If you’re anything like me, the “Tech Wizard” of our RV, you know some jobs are just uglier than others. Dumping tanks is not on my list of favorite assignments, and dumping tanks puts the “Wiz” back in “Wizard.”
As if having to hook up hoses and pull levers weren’t bad enough, just getting started is an issue. You know, convincing that recalcitrant sewer hose to come out of the bumper storage area. Well, we may have a practical suggestion for the issue of RV sewer hose storage.
Short of coating the inside of the bumper with grease (sounds like a really GREAT idea), as some have suggested, the idea is to be able to get a better grip on the blasted hose fitting. My hands are small enough that in another life, I was able to easily help mother goats deliver wrongly presented kids at birth. But even with my “girly hand” I struggle to get my fingers around the hose fitting when it’s well-wedged in the bumper tube.
Modified drip cap makes RV sewer hose storage problems history
Enter the idea of the “RV Family” on Facebook. Their posting suggests a simple add-on. Stuff your hose in the bumper tube, but before you put the last of it in. attach a modified “drain hose bayonet drip cap.” Those caps are often used by folks who stuff their sewer hoses in a basement storage compartment. The drip cap doesn’t allow any liquids (or worse) to come out of the hose and contaminate the compartment.
But “modified” is the key thought. The RV Family took a drip cap, bored two holes into it, then attached a square U-bolt to the cap. The U-bolt “handle” sticks out, allowing you to reach in the bumper tube and easily snag the handle. A quick pull and Hey! Presto!—the hose gives up the fight.
Critics offer feedback
While many hailed the idea, others were a bit skeptical. Some suggested using a magnet bumper end cap that attaches to the hose, instead. Yeah, maybe. As long as you carefully attach the cap to the hose. And as long as you don’t mind spending $25 for the thing. And as long as your hose isn’t like ours—it sometimes wedges in really tight.
Other pundits suggested that, “If it ever were to happen to me, ha ha, I’d just use a stick and shove the hose out the other end.” Again, they must have a ‘loose-Magoose’ bumper tube compared to mine.
Grin or gripe, we toss this idea out for the consideration of the masses.
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RVDT2755
With a couple of extra hose caps, I may have to try this. Thanks for the suggestion. 😊😊
I find a broom handle works fine for me.
I drilled a small hole in the orange part of the coupler and tied a piece of parachute cord there. Yes it gets wet, but I use gloves. Tucks out of the way easily.
[Two-Part response] If your slinky doesn’t slide smoothly through your bumper, the bumper tube is deformed. In my experience the most common cause is an auxiliary hitch receiver that squeezes top & bottom rather than back & front (open links for examples). The T&B unit uses 2 sets of bolts. As the rack bounces it deforms the bumper tube (and the front bolts loosen – if tightened the warp gets worse). The B&F unit uses just 1 set of bolts, only to keep the unit from bouncing off. The unit rigidly cradles the bumper, not deforms it. And if the bumper isn’t too badly deformed, it can correct mild deformations.
[part two] In my bumper I store two joined 10 foot hoses and a 6 inch straight clear section. While I like the square bolt addition to the cap, there really isn’t the extra room in my bumper. I use Camco’s magnetic cap. It has never come off, and would have to both come off and rotate to fall off.
I like having a clear section at both ends of the hose. I know what is going in and coming out of the hose. When both ends are clean, I know both the tank and the hose is clean. Rarely do I have to separately flush the hose. I also routinely use O-ring grease on my hose connections. Not only does it seal better, but the connections don’t seize.
Another “user smarter than designer” situation.