Black water tank completely full and won't drain. Help pls.

[Timothyd1207]

2006 heartland bighorn

Our black water tank is completely full, and I cannot get it to drain. We just had a baby and were gone 6 days. I had already been so busy with work I hadn't drained it like I should have. We've been back a few days but the last 3 I've spent attempting to empty it. I've tried rv septic chemicals, using a plunger, and a not so great auger from tractor supply. Nothing is working. It's a cable system, and I have not been able to notice 100% if the valve is actually opening or not. I've been flushing from the sewer hose port and have had little by little come out. I read on a different post here about drilling a hole opposite the gate valve stem to open manually so I gave it a shot. I drilled the hole and have been using 3/16" tig wire to try and hammer the slide open but I'm not feeling it at all. When the gate rod is out all the way the wire goes in easily but if I try to close it with it still in it hits on it or is in a bind. When the rod is closed all the way I can still tap the wire in with some resistance but the rod doesn't budge. Idk if I'm maybe not hitting the slide with the wire but the hole is centered up perfectly with the body of the valve. Within the 1st 2 days or so I came home to my wife saying the toilet clogged up. I turned off the water and was able to use a plunger to fix it. Next day same thing but she also said the toilet would be sending up air bubbles when flushing. The next day on though the plunger had not helped and I've been at a loss. Any insight, help, or ideas would be greatly greatly appreciated. Maybe I'm just missing the gate when I'm tapping in the wire? I had tried an auger from the hose connection also, but it's about 34in from the hose connection to the valve with 1 lateral 90 and 1 vertical. I couldn't manipulate the coil that the auger was made of enough to get it to the valve. Thanks in advance to everyone.

[Stim]

Wild guess, diaper or feminine product.
Neither will go through.

[Fulltimers]

Get one of these. CAP

Attach to tank
Attach hose
open valve
Turn water on to dislodge clog
turn water off
close valve
remove cap, have a bucket handy because a little yuck will come out
attach sewer hose
try to drain tank

[DFord]

If there's a disposable diaper in your tank, it will not go through the valve or the piping leading to it until it's torn apart.

The toilets on RVs are a lot different than at home where 1.6 gallons aids in moving the poop along the pipe to the septic tank or sewage treatment plant.

Is it possible you unscrewed the rod when removing the cable?

The black water tank is NEVER intended to drain continuously. It should be allowed to fill to 3/4 capacity before dumping. If that practice isn't followed, a mound will build directly under the toilet and any water will drain away. Eventually, it will block the toilet from flushing at all. When that happens, you'll need a wand to stick down through the toilet to break it up and wash away and that's lots of trouble.

Here’s another video by Valterra, a waste dump valve manufacturer (replacement steps begin at 5:50 min):
https://youtu.be/UKSHnWhpMf0

[SDcampowneroper]

Call for a septic company vacuum pump out service if theres a plug of solids at the valve or drain, which would allow a trickle as you described. If you are certain the valve opens. , vacuum will suck out the blockage. Then, if you have the dreaded poop pyramid break it down with a stick or a flexible piece of 3/4" elec. BX cable if your drain is not straight down into the tank. You may have to call for a pressure clean out to break down the pyramid.
Educate everyone about sufficient use of water and whats acceptible to flush.

[vegasfoodguy]

MountainAir05 wrote:
The other thing is you could have a rv toilet pyramid.

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=rv+toilet+pyramid&qpvt=rv+toilet+pyramid&FORM=VDRE


Also look at these, Called a reverse attachment

https://www.amazon.com/Valterra-Degree-Reverse-Attachment-Trailer/dp/B008O9DV78

Someone may have flushed a diaper(s). did you address it?

[poppa]

try screwing the rod that you disconnected the cable from back into the valve and pulling it out

[MountainAir05]

Timothyd1207 wrote:
Yes I have already disconnected the cable and have been operating it manually. Tapping and shaking the tank has loosened up some of the waste. I have a slow trickle coming out when I agitate the tank but that's it. I dropped this hole straight across from the stem, but I pretty much push the wire all the way in without being able to feel the gate. With a post pardon wife and a new born, it's getting to be a bit rough. How thick is the gate, and is it not actually centered in the valve body? It's a valterra 3in gate.

Less than 1/4 thick, depending on the valve.

[MountainAir05]

The other thing is you could have a rv toilet pyramid.

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=rv+toilet+pyramid&qpvt=rv+toilet+pyramid&FORM=VDRE


Also look at these, Called a reverse attachment

https://www.amazon.com/Valterra-Degree-Reverse-Attachment-Trailer/dp/B008O9DV78

[Timothyd1207]

Yes I have already disconnected the cable and have been operating it manually. Tapping and shaking the tank has loosened up some of the waste. I have a slow trickle coming out when I agitate the tank but that's it. I dropped this hole straight across from the stem, but I pretty much push the wire all the way in without being able to feel the gate. With a post pardon wife and a new born, it's getting to be a bit rough. How thick is the gate, and is it not actually centered in the valve body? It's a valterra 3in gate.

[DFord]

Without a picture I can't imagine what you're up against. Sound's like you're up sch_tt's creek. The "cable system" is likely the problem. You need to figure out a way to verify the dump valve's gate is opening if at all. It doesn't sound like it is from what you're saying. Can you remove the cable system from the top of the dump valve and operate it manually? The valve stem may be screwed into the gate and somehow come detached either because it broke or unscrewed. I can't believe the tank wouldn't drain once the gate is opened.

Unless it's like mine when I had to take the valve apart to retrieve the disk that was cut out during installation for the toilet connection. Thank goodness enough waste bypassed it I could flush the tank real good before taking the valve apart.

[PastorCharlie]

Try to locate a mobile mechanic that can help with the problem.