RV Information

olcoon

Well-known member
Kind of laid up right now with a cold/sinus infection & playing on the computer watching YouTube. Found some interesting videos by http://www.thefitrv.com. That is their website, which I really haven't explored yet. But I have watched a couple of interesting videos on cleaning out the black tank. This guy has made a mockup of the black tank using clear plexiglass, and puts "replica stuff" in it. One of them he uses the "ice cube method" of cleaning the black tank, and the other one he has 3-4 ways to clean out the black tank that he's testing. I'm sure it's a long way from being scientific, but it's interesting.
​Here links to them: Ice cube Clean out test
 

murry135

New York Chapter Leaders - retired
Yes, interesting info. Soaking is better than Icing. I this coming season will try Soak and then ice for the double effect. Maybe a little of pressurized water. Stay tuned.....
 

cookie

Administrator
Staff member
I saw a video by the same guy a while back and he seemed to think that ice cubes were pretty much a waste of time.
He used the same Plexi tank for the demo.

Peace
Dave
 

danemayer

Well-known member
Watching the video, it's easy to understand how toilet paper can get jammed into the gate valve when you close the black tank valve. I think that may be the cause of the black tank leaks that are so common. And of course, if your black tank leaks slowly, you'll get a buildup of solids in the tank that will be much harder to clean out.

My trial and error approach developed over the years is similar to his demonstration with the tank sprayer and Flush King. Essentially I use the Flush King to refill the tank from below, while continuing to run the black tank flush spray from above. That lets me stir everything up and flush the tank a 2nd time. I almost always do a 3rd cycle to make sure the tank is as clean as possible.

The way I look at it is that while it takes me an extra 15-20 minutes to dump the tank three times instead of once, it avoids the problems that can take hours or a trip to the dealer to resolve.
 

rxbristol

Well-known member
Awesome!! Thanks for sharing. Love the part when his wife stops him and asks what he's doing with the ice.
 

Garypowell

Well-known member
Something else I do is use the gate valve at the tanks outlet to control stopping the outflow to double and triple flush the black tank rather than the black tank valve itself.

This way the black tank valve is cycled less and therefore less chance of it picking up debree when it finally is closed.
 

Oregon_Camper

Well-known member
We've done the stuff listed above and one more trick is to add some Calgon to the tank to coat the walls of the black tank...making the surface a bit more slippery. Does it work? I'm not 100% sure, but I've never had a clogged black tank...:)
 

JohnDar

Prolifically Gabby Member
I like to turn on the tank flusher when I open the drain valve. Helps push any sewer trout out that might be trying to take up permanent residency in the tank. Even if they're not real stubborn, they get the back flush treatment anyway. Calgon is all I normally use in the tank. Occasionally I'll toss in a chemical packet if I've run out of Calgon.
 
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