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lazer50's avatar
lazer50
Explorer
Sep 06, 2016

waste tank

My Coach man Catalina has been stationary this past year and plan on using it at my maintenance shop.my problem is my waste tank was full and had not been emptied for a while so i called my local septic guy to come pump tank.he did the last time no problem but this time he didn't take very long and said it was empty. Well i checked it after he left and most of the waste is still there.so i think it set too long and or didn't break down.i went today and bought two bottles of bio waste stuff.is there anything i can do to help that so i can call him back out to empty again? Thank you for any help.

19 Replies

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  • Fireballsocal's avatar
    Fireballsocal
    Explorer
    Sep 07, 2016
    I think you'll be fine with just water and time. All that happened is the liquid dried up leaving the waste as a solid mass that wouldn't move anywhere. You should see a huge difference after filling with water and waiting 24 hours. The cleaning wand will probably help out but the bulk of the waste should be able to be removed after 24 hours, assuming you filed the tank with water.
  • lazer50's avatar
    lazer50
    Explorer
    Sep 07, 2016
    Unfortunately for this year my camper is stationary.im recently divorced and for the winter its my living arrangement.i have no way of towing it at this time.so im going to try whatever i can to get the tank loosened up and pumped.if the d r a n o will help ill put some in before i fill tank with swirl wand.then maybe let it set awhile and make sure im here when the guy comes again so i can flood with hose while he's pumping.
  • trail-explorer's avatar
    trail-explorer
    Explorer
    Sep 07, 2016
    Hook the rig up and tow it around for a while, to get the water (and poop) sloshing around in the tank, so it drains fully.
  • Boband4's avatar
    Boband4
    Explorer
    Sep 06, 2016
    When I did it I put the digester in and filled it with water. Let it sit 24 hour. Then go drain and flush a lot of water through it. Worked for me, effectively doubled my black tank capacity and got rid of an awful odor.
  • Boband4's avatar
    Boband4
    Explorer
    Sep 06, 2016
    When I did it I put the digester in and filled it with water. Let it sit 24 hour. Then go drain and flush a lot of water through it. Worked for me, effectively doubled my black tank capacity and got rid of an awful odor.
  • myredracer's avatar
    myredracer
    Explorer II
    Sep 06, 2016
    One method that will will work for sure is Liquid Drano. Our owners manual says to use it if needed and have a couple of times. You'll need to tow it around for a bit to make it all slosh around enough. Depending on how bad it is, maybe a 2nd go at it might be needed. Instead of getting someone to pump it out, is there no dump station nearby? You can find them on sanidumps.com.

    Used to have a Catalina TT and the black tank was easy to dump and flush and never had trouble with it. Some blank tanks are not so easy due to shape and outlet pipe location.
  • lazer50's avatar
    lazer50
    Explorer
    Sep 06, 2016
    I poured the bio stuff in there today i have one of those wands that spins when its hooked to hose. Tomorrow ill run that till its full and maybe add some laundry softener per the other suggestion too.i just hope i breaks it up i put 64 ounces of that stuff in.
  • westend's avatar
    westend
    Explorer
    Sep 06, 2016
    The addition of a water softener into the tank will break the surface tension more readily than pure water. I use the cheapest laundry softener I can find. Others use Calgon or similar.
  • Old-Biscuit's avatar
    Old-Biscuit
    Explorer III
    Sep 06, 2016
    Set so long liquids dried up/evaporated..........so solids (poop Pyramid) dried out.

    Digester and fill tank full

    Might want to use a flush wand on end of hose down thru toilet and blast away at dried stuff before filling and letting digester go to work.

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