Last Updated on April 15, 2023 by Jessica Lauren Vine
If you’re wondering, “Should I leave my black tank opened or closed?” I was right there with you a few years ago, but thankfully, we had some RVing veterans that took pity on us.
We were in Arley, Alabama, at an RV resort called Hidden Cove, and that is where we met Tom and Laura. They saw that we were trying to figure out how we should do almost everything. This was our first trip out, and we left both our black tank and grey tank open because we had full hookups.
Tom was nice enough to come over and help us out. This is what we learned.
You should leave both your black tank and your gray tank closed until you are ready to empty them. When you are ready to empty them, open the black tank first and then open the grey tank so all the grey tank contents can help push the blank tank contents out.
If you leave the black tank open, you’ll soon find that it can get all crusty and gross. You don’t want to fight with the feces anymore than you have to fight with it. You’ll have plenty of mess without causing a mess of your own.
Do yourself a favor and keep the tanks closed until you are ready to dump them. You don’t have to let them fill up to any specific level. We would always let them get to around half full, and then we would empty them so they wouldn’t start making the RV smelly.
Even though we used this treatment stuff that helped the RV holding tanks stay smelling clean, we wanted to make sure that we didn’t make its job any harder than it had to be.
This will help you avoid the nastiness and smell you might be experiencing from your RV.
- Ultra-Concentrated
- Orange Citrus Scent
- Keeps the stench away
- Easy to use
- Does not store well
Don’t let the black tank ruin your camping fun or even full time RV life. If you can figure out how to tame the black tank, you won’t dread it all of the time.
Black Tank Frequently Asked Questions
The black tank can make you feel pretty miserable, but getting the answers to these frequently asked black tank questions might help out a bit.
Can I leave my RV dump valves open?
Yes. You can leave your RV dump valves open, but it will cause all of the liquid to move past the solids, and you’ll just have a hardened lump of feces which is a problem you don’t want to have to deal with.
Should I leave water in my black tank when storing it?
Yes. Leaving water in your black tank during storage will greatly help your RV tanks, so they will be ready to go when you get your RV out of storage.
Is it okay to leave the black tank full?
Yes. You can leave the black tank full, but it will start to smell after a while, so you might not want to do that.
Should I Leave My Black Tank Opened or Closed? – Conclusion
Now you know what you should do about your RV black holding tank and that you should keep it closed until you need to dump the RV waste.
When Jessica was older and had a family, she took her crew on the road for 2.5 years. They lived in 2 different RVs during that time. One 18 foot long and one 28 foot long. Both pull-behind RVs.
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