Having problem with black water tank..

[house_of_princesses]

Our black water tank does not drain properly. The liquid drains well enough, but the residual is quite another story. Now that we're in the stuck position, does anyone have any hints on how to clear out this tank? And how to keep it from getting stuck in the future?

Not a pretty picture for a Thursday morning... sorry!

 

[songbert]

There could be several reasons for your problem:

Are you using RV/Marine toilet paper? It's a necessity, along with using a chemical (preferably without formaldehyde) which helps keep waste liquid and reduce odors.

We always keep our gray water valve closed the last couple of days of our trip, and empty it AFTER emptying the black tank, since it helps clean out the hose after black tank waste is emptied.

You may need to fill your black tank with a hose, add chemical, and drive around the block a few times to "shake it up". You may want to invest in a back flush valve which hooks on to your drain, allowing you to attach a water hose and flush water through from the outside. Another option is a hose attachment with rotating spray nozzle which will clean the tank from the toilet end.

Hope your day gets MUCH better

BTW, Camping World has great products if you need to purchase equipment.

 

[tiggereyore]

Once you've emptied do you put in any extra water to slosh around, with chemicals. We also use pine sol in both tanks to cut the grease and stuff. This was told to us by one of the dealers.

 

[house_of_princesses]

I had told my DH that a drive around the block with water in the tank may be the answer. He didn't like the idea of leaving it in there once we sloshed around. Now that I have support....

We do use marine tp, always have the blue chemical stuff and have our pass to Camping World in hand. Just needed some good ole' American know how!

Thanks for all your help! My tank thanks you, too!!

 

[thewiz49]

I second what songbert said. I bought a hose attachment, it's an 18 inch plastic wand with a nozzle on the end that shoots water at pressure. Got it at an RV accessory store. We put the hose with this through the window, step on the petal stick in down in and flush for a minute or two. For 3-4 uses we saw things come out that must have been there for years...

 

[house_of_princesses]

we saw things come out that must have been there for years...

LOL!!

What a picture I have in my head!! UGH!!!!

 

[Caskbill]

The wand is your best bet. We've had several RV's since 1980 and have cleaned each of them at the end of every season with the wand.

You're basically putting a high jet of water inside your tank and washing down all the inside walls, bottom and top. This type of cleaning will also keep your tank level monitor probes clean.

After a thorough washing and drain, we close the drain valve, fill the tank halfway with water, add some bleach, stick the wand down there and let it rip. Constantly turn the wand so the spray goes in all directions, and tilt it so the spray goes up and down also. This will give a final agitation inside the tank. This final rinse out will do wonders.

Putting half a tank of water in and driving around the block is basically useless. The difference is the same as if you filled a bucket halfway with water, picked it up and swirled it around a little, as compared to filling the bucket halfway with water, then taking your garden hose, setting if for high jet, standing two feet over the bucket, and spray directly into the bucket, really agitating the water.

 

[Caskbill]

It's not necessary to purchase marine/RV toilet paper. All toilet paper by law will break down. The difference is in how long it will take.

You can test your TP. Fill a glass with water. Take a single sheet of toilet paper, roll it up into a very light ball, and drop it into the glass. Let the glass sit overnight.

In the morning if the TP has disolved into hundreds of very small particles suspended in the water, then that TP is ok for your RV.

If it is still basically a single sheet of paper floating in the water, it has a disentegration rate that is much too slow and is not suitable for your RV.

 

[Disney Campers]

I use the www.flushking.com to aid in cleaning my tanks, you can fill the tank from outside and not have to drag a hose inside or through the window,

 

[house_of_princesses]

Thank you for the info, Scott! Looks like it couldn't get any easier than that! But I dont' understand how it actually cleans the tank? Does it spray from the valve or just allow water in? And if it just allows water in, how does that clean all, including the sensors?

Thanks.

 

[Disney Campers]

I guess i should have said I use it to flush the tanks, after emptying the tanks i back fill them to rinse any residual left in them. to actually clean the tank you could back fill the tank a 1/4 to a 1/2 tank, put in some dish soap and as mentioned a bag of ice or 2 down the commode and take a nice bumpy ride

 

[Caskbill]

Originally posted by Disney Campers
I guess i should have said I use it to flush the tanks, after emptying the tanks i back fill them to rinse any residual left in them. to actually clean the tank you could back fill the tank a 1/4 to a 1/2 tank, put in some dish soap and as mentioned a bag of ice or 2 down the commode and take a nice bumpy ride

We were recently at the Great North American Rally in Louisville (12,000 people came in 5000 campers). One of the seminars we went to was about tank cleaning.

The bag of ice routine is not effective at all. A 90 gallon tank half full (45 gallons) having a bag of ice put in will simply melt the ice in nothing flat. If you want to see, put 3-gallons of water in a bucket. Put 1 TRAY of ice in the bucket. (This is about the same ratio as a bag of ice in 45 gallons). Swirl the bucket around, and observe both how fast the ice melts and how little 'cleaning' action really takes place.

Putting in dish soap is good, just make sure it's Dawn, but not the anti-bacterial dawn. (Dawn is the best grease cutting agent available. When the Exxon Valdiz spilled it's oil, they used Dawn to clean the wildlife).

The Flushking is better than nothing, but doesn't really put any high pressure water around the inside walls of the tank. Depending on your plumbing, a Flushking may be more or less effective. Regardless of claims, it will not thoroughly clean the inside of your tank as well as a simple wand.

The wand is still the best and most straightforward. Running a garden hose from the RV's front door to the bath is not really that big of a deal.

Driving around to swish the water is ineffective and a waste of gasoline.

 

[house_of_princesses]

Thanks for sharing the info, Caskbill! Remember though, I'm already in icky 'stuck' mode. Not to the cleaning stage yet. Will the wand un-stick me or will back filling with FlushKing get that gross job done? (What I need is a HUGE wetvac!! )

 

[FredS]

After dumping the black water, my husband [so I hear, this is the only area in which I defer to his superiority and expertise ;-)] flushes the tank, then fills it partially with water along with that cleaning stuff for tanks, which remains in there for part of the trip home. It very obviously accomplishes plenty, as there is plenty of sloshing and agitation to get the cleaning solution on all interior parts of the tank repeatedly. Then it is dumped. It seems that all of the "old timers" we've met who RV full-time use this system.

I also firmly believe that you should only use camper/marine TP. Personally I would not use any cleaning items not specifically recommended by my trailer manufacturer, nor would I use any items not recommended by the company. Something might seem like a good idea but it is too corrosive or forceful and ends up deteriorating a seal or causing some other damage which is expensive (and smelly!)

Good luck!

 

[DMRick]

Our 2000 Holiday Rambler RV came with a flush out system, and we also keep plenty of blue stuff (no dawn or ice cubes..just plenty of water with each flush and blue stuff..been doing it this way for over 20 years..not this trailer of course) in the tank. I truly believe the secret (not so secret, of course) is plenty of water per flush, no matter which TP you use (we use Scott, it passed the test of time). We also have a sprayer next to our toilet, which I will use to clean the "top" of the bowl. We also keep it plugged until it's pretty filled, and then dump it, then the bathroom shower/sink, and then the third tank, the kitchen. Once you form a "cone" of tp and uh.."other stuff" (which it sounds like you have done)..it gets dirty and rock hard to clean..and you may need professional help. I would try the almost fill the tank (takes a long time) and blue stuff and a ride. Not too harsh of a ride..you don't want to destroy the appliances..mainly the fridge.
I believe over on the IRV2.com board, someone recently wrote a long essay on this. I'll try to find it for you and pass it along if I can.

 

[NHMickey]

I run in to this all the time at work... I sell RV's. Any way I use campers from work all the time and find this to be a problem with most all that I use. The flush kits are great and most all work to a degree and I use a simple one myself. But to cut out the problem. Just allow the chemical to do work. Most people will empty the tanks on a daily bases as the gray will fill rather fast. So while they are back there they empty both tanks. Allow the black tank to fill all the way to full. and when you are flushing allow for extra water to flow in to the tank. By doing this the tank will only need to be emptied every other day or even 3rd day. This will allow the chemical to breakdown the waste to allow for better flow.

The trouble with daily draining is you will build up a paper barrier that will act as a wall and hold more and more back each time. So along with a good flush kit you only need to allow for time for the chem to work.


Another thing to look for is to make sure the tanks is in the correct position. As they travel they can settle (some are held in place by straps) and shift. You may want to have your dealer or service center look at this during your next service visit.

 

[ftwildernessguy]

This is why my rule is nothing solid into the black water tank other than RV toilet paper. Sorry kids, you gotta use the comfort station if you gotta do number 2!

 

[mamastephanie]

House of Princesses,

what kind of camper do you have? We have a 2002 Conquest made by GulfStream. We have been having a similar problem. The TP seems to get stopped in the drain before it gets to the black water tank. The first time this happened, I got in the bathroom and my husband was outside working from that end and it exploded all over the bathroom and me too! I believe that something is wrong with the the design of the drain, but my husband says that somebody put something in the drain. It has happened twice since our first experience. And I refuse to go into the bathroom, but of course it hasn't exploded again!

I would love to know how to prevent this problem. I have read on other RV discussion boards that other Gulfstream owners have had a similar problem.

My sensors also don't always show the correct amount of waste, but I know that is from the sensors having something caught on them.

I hope someone had the solution to your problem, because it sounds like the same one I am having!

MamaStephanie

 

[house_of_princesses]

We have a 31' Keystone Sprinter. I really like it, save for this odiferous little problem!

Once again, thank you all for your input! I have printed this thread and handed it to my DH. It's his call as to what to do next. If any one idea helps more than the others, I'll be sure to post it here!

Happy Trails!!

 

[cyndilou01]

you may want to try draining your black water first and then empty the gray water and that will also help flush out the lines.

I put water and bleach in the tank so while we are driving around it sloshes around and helps keep things a little cleaner...