Black tank question

[mike.t]

Originally Posted by CigarBoy

Thanks for the great tip Rick. I'll give that a shot. Now to get lots and lots of haht wattah!
-mike

Screw the garden hose on to the hath wattah fitting on your washing machine. Caution. HD hose only and it will be hot. Put in toilet before turning on water. Turn on water very slow.
Side note. Turn off hot water fitting before disconnecting washer hose. Do not try this if you are not completely sure what your doing."WATER IS HOT"

[CigarBoy]

MikeT, genius!!!! The coach is within easy reach of my washer!! I can do this righ befor the next outing! Heading to Ptown for whale watch , some family up from SC.
Staying at PETERS POND . That was my favorite CG on the cape. Back in my Pop up and TT days. First time now in a 40' DP.
-mike

[jerichorick]

Originally Posted by mike.t

Screw the garden hose on to the hath wattah fitting on your washing machine. Caution. HD hose only and it will be hot. Put in toilet before turning on water. Turn on water very slow.
Side note. Turn off hot water fitting before disconnecting washer hose. Do not try this if you are not completely sure what your doing."WATER IS HOT"

Great idea and hath wattah is how it's said in northun New Hampshire. Ayya.

[Dtwallace]

I've found the dish washing detergent method has been the best solution for keeping the tank and sensors cleaning process less of a lengthy process. It will help correct the issue you described and keep the clogs from happening. I have to admit though, my measurement ratio of soap to water is much higher than the last poster above. But I like the no odor quality of the over rich soaping also. Most would say the sensors are not very accurate. I have no argument with that, but I've found they do work very well when using dishwashing detergent, or the pine sole as mentioned above.
DTW

[Old Grape]

Interesting comments. What brands of dish soap have enzymes in them?

[jerichorick]

Originally Posted by Old Grape

Interesting comments. What brands of dish soap have enzymes in them?

When I was told about this by a tech in Forest City he indicated to me that only the power dishwasher detergents have enzymes. When shopping for the product early on I proved he was correct. I don't know if brand is all that important. For the most part we have been using the Walmart Great Value brand for years.

We have been parked for a few months now. I can only dump the black tank with a maceration pump so the flow rate out of the tank is not strong, leaving stuff behind. Even though I have the wall wash system running and do a partial clean water fill a couple of times, I have noticed that the sensor is now sticking at 1/4 tank for a few hours and then clears. In my opinion the detergent is still doing it's job by leaving a film on the tank walls. But, by design, I think the tanks are better off getting a slosh-down from time to time. But the detergent method is working fine. And the baking soda for odder works great.

[Dtwallace]

What brands of dish soap have enzymes in them?


Sir,
I don't think it the enzymes we need to be concerned with, as we are maintaining holding tanks, not septic systems.

In other words, we are concerned more in how to rid our tanks of the whole mess, not how to digest it.

I prefer and have found the regular hand washing type soapy dish washing detergent, or the pine sole type cleaners work very well in keeping the stuff flowing, and maintaining an acceptable odor control.

One poster mentioned baking soda. I've had a bad experience with that method and maybe the way I was using it. It clumped and turned into a hard mess.

DTW

[jerichorick]

Originally Posted by Dtwallace

What brands of dish soap have enzymes in them?


Sir,
I don't think it the enzymes we need to be concerned with, as we are maintaining holding tanks, not septic systems.

In other words, we are concerned more in how to rid our tanks of the whole mess, not how to digest it.

I prefer and have found the regular hand washing type soapy dish washing detergent, or the pine sole type cleaners work very well in keeping the stuff flowing, and maintaining an acceptable odor control.

One poster mentioned baking soda. I've had a bad experience with that method and maybe the way I was using it. It clumped and turned into a hard mess.

DTW

I think you are forgetting that many of the campgrounds you may be using are providing you a septic system to dump into. I did when I considered using the enzyme product. I feel as campers we need to consider those who will follow us. Most of us try to leave our camp sites clean and functional when we pull out. Why not the same respect for the septic systems?

Using power tank aids does require a bit of special preparation. I resolved the clumping problem by dissolving the products in a 2 qt pot of hot water. Problem solved. Tank and RV park septic system are happy.

Happy trails,

Rick Y

[DonKarstedt]

I haven't had my rig very long, but I've found some early advice I got to be very good: after dumping, pour a 50/50 mix of Calgon water softener (liquid) and Dawn dish washing soap down the toilet. (I fill a red plastic party cup half full of the Calgon, then top it off with the Dawn.) Use an extra long flush so it has some water to mix with. The Calgon keeps things from sticking to the sides and sensors, the Dawn helps that too, but also does a surprisingly good job of deodorizing. I get the Calgon from Walmart.

--DonK

[jerichorick]

Originally Posted by osgoor

We leave the black tank valve closed till it shows 2/3 or more of being full before pulling the handle to dump the tank. Today, only after 1 day of being dumped, it is once again almost 2/3 full and there are only two of us. Question - When connecting from a water hose to the external black tank water connection, does it just add water like a spigot or are their nozzles that spray multiple areas within the tank?

I am trying to decide if I need to buy one of the spraying type rods that go into the toilet opening or if the water connection that fills the black tank should be sufficient.

We are still trying to find the right paper products to avoid the issue.

If you have a stick house and access to the washer you can run a hose from the hot water facet to the toilet in the RV. Put a goodly amount of something like Walmart Greatvalue dish washer detergent into the tank. I dissolve it first in a couple qts of hot water. Fill the tank with hot water to about 2/3, if you can guess that, and go for a 1/2 hour ride to slosh the mixture around. See if that gets the gauges working again.

I have been using a cup for the detergent and a cup of baking soda for odder control after each dump and then again at about 1/2 tank. Gauges are happy and we are too.

Hope one of us helps you resolve this problem.

Rick Y