OK, so I just bought this raptor in AZ. Pulled it up here to the cold north, and yes it's been a horrible april up here.. So, now I found out the black water tank is not draining.. I have all the valves open, I have 3 valves and they are all open and have been since I purchased it. I've poured water down the sink and toilet. Water comes out of the sewer drain when putting the water down the sink but nothing comes out of the black tank.. Today I poured 10 gallons of hot water down the toilet hoping that maybe it would melt any ice build up that may be down there from our cold weather.. Nothing happened, even tried running a snake up the sewer pipe but I think it took a different path instead of going through the black water tank, I put about 20' through before I decided to pull it out. So now what can I do? Try to back flush it?, can't seem to get the valves shut either, they are all stuck in the open position. I don't know if these valves are the ones with the cables to them or not, can't see anything underneath with the insulation and enclosure under it. Anyone have any thoughts what might be happening? What else can I do to flush this system out?????

Leaving the black tank OPEN (thus dry) is probably the worst thing you can do. There are always remaining solids which become "stones" when allowed to dry out. Keeping a few gallons of water in the black tank year round is the BEST way of keeping the system working properly. Might consider getting a honey wagon to use their power flushing system to try and free up the tank.Good luck / Skip

Dump a couple of gallons of RV antifreeze in the tank and let it set.You have a cleanout intake for your sewer system where your fresh water intake is it says sewer intake hook a hose to it before leaving and flush thouroughly. Also was the valve hard to open, we have had issues on both raptors with the gate valve have to replace it now and trust me I keep it clean just needs a repair kit I'm sure

TopSlink wrote:Dump a couple of gallons of RV antifreeze in the tank and let it set.You have a cleanout intake for your sewer system where your fresh water intake is it says sewer intake hook a hose to it before leaving and flush thouroughly. Also was the valve hard to open, we have had issues on both raptors with the gate valve have to replace it now and trust me I keep it clean just needs a repair kit I'm sureYes, the valve does not close all the way and it's very hard to push and pull. I've flushed a lot of RV anti-freeze down the toilet already. But it's plugged solid. I don't know what to do anymore, I'm very discouraged right now. Also pulling the bottom cover off is a big big big pain. I've managed to get some of it off, and also used a knife to help me along.. Not sure how I'm going to get it put back up in place once this job is finished. I do now have access to the tank and valves, I think I'm going to have to replace all 3 valves..That sucks..

next winter just antifreeze them with enough water to cover the valves. NEVER let them sit dry for that long. You'll be replacing them a lot. Sorry you are going through this. I pur 4/5 gal in blk/gry after every dump & clean along with some valve conditioner. Also some toilet valve treatment in the toilet every time. I learned that the cost of the chems was better than replacing.

Raptor Black waste tank not draining | Good Sam Community

atfulldraw
Explorer
Apr 30, 2013
Mr. Coach wrote:
atfulldraw wrote:
you sure those weren't wet wipes?

could be possible I guess... YUUUUKKKK!!!!!!

the freshy-fresh.....:C
64thunderbolt
Explorer II
Apr 30, 2013
must have been able to read them "Bounty" LOL. Glad you didn't get a shower. Sounds as if it sat for quite a while with some in the tank.
Mr__Coach
Explorer
Apr 29, 2013
atfulldraw wrote:
you sure those weren't wet wipes?

could be possible I guess... YUUUUKKKK!!!!!!
atfulldraw
Explorer
Apr 29, 2013
you sure those weren't wet wipes?
Mr__Coach
Explorer
Apr 29, 2013
OK, here's what happened.. I tried running snakes in both ends of the black tank and wasn't able to find the exit hole either way, there were just too many options the snake could take and it never would find the right one. I then ended up pulling the valve/gate out, still nothing came out, I then took the snake and snuck it in the opening and as soon as I started running it through it started pouring out, I did get out of the way without getting soaked. I probably flushed the tank out at least 20 times, reinstalled the valve and got her working like new again, I then flushed it out several times again just to make sure I got everything, I'm not sure I did or not but at this point I figure I can drive it around and let it slosh around and every time I dump more and more will start coming out. I am very happy about getting this fixed without spending a ton of $$$... Oh, and by the way I did end up finding dryer bounty towels in the tank that ran out during this whole process, I can't believe someone would put those down the toilet.. Thanks for all your help guys...
64thunderbolt
Explorer II
Apr 27, 2013
I have a Keystone not a Raptor but a Tail-gator 5er and the toilet drain runs from one side to the other with 3 90* el's. Could be the issue. or the cutout from the flange installation was in the tank and is plugging it.
BoonHauler
Explorer
Apr 27, 2013
Mr. Coach wrote:
BoonHauler wrote:
Was it working when you bought it? Have you ever dumped it before? Could this have been a problem from the previous owner?

No, it was not working when I bought it.. I was not aware of the problem. The valve was in the open position when I bought it and I assumed the tank was empty. Well, it's not.. I put some bleach in the tank today along with the water that's already in there. Tomorrow I might hook her up to my truck and get a couple bags of ice and go for a nice rough ride and see if anything changes..

Sounds to me like it's time to take the tank out and see what's wrong. I'm not that familiar with a Raptor's plumbing system, does the toilet drop straight into the tank?
Mr__Coach
Explorer
Apr 27, 2013
T-bones wrote:
Was the cap left off as well and Have you tried running a toilet snake up there? I know in our cold winters the little critters will climb up in there if left open.

The cap was on and it also had another opening that I have never seen before, it was like it was another clean out or something. That did not have a cap on but it was tapped up real good. I have since removed the whole sewer drain pipe and going to build a new one and install it..This RV I'm sure had been sitting for several years without anyone paying attention to it, over all this unit is in nice shape and so far this seems to be the biggest problem with it, but I got into it at a good price, so some repairs were expected...On my past RV's that Ive had I have always left some water in my black tank,always.. I've never had problems with any of my RV's sewer systems and once I get this fixed up, believe me it'll never fail again.. Thanks for your responces... Keep em comin...
Mr__Coach
Explorer
Apr 27, 2013
BoonHauler wrote:
Was it working when you bought it? Have you ever dumped it before? Could this have been a problem from the previous owner?

No, it was not working when I bought it.. I was not aware of the problem. The valve was in the open position when I bought it and I assumed the tank was empty. Well, it's not.. I put some bleach in the tank today along with the water that's already in there. Tomorrow I might hook her up to my truck and get a couple bags of ice and go for a nice rough ride and see if anything changes..
BigBlockTank
Explorer
Apr 26, 2013
Have you tried to run the snake down the toilet opening?

Can you see a pile of solids just under the toilet valve?

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Raptor Black waste tank not draining

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