black water holding tank valve opens but won't drain
Hey All,
The reason I posted this was so someone else might search this phrase and get a match, I did not (on this site) so after looking around I tried an idea that could get me off the hook.
We went tailgating last Saturday in Eugene, OR and it was dry camping only so I shocked the water system and rinsed into the tanks and went to the water treatment plant.
Hooked up and pulled the cable T handle that runs into the belly through the corrugated plastic, it came out the usual distance but no noise, I put it back in and pulled it out a couple of times but nothing.
So frustrated, I drained the grey tanks, fore and aft and told the guys to limit their bathroom use and so I stewed about it all weekend.
Searched several threads and the net and found an idea that made some sense, I was sure the cable was not broke so here's a recipe I followed.
Take one full bottle of Dawn dish washing soap and pour the whole thing down the toilet and let it sit there for several hours.
Prepare the rig for towing, take and dump 3-5 bags of ice (I did 28#'s) right down the toilet and then hit the road, I went over speed bumps and all of the hilly side streets where I knew the trailer would bounce around a lot and in about 25 minutes I headed for the dump station.
There was a MH and a TT already there and we chatted and I told them what had happened and what I had done and by the time it was my turn they stuck around and low and behold when I opened up the valve we all heard ice cubes come a tumbling down, if I wasn't under the rig it would have been high fives all around.
I know the moral of the story is to take better care of the tank but I thought this was genius, fill with soap and then ice cubes and use the cubes as a huge scrubbing agent to slosh out the tank and scrub the sides while driving and lubricating the slide valve in the process.
I hope this might help others cause it sure helped me.
Bill
The reason I posted this was so someone else might search this phrase and get a match, I did not (on this site) so after looking around I tried an idea that could get me off the hook.
We went tailgating last Saturday in Eugene, OR and it was dry camping only so I shocked the water system and rinsed into the tanks and went to the water treatment plant.
Hooked up and pulled the cable T handle that runs into the belly through the corrugated plastic, it came out the usual distance but no noise, I put it back in and pulled it out a couple of times but nothing.
So frustrated, I drained the grey tanks, fore and aft and told the guys to limit their bathroom use and so I stewed about it all weekend.
Searched several threads and the net and found an idea that made some sense, I was sure the cable was not broke so here's a recipe I followed.
Take one full bottle of Dawn dish washing soap and pour the whole thing down the toilet and let it sit there for several hours.
Prepare the rig for towing, take and dump 3-5 bags of ice (I did 28#'s) right down the toilet and then hit the road, I went over speed bumps and all of the hilly side streets where I knew the trailer would bounce around a lot and in about 25 minutes I headed for the dump station.
There was a MH and a TT already there and we chatted and I told them what had happened and what I had done and by the time it was my turn they stuck around and low and behold when I opened up the valve we all heard ice cubes come a tumbling down, if I wasn't under the rig it would have been high fives all around.
I know the moral of the story is to take better care of the tank but I thought this was genius, fill with soap and then ice cubes and use the cubes as a huge scrubbing agent to slosh out the tank and scrub the sides while driving and lubricating the slide valve in the process.
I hope this might help others cause it sure helped me.
Bill
