Cone of shame

[Razorbackfan]

So in my last RV I had a straight shot from the toilet to the black tank (I could see the bottom of the tank) so when I screwed up and let the pyramid of Giza build and it blocked the drain I could get the magic wand of cone be gone and blast the tank clean.
With this new RV I have a pipe going away at an angle and I am fairly high up from the tank. My question is if I were to build another pyramid how would I destroy it?

 

[SNOKING]

Look at step #8!

Here is the routine I have developed over many snowbird winters.

1. Get a clear sight adapter and put it between the trailer and the sewer hose.
2. I leave the black tank closed for a week at a time. Grey tanks open.
3. I form a pee trap in the sewer hose with a couple boards, one 2x and a 4x4.
4. To dump and flush, I remove the pee trap boards.
5. Close the grey water tanks.
6. Open the black water tank and turn on the hose to the built in flush system.
7. Watch the sight tube until I am down to just hose water coming out.
8. Go inside and do two full bowl super flushes. "Bomb the Pile!" Note: Full bowl means filling the bowl to the bottom of the upper rim.
9. Go back outside and view discharge.
10. Close the black water tank and run the flush water in for four(4) minutes. Do not let anyone distract you at this point.
11. Open and drain and repeat 10 again.
12. Flush a bit and verify that you have nice clear water coming out of the tank. If not go back to step 8 and start again.
13. When you have nice clear discharge, put the pee trap boards back the sewer line and fill the pee trap.
14. Close the black water tank and add about a minute worth of water to the tank with the flush hose.
15. Secure the flush hose. I have a little inline valve adapter at the side of the trailer and the other end gets turned off.
16. Open the grey water tanks and go add your chemical to the tank.

I have had the burping a couple of times, however the super flushes seem to have fixed that issue.

Having piles in not good!!

Chris

 

[cookie]

The first thing I would recommend would be to use plenty of water as to not build the pyramid in the first place.

Peace
Dave

 

[Razorbackfan]

Nice, thanks for the tips. I use most of them now but will adapt my procedure a bit. Every time I do black tank I have flash backs to the RV movie with Robin Williams.

 

[pjones1969]

The first thing I would recommend would be to use plenty of water as to not build the pyramid in the first place.

Peace
Dave

^^^^
This and make sure you have water in the tank before using (float the solids) I’ve seen recommendations of tank should be 1/3rd full, I don’t get anywhere close to that much in there when I set up since we are usually not on a sewer site but I do make sure I run quite a bit in there before using it.

 

[CoveredWagon]

Why the need for #3 ? You already have pee traps in the kitchen and bathroom sinks.

 

[RoadJunkie]

Why the need for #3 ? You already have pee traps in the kitchen and bathroom sinks.

LOL...they are "P" traps, I hope, as opposed to pee traps. I pretty much follow the step-by-step process outlined in this thread, except I use a flow meter to control the amount of water used in the flush fill cycle. A key part of the process is the full bowl flushing. We actually do this many times to assure clear water during the process.

 

[CoveredWagon]

LOL...they are "P" traps, I hope, as opposed to pee traps. I pretty much follow the step-by-step process outlined in this thread, except I use a flow meter to control the amount of water used in the flush fill cycle. A key part of the process is the full bowl flushing. We actually do this many times to assure clear water during the process.

LOL ya got me. I haven't had coffe yet. BTW I was just following SNOKING's lead #3.

 

[Lynn1130]

I simply made a tool to clean the tank from the toilet when necessary. I piece of 1/2 inch PVC (it flexes), and a connection that fits into the PVC and has a garden hose fitting and the a garden hose shut off valve will allow you to clean from above. Sorry I cannot send a photo of mine as it is in the trailer and in storage but TankTechRX's Web Site has a similar unit that they sell. You can make one for less.

 

[JohnDar]

Why the need for #3 ? You already have pee traps in the kitchen and bathroom sinks.

With the gray tanks left open, there is the possibility of sewer gases getting back into the trailer via the Studor valves. Creating a wet P-trap would prevent that. There is also some anecdotal info about solids and mold formation in the tanks, if left open, so I don't leave mine open and use the contents of the grays to flush the hose after dumping the black tank. Normally, for us, the gray tanks are ready to dump when the black tank is.


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[Gaffer]

Get 5 feet of liquid tight nonmetallic flexible conduit. 3/4" works great. Stiff enough to work and flexible enough to get there.

 

[SNOKING]

Why the need for #3 ? You already have pee traps in the kitchen and bathroom sinks.

Which has the best chance of keeping sewer fumes out of the rig? A few ounces of water in the trailers pee traps or a couple-three gallons in the sewer dump hose?

 

[CoveredWagon]

Another lesson learned 😉

 

[SLO]

Why the need for #3 ? You already have pee traps in the kitchen and bathroom sinks.

I think that's a good question. Black tanks stink and grey tanks stink. If the traps in your fixtures go dry by siphoning or whatever you'll get smells from the grey tank or black tank in the trailer. So by putting a water trap in your drain you hose will not stop all the smell that could happen if something malfunction in your fixture traps. An air admittance valve could malfunction and you would get smell from the grey tank. Most time a air admittance will only be on a island kitchen sink. When creating a water trap in the main drain you've technically created what's called a house trap without providing a vent. All trap should be vented. House traps aren't legal in California but they may be in other states. Vents are to prevent siphoning of the trap and let methane gas escape so it doesn't build up. Water traps are to prevent smell and methane gas from coming into your home. I don't think you would need #3, but in some unforeseen condition I suppose it could be a benefit. My $.02.


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[Lou_and_Bette]

With the gray tanks left open, there is the possibility of sewer gases getting back into the trailer via the Studor valves. Creating a wet P-trap would prevent that. There is also some anecdotal info about solids and mold formation in the tanks, if left open, so I don't leave mine open and use the contents of the grays to flush the hose after dumping the black tank. Normally, for us, the gray tanks are ready to dump when the black tank is.


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Agree with John, and I have read on other forums about infestations of bugs, namely something called Sewer Flies, getting into the tanks through this open conduit. Doesn't seem to happen often but, when it does, they are extremely difficult to get rid of. It is not a big PITA for me to drain grey tank after a few showers and eliminate several "undesirable" consequences, your tolerance for risk may be higher so do as you please.