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YES! and NO!
Are you confused yet? don’t worry the answer is actually much easier to understand than you may think.
While set up at a site, and all your hoses are hooked up to the camp ground, there is nothing that says you cant have your tanks open to allow water to flow directly into the sewer. But do you really want to?
Remember when hooked up to a camp ground or any wast location you are directly connected to a sewer, and all the smells inside.
We were on our first trip when we learned this lesson the hard way. While staying at a great campground near Clear Lake NC we set up camp and left the tanks open, we explored the lake and all the fun things to do in that town but when we came home to the camper there was an awful smell, you guessed it, the whole camper smelled like the sewer, not a pleasant thing to come home to.
But why did it smell?
The reason is simple, the smell came through the hose, into our tanks and in our motorhome via the drains in the kitchen and bathroom drains, as well as the drain in the shower.
A few weeks later I was speaking to a much more experienced RVer who informed me that I was actually lucky! I thought to my self, “how was smelling that lucky?” he continued to tell me that the solid waste in the black tank, can become dry and hard, he even comically referred to it as a “poo tower” making it nearly impossible to properly clean in without removing the tank. The reason is that with the system closed it is air tight and can keep the contents soluble, but with air allowed to flow freely there is a much better likely-hood of it becoming dry and clogged.
Also If you leave your tanks open you are inviting all the critters from the sewer into your home (believe me we lived and learned this mistake ugh)
Summary
Honestly is your RV and of course you can do whatever you want, but as a general rule of thumb, would recommend keeping the tanks closed until at least 3/4 full, that way you have enough pressure (weight in the tanks) to properly flow from your wast hose into the sewer. Also REMEMBER TO ALWAYS HAVE GREY WATER TO DUMP AFTER YOUR BLACK TANK, TO CLEAN OUT THE HOSE AFTER USE.
I hope this helps you understand why you should keep your tanks closed until its time to flush.
Till next time Jak se mas!
Keep the questions coming!
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