Grey Tank Flushing?

[drillagent]

On a recent camping trip, I noticed grey/black blobs that came out of the galley tank. I have a connection for a black tank flush, but not for the galley tank. Short of installing an aftermarket tank flush, is there a way to clean and/or flush the nastiness out of the galley tank? Other than the tank sensors (which never seem to be accurate anyway) how do you know when the tank is full without ending up with a burst tank/terrible leak? I want to dump buckets of water into it, but I'm afraid of breaking something if I over fill it.

[drillagent]

Thanks for all the great advice. I carry a five gallon bucket along with a bottle of Calgon and a bottle of Rid-X for the black tank. Sounds like a bucket of hot water and some Calgon/Rid-X for each tank while travelling between stops would be a good idea. I'll try that in the Spring and see what happens.

[Cool_Canuck]

A note of Caution: I only put a couple of gallons in the tanks while traveling. I have had a gray tank split with only about 5 gallons in it. There are several cases of tanks falling out of their mountings. My neighbor's fell out last year while he was parked. Water weighs 10 lbs a gal, so don't go crazy. These tanks are hanging from lips and trailer manufactures quality control isn't what you'd hope it would be.

[jffnkrn]

To me all these are great measures to take after the fact, what about preventative measures? For me: We keep out tanks flushed as much as possible. when using the RV, keep the grey valves closed and dump as needed. Wiping down all your dishes with a paper towel when cleaning up after a meal and throw that stuff in the trash, it doesn't belong down the drain, at home or RV. The black tank gets dumped anytime it is used, (following a trip when everything is still in suspension) or (when it is at 2/3, fill up the rest and flush) and is flushed until all water coming out is clear through the clear attachment. Chemicals: I put about 1 gallon of water in the tank before we leave for a trip with about 1/4 recommended treatment in tanks with the gallon of water, then on day 2 or 3 depending on the amount of usage the toilet gets, I add the rest of the chemical treatment. for me, this all works great, in over 15 years have only had a few issues with odors or clogging of the toilet, and that would be the cause of not enough water used during the flush. Again, preventative for grey tanks, soap scum and grease build up and create havoc. Good Luck & Be Safe ! ! !

[rockhillmanor]

I use a quart bottle of lemon cleaner in the gray tank every other time I dump. You can pick up the generic brand for a dollar at most stores.

This keeps the smell down, cleans the sides of the tanks so the sensors work. Gray tanks can smell as bad as a black tank from the food stuffs, coffee, dirty water from boiling foods etc. that can go down into it from the kitchen sink. Depends all what you allow to be put down the kitchen sink.

I as many others do, do NOT put any food scraps, water from boiled foods or grease down the drain in an RV.

[C-Bears]

The Flush King works really great. I keep it on generally when we are going to be in one spot for an extended stay. Not only can you back flush both gray tanks on your Montana, but you can close those and back flush your black that way also.

[justaboutretire]

On the day we are packing up to leave, I will close the gray water tank dump valve, shut down the hot water heater and run the hot water only from the kitchen sink to fill up the gray tank. I do the normal black tank flush and when that is done I open the gray tank dump valve. This is fairly clean water so it also flushes out the sewer hose. Never had an issue with the gray tank.

[stickdog]

TakingThe5th wrote:

Cool Canuck wrote:
I put some dish detergent, a little "Gain" and a couple of gallons of water in my gray tanks when I move. I do the black tank as well. I figure a couple of hours of sloshing while going down the highway helps clean them up. Works for me

X2. If it's a short trip I'll add more water since fuel mileage is less of an issue.

+3 I pour a 1/4 of Dawn and run the hot water till it cools then drive we're fulltime so 5hrs of sloshing does a good job of mixing it up. I hit the dump station at our next stop or hookup and dump with flush king either way a good deal of junk flows out.

[TakingThe5th]

Cool Canuck wrote:
I put some dish detergent, a little "Gain" and a couple of gallons of water in my gray tanks when I move. I do the black tank as well. I figure a couple of hours of sloshing while going down the highway helps clean them up. Works for me

X2. If it's a short trip I'll add more water since fuel mileage is less of an issue.

[rockylarson]

I use a gallon of Pine Sol every now and then. As far as knowing when it is too full, it shows coming up and out our shower drain. (a water alarm location)

[Cool_Canuck]

I put some dish detergent, a little "Gain" and a couple of gallons of water in my gray tanks when I move. I do the black tank as well. I figure a couple of hours of sloshing while going down the highway helps clean them up. Works for me

[BB_TX]

I have overfilled mine on occasion ("Honey, the sink is not draining."). No problem as it just backs up into the kitchen sink. Maybe that is why I have not seen that stuff come out of mine. It get a pretty good flush regularly as I don't drain it until it is full or close to it. Plus we are careful not to allow much in the way of food or grease into the drain.

[mileshuff]

I use a King Flush on the dump drain to back flush the tanks. I don't fill completely. Just let it fill for short bit, shut the water off and open the Flush King. I repeat 2 or 3 times.

[tvman44]

The gray blobs are built up grease. I fill my tanks with water and add Rid-X and let it sit a couple of weeks (preferably in warm weather) and the globs of grease that came out was unbelivable and my sensors started working again. 🙂

[2112]

I pour a little bleach in mine and leave it there until it's full and flushed.