My wife and I have been RV'n for over 30 years. We have owned 7 RV's which includes 3 class A motorhomes. We have never had a problem with any of our holding tanks. We are not Full Timers but we have spent months at a time on the road. We have traveled all of the lower 48 states plus Alaska, most of Canada plus Mexico and the Baha. The only reason I tell you this is so that you know I speak with experience.
One of my least favorite chores and I expect one of yours too is dumping the holding tanks. To that end I only dump when absolutey necessary. Now the Grey Tank I must admit I do dump more regularly due to number of showers and the amount of laundry and dishes that are washed. The Black tank on the other hand I only dump when it is full. I don't go by the gauges, I just look into the toilet when it flushes to see how full it is. Another way to know when you should dump is after the first or second burp that toilet makes when it gets almost full. I do this because it only makes sense that the more water in the tank the cleaner it will dump. I then rinse the tank and then dump the grey water to rinse the hose. Over the years I have always added a little deodorizer/liquifer to the tank. I have tried the blue liquids, powders, tablets, etc but have always found that we do not like the chemical odor they leave in the bathroom. Several years ago a friend of mine gave me a bottle of Break-Up, a product that I never heard of, to try and I really liked it. It did not have that strong odor like all of the others I have tried, it only had a slight baby powder smell. It also did a good job of breaking up the solids and the toilet paper. After I ran out of the product I could not find it in any of the RV supply stores, Wal-mart, etc. I then went back to the old standbys and sure enough here came the old familiar odors. Then one day while we were checking into an RV Park I saw a bottle of Break-UP on the shelf in the RV section of the camp store. I bought the bottle and copied the website www.conservationchemistry.com, off of the bottle and ordered it on-line. It comes in both scented and unscented. You can also use it in a diluted form to wipe down you countertops and sinks etc. I now buy the product on-line and keep several bottles as back up and the manufacturer even picks up the shipping charges.
Bill Sistek
F308863