Hi. I'm new here and have a big issue. A couple weeks ago our toilet would not drain. We thought maybe it's frozen. Nope, not the problem. We finally managed to get it to drag by getting one of those baloons that you put on the hose. That combined with flushing the tank managed to free whatever it was that was blocking it. Now, our toilet is backed up again. Our tank is empty, we have flushed out the tank many times now but we cannot get the******out of the toilet bowl. We're positive that the pipe from toilet to tank is blocked again. We have snaked it and tried the balloon thing on the hose and neither has done anything except put more liquid in the toilet bowl. My husband and I are completely clueless about what we can/ should try next. Please I want my toilet back!

Stuff happens...but almost always, people new to the RV world do not use enough water. Look how much water is used when you flush a toilet at home...by the time the tank is full, you should have 2/3 water and 1/3 "stuff"...the force of all that water trying to drain sucks out stuff and keeps if from getting hard. But the problem now is getting stuff out...usually a sewer service comes out and hooks on to your fitting and sucks out almost everything. Then when empty, add about 20 gallons of water so you have a small lake to let things pile up. When you flush always let lots of water gointo the toilet. Keep the paper useage down...no big wads of paper..use 1 ply paper so it will disolve easy. Live and learn

JoeGood988 wrote:Stuff happens...but almost always, people new to the RV world do not use enough water. Look how much water is used when you flush a toilet at home...by the time the tank is full, you should have 2/3 water and 1/3 "stuff"...the force of all that water trying to drain sucks out stuff and keeps if from getting hard. But the problem now is getting stuff out...usually a sewer service comes out and hooks on to your fitting and sucks out almost everything. Then when empty, add about 20 gallons of water so you have a small lake to let things pile up. When you flush always let lots of water gointo the toilet. Keep the paper useage down...no big wads of paper..use 1 ply paper so it will disolve easy. Live and learnWe have been rv'ing for the last 5 years and have never had this problem. We also make sure to run lots of water when anything goes down. There is always water in our tank. We had a sewer service come out the first time this happened- he sucked and didn't get anything out. The toilet was still backed up when he left.

you guys need to go to an RV store and get some digestive enzymes and put it into the tank. it will take a few days to loosen up the solids so you will be with out a toilet until you can get the tank emptied. you do need to use more water when using the toilet.

old guy wrote:you guys need to go to an RV store and get some digestive enzymes and put it into the tank. it will take a few days to loosen up the solids so you will be with out a toilet until you can get the tank emptied. you do need to use more water when using the toilet.We've already tried the enzymes. The problem is not our black waste tank but the toilet bowl itself and the pipe from the toilet to the tank. The tank itself is empty and when we flush it the water comes out perfectly.

Interesting. So your RV has toilet plumbing like a house.. with a P trap?

my toilet is backed up | Good Sam Community

50 Replies

352
Explorer II
Jan 07, 2015
352 wrote:
Open the slide valve. Get on your hands and knees. Roll up your sleeve. Reach your arm down the hole as far as you can. When you feel anything chunky squeeze firmly between your fingers many times until all flows. I have a self help video available upon request.

Was my answer of any help?
K3WE
Explorer
Jan 07, 2015
NHDad wrote:
I just read 5 pages, cliff hanger. Can't wait to hear how this ends.

Fixed (don't really want to SEE how it ends) ;)
NHDad
Explorer
Jan 06, 2015
I just read 5 pages, cliff hanger. Can't wait to see how this ends.
FlatBroke
Explorer II
Jan 06, 2015
Last year I inadvertently left the valve open ONE TIME. Got blocked up. Toilet pipe doses not go straight down. Had to bail out toilet and remove it. Ran a snake up and down a long time before it cleared. Took a couple of hours messing and flushing it.Think leaving a valve open will never happen again.
bsinmich
Explorer
Jan 05, 2015
We have always used water but we don't usually dump at the CG on leaving. We let it slosh around on the way to the next CG or home. That eliminates a pyramid after you get it working again.
2012Coleman
Explorer II
Jan 05, 2015
When my husband gets home I will have him scoop the toilet again.
Scoop it again? :h My suggestion would be to stop using it until you solve the issue...
mlts22
Explorer II
Jan 05, 2015
There is a YouTube video series about what works and what doesn't work with a guy using a simulated, clear black tank, and simulated fecal matter to show what works for dealing with poop pyramids and what doesn't. The ice cube trick was shown to just make poop cold, not actually do any cleaning.
dcmac214
Explorer
Jan 05, 2015
If it's a poop pyramid would it help to dump several buckets of HOT water into the tank, filling it 1/2 to 2/3, then take the trailer on a couple hour stop-go-&-rolling ride to agitate the tank?
schlep1967
Nomad
Dec 29, 2014
A piece of Pex Tubing would work. It is more flexible than PVC and yet still rigid enough to push through anything but the hardest poop pile.
Old-Biscuit
Explorer III
Dec 29, 2014
K3WE wrote:
I'm asking an honest question here. What causes these pyramids? We've had a TT for over 10 years, the toilet pipe is a short drop and the black tank is translucent...you can see what happens with no effort.

On rare occasions, "a deposit" will linger at the end of the pipe for maybe a whole day, but the tank slopes slightly and it seems to take almost nothing to get it to "move on".

And, at tank dumping time, there's never been any notable slow down at that end of things.

Our trailer is not fancy- no flush system, nor have I ever used a flush wand.

I have made a point on occasion to drive with some water in the tank to slosh and break stuff up- and I have had some tank sensors get temporarily fouled. I have found that driving will stir up some stuff from "the corners" of our tank- but again things do not pile up below the toilet- not even a hint of a problem.

Are some tanks "perfectly flat" on the bottom- I could see that being a mechanism to develop a pyramid.

Thanks.

PS- I hate posts that say, "never happened to me"- clearly it does happen- just trying to learn if there's a why.

Ever peek down into an outhouse/pit toilet/vault toilet?

Liquids have run off to sides and mound of poop left directly below opening.
Same thing can happen when black tank drain valve has been left open OR not enough liquid to solids ratio is being used.
Poop and TP will easily dissolve when IN liquids but will pile up when not enough liquid is available.

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my toilet is backed up

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