Black holding tank won't drain past 2/3

[Ritkei]

After 4 days of camping we have a full holding tank. I open the black valve and hear a rush of fluids for about 1 min, then nothing. Check the tank level inside and it shows 2/3 full. After searching I found a post that suggested filling all grey tanks and pull all the valves at same time, causing enough of a vacuum to get the holding tank to drain. This worked once and now I'm stuck at 2/3 full again. Never seems to drain below 2/3 full. Any ideas or tips tricks?

[D___M]

silvercorvette wrote:

gcloss wrote:

352 wrote:
Sometimes stuff gets stuck down there. Reach your arm down the hole as far as you can. When down to the max feel around for anything chunky. Grab it and squeeze it between your fingers until it gets smaller then dump some water in it (After you pull your arm out of coarse}. Do this once a month for regular maintenance. Wash your hands before cooking. I do have a self help video available. Hope this helps

I'll bet someone will read this and give it a try

I just did:S

Please....Please...don't tell us that. It will be many hours, and it is take many beers for me to get that image out of my head. :B

[bob_nestor]

I was having similar problems and someone suggested Unique Super Digest-It.

Super Digest-It Safe Drain Opener

Put some in the black tank and filled it up with water, let it set about a week and then dumped it. Everything came out as a liquid.

My black tank sensors appear to be sensitive to the least bit of moisture on them and when I dump I sometimes see the 1/3 or 2/3 indicator. I usually dump at a site about 10 miles from my home, but by the time I get home with "empty" tanks the indicators do read as empty.

[Bonefish]

This is exactly why I use bacteria and enzyme to break down waist so I don't have to with my hand. :S

[352]

silvercorvette wrote:

gcloss wrote:

352 wrote:
Sometimes stuff gets stuck down there. Reach your arm down the hole as far as you can. When down to the max feel around for anything chunky. Grab it and squeeze it between your fingers until it gets smaller then dump some water in it (After you pull your arm out of coarse}. Do this once a month for regular maintenance. Wash your hands before cooking. I do have a self help video available. Hope this helps

I'll bet someone will read this and give it a try

I just did:S

All clear now?

[silvercorvette]

gcloss wrote:

352 wrote:
Sometimes stuff gets stuck down there. Reach your arm down the hole as far as you can. When down to the max feel around for anything chunky. Grab it and squeeze it between your fingers until it gets smaller then dump some water in it (After you pull your arm out of coarse}. Do this once a month for regular maintenance. Wash your hands before cooking. I do have a self help video available. Hope this helps

I'll bet someone will read this and give it a try

I just did:S

[gotsmart]

Ritkei wrote:
After 4 days ... Any ideas or tips tricks?

Yes, connect a second hose to the tank rinser when dumping.

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[garyhaupt]

Just go look...flashlight...open the valve, with the water pump off, of course. It won't hurt you.


Gary Haupt

[Ric_Flair]

You have to be looking into the drain pipe with a flashlight while your wife pulls the valve handle before the other 1/3 will come out.

[gcloss]

352 wrote:
Sometimes stuff gets stuck down there. Reach your arm down the hole as far as you can. When down to the max feel around for anything chunky. Grab it and squeeze it between your fingers until it gets smaller then dump some water in it (After you pull your arm out of coarse}. Do this once a month for regular maintenance. Wash your hands before cooking. I do have a self help video available. Hope this helps

I'll bet someone will read this and give it a try

[el_jefe1]

I had the same problem, could see I had an actual blockage. Valve was open, but still a lot of water in the black tank. The solution I used is probably the cheapest and easiest - 5 gallon bucket. Fill it up with water from a faucet or the shower, dump it all down the toilet quickly. The extra pressure from the large volume of water broke up whatever was clogging it up and got it flowing again. Now I do that as part of my regular maintenance of the tank. After dumping, dump a bucket or two down and it keeps everything pretty clean.

[doxiemom11]

Our black always reads full. The only times it doesn't is right after a backflush. The tanks empty, it's just the level indicators that don't work properly. I understand this is a very common problem.

PS - If your tank is truly getting full, it will start making belching type noises when you flush. Then it's really almost full.

[silvercorvette]

I have one of THESE CLEANING WANDS, my guess is that if you allow too much time to accumulate between cleanings the cleaning wand will not work. It is more of a prevention device than a device that will clean up muck that has been allowed to accumulate and harden.

[Old-Biscuit]

Ritkei wrote:
After 4 days of camping we have a full holding tank. I open the black valve and hear a rush of fluids for about 1 min, then nothing. Check the tank level inside and it shows 2/3 full. After searching I found a post that suggested filling all grey tanks and pull all the valves at same time, causing enough of a vacuum to get the holding tank to drain. This worked once and now I'm stuck at 2/3 full again. Never seems to drain below 2/3 full. Any ideas or tips tricks?

Everybody has commented on the sensors.........but your one statement (highlighted) makes me think you have a blockage occurring when dumping.

This could be the result of the one of the cut-out disc (installer cuts a hole in tank for drain line in/vent line/drain line out) was left in tank. It will float around and then when draining it gets sucked down to drain outlet and blocks tank drain.
This is IF the tank is 'really' only partially draining.

Cut-out discs left behind are a pain in rear-end to remove.
Drain valve needs to be removed and then disc grabbed hold of and pulled out.

[352]

Sometimes stuff gets stuck down there. Reach your arm down the hole as far as you can. When down to the max feel around for anything chunky. Grab it and squeeze it between your fingers until it gets smaller then dump some water in it (After you pull your arm out of coarse}. Do this once a month for regular maintenance. Wash your hands before cooking. I do have a self help video available. Hope this helps