Have I plugged up my black tank drain?

[SGardiner]

Went on our maiden (5 day) voyage over the past weekend. While I campsite had electrical it did not have water or sewage connections.

I preached about water conservation over the course of the weekend, but am wondering if I went overboard. I may have "scared" the family into using too little water when they flushed the toilet. The black tank was at about 2/3 of the 30 gallons capacity. When I flushed the tank I could hear the fluid draining, but the duration was not that long compared to the grey tank, which is of equal volume and full to the same level.

I did not check the tank level until after we left the dump station as the line was long. The tank still reads at 1/3 and I can see tissue in the tank when I look down into the toilet.

I hindsight I am wondering if we created more of a sludge/slurry than a liquid that could be flushed easily.

How much water should you use when flushing? I would suggest we were using about a 1/4 to 1/2 gallon per flush.

Where do I go from here?

Unfortunately we cannot store our trailer at our residence so I am confined to doing most maintenance at the campgrounds. My thoughts were to fill the tank to 1/2 to 2/3 full on the way to our next destination and hope the motion is enough to get things dissolved / moving.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[ddrueckh]

Not sure if this is common or not, but the pipe that drains my gray tank is much smaller than the one that drains my black tank. Both tanks are drained out of the same pipe that the sewer hose connects to, but the pipe from the gray tank to the sewer hose pipe is smaller. Hope that makes sense. I don;t think you have an issue. having 20 gallons of water in there should have been fine.

[HappyKayakers]

SGardiner wrote:
... When I flushed the tank I could hear the fluid draining, but the duration was not that long compared to the grey tank, which is of equal volume and full to the same level.

The black tank should empty faster than the gray tank. Gray uses 1.5 inch pipes, black uses 3 inch pipes. However, you may have had a wad of TP clog the valve opening. I agree with the previous posters that you should add water now to prevent all that mess from drying out.

Get to a dump station where you're not rushed. Fill the black tank with water (hose to the toilet or buckets of water), then open the valve again. More water volume should wash all the 'stuff' out. I would also recommend a clear sewer connection so you can see when you have clear (or almost clear) water running out of the tank.

[WandaLust2]

SGardiner wrote:


I did not check the tank level until after we left the dump station as the line was long. The tank still reads at 1/3 and I can see tissue in the tank when I look down into the toilet.

Don't go by the tank gauges as they fail after the first few times the gray and black water tanks are even partly filled.

I hindsight I am wondering if we created more of a sludge/slurry than a liquid that could be flushed easily.

We found, with all three of our RVs, that no amount of water used to flush will empty the black tank completely of all gunk, paper and clumps of feces. That's why they have hoses at the dump stations and why the newer RVs come with FLUSH connections for a hose. Stick the hose down the commode if you have no outside black tank FLUSH connection. Use a clear elbow on the dump pipe - VERY IMPORTANT - turn the hose-water on high, and watch what comes out! :E The first time we did this we couldn't believe what was left behind, and as I said, we don't scrounge water when we flush.

How much water should you use when flushing? I would suggest we were using about a 1/4 to 1/2 gallon per flush.

Where do I go from here?

Get the clear plastic elbow for the sewer outlet and after the tank empties, HOSE FLUSH and piles of gunk with waded tumbles of paper will come out you never thought would be there.

[crimmps49]

I agree with Bonefish--fill it NOW putting some Dawn or treatment in. Why not drive it the long way to a place you can dump and then dump and rinse. We dump before we leave our campsite, fill with water and treatment like Dawn and then when we are close to home, dump at our State park facility. We pay only $3 for this service. We then put a few gallons of water in at the dump station and dump once more. We add a few gallons and are on our merry way ready for the next trip.

[Bonefish]

Fill it with water now! Do not let it dry out any more or you will have a big problem. Letting it soak and dumping it on the next trip as you go in will probably cure the issue.

[Bumpyroad]

donn0128 wrote:
Take a bag of crushed ice, dump that in along with a couple of good squirts of Dawn dish soap. Fill it with water and go for a drive. Then dump and flush well. That should clean the tank.

I would agree but do not "FILL" it with water. if you do, all the ice will do is bob along merrily on top of the water. just use enough water to let things slide around well. after the ice, drain and then you can fill and add soap.
bumpy

[donn0128]

Take a bag of crushed ice, dump that in along with a couple of good squirts of Dawn dish soap. Fill it with water and go for a drive. Then dump and flush well. That should clean the tank.