Are those black tank cleaning wands worth it?

dodge guy wrote:


Nothing to do with OCD! everything to do with proper maintenance! OCD would be coming home from a trip and popping the little rocks out of your tire treads!

wait a minute. do you mean that everybody doesn't do this?
bumpy

CincyGus wrote:
Never used one. Each time I dump, I put about 2-3 gallons of water in the tank, add a cup of the cheapest laundry detergent I can find and a couple caps of Calgon. Let that slosh around on the trip home, leave it in the tank.

Go camping, when we are getting ready to leave (day before, I'll fill black tank to 3/4 full if it is not already. Then on day of leaving as part of my close up duties, I fill the tank till it's almost burping full. Then hook and take to the dump station or dump if we have FHU.

Never had any build up, odor or and my sensors work perfectly after 3.5 seasons. No Wands, No expensive additives and no problems.

Consider yourself lucky since I also use the GEO method with the detergent and Calgon, but still have to use the wand every so often to make sure the sensors stay clean which is a real issue with many TTs as reported here by owners. Also as some one mentioned the wand does a good job of cleaning the area below the slide valve in the toilet down to the top of the tank which can really get nasty over time. Maybe only 3.5 years is not long enough depending on usage to have started encountering some of the issues those of us have had with older TTs.

I can put my wand down and close the toilet valve and let it work w/o attending it 24/7 and can actually see the sensors starting to work at my tank monitor panel so I know the wand is doing something to clean things up better.

Larry

TyroneandGladys wrote:

Fresno Tundra Driver wrote:
Are they worth it? Yes,for people with OCD. For everyone else just always use plenty of water and you'll be ok.

X2

Nothing to do with OCD! everything to do with proper maintenance! OCD would be coming home from a trip and popping the little rocks out of your tire treads!

Never used one. Each time I dump, I put about 2-3 gallons of water in the tank, add a cup of the cheapest laundry detergent I can find and a couple caps of Calgon. Let that slosh around on the trip home, leave it in the tank.

Go camping, when we are getting ready to leave (day before, I'll fill black tank to 3/4 full if it is not already. Then on day of leaving as part of my close up duties, I fill the tank till it's almost burping full. Then hook and take to the dump station or dump if we have FHU.

Never had any build up, odor or and my sensors work perfectly after 3.5 seasons. No Wands, No expensive additives and no problems.

Yep, they worth it .but have to use it almost every time u dump.
So when I get half a tank on anything, or 3/4, take and fill up the rest with water, and do the dump thing . Works for me , now it's all happy-camping

I use the Walmart down the toilet wand. DW watches the clear extension on the drain hose until the water runs clear. I drain and clean every trip, leaving anything in tank in AZ can cause major problems due to evaporation during the summer heat.

Fresno Tundra Driver wrote:
Are they worth it? Yes,for people with OCD. For everyone else just always use plenty of water and you'll be ok.

X2

BarneyS wrote:
... No need to spend $15-$20 for one. Here is the one we have been using for years....

I have one of those as well and it does the job. I have been staying in my TT for about a year now. I'm using it as an apartment for my job. It is parked at a RV park. I go home on the weekends. I use a Flush King when I dump the black tank. But there is a lip just below the drain hole in the toilet and it gets pretty grungy over time. So I use the "Barney" rinser from time to time to get it clean.:)

I installed a black tank flush on our last 2 trailers. I thought about a wand, but decided that the permanently installed tank flush is much easier and cleaner. Plus the sensors have always worked perfect. I have a low point in my tanks and I believe that some "stuff" stays in that spot without the tank flusher. I like my "stuff" clean! :B

wanderingbob wrote:
I have never understood why you feel that your black tank must be so dern clean .
This site has spent many ,many hours discussing this . Why must it be scrubbed out when dumping . I know not , but hurry up cause I have got to use it .

It's not so much about being a clean freak, but over time w/o using something like the wand you will get a build up of stuff inside the tank and especially on the sensors making them inoperative completely. I have found using the wand at least gives me partial use of the sensors most of the time, especially the 1/2 and 3/4 ones ... the 1/3 light is almost always on and might be from just a poor location.

This is sort of like washing and waxing a vehicle which is really not needed long term, but most still do it and usually a lot more often than even needed.

Larry