Stinky Slinky Mod

My Greyhawk came with a dedicated sewer hose storage compartment, but it's only big enough for the conventional sewer hoses. I like the RhinoFlex hoses because they're so much more convenient, but the Rhino's fittings won't fit into the opening. I decided to mod the compartment with a 5"x5" vinyl fencepost so it would actually be useful.

Parts for this mod:

• One length of 5"x5" vinyl fencepost.
• One fencepost end cap to fit the post.
• One plastic gutter with end caps. Shape is important to get the most usable volume; the "extreme weather" version (at the bottom of this page) didn't work as well. Here's what I used:
  • 4-1/2" White Vinyl Gutter. I used 56-1/2".
  • 4-1/2" White Vinyl Gutter Outside End Cap to contain the hose inside the gutter. This cap does not fit inside the vinyl fence post.
  • 4-1/2" White Vinyl Gutter End Cap to contain the hose inside the gutter. This cap fits inside the fencepost.
• 4-6 small L-brackets. I got four from Walmart with screws for $1.37.
• 4 bolts and nuts to connect the L-brackets to the fencepost.
• 4 screws to attach the L-brackets to the RV. You might need anchors, depending on your RV's siding.
• Adhesive for fencepost and gutter end caps. I used Blue RTV.
• 1-2 small screws to secure end cap.
• Can of sealant...expanding foam, Flex-Seal, etc.

Tools needed: Cutting tool for fencepost. I used a hacksaw and a Dremel. Cutting tool to enlarge opening. Again, Dremel for me. File to smooth out rough-cut opening (or Dremel). Drill, for holes in the pipe. Screwdriver. Pliers or wrench.

Discussion thread here: Built-in Sewer Hose Compartment - Mod with Pics

Email me with any tips and tricks you've found useful, tweaks to what I've done here, etc.!

Expanding Sewer Hose Storage Area to Accomodate Rhino Hose

Here you can see the location of the sewer hose compartment...it's the small door at the rear.

Close-ups of the hose compartment door.

This compartment may be big enough for normal old sewer hoses but the Rhino's fittings won't make it through the opening.

Here's the underside of the existing compartment...it's just a round pipe, only 22" long, secured inside the compartment door and held up with a tie strap. The tie strap didn't have any weight on it and was just added for redundancy. I left the tie strap in place to reuse it.

Backside of the door assembly after I removed the pipe. After this pic, I enlarged the opening with a Dremel cutting tool, and squared it off.

After enlarging the opening, I used the L-brackets to attach a 47" length of 5"x5" vinyl fencepost. I tried a 5' piece but I couldn't get it around the frame to put it in place, so I had to cut it shorter. I used bolts and nuts to secure the fencepost to the brackets, then screws to secure the brackets to the siding.

Close-up of the trimmed opening with the fencepost installed. I cut it a little too wide...

I used masking tape to prevent the Flex-Seal from getting all over the place.

I sealed the backside with a thick coat of Flex-Seal. This was messy...Flex-Seal is heavier than expanding foam so it ran down the vertical wall and dripped onto the driveway. You can see where I wiped a bunch off at the bottom of the fencepost.

The fencepost is longer than the pipe was and it rests on top of of the frame about halfway down the length. I secured it to the frame with a tie strap, then stuffed in some Reflectix to snug it up tighter and to dampen the vibrations. Not sure how long the Reflectix will stay there but it's pretty tight. It isn't actually "needed" so it won't damage anything if it falls out.

I used Blue RTV to adhere the end cap onto the fencepost, then secured it with a screw at the top.

Here's a full-lenght shot of the project from underneath. You can't really see the first tie-strap but it's between the visible one and the door assembly.

This worked out pretty well...the gutter end cap that fits over the outside of the gutter doesn't fit into the opening, but the end cap that gets glued inside the gutter does fit. So I used fixture adhesive to glue the inside one on the other end, and then put the outside cap on this end. I got an extra few inches of gutter length this way, too...Final length of the gutter was 56-1/2". This is even more convenient because the outside cap is a friction fit (no glue needed), so I can remove it when I want to use the gutter as a hose support during dumping (pic below).

Finished product! It just slides out! The elbow fits inside the fence post if the gutter isn't there, but doesn't fit inside the gutter. I could shorten the gutter and put the elbow in the fencepost, but that would mean only fitting one hose in the gutter. I'd rather keep both hoses in there and just put the elbow in its own container inside the storage compartment right next to this one.

Now I can take the whole gutter out and use it as a hose support when I dump, too.

If you're not into the DIY thing, the Easy Slider Sewer Hose Support offers a way to help the sewage flow to the drain without getting stuck in the hose. It might be a good component to work into this DIY project, too. Buy it here:

First Try (before I got the gutter pictured above)

This is the first attempt when I used the plastic gutter that Home Depot had. When I posted this project on rv.net, mobeewan linked me to a better gutter that Lowe's had...which is the one I used above. So these are just extra pics!

I only needed about 5' of plastic gutter pipe but Home Depot only carried 10' lengths. It only cost about $6 so it didn't really matter. I ended up cutting it down to 4'5" to fit inside the fencepost, then added the end caps. Both 10' lengths of Rhino hose fit (barely) into this length. Below you can see the end caps.

Finished product! The gutter and both pipes fit inside the fencepost like they're supposed to! Unfortunately the elbow doesn't fit in there so I'll have to open two compartments when I dump, but now the blackwater container will be very small because I don't have to fit two big hoses into it.

This just shows how much room is in the fencepost.

Buy the RhinoFlex hose here: