Quote:
Originally Posted by 4happyfeet
Thanks, TJ. I’m guilty of several hose violations. What size pipe and how do you connect it to outlet? That would help my situation a lot.
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I had to leave my ABS pipe in Colorado when I came back down to Arizona, but I believe it's 3" pipe that comes in 10' lengths for about $10-15 each at any Home Depot. You'll probably need one or more 90° elbow in the matching size, as well as enough straight connectors to create the length you need to reach the sewer inlet. I'd suggest getting several of the various components required, then returning what you didn't need when the job's done.
What I do is use the typical connector that attaches to an RV's waste outlet that has the four ears that rotate onto the four little tits on the outlet pipe. The other end is sort of threaded to screw into a typical slinky sewer hose. To connect that to the 3" ABS pipe I get one of those rubber, flexible (somewhat) straight connectors that are secured by hose clamps on both ends.
That will secure the ABS to both the connector to the RV outlet and the ABS pipe. Chances are that the sewer inlet you're aiming for is not straight out from your waste outlet, so you're probably going to need to cut a short length of the ABS off that will stick straight out from the outlet and connect it to a 90° elbow to redirect the ABS so it does point toward the sewer inlet.
It's possible that that sewer inlet is somewhere that makes an easy, straight run toward it unlikely. You'll either need to make the short section that sticks straight out from your waste outlet the right length so that the 90° elbow does turn directly toward the sewer inlet, or you're going to need to use two 90°s to get your ABS pipe to point directly toward the sewer inlet further down the run.
I'm picturing that fence that your pipe needs to negotiate at some point - if it's a solid fence that only has one small point that you need to go through, then you have to point your ABS toward that. If the fence allows you to pass the pipe through it at any point, then keeping your ABS run as direct as possible and with as few 90°s as possible is the right approach and the fence won't be an impediment.
It may even be that after that first little piece of straight pipe that you connect to the RV outlet, you can use a different angle to head directly toward the sewer inlet. In addition to 90°, many Home Depots will have other elbows available (15°, 30°, 45°) and that just one of those will redirect your ABS run directly toward the sewer inlet. That's ideal, because the fewer 90° in the run, the better - they're equivalent to those flow-hindering bends in the slinky as it lays on the ground.
Once the ABS pipe arrives at the sewer inlet, I use another 90° elbow to make the drop into the sewer inlet. Those inlets can be anything from a threaded 3" ABS fitting that has a screw-in plug-type cap to keep it closed when no one is using it, to just a concrete collar that provides no way to make a secure connection.
At that point, gravity is the operative force to get the waste into the inlet. If it's like that, be sure to put a big rock atop the 90° elbow pointing down toward the inlet if there's a way to make it stay there. What you can't have is the possibility for that last insecure connection to the sewer inlet to come apart and your waste to flow out onto the ground.
If you need to put another very short piece of straight ABS from the last elbow into the sewer inlet, that will provide about the most secure connection. If you already have a typical 90° RV sewer connector that screws into a plastic slinky hose, connect that to the last run of straight ABS just as you did at the other end - with a rubber straight connector that's secured at both ends by hose clamps. If you have a typical rubber collar to go around the last piece that goes into the sewer inlet, that will stop the escape of sewer gases into the atmosphere.
An ABS sewer pipe is self-supporting, but I prefer to use support along the middle of the run anyway. The typical expandable sewer hose supports that most RVers have under their slinky hoses are perfect for performing the same function under the ABS.
If you have skirting around the bottom edge of your RV, it should have a means for getting the sewer waste pipe through it so it doesn't interfere with the geometry of the waste pipe run. If you don't have skirting, that's one reason the interior of an RV just can't easily stay warm - cold air blowing under the RV just sucks the warmth right out of it.
The inflexibility of the ABS sewer pipe is the downside to the system, and the reason I had to leave mine behind in Colorado - there's just no easy way to transport it when you're on a long passage. And anyway, you don't really know what's going to be required at what may be several different RV parks along the way.
Luckily for me, the unexpected frigid conditions you're experiencing didn't reach SW Arizona.
Best of luck, happyfeet!
TJ
Edit: After seeing Cummins12V98's post below, I've edited my post to indicate the ABS pipe is 3". That only makes sense, now that I think about it, because there's no reducer required to connect the RV outlet to the ABS pipe.