Black Tank Pressure Cleaning

[manholt]

Quote

How much Dawn to 6 gal?

1/4 cup will keep you bubbling for the hot water dump and about 2 more!  I use a couple of squirts along with some Calgon in my gray and black tank about 4 times a year.  All depends on how long between dump's.  If I'm in a Park for a month or more, then before I leave. Same at house. 

Brian, I have a reel hose, so I unhook from faucet and pull all the line out and pour a quart of HP 3% into water hose, hook up to faucet and run some water in, shut off faucet and let hose lie for 10 minutes, then turn on water and open faucets along with shower, run thru and shut off.  Let sit 15 minutes and rinse out.  You can do the same with Fresh water tank, but there I put in a gallon to a 1/4 full tank, then add water to 1/2 and let sit for as long as I want...sometimes I'll go to the next park and if you need to flush, no problem!  At the next park, I'll open all faucets and run half of fresh water tank thru, then switch over to city water and shut everything off.  Fill up fresh water tank and your good to go for another 6 mos.

[brianreed]

Ok my first weekend "camping" in the new rig.  I went to LaConnor, WA Thousand Trails.  I did not know that all the TT parks seem to be first come first serve.  Not sure why we made a reservation or told them the size of our rig.  At any rate the place was so tight, but that is another story for another day.  We did not get full hookups, which ended up being a good thing because we were forced to live on our tanks and I now know more than I did before.  One is that I think the tank sensors are working pretty close to reality and just having the black tank full and flush a few times has really cleaned it out pretty well for the time being and the odor is all but gone.  I did put dome Happy Camper down there for good measure.

I am still going to find a pressure washing service at some point, but until then I think everything is working better now that it is not sitting. 

[desertdeals69]

Glad its working for you.  You make a reservation at TT so there will be a spot for you.  I find that getting there about 9 in the morning gives you the best selection of spots.  We stay in TT campgrounds about 80-100 nights a year and one year almost 150 nights.

[ianbullock]

 Arrive at a campground at 9 AM?

I'm doing well if I can check out of a campground by 9 AM,,,,,,,

 

[rayin]

When we bought this MH, after a short time I realized the black tank had something stuck to the bottom. Since the "wand" sold at the RV store was too short I made my own. I used 4' of CPVC pipe, 1 pipe cap , 1 threaded nipple that glued onto the pipe, and 1 hose adapter. When assembled I drilled a 1/8" hole in the side of the pipe cap. Knowing the city water line pressure at our house is 100psi-sometimes more, I just ran garden hose through a window and attached my homemade wand. I was amazed at the amount of "stuff" that flushed out of the tank. Afterwards I could see the tank bottom was not white  as before, it was now actually black. I picked up about a gallon bucket of toilet paper that had dried out and stuck to the tank bottom. This happened because the tank had a split in the bottom, allowing liquid to drain away, leaving the paper stuck to the bottom. I had Camping World weld that split closed.

The tank sensors began working properly, but that only lasted a few  weeks. Now I'm back to watching for the "burp" again.

[manholt]

RayIn.

The best tank sensors are the ones that go on the outside of the tanks. They are sold aftermarket and you can Google and pick the system that best work for you and your wallet.  They work on the same circuit that you have now!

[hermanmullins]

Ray,

I installed a new set of tank sensors. Sea Level is the brand name. got them at Perry in March.They work great and the installation was very easy. took me about 2 hours total. Now you have a reason to go to Gillette.

Herman

[rayin]

On 5/14/2018 at 10:54 PM, manholt said:

RayIn.

The best tank sensors are the ones that go on the outside of the tanks. They are sold aftermarket and you can Google and pick the system that best work for you and your wallet.  They work on the same circuit that you have now!

I agree, however I choose to use the tried and true method of watching for the burp upon flushing, guess it's the cheapskate in me. I've also learned our normal dump schedule is 14 days when on FHU.

[manholt]

14 days?  Wow!  We can do 5 or 6 max.  Granted, the electric macerator toilet, takes more water, but not that much more!  How big is your Black Tank?  Mine is 60.

I have had, no burp, just overflow on  the foot petal system.  All depends on one or lack of one air pocket, if it's close to the top and you flush...Ugh!

[wayne77590]

I'm impressed with 14 days.  Both of my toilets are electric macerator so there is little control of water flow.
We do not have a direct drop into the tank and that is most likely the reason for the macerator toilets.
Winnebago puts the sensors on the outside of the tank and in a previous 10 year old RV they were working well when it went bye bye.
The new one works well and when the tanks get full the macerator will not flush and a red light is on.

So far we have gone 4 days before flushing, but that's okay as DW thinks roughing it camping is not having a Walmart nearby.

[brianreed]

So after a few weeks of camping weekends and fulling and flushing my black tank and using Happy Camper powder a few times the black tanks seem to be good and healthy now.  Keeping the tank 3/4 full or so when we leave with Happy Camper for a drive and dump at a rest area with running the tank washer fitting has been the difference.  The sensors are all working well, and running clean.

Thanks. 

[wayne77590]

Many years ago I started using Calgon water softener in my black tank.  I would put two cap-fulls of Calgon into the holding tank.  I personally think that it made  big difference when dumping. 
 

[five]

On 5/16/2018 at 9:38 AM, wayne77590 said:

...The new one works well and when the tanks get full the macerator will not flush and a red light is on...

We have Tecma electric toilets by Thetford.  They have what they call an "Emergency Override," push and hold the flush button for six seconds, and it will flush.

[jleamont]

15 minutes ago, FIVE said:

We have Tecma electric toilets by Thetford.  They have what they call an "Emergency Override," push and hold the flush button for six seconds, and it will flush.

Yeah, ours has a feature if you hold both buttons the valve opens to the tank, I guess so you can pour water in? 

Darn kids figured that out, I thought they broke it

[manholt]

I have the Sani back flush system.  I fill the little bowel with Calgon & Dawn, hook up hose and let it flow for about 5 minutes for BT and half that for GT.  Do that every 3 month's!  I still flush both via the macherator toilet and shower. 

[wayne77590]

12 hours ago, FIVE said:

We have Tecma electric toilets by Thetford.  They have what they call an "Emergency Override," push and hold the flush button for six seconds, and it will flush.

Never had to try that, but good to know.

12 hours ago, jleamont said:

Yeah, ours has a feature if you hold both buttons the valve opens to the tank, I guess so you can pour water in? 

Darn kids figured that out, I thought they broke it

Both of our toilets are Tecma electric flush. However, if I hold both buttons in the toilet will flush, valves close and the water level is set when I release the two buttons. I keep the water just above the 1" hole.

[five]

On 6/9/2018 at 8:09 AM, wayne77590 said:

 

...Both of our toilets are Tecma electric flush. However, if I hold both buttons in the toilet will flush, valves close and the water level is set when I release the two buttons...

Same here, pushing the two buttons at the same time sets the water level...when you release them, that's where the new water line is.