HELP! Black tank Clogged

My black tank has 2 valves on it, one near the tank and the other near the sewer connection. If the RV is new to your friend, maybe he has the same and didn't know about the valve near the tank, if he has 2 valves.

Otherwise, backflush as Vet Man says.

Vet Man wrote:
Put a cap with a water hose connection on it, Wal-Mart has them. Turn on the water and blow the clog back into tank, make sure not to overflow the tank. Then dump the normal way. I saw a RV repair man do it this way. Charged a $100 to come to site to do it.

This is what a Flush King or Hydro Flush will do. It allows you to back flush the tanks. Have been using them for years whenever dumping and never a problem.

If you use the cap w/ garden hose nipple you'll need a female-female hose. I use an old one I saved off DW's washing machine after I replaced them on GP. Be sure the TT valve is open before you turn the water on, else you'll blow the drain pipe and / or valve.

Since my sewer cleanout is in my front yard and can be reached with a sewer hose extension I back flush my gray and black tanks before putting the TT away for the winter.

K Charles wrote:
If nothing comes out, how do you know the valve opened. Did the handle or cable come off the valve?

+1

stickdog wrote:

K Charles wrote:
If nothing comes out, how do you know the valve opened. Did the handle or cable come off the valve?

+1

You should be able to reach the valve and feel whether it is open or closed, at least in my MH I can. You might want to wear a glove.

Happy Camper Extreme Cleaner, simple, simple.

Thanks for all the great ideas, I had never had this problem so was at a loss as to what to suggest. He opted to head for home and not risk a mess at the campground. He called me and said the drain worked fine when he got home. I guess all the sloshing around on the way home dislodged what ever it was. Thanks again!
Ron

One thing to consider, some people leave the black tank valve open, which allows the liquid to leave the tank, but NOT the solids. This causes the solids to dam up. It is ALWAYS recommended the black valve be left closed at all times unless actually dumping, and to allow the black tank to fill to at least 3/4 full before dumping. The fluids are necessary to get the solids flowing plus having more water gives more pressure on top of the solids to help push them out.

One method to help break down this dam is to add a few bags of ice (those large bags you buy at convenience stores) down through the toilet, then drive around with the RV allowing the ice to slosh around and break up the solid dam until the ice melts. This method actually works to break up these dams. The larger the black tank, the more bags of ice are needed.

It's difficult to know what the OP's problem might be, but this is one possibility. Flushing after dumping is really helpful. I usually fill the black tank 2 or 3 times with water to help flush out residual solids.

Medico wrote:
....some people leave the black tank valve open, which allows the liquid to leave the tank, but NOT the solids. This causes the solids to dam up...

aka = Turdation :B

Jimmie2 wrote:

Medico wrote:
....some people leave the black tank valve open, which allows the liquid to leave the tank, but NOT the solids. This causes the solids to dam up...

aka = Turdation :B

Medico..and Jimmie
We saw some people do that once...(leave their black tank open while parked for 3 days) and it was a total disaster. Took a couple of VERY KIND GUYS about an hour of straight, disgusting HARD work to get things fixed for them.

I still don't think they got it either. yuk