From guest blogger Keith Sims of Soulful RV Family... 

In the past five years of RVing, we have visited some incredible places. We have encountered some life changing experiences. From beach camping off the Florida coast, hiking in the incredible trails of Acadia National Park to visiting the iconic Mount Rushmore in South Dakota; these memories and so many more keep us active and enthusiastic about the RV lifestyle. But to be perfectly honest, there’s one thorn in my side; dealing with a black tank. Those RVers who have been out RVing for any length of time typically have some type of black tank disaster story. With all the technological advances in the RV industry, I often ask, “why haven’t they come up with a better, longer lasting solution to dealing with the black tank?”. I finally found one that looks to make dealing with my black tank effortless.

The Waste Master Sewer System by Lippert is a huge technological leap from traditional sewer hoses. The Waste Master RV Sewer Hose uses a new design that virtually eliminates the leaking issues common with most hoses. The Waste Master utilizes a “cam lock system”, which has been years in the commercial trucking industry.

Traditional sewer hoses connect to the RV using baloney style fittings with four prongs and you twist the hose onto those plastic prongs. The Waste Master connects to the RV sewer with bonded cuffs that seal the end fittings and nozzle to greatly reduce the likelihood of leakage. The Lippert Waste Master RV Sewer Management System comes with an 18-foot length hose that has its protective coils on the outside. The exterior coils adds extra strength in case the hose is accidentally run over by a vehicle or attacked by an unaware lawn guy. Traditional sewer hoses will have the coils inside, but since the Waste Master’s are located outside it leaves a smooth interior that doesn't catch waste debris. This allows waste debris to be completely flushed out of the hose. You can purchase an optional 20’ extension for those times when you are further away from the sewer pipe.

Bonus Note: One of the many pluses of the Lippert Waste Master is the ease and the ability to connect. Some people who suffer from arthritis find the traditional bayonet type fittings vey difficult to twist on. The cam lock assembly allows for easy connect and disconnect to the RV septic hose, eliminating a physical and literal pain points for RVers.

The end nozzle cap features a 90-degree angle with a rubber donut that seals the drain connection. Another unique feature is the integrated shutoff valve right at the nozzle. The shutoff valve will become a priceless extra if the dump station ever overflows and wants to flow back into your RV.

The Lippert Waste Master RV Sewer Management System requires installation where you have to permanently glue the cam lock to the end of your RVs drainpipe. I know this may be a leap of faith and for those of you that struggled to get rid of your eight tracks when cassettes came out; this might be a tough thing for you to do, but trust me once you make this change you’ll never miss the old system. All you do is cut off the  'nubs' where the traditional bayonet fittings mount. If you ever need to use the traditional bayonet fittings in the future, Lippert does sell a cam lock to bayonet fitting adapter. To connect the Waste Master to my Newmar Motor Home it required a small project. To connect a sewer hose to my waste output and keep the door to the compartment closed you have to feed the hose up from the bottom. The mounting connection does not fit coming up from the bottom. This has been true with all other sewer hoses that I had tried. I solved this by getting a clear 90-degree angle connector. With this in place, I can attach any sewer hose and have the compartment door closed.

Remember I mentioned that the Waste Master is a permanent attachment? Well since I had no choice but to use the 90 degree connector and to make a secondary connector, this required the following: 4 inch straight connector, PVC 3 inch pipe and two end caps, only one threaded. Making this connection allows me to mount the Waste Master to the RV without a permanent connection. Maybe this type of issue is something some enterprising small business owner will tackle in the future? With my project complete, I made all the needed connections. How many RVers use/carry extra bricks to weigh down the end of the sewer hose? You can forget that with the Waste Master. The end has a thick rubber donut/seal to snuggly fit into all sewer connections. I really like this feature. I reached down and opened the sewer pipe and was quickly reminded about one of my favorite features on the waste master. There were two cock roaches crawling inside the pipe. Many RVers, once the sewer is connected, leave the gray tank valve open. ( Tip - never leave the black tank valve open). This is something I have done many times in the past.  With family of five taking nightly showers, our gray tank can fill up quickly if closed. So out of convenience, I have often left the gray open and monitor the black tank. When the black would get close to full, I then would close the gray to accumulate the needed gray water to flush the tanks. We can debate whether or not this is a good practice or not, but I have changed and now I prefer to keep both valves closed. With the waste master you also have the built in valve at the head of the unit. That extra valve can be a lifesaver in the event of a black tank disaster. And as a bonus, it keeps bugs or other things from crawling up into your hoses. Yuck!

Any experienced RVer knows that all sewer hoses are not built the same. With my old sewer hoses I would need to buy new seals, connectors, and extra hoses every year, and who hasn’t had a lawn mover or some other impact puncture their sewer hose? The thing that bothered me the most about my old hose was the end connector would easily loosen and you get that dreaded “black water leakage”.  With the Lippert Waste Master, those days are over! Yes, it’s more of an up front investment, but in my opinion, well worth it for many, many, years of worry free operation.

See you all out on the road… Keith – Soulful RV Family

After 11 incredibly psychically demanding years in the trenches of NFL, Keith Sims was ready for a change of pace. Little did he know his wife, Tia, had been plotting for years for this very moment. Tia had long ago decided the best way for their family to travel with their three little boys was by RV.  She had been dragging Keith to RV shows for years. Tia put forth such a powerful case for the family to try Rving that   Keith had no choice but to agree. Now the whole family is hooked! The Sims family home base is in the Atlanta area, but they spend over of 100 days/nights each year touring this country. Tia uses the travel to enhance the boy’s homeschool education. The whole family loves the space and flexibility that RV travels gives the family. You can follow their adventures at www.soulfulrvfamily.com