If you are new here and haven't read my story on what almost ended our RV adventure pause here and come back (It Almost Ended of RV Life) Before you leave with a new trailer or before your next trip -- This is a must have for any travel trailer or RV that has a dump tank. So most of our dump tanks have a valve at the bottom of that tanks and a tube for the "stuff" to flow from the bottom of the tank to the exit of the trailer. Depending on your RV this tube can be a foot or two or many many feet. So as you are happily bouncing down the road singing car karaoke, the gate valve in your RV that holds back the "stuff" as we will call it, can also be bounced around and "leak" or just come open.. So this tube from the bottom of your tank to the outlet well can collect "stuff". well and let me tell you when you open the cap and the stuff comes flying out, lands on your new camp ground or your feet you will have wished this upgrade to your trailer would of come sooner.
So below is a little picture I drew to explain how the tank system works in an average RV. Mileage may vary so your tank system could be different, but this is in concept. You generally have 3 types of tanks in your RV.
Fresh - Drinking, washing and showering
Gray - Where the water from your shower and sinks go
Black - Where the stuff from the toilets go -- aka "THE STUFF"
So how do we make our RV trips a little better you ask? As many things in life we take out a little insurance. As small investment now, keeps bad things from happening in the future. Below in this blue color with the blue arrow shows the addition of a new gate valve (Link to Amazon Below) This gate valve is really the last line of defense between your "Stuff" and the outlet. What this allows for is to make sure that this is closed at all times and protect you if the upper valves had a failure or opened in transit. As the space from the end of this gate valve and the outside cap is a few inches as most, the amount of stuff that could be in there is minimal.
What I like about this setup, is that I still use a small bucket and when I open the cap for the first time, it there was any type of issue along the way, I can catch it, but it would be just a little bit instead of an entire pipe full. These allows me to safely open the cap, get the hoses all setup and ready to go and then open the first gate valve at the outlet, then preceed to open the other tanks as needed.
So I hope this helps you in your next adventure, please please don't leave home with out it. The cost is very small, the installation time takes about 10 minutes or less (Most of the time is opening the dang packaging) and you will travel a little easier and take the fatigue and stress out of your RV Adventures.
Stay safe and Happy Travels
-Jami