r-pod plus rhino tote tank?

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   Anyone used a rhino tote tank with the r-pods, specifically 171?
Expanding our range to dry camping and figured we'd need to dump before our trip is over.  So we got a  rhino 28 gallon (slightly below the black tank capacity of the rpod, but our rationale was we'd dump when halfway full with some headroom in the receptacle so as not to overflow...versus getting the full size of the black tank, which is a lot to carry around) as it was highly rated and seemed to have all the accessories...and then took it out and noticed the height of the bottom lip of the intake hole of the tank in the resting position is right at the top of the top lip of the exit valve from the trailer...which is to say, gravity doesn't seem like it will be helpful here.

Am I missing something?  I guess I can put the trailer up on extra blocks when we park it so as to get height above the receptacle intake, but was wondering if other folks have used this tank and there's something I'm just not getting.  Or, I'm "SOL" haha and we should have bought a different unit.  So many things....sigh.... 

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campingtrio Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 21 Mar 2021 Online Status: Offline Posts: 18	Topic: r-pod plus rhino tote tank? Posted: 21 Mar 2021 at 7:40pm
	Anyone used a rhino tote tank with the r-pods, specifically 171? Expanding our range to dry camping and figured we'd need to dump before our trip is over. So we got a rhino 28 gallon (slightly below the black tank capacity of the rpod, but our rationale was we'd dump when halfway full with some headroom in the receptacle so as not to overflow...versus getting the full size of the black tank, which is a lot to carry around) as it was highly rated and seemed to have all the accessories...and then took it out and noticed the height of the bottom lip of the intake hole of the tank in the resting position is right at the top of the top lip of the exit valve from the trailer...which is to say, gravity doesn't seem like it will be helpful here. Am I missing something? I guess I can put the trailer up on extra blocks when we park it so as to get height above the receptacle intake, but was wondering if other folks have used this tank and there's something I'm just not getting. Or, I'm "SOL" haha and we should have bought a different unit. So many things....sigh....

podwerkz Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 11 Mar 2019 Location: Texas Online Status: Offline Posts: 966	Posted: 21 Mar 2021 at 8:06pm
	My 'blueboy' is 11 gallons and it works fine....no, I cant put 30 gallons of poop in it but it does let me get rid of some black and gray water when needed. The gray tank usually fills up long before the black tank. Even 3/4 full, trust me, it's a handful to drag around and lift in and out of the back of the pickup. I can't imagine attempting to handle one that was holding close to 30 gallons...wow.
	r･pod 171 gone but not forgotten!

john in idaho Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 04 Nov 2014 Location: Eagle Idaho Online Status: Offline Posts: 611	Posted: 22 Mar 2021 at 10:12am
	I have had one for years. Works well if the hose pipe connectors stay hooked up........................ Need i say more? And it is unwieldy when full. Wheels are too small tho.

Badweissenbier Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Groupie Joined: 26 Oct 2019 Location: WV Online Status: Offline Posts: 41	Posted: 22 Mar 2021 at 11:24am
	No that height thing is a problem. I generally have the TT up on a pad that has a gentle slope away from it(i think this is done for rain). I can usually get the tank far enough away on that downhill slope that it puts the fill level lower than the trailer dump, but I have to use the longer sewer hose.

offgrid Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 23 Jul 2018 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5290	Posted: 22 Mar 2021 at 11:35am
	campingtrio, why would you need to dump before your trip is over if you’re truly dry camping? If you don’t have water at your campsite you will run out of water in your fresh water tank before your black or gray tanks are full, since all 3 tanks are 30 gal. If you are camping somewhere with a city water hookup but no sewer, then sure, you can fill your gray tank quickly. In that situation we find it easier to hook up and head over to the dump station. Our blueboy is our rpod, we find it easier to go to the dump station than to deal with dumping, transporting, rinsing, dumping again, rinsing again, transporting back, then storing the blueboy, if you can find somewhere. I can’t unless it’s the roof rack of the suv, no thanks. You mention having so many things to keep track of, but some of these are optional. Less stuff is quite often better while camping.
	1994 Chinook Concourse 1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold

jalong Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 25 Jan 2015 Location: Fredonia WI Online Status: Offline Posts: 31	Posted: 23 Mar 2021 at 8:48am
	Since the black tank is never full but has a 30 gallon capacity a trick I have used with a full gray tank is drain some into a bucket, then dump the bucket into the toilet. You can get a few more days of gray tank storage out of doing this.
	John & Sue 2016 179 - built in April 2015 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee 3.6L 13-16mpg with 179 - 21-28mpg without

offgrid Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 23 Jul 2018 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5290	Posted: 23 Mar 2021 at 10:37am
	There are kits you can install that use your gray water for toilet flushes. You have to be careful though, gray water can quickly become stinky black water due to anaerobic bacterial action in the tank. I had one of those systems in a class A once and got rid of it. Also, with 30 gal of fresh water, zero gray and black water, dual batteries, one propane cylinder, and pretty modest supplies on board, I am within 100 lbs of max gross trailer weight in my 179. So, I wouldn’t want to put much additional water in my black tank plus a full gray tank and then get on the road, even with an empty fresh water tank.
	1994 Chinook Concourse 1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold

campingtrio Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 21 Mar 2021 Online Status: Offline Posts: 18	Posted: 24 Mar 2021 at 12:50pm
	Re: "why would you need to dump before your trip is over if you’re truly dry camping? If you don’t have water at your campsite you will run out of water in your fresh water tank before your black or gray tanks are full, since all 3 tanks are 30 gal.": We will have access to water from a fill station (which is another problem I need to post on separately...we bought a drill pump to be able to cart water over (fill up a carrier, bring it back and use the pump to get it into the fresh water tank) based on a recommendation elsewhere on this forum, only to find out the drill pump we bought expressly does not recommend use for potable water, so now we're wondering if we just use the water to wash dishes and bring separate bottled water to drink, or we skip the drill pump and find a big funnel...but I digress), and I guess maybe we are pretty generous with rinsing the toilet and doing dishes washing hands and taking showers, but we have found in full hookup camping that we do fill up the tanks after a few days. (Notably, there is a LOT MORE HANDWASHING these days....sigh) And we find attaching and moving the trailer and going through the exercise of backing it up and reparking it and releveling it and all the rest to be a giant project we really want to avoid (and one that continues to test our relationship, haha). I'd rather just cart a tote trunk once on the trip to get us cleaned out. But...overall it looks like I just dropped $100+ on a useless and large piece of plastic. :( The only other thing I can think of is to bring an extra set of leveling blocks and put the trailer up a bit higher than usual. Which will make getting in and out of it more annoying but maybe we can deal with that.

podwerkz Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 11 Mar 2019 Location: Texas Online Status: Offline Posts: 966	Posted: 24 Mar 2021 at 1:40pm
	If you need to move clean fresh water from a hand carried or portable water jug (or jugs) to the inlet port on your trailer, one way to do that is to buy a small freshwater 12v pump along with some tubing and a small 12v motorcycle battery. Attach two small battery clamps on the 12v pump, route your tubing, and then clip onto the battery. It wont take long to transfer 5 or 10 gallons that way. I've done it, and it works well. It's obvious that you need to charge up the battery now and then, but it will certainly work long enough to get you thru a week or two of camping, maybe longer, before requiring a recharge. Here is a pump you can use or you can find them at local RV supply stores or the Big River Retailer. https://www.ebay.com/itm/12V-Marine-Automatic-Self-Priming-Water-Pressure-Diaphragm-Pump-Boat-Caravan-RV/383654552705?hash=item595397e481:g:DxsAAOSwYvJe8aoV
	r･pod 171 gone but not forgotten!

EchoGale Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 10 Mar 2019 Location: FL Online Status: Offline Posts: 462	Posted: 24 Mar 2021 at 1:47pm
	I'm going to get out of my lane here and attempt to share something I know nothing about. Hahae of course I've never done that before! I watched some videos yesterday and found one about the several pretty expensive things someone bought that the thought were "worth every penny." One was a macerator that, as the described it, would pump their black tank into a holding tank in the back of their pickup. They could then drive to the dump station and empty it. Maybe someone here will now about this.
	Julie