky
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17 Replies
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Rocky,
Our Liberty’s have a single holding tank. We do have some options for the use however.
The gray water by-pass is the copper pipe to the left of the main discharge that goes through the floor of the bay. The discharge has a valve about a foot off the bay floor that controls gray water. When the valve is open water from the sinks and shower goes right to the ground. When the valve is closed the gray water enters the holding tank.
If you don’t see gray water dumping from the pipe make sure the valve is open. If it hasn’t been used for a while it may be stuck.
You obviously understand how the big discharge works. You should also have a macerator switch that enables you to pump your holding tank contents out via a hose connection typically located at the right rear under the bumper.
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Just for a little clarity, our 1994 has inch and a half white pvc tubing instead of copper located in the same place, to the left of the main dump. There is no manual valve to stick (or not). And the only valve is that solenoid activated one from the bathroom switch. We have never used it yet so the solenoid will probably be stuck, but gotta spare.
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What I did on my 94 Liberty where the white 1 1/2 in PVC comes out the bottom for the grey water was adapt a garden hose connection with PVC that I could install or remove a threaded 90 when I wanted to use the bypass with a hose.
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Dan, There has to be some type of valve that either opens a path to the ground, or closes that path for gray water and instead directs it into the holding tank. It looks like a small version of the bigger valve for the main dump and on my last two coaches it was mounted horizontal, while the big one was located vertical.
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Just a comment. Us Liberty guys have to always mention or point out our polished copper piping. We get enough heat from those that wished they had that so we should not pass up opportunities to mention it.
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Jon,
We may not have as much copper, although there’s enough that runs the length of the coach for dash heat. You won’t discover any jealously here. Maybe some may wish they had two holding tanks like the vast majority of coaches 😉 With two tanks you can always have a black water free hose when you’re disconnect the sewer hose.
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Yes Jon, we have exactly what you describe in your 6:45:13pm post – “smaller … mounted horizontal … bigger one vertical”.
I thought you were saying in your 7:01:34am post that there were two valves to open in order to get bypass flow to the ground. One manual valve in the bay that sometimes sticks, and then the solenoid activated valve triggered by the switch in the bathroom.
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Gil, you are correct about the sewer hose wash. Our original coach had two tanks and I did dump the gray water last to clean the hose.
I have stated several times our coaches are compromises and I can see justification for both set ups. Cleaning the hose is a big advantage of two tanks. The down side is the best way to flush solids however is water volume so having a single tank that is near full with mostly gray water is surely going to scour the bottom of the holding tank.
This is a crappy topic to be discussing.
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The great thing about the Liberty setup is that the 145 gallon tank can be used for only black waste,with the gray water bypass open I can dry camp for over a week and never need to dump,I have had another coach with 2 tanks and I perfer this setup.The RVIA member specs require 2 tanks and I have heard that Oregon requires this of all Oregon manufacturers therefore Marathon and the Country Coaches must have 2 tanks,it is not a choice for them.
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Uh -Oh !!! ADD THAT TO THE LIST ! POLISH MY COPPER !!!
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Mine is white PVC also. And it only has an air control. Which the valve was stuck, Or the actuator was not working.I had to remove one nut off of the end of the air plunger to open mine manually. And I had to work it back and forth and give it a little TAP TAP before it would drain. Mine already has a garden hose connection on the bottom.
What is the Gray Water Protocol ? Edicate ? On using ? Where and when ?
Thanks,
Rocky
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Jon, there is only one person I know of (from a reputation I heard about on another site, don’t know first hand) with a Prevost that might require a 145 gallon black holding tank an he lives in Oklahoma City. His last name is that of a famous gun maker.
We CC guys ordered all our coaches without the bling of shinny copper pipes so that when we have the bay doors open dispaying other gagettry, we’r not subjet to theft. Copper is pretty pricey these days you know!!!!!!!!!
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And Charles forgot to mention this
famous OK person had to upgrade to the Binford 1100, Extreme Duty Chopper
and still has amperage issues! -
Rocky, you and I will ignore the two posts above about someone’s over active bowels and we will talk about gray water.
In campgrounds all waste goes to the sewer. I don’t ever recall any RV park allowing waste water to dump on the ground and there is actually no need to do that if sewer is available.
Where gray water (is it gray or grey?) by pass is used is when parked at a venue, usually called dry camping where there are no sewer hookups available and you are on ground that will absorb the gray water. When at Oshkosh for the air show for example we are parked in a field and there are no prohibitions against it. I suspect folks that go to races like Daytona and who are parked on grass may use their gray water by-pass.
Where you DO NOT use it is when overnighting at a Wal Mart or in a rest area. The use of the gray water by pass is something that allows you to stretch your time between dumps so you can go to a venue with no facilities and not have to use a pump out truck for example. But you just cannot dump it on blacktop or where people are going to be walking in it. Some locales specifically prohibit gray water dumping.
As the Dave Matthews band learned the hard way, there are times and places you never dump.
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Jon,
I will keep a hose just for the Gray water hookup. I plan on attending some festivals and stuff like that and will have to dry camp a few days at a time. And use it whenever there is a Drainage area close that will not impair the public.
What did the Dave Matthews Band do ? I was parked beside one of His H3’s in Nashville at a repair facility about a month ago.
What do You use to polish Your Copper ?
Thanks
Rocky
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