Went on our maiden (5 day) voyage over the past weekend. While I campsite had electrical it did not have water or sewage connections.I preached about water conservation over the course of the weekend, but am wondering if I went overboard. I may have "scared" the family into using too little water when they flushed the toilet. The black tank was at about 2/3 of the 30 gallons capacity. When I flushed the tank I could hear the fluid draining, but the duration was not that long compared to the grey tank, which is of equal volume and full to the same level.I did not check the tank level until after we left the dump station as the line was long. The tank still reads at 1/3 and I can see tissue in the tank when I look down into the toilet.I hindsight I am wondering if we created more of a sludge/slurry than a liquid that could be flushed easily.How much water should you use when flushing? I would suggest we were using about a 1/4 to 1/2 gallon per flush.Where do I go from here?Unfortunately we cannot store our trailer at our residence so I am confined to doing most maintenance at the campgrounds. My thoughts were to fill the tank to 1/2 to 2/3 full on the way to our next destination and hope the motion is enough to get things dissolved / moving. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Take a bag of crushed ice, dump that in along with a couple of good squirts of Dawn dish soap. Fill it with water and go for a drive. Then dump and flush well. That should clean the tank.

donn0128 wrote:Take a bag of crushed ice, dump that in along with a couple of good squirts of Dawn dish soap. Fill it with water and go for a drive. Then dump and flush well. That should clean the tank.I would agree but do not "FILL" it with water. if you do, all the ice will do is bob along merrily on top of the water. just use enough water to let things slide around well. after the ice, drain and then you can fill and add soap.bumpy

Fill it with water now! Do not let it dry out any more or you will have a big problem. Letting it soak and dumping it on the next trip as you go in will probably cure the issue.

I agree with Bonefish--fill it NOW putting some Dawn or treatment in. Why not drive it the long way to a place you can dump and then dump and rinse. We dump before we leave our campsite, fill with water and treatment like Dawn and then when we are close to home, dump at our State park facility. We pay only $3 for this service. We then put a few gallons of water in at the dump station and dump once more. We add a few gallons and are on our merry way ready for the next trip.

SGardiner wrote:I did not check the tank level until after we left the dump station as the line was long. The tank still reads at 1/3 and I can see tissue in the tank when I look down into the toilet.Don't go by the tank gauges as they fail after the first few times the gray and black water tanks are even partly filled. I hindsight I am wondering if we created more of a sludge/slurry than a liquid that could be flushed easily.We found, with all three of our RVs, that no amount of water used to flush will empty the black tank completely of all gunk, paper and clumps of feces. That's why they have hoses at the dump stations and why the newer RVs come with FLUSH connections for a hose. Stick the hose down the commode if you have no outside black tank FLUSH connection. Use a clear elbow on the dump pipe - VERY IMPORTANT - turn the hose-water on high, and watch what comes out! :E The first time we did this we couldn't believe what was left behind, and as I said, we don't scrounge water when we flush. How much water should you use when flushing? I would suggest we were using about a 1/4 to 1/2 gallon per flush.Where do I go from here?Get the clear plastic elbow for the sewer outlet and after the tank empties, HOSE FLUSH and piles of gunk with waded tumbles of paper will come out you never thought would be there.

Have I plugged up my black tank drain? | Good Sam Community

Pauljdav
Explorer
May 29, 2013
I put one of These on my RV. I can close it after dumping the black and open the gray. The gray will rush into the black.I then close the gray and open the twist valve again. It helps pull out the rest of the "crap" from the black tank.

It would help very much in your situation.

Paul
thib2722
Explorer
May 29, 2013
Odorless is a natural bacterial product that eats waste. It's sold at the RV stores. It's basically the same bacteria that sewer treatment plants use to dissolve waste. It works really well. Plus, always use plenty of water. A fuller tank will flush easier. The more water, the cleaner it flushes as the water is the vehicle for the waste and water.
timws6
Explorer
May 28, 2013
I installed a tank flush system on mine and bought a clear 90 elbow, best things i've bought for my RV.
bartlettj
Explorer
May 24, 2013
HappyKayakers wrote:
SGardiner wrote:
... When I flushed the tank I could hear the fluid draining, but the duration was not that long compared to the grey tank, which is of equal volume and full to the same level.

The black tank should empty faster than the gray tank. Gray uses 1.5 inch pipes, black uses 3 inch pipes. However, you may have had a wad of TP clog the valve opening. I agree with the previous posters that you should add water now to prevent all that mess from drying out.

Get to a dump station where you're not rushed. Fill the black tank with water (hose to the toilet or buckets of water), then open the valve again. More water volume should wash all the 'stuff' out. I would also recommend a clear sewer connection so you can see when you have clear (or almost clear) water running out of the tank.

Not on mine, both black and grey have 3" lines.
SGardiner
Explorer
May 24, 2013
Thanks for the input . I found out I can dump my tank at the local municipal treatment plant, which is less than 1 km from my house. No charge. I will give it a good flush and dump before my next trip.
Bumpyroad
Explorer
May 23, 2013
just remember, it is a holding tank, not a septic tank. no expensive "digesting" is required. that will be done where you dump your tank. just keep the "stuff" soft enough to drain out. your black tank sprayer should take care of that.
bumpy
Bonefish
Explorer
May 23, 2013
Capehorny wrote:
Any opinions on using the granular septic tank treatments, designed for residential septic tanks or fields? I wonder if it's a little more powerful than the blue stuff? Just curious, I've got half a bottle somewhere that I thought might be worth using....

On our newest camper we have used this in the black and galley tank which requires only two ounces per 40 gallon tank. I put in around 5 gallons of water in the black and add it generally at the end of a trip. The tanks are always ready to go and no odor ever develops while in storage. PurePower is liquid and is made for RV use. There are a lot of other brands out there just look for the bacteria and enzyme types. Here is a link: PurePower RV tank treatment
Capehorny
Explorer
May 23, 2013
Any opinions on using the granular septic tank treatments, designed for residential septic tanks or fields? I wonder if it's a little more powerful than the blue stuff? Just curious, I've got half a bottle somewhere that I thought might be worth using....
CavemanCharlie
Explorer III
May 22, 2013
You may also be using the wrong type of toilet paper. Check out this link to help in the future.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDLXXRVe2pc
Bucky_Badger
Explorer
May 21, 2013
We always start our trip with 1/3 full of water in the black tank so I don't have to worry about using enough water