Black Tank Fills Quickly......

[longislandcampe]

There are usually 3 or 4 of us when we go camping. On a 7 day trip we will usually have to dump the black 1/2 way through the trip because it's near the bottom of the bowl. When we are leaving after 7 days the tank is almost full again but I'll step on the pedal to get some more water in the tank before dumping.

Now here's my issue. We'll dump the black when we are packing up to go home and then run the black water flush line for a few minutes with the black valve open. This gets a lot the **** out. Then we'll close the black and shut the flush off. We really like to clean our tanks so we'll have someone stand on the toilet pedal for a few minutes to fill the black up with fresh water again. Filling up the tank this way takes FOREVER! I can't believe how long it takes, 10-15 minutes of standing on the foot pedal to get the black filled up again.

Why does it take so long to fill up this way when it only takes 3 days to fill the tank up under normal use? Yes, I understand that more than just water is going down under normal use but the numbers just don't add up. Does anyone else experience this?

[K3WE]

cm11599ps wrote:
My gripe is that it seems to take 15 minutes to fill up the black tank again whether it's by using the sewer flush or by simply standing on the foot pedal constantly.

Ok:

1) Note the snip and maybe pause for a moment to think about what facts are relevant to your question and maybe try to get more to the point.

2) Unfortunately, I think your fill up time for rinse water is pretty much on par with what it should be.

3) To try and compare that to how many days and how many people it takes to fill things is somewhat apples to oranges. (And yes, your people x days figure appears 'normal' too.)

[Grit_dog]

Tell the family to recycle the coors lights in the bushes outside and stop c rapping so much!

[pnichols]

Maybe I'm not understanding what you're asking.

Why can't you fill the black tank from outside using the flushing system but while doing this just leave the black tank drain valve closed?

OR

You can easily fill the black tank from outside using one of these attachments that you carry with you: http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/flush-king/20522

[Walaby]

I read through this whole thread, and Im still not sure why you're griping. If you're griping because it takes you 15 mins to fill the black tank up via sewer flush or standing on the pedal, my question to you is WHY are you filling it up? You don't need to fill it up to flush. Just let the flush run for maybe 2 mins and then open the valves again. Everything solid is on the bottom of the tank, and after a couple of mins filling up with the flush, you have enough volume for good flow.

If you want to know how much water you are putting in the tank before you pull the black valve, get yourself one of those devices that connect to the spigot, and then your hose. It will measure the volume (gals) flowing. I use one all the time when Im doing a thorough flushing at a FHU site.

Again, you don't need to let it fill ALL the way while you are flushing.

If you're griping because 15 mins to fill seems long in comparison to 3-4 days of use, well, I would submit you've got too much time on your hands.

Mike

[longislandcampe]

I think there's a misunderstanding here so let me try again.

We currently have a 32.5 gallon black tank and not a 22 gallon tank. I guess I still have our old camper in my profile.

When we leave the campground we'll dump, we'll use the sewer flush, we'll close the dump valve to fill the tank with fresh water and dump again. We actually do this a few times. We have a clear connector so it's easy to see what's coming out of the black tank. Even after filling and dumping 2 tanks of fresh water you'll still see some tiny bits of debris coming out but the water is clear. We always try to keep our black tank as clean as possible and 4.5 years later everything still works well, including the tank meters. No issues there. Right after our last dump we'll put water into the black tank either by the sewer flush or the toilet itself for about 15 seconds and then drop in a tablet. That was when we leave the campground we only have a tiny bit of water in the tank along with a tablet.

The next time we go camping a few weeks later we'll have three people in the the camper. After about 3-4 days our 33 gallon black tank will be full by looking at both the meter and by looking directly down the toilet so we'll dump, run the sewer flush for a few minutes with dump valve open, then close the dump valve for a few minutes with the sewer flush on and then open the dump valve with the sewer flush still running. Once you can tell that the only water coming out is from the sewer flush then we'll close the dump valve, leave the sewer flush running for 20 seconds to get some water in the tank and then shut the sewer flush off before dropping another tablet down the toilet. That means there's only 2-3 gallons of fresh water in the black tank and about 3 days later it will be full again.

My gripe is not really about that. My gripe is about that last day when we really do a good cleaning of the black tank. We'll dump it but then it seems to take 15 minutes to fill up the black tank again whether it's by using the sewer flush or by simply standing on the foot pedal constantly.

I understand that in daily use you are adding more stuff down the toilet but the numbers just don't' seem to add up. In reality, how much liquid is going down when you do a #1? 2 cups of liquid?

[IBcarguy]

2oldman wrote:

RedRocket204 wrote:
Not putting the TP in the toilet is actually a VERY common practice in many parts in the world..

I'm not doing that.

I'm with you on that. X2

[Lantley]

MrWizard wrote:
Very simply filing the black tank to fast
Is because of
Putting too much water in the bowl too often

It's water management
Just like power management

Exactly it certainly isn't from toilet paper:S

[MrWizard]

Very simply filing the black tank to fast
Is because of
Putting too much water in the bowl too often

It's water management
Just like power management

[2oldman]

RedRocket204 wrote:
Not putting the TP in the toilet is actually a VERY common practice in many parts in the world..

I'm not doing that.

[RedRocket204]

2oldman wrote:

highrez58 wrote:
An RV repairman told us to not put toilet paper in the toilet. He indicated that it would take longer to fill the tank if we didn't.

Yuck. That must be a joke.

mike-s wrote:

Crowe wrote:
No, actually it isn't. I've been on a number of boat tours where you can't flush the tp for that reason.

And what are you supposed to do on these boat trips? Dump the poopy TP overboard, or in the trash bin? Neither is a good solution.

Not putting the TP in the toilet is actually a VERY common practice in many parts in the world. I've seen this practice in nice hotels in Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Brazil and Panama. It is not nearly as bad as you might think as there is commonly a step-to-open trash can next to the toilet and it gets emptied everyday. Not a big deal, really.

[Lantley]

mike-s wrote:

Crowe wrote:
No, actually it isn't. I've been on a number of boat tours where you can't flush the tp for that reason.

Maybe not a joke, but definitely not true. A whole roll of TP very obviously won't take more space in the tank than the size of the roll itself (maybe a quart?), and actually much less, since when dry it's mostly air. And if the argument is that it swells up, it only does so with the water which is already in the tank, so that's not increasing the total volume. And what are you supposed to do on these boat trips? Dump the poopy TP overboard, or in the trash bin? Neither is a good solution.

(the rest is not a response to your specific post)

Filling a tank too fast is often a matter of training. If you can't use a tree (or off the side) for #1, go then use a very quick pedal to dump it, no more. If #2, fill the bowl with a couple inches of water beforehand (half pedal on most units), which makes it dump faster and keeps it cleaner. A volume of water before is worth more than double the water after. If brown steaks on the bowl bother you, it also helps to line the bottom of the bowl with a couple of small strips of TP.

Although we have more capacity now, in the past we've had no problem going a weekend with 2 people using a 5 gallon Porta-potti in a pop-up. 3-4 people using a 20+ gallon tank shouldn't be an issue.

Nevertheless I consider a 22 gallon black tank to be small. 30 is adequate, 40 is ideal/desireable.

[2oldman]

mike-s wrote:
Maybe not a joke, but definitely not true. A whole roll of TP very obviously won't take more space in the tank than the size of the roll itself (maybe a quart?)

x2. What is the volume of an entire roll compared to the stuff and the water? Miniscule.

[mike-s]

Crowe wrote:
No, actually it isn't. I've been on a number of boat tours where you can't flush the tp for that reason.

Maybe not a joke, but definitely not true. A whole roll of TP very obviously won't take more space in the tank than the size of the roll itself (maybe a quart?), and actually much less, since when dry it's mostly air. And if the argument is that it swells up, it only does so with the water which is already in the tank, so that's not increasing the total volume. And what are you supposed to do on these boat trips? Dump the poopy TP overboard, or in the trash bin? Neither is a good solution.

(the rest is not a response to your specific post)

Filling a tank too fast is often a matter of training. If you can't use a tree (or off the side) for #1, go then use a very quick pedal to dump it, no more. If #2, fill the bowl with a couple inches of water beforehand (half pedal on most units), which makes it dump faster and keeps it cleaner. A volume of water before is worth more than double the water after. If brown steaks on the bowl bother you, it also helps to line the bottom of the bowl with a couple of small strips of TP.

Although we have more capacity now, in the past we've had no problem going a weekend with 2 people using a 5 gallon Porta-potti in a pop-up. 3-4 people using a 20+ gallon tank shouldn't be an issue.

[Crowe]

Yuck. That must be a joke.

No, actually it isn't. I've been on a number of boat tours where you can't flush the tp for that reason.