World’s Best RV Upgrade: Permanent Waste Hose

[Soarer]

If you survey motorhome owners, you can bet that their number one dislike of RVing is dumping the waste water. A permanent waste hose would change the results of the poll as it makes this chore mess-free and much easier.

We are new owners of a Thor Compass 23TW. The layout of the waste water system in this motorhome was an additional selling point because I imagined it would allow me to easily install a permanent waste hose. One of my goals was to make no modifications to the existing system which I was able to do. Using a 4 inch inside diameter plastic pipe I made a tube in the shape shown in the picture below. The first elbow goes into the opening on the bottom of the compartment where the factory waste water outlet is. Not obvious in the photo is that the alignment of the elbows is such that the piping has a slight downhill slope along its entire length when installed so that the hose drains completely.



The shape was determined by the length required to hold a Lippert waste hose which is 5 1/2 feet long when stowed and 20 feet long when extended.

Below is a photo of the Lippert hose and valve that I used. Nice features of the Lippert are the rubber gasket at the nozzle end that seals against the dump port (no more spills) and a clear section at the nozzle entrance that lets you see when the hose is rinsed out and the dump is complete. The hose comes with a proprietary connector which I cut off and substituted a standard connector that fit the one inside the compartment on the Compass.



The waste hose fits nicely inside the piping:



I attached the piping under the Compass with metal straps and hooked the hose to the fitting inside the compartment:



When fully extended, the hose reaches about 14 feet.



When I first tested the system, I had trouble stretching the hose to the dump port. It turned out that with the Lippert valve and Thor valve closed, the hose was air tight and did not like to have its volume increased. Simply opening the Thor valve solved the problem and stretching the hose became easy.

A nice side effect of this upgrade is that the hose is always contained in the piping which frees up storage space. On the Compass the compartment with the dump attachment has room for the electric cord, an extension cord, the water hose, and some leveling blocks.

My final process for dumping is to park with the waste hose abeam the dump port. I then open the Thor black water valve, undo the bungee that holds the Lippert nozzle, put the nozzle into the dump port, and open the Lippert valve, all of which takes less than 20 seconds. When the black water is done, I close the black water valve and open the gray water valve. When the dump is complete, I close the Lippert valve, push the hose back into the pipe, attach the bungee, and close the gray water valve, all of which also takes less than another 20 seconds.

In summary, this upgrade:
· >>Eliminates messes.
· >>Makes dumping quick and easy.
· >> Frees up storage space.

PS I did a similar installation of a Lippert hose on a RoadTrek several years ago which is still working great. A permanent waste hose could be installed on other models of motorhome/travel trailer but may require a modification of the dump system plumbing. The only motorhomes/travel trailers where this may not be possible are ones where the holding tank and, hence, dump valve is even with the side wall so there is no room for the piping without it sticking out beyond the wall.

[Bob Denman]

It looks promising...

[Travelin' Texans]

Nice job!
The issue I could see happening is I'd of put the opening for the valve on the opposite side as shown, in the current position it's likely to get beat to pieces by every piece of whatever road debris the tires throw up. Once the mud flaps blow up at 60-65 mph that valve is the 1st hit.
That's an expensive sewer hose to take that abuse.

[raffaelli]

Is there a cap on the end of the green hose when stored? Seems like there would be a smell without.

Cool idea!

[Lt Keefer]

How about that time you are in Bodunk, Alaska and the sewer dump is 35 feet from the parking spot?

[Soarer]

Originally Posted by Travelin' Texans

Nice job!
The issue I could see happening is I'd of put the opening for the valve on the opposite side as shown, in the current position it's likely to get beat to pieces by every piece of whatever road debris the tires throw up. Once the mud flaps blow up at 60-65 mph that valve is the 1st hit.
That's an expensive sewer hose to take that abuse.

It is all a matter of risk assessment. The mud flap on the Compass is rather stiff so I do not think it blows into the Lippert valve. The rig has been on 2 trips since the mod and there is no evidence of any impingment. Also, the Lippert valve and the piping are rather robust.

The similar system that I installed on a RoadTrek over 24,000 miles and 2 years ago has aged well. The only hint of a problem is some heat damage to the pipe where the piping passes under the exhaust pipe. The new system on the Compass is several feet from the exhaust.

Even if I have to repair or replace parts, it will be more than worth it. It is rather satisfying to stop at a busy dump site with multiple dump ports and enjoy a quick, clean, easy in-and-out in the time that it takes other campers to rinse and stow their detaching hoses...


Jim

[Soarer]

Originally Posted by raffaelli

Is there a cap on the end of the green hose when stored? Seems like there would be a smell without.

Cool idea!

The green Lippert valve at the exit end of the hose is air tight when closed so it is better than a cap...it has no "ears" that can break off.


Jim

[Soarer]

Originally Posted by Lt Keefer

How about that time you are in Bodunk, Alaska and the sewer dump is 35 feet from the parking spot?

Since I am not planning to go to Bodunk, no worries!


Seriously, the similar permanent system that I put on the RoadTrek only has about a 9 foot reach...knock on wood...it always reached the dump port.



I am sure that there are places where a 14 foot reach is not enough. However, in my engineering judgement, the extra piping and need to splice onto the Lippert hose are more trouble than it is worth so the system that I have will have to do.


Jim

[Desmo888]

Thanks for the idea, looks worthy.

[2xred]

I would like to cap off my hose when I store it. Anyone have a recommendation?

[Jimbo56]

My rhino hose came with caps for both ends.

[blw2]

brilliant idea. i like it

[ducksface]

The idea is usurped by a Macerator and a garden hose of up to many many feet in length.(a short one for daily use and a longer one for the Alaska situation...no splicing, just a garden hose).


Any Macerator beats any slinky any day.

If you're looking for a betterment, this menacing u-turn and slinky is a half-step.
'...more trouble than it is worth....'

The op did an excellent job of wording and pics.
Thanks.

[Arveyer]

Originally Posted by ducksface

The idea is usurped by a Macerator and a garden hose of up to many many feet in length.(a short one for daily use and a longer one for the Alaska situation...no splicing, just a garden hose).


Any Macerator beats any slinky any day.

If you're looking for a betterment, this menacing u-turn and slinky is a half-step.
'...more trouble than it is worth....'

The op did an excellent job of wording and pics.
Thanks.

How does one work, it appears to be a pump, wouldn't a hose still be needed?

[16ACE27]

Originally Posted by Arveyer

How does one work, it appears to be a pump, wouldn't a hose still be needed?

"and a garden hose of up to many many feet in length."

[Arveyer]

I ment the whole shabang, but I looked it up and get it now, that does look good.
It breaks it down enough to go through with no problem?

[Chateau_Nomad]

Originally Posted by Arveyer

I ment the whole shabang, but I looked it up and get it now, that does look good.
It breaks it down enough to go through with no problem?

My brother-in-law uses that setup on his class C. His sewer cleanout is uphill and around behind his house from where he parks his motorhome. He uses the macerator and 50 feet of garden hose... says it works like a charm.

Who says crap only runs downhill? It runs UPHILL if you pump it!

[dkoldman]

What an excellent write up by OP.

The Camco Slinky from CW was one of the 1st things I bought for our RV. Unlike the OP, we had plenty of room for storage and it was generally not a problem and easy to use. But I hated it because of where I had to be to use it. We rarely if ever hookup during our stays; so we would dump before leaving or wait until we got home; and then drive 25 minutes to a local Campsite where we could dump. Sometimes we had a line to wait, but it seems like everytime we got set up to dump, RVs would come out the bushes and people were waiting on us providing unintended pressure on us to rush.

So way back when, I bought the Flojet Macerator and it is a game changer. It comes in a very nice case. We have a 25' Orange Camco hose that we connect to the Floject Macerator when dumping on the road. At home we have a dedicated 100 ft hose that we dump to a sewer port in our flower bed in the front of the house. I prefer dumping at home. We have a dedicated hose hose mobile cart. I cut of the discharge side on 100' hose just so no one would try to connect it to some. It may be a 2 foot rise over a portion of the 100' at home. I can tell you for sure it is capable of doing twice what Flojet says it can. I asked them about it and they just laugh because they know it. Apparently they under market it so as to not have any hassles from anyone saying it can't do what they say.

I still carry the Camco Hose just for backup or in the event we do hookup. But we love it and make dumping at home easy and fun. You could also dump in a toilet as it has plenty of pressure head for the rise. One day I may try to see if it can pump over our fence ( gray water of course and just for kicks)


Note: Before buying the Flojet when researching I found literally 100s of complaints about it blowing fuses. It was enough to make me not want to buy, but I asked Flojet about it and they said some people don't clean them, or in some cases may not run the gray water after doing the black. It has a cap over a shaft in the back you can turn with screwdriver if it were gummy stuck. It has been 4 years and we never had it stuck or have it blow a fuse. I am 100% convinced when used properly it works to perfection.

[Arveyer]

Originally Posted by Chateau_Nomad

My brother-in-law uses that setup on his class C. His sewer cleanout is uphill and around behind his house from where he parks his motorhome. He uses the macerator and 50 feet of garden hose... says it works like a charm.

Who says crap only runs downhill? It runs UPHILL if you pump it!

I have a similar set up but not that drastic of a incline, so to propell the waist water I guess you have to keep water running into the tank?
To feed the pump, there's nothing to move it once leaving the pump? I guess you could just hook it to a water spicket to finish it when done.
.