6-Gal Waste Tank With Screw Caps That Fits Americanizer

BrianZ

I recently got a Hike Crew RV 6 Gallon Waste Holding Tank mainly because of the nice screw caps, to replace our old one with bayonet fitting caps that tended to pop off too easily - see #4 in my list of water mishaps during our New England trip earlier this year: https://tab-rv.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/13894/our-recent-camping-mishaps-had-a-water-theme

It was also difficult to totally empty.
I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the newly invented "Americanizer" adapter now available fits the spout on this new tank, just like that on the newer T@B's cassette toilets, to allow a conventional bayonet hose fitting to be attached as shown here, for splash-free dumping.. 

I am very happy with this great tank design, which solves several issues we had with our old one. But I don't understand why it is not available right now, as I would expect there to be great demand for this gem. Maybe they're working on the opening size issue, because I (& others) had to file down the inside edge of the large opening slightly, because it was too small for the dump station fitting shown in my photo.  This was easily solved by carefully enlarging to exactly 3" using my Dremel tool grinding wheel (or a rounded file would do).  On the other side, there's also an extendable handle for rolling, like luggage.

In any case, when this becomes available again, I would highly recommend it, if you're looking for a grey/black water dumping solution for when your tank fills up before you're ready to depart.

Verna

@BrianZ, thanks for mentioning the “Americanizer”. It is in stock on Amazon and I just ordered it. The cassette is more difficult to aim and dump when full, and this will certainly help at the dump station. I have a 2’ section of hose with bayonet connectors, but it is hard to hold that hose steady and pour. You have solved my problem!  (The last I had heard, the Americanizer was still in the test state and not available for sale.)

Amazon has the 10 gallon waste tank, but I didn’t go further to see if the 6-gallon was on one of the last pages. 

VictoriaP

Just in case anyone else has been wondering if this tank would ever come back, there are a couple in stock on Amazon right now. (The Americanizer is also in stock.) 

tybladesmith

Thanks @VictoriaP, score - I have had the Americanizer adapter for 6 months just waiting for this day, also thanks @BrianZ for this research.

VictoriaP

@tybladesmith Yay, glad I was able to help! I’ve been stalking this about once a month since it was first posted, hoping the tank would show back up. And yes, big thanks to @BrianZ for this post and finding the Americanizer works with this product! 

For anyone else, the Amazon fulfilled stock appears gone, but delivery dates from the vendor are only about two weeks out.

Denny16

Thanks Victoria for the update.  I am also interested in getting one, to extend the gray tank capacity in our TaB.  Using this with the Americanizer is grand and makes for easy dumping.  Also, 6-gal is the max I can lift or mange.  I did look at bigger tanks, but this one is so easy to use…
cheers

SweetlyHome

We're very interested in this tank.  We don't have a pickup so we're trying to figure out where we would carry it.  We do not plan on using it for black water, just grey.  Wiped down carefully would it be OK in the back of the 4Runner?

VictoriaP

@SweetlyHome I don’t have a pickup either. I don’t see any problem with putting it into the back of your 4Runner or my Outback. One plus to the very compact size of this is it should fit into a 30 gallon trash bag (will confirm when it arrives tomorrow), and I already carry Clorox wipes I can use on the tank exterior if necessary.

BrianZ

We haven't used our new tank yet, but it lives in the back of our good old Sienna van. It holds lots of stuff with the 3rd row seats folded down into the floor, and if we're carrying our fold-up inflatable kayak, then we can remove the two 2nd row seats & leave them at home if needed. We also carry the ARB frig in there, folding lounge chairs, popup shelter, supplies, etc.

When I de-winterized recently, I recycled the bleach solution through the gray & black tanks, and was going to try testing this new portable waste tank to drain the bleach solution from the holding tanks.  However, we are parked slightly uphill, so the tongue was a bit low to the ground; and I discovered the inlet port on top for the dump hose spout was slightly higher than the T@B's waste outlet.  I drained it in our gravel parking lot, where it may help keep weeds down (and chlorine is a gas, so can evaporate, right?).

So, now I'm wondering if there is a workaround, if we have this issue while camping.  I suppose one could use the swivel spout end close to the ground with Americanizer attached, but one would need a waste hose with female connectors at both ends.  Either that, or move the tank to a lower level if possible.  Something to think about.

VictoriaP

@BrianZ I’ve been using a 3 gallon bucket at home to winterize/dewinterize/sanitize, and have run into the same issue using that. Sometimes I use my full length sewer hose and move the bucket downhill from the Tab. Last time, I drove the Tab onto a few lego blocks to gain some height. (This is easy for me due to the Purpleline mover, no hitching required. Might be too much work for others.) I’ve seen at least a few people elsewhere on the web report using a folding camp shovel to dig out a little below their portable tanks to get around this too.

I have a Boondock, so I’ll check the height of the BD sewer outlets versus the Hike Crew once it arrives, and report back

BrianZ

Thanks, @VictoriaP, and it will be interesting to hear what you find.  I do wish sometimes that we had gotten the boondock model for that extra ground clearance.

VictoriaP

Quick unboxing review; I wanted to post before anyone else buys, just in case any of this is a dealbreaker. (It isn’t for me, but everyone’s needs vary.)

- Even with a Boondock, it’s still a bit taller than ideal. Shorter than my bucket, though. It’ll need to be downhill a least a bit, or you may need to raise the trailer on blocks. This is true of most others in this size range I’ve seen. Tabs seem to have really low sewer outlets.
- They did not widen the large opening, and a standard dump hose adapter doesn’t fit.
- What they did instead was include a new screw on adapter for the large opening that allows you to slide the standard dump end in. Which works, but is suboptimal, as it increases the height even further, plus it’s one more thing to keep track of. I mean, “A” for listening to your customers & recognizing there’s a problem, but “C-minus/D+“ in terms of solving the problem in the smartest way. I will probably do as others have and widen the opening myself.
- The Americanizer still fits. (Yay!)
- The metal pull handle is very short, because the tote is tiny and the handle fits underneath. It’s borderline comfortable to pull empty for me at 5’6”. Taller people may have trouble.

All in all, I think it’s pretty well constructed, it’s just not perfect. The thing is, the rest of the totes in this size are worse in my opinion for various reasons, and the bigger ones are just too big. It’ll do well enough for me. Will be dewinterizing this week, and will update when I put it to work.

New adapter screwed onto tank inlet:

New adapter with 90° hose end…way too tall, but it does fit the hose end:

BrianZ

Thanks for all your insights, @VictoriaP.  Nice to see the maker of this tank has tried to fix the opening, but agree their solution is less than ideal & worse for T@B owners.  That said, mine was fairly easy to file down for a good fit.
Yesterday, when I thought of connecting the dump hose to the pour spout with Americanizer adapter (with tank on its side to make it lower than our T@B's waste outlet), I ended up ordering the very same looking 90° fitting with female connectors at both ends that you've shown in your second photo.  The elbow we normally use at the T@B's waste outlet has male & female, so wouldn't work with the Americanizer.  I also got a 2-ft hose, if needed.  I'll see if this approach has any merit.
Another idea I had today, instead of moving the tank lower, is to maybe use ramps to lift the trailer higher.  I remembered that I have a pair of car ramps that I rarely use, like shown in the second photo here..
https://tab-rv.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/comment/117844#Comment_117844
They add over 6 inches of lift, which would be enough when added to the current 7-inch height of our drain pipe, since the tank opening is 10.5" from the ground.  Although I'm not sure how compatible or safe it would be to add an Anderson leveler on top. 🤔
We don't often stay in one place long enough to use the extra waste tank, but next time we do I'll consider taking the car ramps along.

VictoriaP

@BrianZ The 90° fitting pictured is attached to a short hose…no one seems to make a short tank hose with the male/female 90° attached. No idea why. This is what I’ve sometimes used with my 3 gallon bucket and a lid with a hole cut in it.  I did check with my regular hose later, same thing—didn’t fit the inlet on the new tank, did fit the new adapter.

The idea of attaching that double female connector to the Americanizer as an inlet is an interesting one though, Hmm…

And I wonder if a 45° fitting might be somehow more useful than a 90°, regardless of which inlet is used? Maybe at the trailer end? It looks a bit shorter, though the dimensions on the listing disagree. https://smile.amazon.com/Camco-RhinoFLEX-Protection-Connection-39847/dp/B006OQ35GU/ Just thinking out loud here, and probably not all that helpful.

Edit: @BrianZ Dale Helman adapted a different small tank, no longer available, for use with his 320s. Maybe something in his setup is of use? https://tab-rv.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/1316/black-water-transfer-tank-with-pictures

The regular hose is probably what I’ll use here at home. When I’ve used the bucket in the past, I’ve found that using the regular hose and stretching it near full length has been helpful even when the bucket wasn’t enough downhill from the Tab to help. The water would flow into the hose and get stuck, yes, but that hose holds quite a bit. I’d open the gate valve, let some water in, close the valve (leaving the hose hooked up), then lift the slack in the hose as high as I could, starting at the Tab and walking towards the bucket. This moved the water out of the hose and into the bucket. Then repeat until bucket was full. Slower process, obviously, but when you’re working with a portable tank that holds less than your onboard tank, you don’t necessarily want it to go fast anyway or it can overflow. Just make sure both ends of the hose are well secured. (Edit to add: Just remembered that a hose support was also useful here, keeping the hose a bit closer to the bucket height so there was less strain on both ends.)

Also, for anyone only dumping greywater? One of these caps at the gate valve, and a 3/4” waste hose may also be a possible option: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B077Y3JQXZ/ or https://smile.amazon.com/Camco-Durable-Connection-Connection-39463/dp/B000BQKBP2/ The hose can be as long as you want, so your odds of being able to place the tank downhill are improved. 

Denny16

I use the 45° sewer hose fitting on our TaB drain connection, so I can see the stuff draining into the hose, and the 45-degree angle makes a better drain angle connection to the hose.
 Cheers 

BrianZ

More good ideas, @VictoriaP and @Denny16.
I wish I could find a 45° connector with two female ends, for connecting to the Americanizer, but the 90° one will work. 
Here's a shot that illustrates the height issue when our T@B is on a slight uphill, and using a 3/4" hose with special caps, which I've had for a long time..

You can see that the tank spout is much lower than the tank's main port.
Here's a shot where I found that the spout with Americanizer adapter is almost at the same level as our pipe outlet, though it's also slightly more downhill than in the previous shot..

I also tried the right angle double female connector for a direct connection to the tank..

While this can work, even at different ground levels since the spout and the 90° pipe connector can both rotate, it can't make full use of the tank capacity or the tank's volume level indicator (which requires the tank to lay flat, not on its side as shown above), which could also lead to a messy disconnection if overfilled.  Laying the tank flat on the ground may be an option with the above connections when the ground is lower, but it might put stress on the pipe if the tank were not propped up at just the right angle.  For all these reasons, I  don't consider this particular setup a viable solution for routine use.  Also, Dale's setup referenced above also seems to suffer from a similar issue, needing the correct tank height to match the trailer pipe.
And [almost] finally, here is one setup that should work for draining the gray water tank, though I haven't actually tested it yet.. 

When I receive my 2-ft full size hose, I can use that to replace the 3/4" hose shown above with its 2 caps, in order to use it for the black tank if needed.  I would also move the elbow to the trailer side of the hose, and will add another photo of that setup later.
EDIT:
PS, Amazon delivered, so here we go with a shot of the new 2ft hose..

I would prefer a straight clear connector instead of the elbow, but I haven't yet found one with female connectors at both ends.  On the other hand, if the tank/ground was significantly lower, then this elbow would be better.  So, not a big deal, especially if I needed to get the tank lower or to use a longer hose to do so.  It will be interesting to test this with some water, now that I've got all the holding tanks sanitized.

SweetlyHome

@BrianZ and @VictoriaP thanks for all the great information and photos.   This info has caused us to really look at the sewer piping arrangement on our 400 to determine its height versus this waste tank.  

Our primary goal is to increase our grey water capacity, longevity.  Our camping style frequently brings us to campgrounds with electric and maybe water but no sewer (IMHO a typical state park).  Our style also leads to the grey water tank being full in 2 days or less while the black tank doesn’t require attention for 4 or even 5 days.  

I had never done this comparison before.  There isn't a lot of difference between the 320 and 400 on water capacities except for black.

As a result we have gotten used to filling a bucket with grey water every so often and carrying it to the dump station to balance things out when we don’t have water service or simply extend capacity when we do.  Our interest in this waste tank is being able to get as close to 6 gallons out of our grey water tank as possible, more than the bucket holds, and not having to carry it.  

Our trailer is in storage on a concrete pad which slopes down from hitch to tail.  To get the measurement shown in the photo I leveled the trailer to the pad.  The measurement is from the bottom of the pipe out of the side of the grey water tank to the valve.

With the portable tank being 10.5 inches tall per the manufacturer’s specs and using a small diameter hose arrangement inserted directly in the top opening of the tank we should achieve our goal in most campsites as the fluid level in the tank will be several inches higher than the top of the portable waste tank.  

BrianZ

It does sound like it should work for you, @SweetlyHome.  I can confirm that 10.5" tank height measurement to the top of the threaded lip in the middle of the tank, which is an inch tall; so the height of the actual tank itself is only 9.5".  I haven't tried to find where the bottom of our gray tank is located compared to the hose outlet from the trailer, but the black tank sits above the floor, so is at least 4 inches higher I guess.

Comparing the water "head pressure" levels of the two tanks reminds me of helping my dad dig out his backyard pond up in Maryland.  It was on a slight slope, so we needed to know how high to build up the lower edge, but it was too far for a bubble level, so we used a length of clear tubing & filled it with water to the height of the upper side of the hole.  Then the level at the lower end of the tube showed us how high to pile up the dirt.

In our 2018 320S, the tank capacities are:
Black:   8
Fresh: 11
Gray:   19
So, I guess our "flushing allowance" is minus 8G?  Well, we don't do much boondocking, but I'd like to do more.  We more often use our Virginia state parks, which typically have water & electric at each site and a central dump station near the exit.  I think we've only seen one campground with sewer hookups at each campsite (Kiptopeke on the eastern shore of the Chesapeake).

Deb55

@BrianZ I purchased 2 of these hike crew 6 gal tanks, with the idea of being able to dump at home after a one or two day Harvest Host mini vacation. I also purchased a Valterra sewer solution, thinking that would solve the problem of the top of the tank being higher than our T@B 400 outlet. Now that I've seen your pictures of the Americanizer adapter, the clear elbow, and the short hose, I think that will work better! I know how to order the Americanizer, but what were the specifics on the hose and elbow? I'm going to return my Valterra Sewer Solution (totally unused, of course) because this looks like the perfect solution! 

VictoriaP

Further review: After Dremeling out the main inlet to fit a standard sewer insert, I’ve now used the HikeCrew 6 gallon with both the short hose and long hose. With a Boondock axle, the long hose required the lift and walk routine, even once I moved the tank down the driveway as far as I could. So when I sanitized yesterday, I put 2” height in lego blocks under both trailer wheels and cranked the front jack up to match. Using the short hose, a normal 90° adapter at the portable tank end, and having the tank pretty close to the same level as the trailer outlet, draining was fast and required only a little hose lifting. I think if I could have gotten the tank closer to the trailer and collapsed the hose, it would have worked even better, but the carport is a tight fit with little room to work.

I’m reasonably satisfied, since for me this is mostly a dump at home solution and since with the Purpleline, getting the trailer up on blocks doesn’t require hitching up, but @BrianZ, if the adapters + Americanizer works in testing, definitely would like to hear about it.

I’ll add that it wheels around pretty well at about 1/2 - 2/3 full, which is the max I can lift. Definitely heavy and a little awkward at that point, but doable.

Mouseketab

Totally off topic, but I found the Americanizer also fits my Thetford Camp A Pot Portapotty purchased at Wal-Mart. Haven't actually used the connection yet. But no more splashes on my shoes