Cleaning out black tank for winter
Anyone have a good remedy for removing poop residue? I have hooked up the outside rinsing but still have residue. I was going to try and go through the toilet with hose and see if that flushes it out the drain....
Forum Discussion
- About 40 pounds of ice, half cup of Dawn, 1 third full of water and a long drive on a winding road.
- My TC came out of a rental fleet. I looked in the tank through the toilet and wondered how clean it was. At the beginning of one camping season I put automatic dishwasher soap in and added several gallons of water. The first stop with a dump station was 3 or 4 hours away, so the tanks got a got sloshing around. I dumped on the way in, and watched the flow through the clear extension pipe. The stuff coming out looked just like it does dumping all the rest of the time, except this was just the residue in the tank. I use this method every couple years and the bottom of the tank looking down the toilet looks "clean".
The black tank doesn't need to be clean, but I think removing the build-up on the bottom makes it easier to flush out the crud at every dump as there is less for stuff to get caught on. - Unless you have an issue...I wouldn't worry about it. Who cares if there is a little crud on the inside of the tank? Now if you have a pile of poo under the inlet, that's an issue.
Two habits to get into:
- Avoid dumping unless at least half and preferably 3/4 full. That will allow the poo to float and provide enough flow to carry it out.
- Put a few gallons of water in before a drive. The sloshing around will knock any larger deposits off and the next poo deposit will be floating and not stuck to the bottom. - cleaning black tank!
1. fill the black tank full before you drain it. When the tank has complently drained let the shore water contine to run for 5 min. close the tank.
2. Repeat this process 3 times and then fill the tank 1/4 full. Works for me:) - Using a tank wand periodically will keep the build up to a minimum, filling and dumping your black tank multiple times just won't get out all the crud. We thought the same thing, using the tank wand we were amazed at what was left.
Sure, there are plenty of homemade and store bought black tank concoctions that might aid in residual accumulation, we use plain water and plenty of it when doing our business, flushing out stubborn blank tank residue monthly with our wand.
We have a flush system on our rig that is somewhat effective, it does not deliver nearly the powerful stream of a tank wand, and can not be directed to reach all areas of black tank. A kit is available so you don't have to drag a hose inside. - Unless the crud is significant I would just ignore it - you really don't need a perfectly clean black water tank. If your determined to have a really clean black water tank then consider buying a bottle of septic tank cleaner (available at most hardware stores) - fill the black water tank to the top and give it 2-3 weeks to work. When you drain hold your breath as the fluid will be very nasty.
- What is your plan? Are you converting it to a fresh water tank? Otherwise, why care about it?
- I buy the cheapest automatic dishwasher soap. Every time I dump both the gray and black tanks I add about 1/2 cup of the dishwasher soap and several gallons of water.
Never leave the tanks completely drained except after cleaning at the end of the season.
At the end of the season I have found it takes very little flushing to clean out the black tank with one of the wands.
