remove "flushable" wipes from black tank?

[PonyGrrl]

Just returned from another great trip dry camping in the '05 Yellowstone (class C Ford E450 chassis, 27'). We took my mom, who had 'elk rut at RMNP' on her bucket list, so 4 adult women using the toilet for 5 days.

While we stopped off for RV paper en route, apparently I didn't explain clearly enough that "flushable" is a marketing term...so now I have sensors showing full on a black tank I've drained. Twice.

I suspect that the plastic sheeting ("flushable" wipes) introduced into the tank are the problem.

Any ideas as to HOW in the heck I can get this tank back to providing data on levels?

I thought about letting it freeze and throwing in 5 gallons of hot water, but I'm in a bit of a hurry. SWMBO is planning to caravan--with our newly licensed 16 yo at the wheel of the smart car--to a 3 week tournament later this month. If that tank overflows I will never hear (or smell) the end of this!

TIA for any ideas from bitter, stinky experience. I prefer to learn from others when I can.

[mowermech]

There is no such thing as a "flushable wipe". If you don't believe it, ask the workers at your local sewage treatment plant. They have to deal with them quite often!
"Gently Used" TP is that which has no poo on it. While some think it is incredibly gross to put urine soaked TP in the trash, many people do so. There are various reasons for the practice, which I will not go into here.
Suffice it to say it is much more common than one might think!

[Adam_H]

Dustytuu wrote:
We have been RVing for many years and full timing for several of those years. .
We do not buy special TP paper. Have used Angel Soft for years. Have never ever had a problem with our black tank.
We do not put a lot of TP down the toilet. Put the gently used in a plastic bag which goes in the trash.

YUCK, I am also curious as to what you mean by "gently used"

[twxsby89]

I have had this issue a few times with my 5, now 6 year old. Not that big of a deal. What worked for me, and mentioned a few times, dump all waste, fill with water and a few heavy squirts of Dawn, then drive around, dump, fill back and let sit for a few days. This has cleared the "flushable" wipes out of the tank for me more than once. Good Luck

[Bobbo]

#1

[352]

:E

Dustytuu wrote:
We have been RVing for many years and full timing for several of those years. .
We do not buy special TP paper. Have used Angel Soft for years. Have never ever had a problem with our black tank.
We do not put a lot of TP down the toilet. Put the gently used in a plastic bag which goes in the trash.

I'm sorry, but I have to ask. What is gently used toilet paper

[bguy]

Don't buy "flushable" wipes. Simple.
They make me sore so I don't use them but a couple years ago some were flushed into my black tank. Not sure what brand but one got caught in my black shutter on two occasions. Disassembly was necessary to remove them.

[Dustytuu]

We have been RVing for many years and full timing for several of those years. .
We do not buy special TP paper. Have used Angel Soft for years. Have never ever had a problem with our black tank.
We do not put a lot of TP down the toilet. Put the gently used in a plastic bag which goes in the trash.

[aruba5er]

And the very next thing you do is get your label maker out and put "DO NOT FLUSH" on the container that those butt wipes come in. My daughter flushed some down into our septic tank and they got into the pump and jammed it. Provide some small plastic bags and put the wipes in the garbage.

[Dave_H_M]

I always use a flexible wand.

However i learned something that might be more fun. I am gonna try but think my arm will not fit down the pipe with an angle in it. :R

[mgirardo]

boogie_4wheel wrote:
Just drive around with 15 gal of water in there and let it slosh around.

Seriously, full the blank tank fill and let it set for a couple days, drain, fill it about 1/3 full, then drive around, drain again.

This is what I would do. We have a 32 gallon black tank, so I'd put more like 20 gallons of water in it. Take the motorhome down the highway for 20 miles and let it slosh around. Dump, refill and repeat if needed.

We don't really rely on the black tank sensor anymore even though they seem accurate. Our tank is directly under the toilet, so when there is a burp when flushing, I know we need to flush in the next 12 hours or so. Our family of 4 (2 adults, 2 teens) can usually go about 6 days before the tank needs to be dumped.

-Michael

[sonora]

That is too funny! I missed the cat litter story.

[Strabo]

Our fifthwheel toyhauler wont let me use a wand. Wish I could I have like 3 of them.

Use Happy Camper tank treatment, stuff works great, dissolves it all.

[Earl_E]

You can buy a wand for tank cleaning from any RV supply store. You drag a hose in the RV, hooked up to the wand, stick it down the toilet, turn it on and it will spin around in circles cleans the sides of the tank. Should do the trick. I've used it when the tank gets smelly and it really gets it clean.

[navegator]

Buy a clear plastic elbow that has a gate valve and a water hose connector and back flush the tank, you will be surprised how much stuff stays behind, this will help a lot if you can get a wand down use both.

Warning, when back filling have the wife look down the toilet tube so that she yells before it over fills the water will dump out of the sink if connected to the black tank, neigbor saw me doing it bought one and did not pay attentio and well it was a mess, believe me the wife will never use those whippies again!

You need to back flush a minimum of six times or more, I believe the product is made by Valtera.

navegator