Black Tank valve failure scenarios

jerem0621 wrote:
And people say how terrible cassette toilets are! Lol!

I'm glad I shed the stinky slinky!

Lol....

When I had my TT I was using a portable tote FULL of black water...(no full hookups, so we had to use the tote). I get to the dump station, get out the stinky slinky, hook the hose to the tank, put the other end of the hose down the dump...loosen the breather valve... Pick up the tank to do the dump...and...the hose pops off the fitting on the tank!!!!eeek...yuck!!!!!!! LOL....

Thankfully it was just at the dump and there was no audience. So I just hosed everything down the dump..

Got another dump story too....

Went tent camping with my sons when they were small...went with a friend and his young sons....we were in the primitive sites and we ran out of water...my friend said I'll go get water...leaves with a couple empty gallon jugs and comes back a few minutes later. We go on about our day, cooking, washing hands, drinking...etc

We run out of water again and I tell my friend I'll go get refills on water, where was the water at?

He said...it was at the front of the campground at the sanitary water station....they have a hose and everything...

....gets better...

I had ZERO idea about anything RV and I had never seen a dump station....

As I'm standing there at the sanitary water station...hose in hand...filling our water jugs...I think to myself...why is the connector cut off this hose?....I look around and see this strange looking cap on the ground....finish filling my jugs and finish out camping trip.

No sickness, no problems...(thank God and chlorine!)

that night I woke up from a dead sleep and all the pieces came together...sanitary water station...funny hose with no connector, cap on the ground...

O...M...G....

Thanks!

Jeremiah

Ha Ha. Enjoyed the story.

Wasn't there a sign somewhere saying "Not Potable Water" ?

It's all the same water anyway.

I always hate those signs. If it's not potable does that mean I should not use it in my bathroom pot?? lol

Why can't they just say not drinkable?

And people say how terrible cassette toilets are! Lol!

I'm glad I shed the stinky slinky!

Lol....

When I had my TT I was using a portable tote FULL of black water...(no full hookups, so we had to use the tote). I get to the dump station, get out the stinky slinky, hook the hose to the tank, put the other end of the hose down the dump...loosen the breather valve... Pick up the tank to do the dump...and...the hose pops off the fitting on the tank!!!!eeek...yuck!!!!!!! LOL....

Thankfully it was just at the dump and there was no audience. So I just hosed everything down the dump..

Got another dump story too....

Went tent camping with my sons when they were small...went with a friend and his young sons....we were in the primitive sites and we ran out of water...my friend said I'll go get water...leaves with a couple empty gallon jugs and comes back a few minutes later. We go on about our day, cooking, washing hands, drinking...etc

We run out of water again and I tell my friend I'll go get refills on water, where was the water at?

He said...it was at the front of the campground at the sanitary water station....they have a hose and everything...

....gets better...

I had ZERO idea about anything RV and I had never seen a dump station....

As I'm standing there at the sanitary water station...hose in hand...filling our water jugs...I think to myself...why is the connector cut off this hose?....I look around and see this strange looking cap on the ground....finish filling my jugs and finish out camping trip.

No sickness, no problems...(thank God and chlorine!)

that night I woke up from a dead sleep and all the pieces came together...sanitary water station...funny hose with no connector, cap on the ground...

O...M...G....

Thanks!

Jeremiah

martipr wrote:
blue tote. I have a clear extension that I hook between the valve and hose for entertainment while dumping.

Now this made me laugh!! Watching the poo, tissue and what else, why is it so entertaining??? :B

Thanks all, for the responses. I asked because I had trouble emptying my black tank recently. Luckily, no one was in-line waiting. Kept filling up a gallon container and dumping it in. In and out of the trailer seeming forever. Finally cleaned it out. Felt like the black tank valve was not as smooth feeling as the grey. I thought from the feel might some tissue bunched up at the valve in the black.
Anyway, much appreciated.

The first black tank issue I had was not actually with the tank but with with my blue tote. I have a clear extension that I hook between the valve and hose for entertainment while dumping. I had connected the hose to the tote, opened the valve and was watching the view as the "stuff" ran through the extension when my wife started screaming. Seems I had failed to close the dump valve on the tote so everything was just going straight thru and onto the ground. I spent the next several hours cleaning the mess up under the watchful eye of the county.
Another time the hose pulled loose from the end fitting while dumping. It's amazing how fast a 73 year old cripple can get to and shut off a dump valve. The clean up this time was much easier since I was at a dump.

I have only one black tank incident. On my second ever RV trip, I took my trailer from Portland, OR to NYC on a 5-week trip. At my 5th stop at a KOA outside of Chicago, I decided to rope my 13 year old son in helping me with the black tank duties. He removed the cap and about a gallon of waste came out. Almost like someone pulled a practical joke and pulled the handle, then pushed it back in again.

He was disgusted, and never ever wants to do that duty again. I thought it might have been a bad seal, but this has never happened since. Needless to say, each and every time I pull the cap, I have a bucket at the ready, but nothing ever comes out, except a few drips of gray water from the last dump.

I have 2 boys , 9 and 6 they wanted to help , need I say more .

My black tank valve leaks a little. I'm not squeamish and don't care.

I had the hose break last year. (The stinky slinky) Just as I was dumping. Stuff everywhere!! Thankfully it was at a nice state park with a sloped and paved dumping station. I just washed everything down the hole with the provided flush hose. I had a 30 year old adult fried with me he freaked. I had a 12 year old nephew with me too and he just grabbed the hose and helped me wash it down. He is the oldest in a family of 4 and said he is used to changing diapers. lol

Remind me to purchase a new hose every couple of years. They are made cheap and get hard and brittle in that quick. I suppose carrying it in the black painted rear hose holder that looks like a bumper on the back on the TT makes it go bad quicker.

path1 wrote:
I'll chip in to a blank tank story...I've had 2 "black tank experiences I'd like to forget.

One story might be helpful to you...if you ever pull the handle to the dump and the handle and rod came offs in your hand. Don't go nuts, I know what a surprise. You won't believe what goes thru your head, thinking how are you going to remove the valve to fix it with a mess in it. Without being able to dump first.

Ok, if this ever happens to you... here is what we did and it worked out great. We drove on home to think about it and the next day stopped by Lowes and picked up a replacement broom stick (round stick) and a long lag screw. Cut off the head of lag screw. Drilled a hole in end of the broom handle and then glued in lag screw, and let dry.

Next day, just screw the freshly glued lag screw into the plastic valve (where pull rod used to be) and pull... Voila! valve now opened.

Of course you might want to be a dump site when using your new "valve" tool.

The other story I can't tell the whole thing but. Deals with a broken black tank plumbing that got broken when boarding a ferry, the state was tearing up the road to replace the ramp to ferry, lots of asphalt chunks, one chunk flipped up and broke our pipe to the valve. 2 van loads of boy scouts coming home from a salmon fishing all talking about who caught the biggest and most etc noticed "stuff" leaking out of broken pipe when we're about 1/2 way across river and it became a spectacle for about 20 boy scouts on the ferry, "hey look guys, check this out" they have to get out of the vans and inspect, by this time the ferry worker was already hosing off the mess overboard into the river. Ferry worker tells the scouts to get out of his way several times, scouts are really interested in what comes out of a black tank (maybe future RV'ers) and the mess get hosed overboard. Ferry worker gets mad, he's told them to move back several times. Boy scouts just have to get a closer look. Ferry worker also knows they have been on a fishing trip. As he's hosing off the mess ferry worker asks them "how do you think the salmon get so big"? Scouts all stare at him with this look of astonishment. Turns out the Boy Scouts went fishing the first day of camping trip and they've been eating their fish about every meal ever since.

OH the look, priceless

By the way wife decided that this would be a good time to read, she would read the newspaper and very, very close to her face. As in world hide me.

The other thing was the ferry worker guy said this was the second time today that an RV had its drain pipe broken by asphalt chunks from the road construction.

Another by the way...it still didn't make wife feel any better.

Love your stories the first one handy and the second one is hilarious

I'll chip in to a blank tank story...I've had 2 "black tank experiences I'd like to forget.

One story might be helpful to you...if you ever pull the handle to the dump and the handle and rod came offs in your hand. Don't go nuts, I know what a surprise. You won't believe what goes thru your head, thinking how are you going to remove the valve to fix it with a mess in it. Without being able to dump first.

Ok, if this ever happens to you... here is what we did and it worked out great. We drove on home to think about it and the next day stopped by Lowes and picked up a replacement broom stick (round stick) and a long lag screw. Cut off the head of lag screw. Drilled a hole in end of the broom handle and then glued in lag screw, and let dry.

Next day, just screw the freshly glued lag screw into the plastic valve (where pull rod used to be) and pull... Voila! valve now opened.

Of course you might want to be a dump site when using your new "valve" tool.

The other story I can't tell the whole thing but. Deals with a broken black tank plumbing that got broken when boarding a ferry, the state was tearing up the road to replace the ramp to ferry, lots of asphalt chunks, one chunk flipped up and broke our pipe to the valve. 2 van loads of boy scouts coming home from a salmon fishing all talking about who caught the biggest and most etc noticed "stuff" leaking out of broken pipe when we're about 1/2 way across river and it became a spectacle for about 20 boy scouts on the ferry, "hey look guys, check this out" they have to get out of the vans and inspect, by this time the ferry worker was already hosing off the mess overboard into the river. Ferry worker tells the scouts to get out of his way several times, scouts are really interested in what comes out of a black tank (maybe future RV'ers) and the mess get hosed overboard. Ferry worker gets mad, he's told them to move back several times. Boy scouts just have to get a closer look. Ferry worker also knows they have been on a fishing trip. As he's hosing off the mess ferry worker asks them "how do you think the salmon get so big"? Scouts all stare at him with this look of astonishment. Turns out the Boy Scouts went fishing the first day of camping trip and they've been eating their fish about every meal ever since.

OH the look, priceless

By the way wife decided that this would be a good time to read, she would read the newspaper and very, very close to her face. As in world hide me.

The other thing was the ferry worker guy said this was the second time today that an RV had its drain pipe broken by asphalt chunks from the road construction.

Another by the way...it still didn't make wife feel any better.