[Rick & Denise]

This is not scientific and I have no clue if it even did any good. It also relates to a single tank, not a set up with black and gray tanks.

Any time I suspected the crud in my tank might be building I allowed it to get as full as possible. I then added a significant amount of Dawn dishwashing soap. About 1/2 a bottle. Then I drove about 400 miles. I usually did this when returning home or on a leg of a trip when I knew I would be able to dump the tank.

Keep in mind the following. I suspect none of us knows what it looks like inside our tanks so we do stuff like flushing to make us feel good. There is no plumbing code in the nation that allows us to connect a water supply line to flush out a tank because in the plumbing industry that is called a cross connection and is absolutely forbidden so I cannot bring myself to buy and use anything like that. I think for it to be of value it almost needs to be a flow as strong as a pressure washer. I suspect to keep the black tank as clean as possible we need to use ample water because any solids that might be in the tank are likely to get scoured out by the flow if they are on the bottom of the tank. So I try not to subscribe to the phrase “if it’s yellow let it mellow”. Unless I have to dry camp for days on end my practice is to get the holding tank quite full before dumping and to flush the toilet after every use, not just when…..you know.

Our tank discharge has been 3″ or greater so it is highly unlikely anything greater in size than the discharge pipe can end up in the tank. The only problem I can envision is if the black tank drain is left open such as when in a long term stay in a campground. Then there is no heavy water flow to carry the solids and they can accumulate.

[Archived]

Larry,

Have you been hanging out with that sheep shearing bunch of old POGsters? That sheep’s wool, when it gets into your tanks will jam up the sensors.

Check with Truk or Jdub for solutions.

[Archived]

Jdub is just another way of spelling tank blockage.

To explain that any further is just gross, so all we have to say is his body functions have become the basis for industry testing.

[Tom]

I think Larry needs to come to Branson, hanging with Jdub takes practice..

[John]

The last two years I have used a Macererator , so I wonder if pumping out (which I do have a high pressure rinse installed in my black water tank that I use,) vs dumping fast could contribuite to it also I have always used Dawn in my black water once and awhile in all my motorhomes, But the water here in AZ is very hard so I wonder about a calcium build up? I thought somone might have experienced the same problems?

Maybe a water softner might help, But i still need to get the sensors cleaned off some how, I am not sure if they would be in a water coulum inside the tank or how they work?

I am glad to know there are others on this fourum that seem to have some Black water issues it seems they are full of S____,, .) LOL

[Archived]

Larry, at the risk of gorssing everyone out think about what happens in a black water tank.

Solids drop into the tank at the same spot every time along with whatever water carries them. Under the worst of circumstances those solids do not break down and mix with the liquid contents, but instead create a pile. If you are not sitting in the same spot for days or weeks the tank contents may be dispursed doing away with the pile, but if the coach is not driven there is nothing to agitate the tank contents.

Eventually as the tank fills the water as the predominant material in the tank creates a head pressure that will generate a reasonably strong flow when the large gate valve is opened, and that flow should carry the solids down the drain. It would suggest then that the best way to keep our holding tanks relatively clean therefore would be to drive the coach so the contents of the tank are at least agitated if not stirred up. Then when the tank is full or nearly full dump it using the large gate valve.

The worst thing to do is leave the sewer hose connected and the gate valve open. That is a sure way of collecting a pile of solids and no way to scour them out. Using a macerator should be for rare instances because unless the tank contents have been agitated sufficiently to mix the tank contents up, there is insufficient flow to the macerator pipe to scour the bottom of the tank clean.

To date on three coaches I have never attempted to spray or clean the holding tank with the exception of using Dawn. I have no clue if that did any good, but it didn’t hurt. If I really want to encourage the tank contents to flow toward the big gate valve I have tipped the coach toward the drain side theorizing the added slope won’t hurt. What we need in this discussion is someone who has actually looked inside their tank to chime in. I have a TV camera for viewing inside places such as engine cylinders and if I can control my gag reflex I might look in my holding tank which I just dumped after a 650 mile trip.

[Archived]

The gray tank can be just as bad for those with 2 tanks. On my Royale, the gray tank was very slow to empty. I emptied the tank the best I could, then tipped the bus to the starboard side. I then fabricated a small piece of metal tubing with a garden hose connector on the end. I was able to fish the tube up through the sewer discharge pipe and make the turn to go into the gray tank.

The end result was chunks of what looked like dried soap and junk came blasting out the drain and the gray water flowed real fast after the cleanout. You know you have a good dump of the tank when almost done, you hear the whoosh of air from the tank vent.

[John]

Nothing like letting a bunch of junior turd choppers loose on the internet.

The solution is the macerator toilet. Anaconda goes in, puree comes out. No chunks or floaters to foul your tank.

Except if you are a granola and bran flake eater like A-1 or the Krakman; then you’ll always have fiber in your black tank.

[Mike]

And that, ladies and gentlemen is the final word of holding tank health from the world record holder of toilet and holding tank blockages.

[Archived]

Jon, before you go taking a boroscope to your tank try a small wipe of Vicks Vapor Rub under your nostrils, oh, and at whatever cost, avoid breathing thru your mouth or that eucalyptus oil was all for naught, something about a back draft to the olfactory lobes!

Speaking of backdrafts, you have to be careful of macerator toilets, if you think getting into you tank is tough try opening a macerator, even changing one. A miniture high speed garbage disposal that will come to a screeching halt when it finds that toothbrush you mysteriously lost, or someones bridge work, or worse…. no, they don’t like rubber either!

Seems to me that Rid-X should be a viable solution, at least it should make one! Nothing more than a bunch of bacteria and yeast that have, shall I say, a strange diet. To kick things off, add a couple of cups of white sugar to whet their appetites….don’t leave it too long however because yeast poop is alcohol! That should clean up your tank like never before!

[Archived]

Since my $hit does not stink, I will eschew the Vick’s Vapo Rub. I can say that because Di does not read these posts.

[Archived]

Thanx guys I needed a good laugh !!!

[Gerald]

Aside from driving airliners around for 30+ years, one of my past lives was as a grape grower in the Napa Valley, so I have some experience in the yeast/bacteria department albeit limited to consumables, they still work the same. So you have this nasty old holding tank that has who knows what stuck in it or to the sides, covering sensors or whatever. Lets say that someone peeled potatoes into the tank and the skin remnants have dried, like over a sensor that indicates the quantity. Add to the mix many years of formalin, cleverly masked as a holding tank deodorant replete with dark blue dye (that’s what you will see when you boroscope your tank, light blue walls) prevents the natural decomposition process that may normally occur and which will also nullify what I am about to suggest without a series of flushes of the entire tank. Formalin is poisonous to just about everything, including most bacteria and all yeasts.

That said, Rid-X and there are a number of others as well, is/are nothing more than a large variety bacteria (some anaerobic) and yeasts with specific diets. We may consider their diets disgusting but what they really like is decomposing dead things, plant and animal. They don’t care much for metal or nylon, even plastic but those kinds of things being stuck in a tank would be rare indeed. So why not fill your tank, add a box of Rid-X, a couple of cups of sugar (everything likes candy) to expedite the process and let it sit for a week or so before a thorough flush. I would make sure that the bus was still for the period because none of this stuff likes to be disturbed while they are “eating”, and I would do this in a temperate climate. I would bet that your tank will be “squeeky” clean at the end of the process.

Basically this process converts your holding tank into a well maintained septic system for a week. As with anything, people that maintain a septic system may never require a pump out of solids and then there are those that introduce paint thinner, acids, anti-bacterial soaps and so on; they have to be pumped every year because there septic systems are nothing more than cesspools….which is, by the way, what are holding tanks essentially are!

To answer another earlier question, Arizona has very high TDS (total dissolved solids) in the water as in calcium and other minerals. Left to it’s own devices as the water goes away (evaporates) the minerals are left behind, because one of these dissolved solids is silica it has a propensity to leave spots on glass that are difficult, if not impossible, to remove. Shower heads, faucets and windows are the usual victims, don’t think it is a player in the holding tank arena.

.

[Archived]

I have gotten into the habit of dumping all the ice from my freezer down the toilet just prior to leaving. The concept is that the ice cubes will scrub the walls of the tank. Try dumping several bags of ice into your toilet and go for a drive.

[Tom]

Careful boys, you don’t want to fill up your rear discharge toilet with ice. Greg’s idea works well wtih direct drop toilets.