Black Tank Capacity

[Ski]

We will be looking at a 1997 36' Endeavor in a couple of days. The owner gave me the tank capacities with the black tank being 40 gals. Would this be sufficient for a couple boondocking for 7 to 10 days? We are conservative in our potty use.

 

Thanks,

 

Al

[chirakawa]

Yes.

[WeBeFulltimers]

We do not boondock and aren't very conservative but my DW and I get 13-14 days on a 50 gal black tank.

[Kirk W]

For most people the answer would be yes, but that is just an estimate. The motorhome that we lived fulltime in had a 40 gallon black tank and it was my practice to dump it once a week and occasionally we made it last a bit longer. One word of caution here however. Do not make the mistake of minimizing the use of water in your black tank as that can result in a pile of solid matter in the bottom that will not drain out. You do not want to have to deal with what can result. An RV toilet by design uses less water than a house one so use a bowl well filled for all solids.

 

The gray tank is far more limiting for nearly all RV owners than is the black. Ours also had a 40 gallon gray water tank and that was required very careful use to make serve for a week.

[Rif]

We have a 50 gallon black tank and routinely dump it every two weeks without any thought to conservation. We can easily go three weeks if we conserve a bit, and have gone as long as four weeks. Four takes some serious conservation.

[SpaceNorman]

Our 2012 Endeavor has a 100 gallon fresh tank, a 40 gallon black tank and a 60 gallon gray tank. We routinely go 5-6 days on a single 100 gallon tank of fresh water - without really changing up anything in terms of our water usage habits. We've gone as long as 8 .... with a little scrimping. As others have suggested - it's the gray tank that seems to run out of space first. Your 7-10 day goal is likely very doable - especially if you're thrifty with your usage.

[2gypsies]

Ours was 45 gal and we could boondock about 12 days but only because the grey filled up faster than the black. We even dumped our dishwater down the black to save on the grey. We don't dump grey on the ground. By 12 days we're ready to move on to another spot anyway so it worked for us.

[Ski]

Thank you for the responses. Looks like it is doable as we are very thrifty in our water usage. I had forgotten about dumping dish water down the black tank. Good point and will also help to flush out the solids. Will also keep in mind, as Kirk mentioned, not to skimp on the liquids in the black tank for a good flush.

 

Surprised to read that SpaceNorman's 43' Endeavor only has a 40 gallon black tank.

 

Al

[KodiakJack]

Our rig has two 40 gallon grey and a 40 gallon blank tank plus 110 gallons of water. When we noted that the kitchen gray filled up first we started to use one of the vanity sinks more (different gray tank). Anyway 2 weeks on the tanks is not an issue with our normal use.

Later,

J