Will ICE Clean out your black water tank...Video

mudhound wrote:

minnow wrote:
I know the ice worked for me. Clogged tank. Put in 25 lbs of ice, drove for 6 hours to next campground and no more clog.
If you are trying to emulate real world issues then you need to use real world testing and not some plastic tank in the back of a truck filled with artificial waste.

Me to. I use this about one time per year. Seems to work

Worked for us also, the one thing we didn't check on the PDI, was the black tank! :S

We used the water softener and ice with great success.

The first test is highly flawed, the poo isn't like most real poo, there is far more natural liquid in the tank. Even in hot climates it would not be like sitting the clear tank on a sheet of black in the hot sun!

For those who still think that icecubes work I have some magnets that if you put them around your fuel line you can get milage. I allso have a small suply of alumanim foil hats left.:S :B
Bill

How long do those ice cubes remain ice cubes??? I suspect not long at all.

Dump before travel & put a few gallons of water in there to slosh around merrily down the road.

The thing is, holding tanks come in many different configurations and dimensions. Some have a side outlet, some an end outlet and some a bottom outlet.

Some tanks are very easy to dump and flush. Some are the opposite. We've had both and currently have the latter. Our black tank is not very tall below the toilet and builds up a pyramid quickly and we don't always get the full use of the tank. I use the built-in flusher for at least 5 minutes while breaking camp. A few times we've had to use Liquid Drano - our owner's manual says to use it. It won't hurt anything. Used to use a backflush elbow but am finding the tank flusher is enough if used long enough.

I would guess that those that say they don't ever have issues dumping have tank dimensions that are easier to drain.

As for ice - waste of time. The best plan is to add 3-5 gallons in tank before use, use lots of water when flushing and thoroughly flush before leaving the CG. If the pipe drops down vertically below your toilet and you can't see the black bottom (and maybe some droplets of yellow glue), it isn't clean enough. I like to be able to use our level sensors and they won't work with slime stuck to the tank wall.

2gypsies wrote:

All we used for 16 years of full-timing was water and never had any problems.

This...

Our fiver has now been stationery for about 8 years. Have unlimited water available and use lots in each tank. I only rinse about once a month and wonder why I even bother.

I suppose its a different battle for those trying to conserve water?

I don't understand some folks fixation with repeated rinsing till they get almost clear water coming out?
Only to go and "dump" the same stuff right back in... :W

Isn't that sorta like trying to rinse the sewer line from your fixed home all the way to the treatment plant. :h

minnow wrote:
I know the ice worked for me. Clogged tank. Put in 25 lbs of ice, drove for 6 hours to next campground and no more clog.
If you are trying to emulate real world issues then you need to use real world testing and not some plastic tank in the back of a truck filled with artificial waste.

Me to. I use this about one time per year. Seems to work

I know the ice worked for me. Clogged tank. Put in 25 lbs of ice, drove for 6 hours to next campground and no more clog.
If you are trying to emulate real world issues then you need to use real world testing and not some plastic tank in the back of a truck filled with artificial waste.

hwy395lvr wrote:
To be fair,the original "recipe" for the ice cube method includes powdered water softener and warm water to loosen up any hard deposits and paper in the tank.Let this mixture stand overnight then add about 20 lbs. of ice before you leave for the campground.Upon arrival,head to the dump site before you set up.

Agree with this post. Our black tank monitor showed full all the time. Leaving a campground that had about 10 miles of curves and stop and go traffic I tried the ice only method. Results: for the next couple of trips the monitor showed correct or at least not all full all the time. Did NOT have to drive aggressively, just drive normally and let the curvy mountain road take care of the tank.

Full disclosure I tried it again after the monitor showed all full all the time but the road was nearly arrow straight and what few turns we made were not sufficient to get the ice berg to move around enough.

Have a couple issues with this video. 1) small tank, 2)in the bed of the truck, 3) not enough ice. Don't believe that tank gets enough sloshing around in the back of the truck.

To be fair,the original "recipe" for the ice cube method includes powdered water softener and warm water to loosen up any hard deposits and paper in the tank.Let this mixture stand overnight then add about 20 lbs. of ice before you leave for the campground.Upon arrival,head to the dump site before you set up.

If it did work and you empty out the tank you get some good chocolate Ice Cream, ugh!!!!! Had to say it hahahaha

Thanks for posting.