Black water problems

[curly5759]

This is long, I apoligize in advance. 🙂

I am still very new to camping in a TT with a holding tank and that lack of knowledge has led to a plugged black tank. I have read a dozen or so threads on this and other boards and watched quite a few utube videos but I am still seeking a 'silver bullet' to fix the problem.

The tank was not emptied enough and or we didn't have enough water in there, either way I have the dreaded poo pyramid. I have filled the tank with water and enzymes, let it sit for several days and then took it in too town to dump it. It drained the liquid I put in there, but when I refilled it at the dump station( through the toilet) it only took a few gallons and then filled. At that point it will not drain anymore. I brought it home and started calling service centers. The closest is 90 miles one way and they are estimating $400 to clear the clog. I'm in a rural section of AZ and there are little to no choices available. The closest dump station is 10 miles away.

The black tank pipe exits the middle of the tank and is about 3 feet from the cap to the tank, with a 90* elbow, so I don't think a flush king will help, too far away to get any psi up into the tank. And, they don't sell any in town. Any suggestions?
Thanks

[krlgswanson]

curly5759 wrote:
Update-- I found an RV service center nearby that I did not originally find on my initial searches. They were able to clear the clog and clean the tank. The tech explained to me the proper way to use the black tank and how to keep it from clogging again.

Thanks for your input.

Curly

Curly what instructions did the Technician give you? If you don't mind sharing them I know there are others that would benefit from the explanation...I am one for sure.

Thanks,

[Possumpoint]

I had a recurring problem with toilet paper clogs in my travel trailer. I tried various products to correct the problem with very poor results. I then went to wally world and bought three items.

First was a watering wand about 3ft long with an on/off valve just below the hose connection. The terminal end produced a water shower effect. The pipe was bent about a 45 degree angle near the shower end.

The second was a hose connection sometimes call a concentrator. This fitting narrows the stream down to about a pencil thickness to give a higher pressure stream. This fitting also had an on/off valve that really isn't necessary. If you can find one with out the valve it would be better. The valve handle tends to collect debris during the clean out process.

The third was nylon thread tape.

I removed the water shower head and using tread tape, added the concentrator nozzle. Because of a large water leak found the first time I tried to use the assembly, I tread tapped the hose connector where it threaded onto the wand.

With the use of a split tree, I bent the pipe a wee bit more to assist in inserting it into the tank. The first two times I used it debris and fluids were right below the base of the toilet. I inserted the assembly into the tank with the black tank discharge valve open and water turned off at top of wand, gradually opening the water valve and started rotating the wand back and forth trying to drive the products towards the outlet pipe. After fluid level dropped, used the wand to push the mound under the toilet towards the drain. Darn thing worked good. Showed it to my RV neighbor and he built one for himself and also has had good results. He had the problem because he insisted on using regular toilet paper.

Be aware of a tendency to receive splash back if you aim the stream directly towards solid or semi solid surfaces. Always try the use the stream at an angle (don't ask me how I found this out).

[Caveman_Charlie]

Thanks for letting us know you got the problem solved.

[fallsrider]

curly5759 wrote:
Update-- I found an RV service center nearby...

Glad you got it fixed. It would be worth it to me to pay someone else to fix a problem like that.

[curly5759]

Update-- I found an RV service center nearby that I did not originally find on my initial searches. They were able to clear the clog and clean the tank. The tech explained to me the proper way to use the black tank and how to keep it from clogging again.

Thanks for your input.

Curly

[Bull_Rider]

Nomad:

I see your point. But for me it's much easier to add water to the black tank from outside the RV verses pulling a hose into the RV and filling from the toilet.

Filling the black tank half to three quarters full after the initial dump and dumping the contents a second time does remove a lot of additional "stuff".

But I do agree that there wouldn't be much pressure or agitation once the water travels back up the drain pipe and into the tank.

[nomad297]

Bull Rider wrote:
I agree with BarneyS regarding the Flushking. We've used one for years, and they do exactly what they are designed to do.

The gate valve shuts off the exit to the sewer, and the hose attachment forces water under pressure back into the drain pipe, and then back into your black tank. If mine broke today, I would have another one ordered by tomorrow.

If you know anyone with a plumbers camera it could save you a lot of guessing. If you could somehow get really hot water into the black tank that would also speed up the process.

I'm still trying to figure out how a Flushking is snake oil...

All a Flush King does is fill the black tank backwards. There is no advantage to filling your black tank backwards.

The pressure at the hose means nothing. After a couple of inches of traveling in the 3" black drain line, the water is slack.

Bruce

[Bull_Rider]

I agree with BarneyS regarding the Flushking. We've used one for years, and they do exactly what they are designed to do.

The gate valve shuts off the exit to the sewer, and the hose attachment forces water under pressure back into the drain pipe, and then back into your black tank. If mine broke today, I would have another one ordered by tomorrow.

If you know anyone with a plumbers camera it could save you a lot of guessing. If you could somehow get really hot water into the black tank that would also speed up the process.

I'm still trying to figure out how a Flushking is snake oil...

[K_Charles]

Valeria flush king has a gate valve you can shut off down street of the water hose connection. I think the pressure in the water hose would have to go up into the tank if you shut that valve.

[nomad297]

BarneyS wrote:

curly5759 wrote:
Snip...
The black tank pipe exits the middle of the tank and is about 3 feet from the cap to the tank, with a 90* elbow, so I don't think a flush king will help, too far away to get any psi up into the tank. And, they don't sell any in town. Any suggestions?
Thanks

The Flush King does not depend on squirting the water up into the tank like the Hydro-flush does. It closes off the drain, which allows you to build water pressure up to forcefully back flush the tank no matter how far away it is from the water source or if there is a bend in the drain line leading to the tank.

The Hydro-flush will not work in that type of situation and depends on a straight shot into the tank to work. Also, once the water level in the tank has enough pressure to overcome the water coming out of the hose then it stops working and just flows down the drain. The Flush King does not have this limitation because it has a valve to close off the drain.

I would give the Flush King a try - even if you have to order it online. It might solve your problem.
Barney

The Flush King will not do what you are saying it will do. They are nothing but snake oil and a waste of money.

Bruce

[BarneyS]

curly5759 wrote:
Snip...
The black tank pipe exits the middle of the tank and is about 3 feet from the cap to the tank, with a 90* elbow, so I don't think a flush king will help, too far away to get any psi up into the tank. And, they don't sell any in town. Any suggestions?
Thanks

The Flush King does not depend on squirting the water up into the tank like the Hydro-flush does. It closes off the drain, which allows you to build water pressure up to forcefully back flush the tank no matter how far away it is from the water source or if there is a bend in the drain line leading to the tank.

The Hydro-flush will not work in that type of situation and depends on a straight shot into the tank to work. Also, once the water level in the tank has enough pressure to overcome the water coming out of the hose then it stops working and just flows down the drain. The Flush King does not have this limitation because it has a valve to close off the drain.

I would give the Flush King a try - even if you have to order it online. It might solve your problem.
Barney

[WRsowbug]

At the point you are with this problem, I think I would go with
Myredracers method and not drain. Then use HappyKayakers method.
Mabe not Ram but push and stir. Then drain.

[Tvov]

You could try using a regular plumbing snake, both from the outside and also down the toilet. Obviously it could get messy working from the outside.

Actually, at this point, probably whatever you do is going to get messy!

Do you have a regular plumber that you use? And/or a septic pumping service? I would think they would have ideas on how to do, or could do it for you.

[HappyKayakers]

Try getting about a 4 ft length of 1/2 inch PVC. Ram it down through the toilet until the pyramid is broken up. It could take a while.