I have read quite a few books on RV living, but you still need to get acquainted with your new home. How things work and what to do, when they don't, is learned by experience. We, the wife and I, were about to go across country, so I wanted to make sure I knew what I had read. I added some things to the equipment to make life easier on the road, which we will talk about in this part of the story.
Let's start with the different systems and not get to technical with the operation of them. First one will be the propane system, without propane you have no hot water or heat in this model (Pace Arrow).
The propane tank is located below the basement compartment. In the above picture, you can see the propane cylinder setting in a milk carton. The propane cylinder is placed in the milk carton so it will not tip over so easy. The propane cylinder is used for long stays at RV parks. The propane cylinder is attached to the extend-a-stay valve that you can buy at any RV store. The setup you see in the picture, allows you to use the propane in the cylinder, instead of the built in tank (gray tank) on the motor home. This way you don't have to move the motor home to fill the propane tank. The built in tank holds 40 pounds of propane and the cylinder is called a 20 pounder (17.7).
The spare tire is stored in the front compartment with the edge of the shelf slanted down for easy access to slide the tire out. This compartment has space for storing other things too.
The next system is the black and gray water system. This system is what it says it is, black water being the toilet and gray water is all the other water that goes down the drain. The black and gray water have two tanks, one for gray water and one for black water. This system is located in the basement area, usually underneath the bathroom. The black tank is under the toilet and the gray tank is beside the black tank.
The pictures are showing the level sensors on the black tank. The gray tank has level sensors, which show the levels on the gages inside the motor home. The open and close valves on both tanks are located in the tank area and a sewer hose is attached for empting the tanks. The gray water is dumped thru the same sewer hose and is first to dump then the black tank is emptied. I installed a tank-washing nozzle. It is mounted directly thru the black water tank, an inch below the top of the tank and close to the sensors. The valve on the black tank must be closed and about an inch of water with chemicals added, needs to be in the tank before it is used. I had a sewer hose supporter, which keeps the hose from moving all over the place when you dump the tanks.
I had a sewer hose supporter, which keeps the hose from moving all over the place when you dump the tanks. There is a hub that thread into the hub of the sewer pipe to eliminate the odor. The sewer hose is one thing you do not want to have a problem with while in operation of the dumping of the tanks. The sewer hose comes in different lengths, which you will want to have enough hose to reach at all locations.
There are odor prevention components that fit around the hose and then into the sewer hub in the ground if the hub is not threaded. The component is called a donut and is available at RV stores. There are chemicals for the black and gray water tanks for odor problems and if you use regular toilet paper to dissolve it. There is a light toilet paper that will dissolve with regular chemicals for the black tank. The gray water tank needs deodorizer for drain odors. You can flush the black and gray water tanks by running water thru the sinks and toilet. It is easier to flush if you have the tank-flushing nozzle installed on the tanks. The lubrication can in the black and gray water compartment is sprayed onto the valve handle rod to keep the slide valves sliding freely. Spray the handle rod each time you dump or open the valve. You can leave the gray water valve open if you wish when in camp.
The next system will be the drinking water system so until then hope this helps someone out.
