How long until your holding tanks are full?

There are clear "ends" or "elbows" available.

Why don't they make the sewer drain pipe in clear or translucent material? Last week while at the dumping station I watched person after person pick up the flexible line to see if it was still draining. A clear pipe might be a bit much but translucent would do the trick.

The indicators are usually wrong. Eventually, toilet paper hangs up on the probes, and stays there. As long as it is there, it will read as if it was full to that level. You could try filling tank 3/4 or so, and using a detergent while driving, the farther the better, then dump. Might work. Sometimes, NOTHING will work. Can replace the probes, and will work until it does it again.

My wife and I go to the FMCA Rally every year, we are there for a full week + travel time without dumping. We use paper plates, plastic silverware, take Navy showers and I use the public restrooms to save water and tank space. We stop over at a RV park on the way home to dump and spend the night. We are there a full week because we are volunteers. It usually takes me a half hour to dump and flush and put a good bit of fresh water back into the tank when I am finished. Only one time in 15 years have I have a problem and it was my fault. I didn't use enough water when I flushed and it jammed with toilet paper. I took a hook I used on my window awnings and broke up the jam.

Once a year I get me a $1 bottle of Pine-Sol cleaner and a 20lb bag of ice. Put the Pine-sol in the black tank, fill with about 3-5 gal of water and dump in the ice. Then I take off on a trip that I know will be about 2-3 hours driving time, and I try to "slosh" the black tank during turns. For me, that keeps my black tank clean and the indicator pretty much accurate.

I dunno...
I'm a notorious DIYer...

But I will for sure take a pass on sticking a pressure washer down a toilet.
"Blowback" could be a serious problem...

A pressure washer will do an excellent job and there's nothing in there it will harm. The Geo Method mentioned above will not get you where you need to be any time soon. You need to get it clean first and then take good care of it in the future. It is likely your holding tank indicators will never read correctly so do not let that be an indication of whether you have done a good job or not. They are notoriously bad indicators after just a few years. If you really want to get your tanks bad to like new conditions, look for a company that does hold tank flushing in your area. We used All Pro Water Flow and it takes out everything in there.

I agree with Busskipper, fill the black tank up 1/2 and drive it around. Also after you dump you should always put 2 to 5 gallons of water in there while not in use. You don't want to leave it empty. Except before winter storage. Then you want to be sure it is all cleaned out.

Our new trailer gets dumped every morning when we leave a CG. It is only 15', is used only as a motel on wheels and only has a 9G black and 14G gray. Now to elaborate on your question. It is a difficult one to answer but I have noticed over the years that the person who talks the longest, talks the loudest and tells the most stories seems to dump their black tank more often than normal folks. Anyone have a theory as to why this phenomenon occurs?
Randy

MagillaGorilla wrote:
Update: We used the MH this weekend and when we pulled into the state park I drove right to the dumping station. I had dumped my tank 2 weeks prior and had not used it since yet the indicator said it was still full. When I pulled the gate valve open, waste came out at a slow pace.

I filled the black water tank to the top and released ti again and stuff came out but slowly. I looked down the hole in the toilet and I could see a "log jam" in there. I used a stick and broke it up the best I could. Then I filled and flushed the system several more time. Each time I did it I got more waste out.

After an hour of this we stopped and made our way to the camp site. The holding tank still said it was full but ti lasted 4 people the entire weekend. I then added a lot of water into the black tank and drove it to the dumping station. When I was done dumping I inspected the tank again (from the hole in the toilet). I can see the black tank itself for the first time. No paper or logs in the way. I can also still see some waste that did not exit. Also the indicator still says its full.

So my question for today is..........can I insert a pressure washer down the toilet, into the tank, and blast the remaining log jam apart or will that be bad?

Try this Geo Method makes life so much easier -- also think about adding water 1/2 way up before the drive home -- a good slosh will help to get things cleaned up.

We like most large Coaches will easily go a week without hook ups - but the DW prefers only 4-5 days (she does use a good bit of water)

BOL,