In a bit of a predicament (Black Water tank full and frozen)
I am so in over my head with this problem. Hi, I'm brand new here. I've been living in this RV since the beginning of January, and just in the past week or so, I tried to dump my black water tank.
It has been a weekly thing since I moved in. Had one or two times where it wouldn't properly drain but I was able to sort it out (washing wand works super well to push clogs down).
This time nothing is working. The compartment the holding tanks sit in, is cramped and I could barely fit a reverse flush in there to shoot down this long pipe extending out from the two tanks.
I tried nearly boiling hot water, TechRX unclogging stuff, the regular TechRX formula to keep the system good. I've tried vinegar and pushing the wand into the tank to try to stir it around from the toilet. I was definitely using a lot of water to keep it from piling up too and nothing.. The reverse flush dislodged some stuff, but it barely seemed to do anything so I'm really worried the valve may be malfunctioning.
But it has gone from full to 3/4ths so maybe all that cleaned some of the sensors.
The tanks have frozen at least twice now with the sudden drop in temperature, and I'm in a panic because I'm worried that this is going to rupture the pipes, or the tanks themselves and cause a huge mess.
Can anyone offer any suggestions? Gray water is draining just fine, though I heard it flush a bunch of ice out when I pulled the gate valve open.
I'm at my wits end with this. I'm afraid it's going to end up with a bunch of other problems.
Next step is going to be hooking up a flexible wand to the faucet and running hot water through it to try to dislodge whatever is in there. I have to wait until Thursday for everything though.
Is there anything I can do in the meantime?
Is there any way to test if the gate valve for the black water tank is bad?
As a side note - we had an electrical fire at the main house on the property, so our current source of electricity is super limited. So running space heaters and stuff, isn't going to happen until the electricity out here is fixed.
Thanks for any suggestions or ideas.
It has been a weekly thing since I moved in. Had one or two times where it wouldn't properly drain but I was able to sort it out (washing wand works super well to push clogs down).
This time nothing is working. The compartment the holding tanks sit in, is cramped and I could barely fit a reverse flush in there to shoot down this long pipe extending out from the two tanks.
I tried nearly boiling hot water, TechRX unclogging stuff, the regular TechRX formula to keep the system good. I've tried vinegar and pushing the wand into the tank to try to stir it around from the toilet. I was definitely using a lot of water to keep it from piling up too and nothing.. The reverse flush dislodged some stuff, but it barely seemed to do anything so I'm really worried the valve may be malfunctioning.
But it has gone from full to 3/4ths so maybe all that cleaned some of the sensors.
The tanks have frozen at least twice now with the sudden drop in temperature, and I'm in a panic because I'm worried that this is going to rupture the pipes, or the tanks themselves and cause a huge mess.
Can anyone offer any suggestions? Gray water is draining just fine, though I heard it flush a bunch of ice out when I pulled the gate valve open.
I'm at my wits end with this. I'm afraid it's going to end up with a bunch of other problems.
Next step is going to be hooking up a flexible wand to the faucet and running hot water through it to try to dislodge whatever is in there. I have to wait until Thursday for everything though.
Is there anything I can do in the meantime?
Is there any way to test if the gate valve for the black water tank is bad?
As a side note - we had an electrical fire at the main house on the property, so our current source of electricity is super limited. So running space heaters and stuff, isn't going to happen until the electricity out here is fixed.
Thanks for any suggestions or ideas.
