Dump station location

[Steve]

It should be on the left side of the vehicle, I don't know if the position matters but I think most are just in front of the rear wheels (I would guess to keep the weight from bounching around too much as it would if it was past them)

[wtd]

I've got a door in the street side, so the curb side was a better choice for the bathroom. I put in a macerator pump because I didn't want to run a 3" pipe across the bus underneath to the street side. I can dump from either side. Dealing with a 3" hose full of crap didn't really appeal to me either.
120 bucks well spent

[oldog12]

Hey WTD,
Do you have your macerator running into, or out of the black water tank? I've yet to start working on my conversion, and I was looking at some of the toilets with macerators that pump into the black water holding tank, and then I guess you just let it flow at the dump station... How did you set your macerator?... Or do you have one of those portable waste pumps that attach to the 3"

[wtd]

Connects to the 3" out from the tank and discharges through a 1" PVC pipe, reduced to a 3/4" hose.

3" of hard pipe from the tank outlet to the waste valve, 3" of regular flexible RV dump hose from the valve to the pump. The pump lifts about 4', so you can put it about anywhere.



Jabsco says to discharge through a 1" hose, but I used 3/4" as it's more common and cheaper. Have had no problem with it. I'd guess the biggest problem with a smaller hose would be if you pumped a long ways with it - more friction loss in the smaller hose, and so harder on the pump and shorter life. I keep a 25' length of hose attached and just hang it under the bus with a bungee cord. I leave the hose attached so I don't accidentally use it for anything else
You don't need a waste valve but I had bad visions of a full tank and a broken pump ....
My plumbing's pretty simple since I only have one tank.

[oldog12]

What size inlet does the jbsco have? I've only seen 1 1/2" inlets. Did you reduce the 3" to 1 1/2"?

[wtd]

3" pump inlet, ... the 1-1/2" seems to be mostly for boats

Got it from the Alaskan Alternative energy Store - least expensive I could find --

From the email invoice ->
QTY. (PART #) ITEM DESCRIPTION -- UNIT PRICE -- TOTAL PRICE
------------------------------------------------------
1 x 12V RV Macerator Pump (18590-1010) = $93.90
Price Per Each
------------------------------------------------------
Sub-Total: $93.90
United Parcel Service (1 x 6.6lbs) (Ground): $9.71
Total: $103.61

Don't know if it was on sale or what, got it about a year ago.
Camping World has them in 3", but I think they're around 200 bucks.

[oldog12]

Hey... Thanks for the info and the cool link !!! It clears up a lot of questions I had....

Thanks !!!
All the best

[GoneCamping]

Being an avid camper and currently own a Travel Trailer and a couple of Pop-up's is good to keep in mind that ALL utilities are going to be located on the drivers side of the bus. City/Fresh water input, electrical power, park cable, and sewer. Locating forward of the rear wheels is done due to the fact different campgrounds have their utility posts located in diffenent places, and being in the middle of the bus and toward the rear will give you the best 'average' where hoses and wires will all reach their destinations.

Another thing to keep in mind is placement of your appiances. You should try and keep the water heater and furnace on the drivers side too, because in propane mode these things expel heat and noxious fumes...and you really don't want that stuff spewing fumes on you while you sit outside or cooking your dinner on the grill...

Refridge can go on either side, even if you have a propane refridge because that will exhaust it's fumes out the special roof vent.

Propane tanks are generally located drivers side too, but if it's anything like mine, it may not matter since I'm using upright 20# tanks. I'm still putting them drivers side, but have specific reasons for doing so. If you have the type of tanks that can be mounted on their sides, they are usually non-removable and most of the drive-up LP places figure these things to be on the drivers side...