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Old 06-24-2015, 06:52 PM   #41
gearhead
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Good to hear it "all came out alright", so to speak.
I had to buy a twist on valve during our last trip. Black tank valve wouldn't close good.
I took it to Holiday World League City Monday for a warranty repair.
Increasing the ratio of flush water to paper and solid "deposits" seems to help mine drain better.
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Old 06-25-2015, 05:25 AM   #42
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Glenn54, Howdy;

Quote:
Originally Posted by gearhead View Post
Increasing the ratio of flush water to paper and solid "deposits" seems to help mine drain better.
What gearhead said here is the best advise to keeping stuff flowing.
The Motto of "Water is your friend" is something to remember. Low flow works ok, for a regular house hold system, not so much for RV systems.

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Old 06-26-2015, 08:37 PM   #43
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gearhead View Post
Good to hear it "all came out alright", so to speak.
I had to buy a twist on valve during our last trip. Black tank valve wouldn't close good.
I took it to Holiday World League City Monday for a warranty repair.
Increasing the ratio of flush water to paper and solid "deposits" seems to help mine drain better.
Hey gearhead. How's it going? I haven't been on here too much lately, working too much. The black tank not flushing had me really worried. Didn't turn out too bad though. I will definitely take your advice on increasing the water ratio. Better to do this than the neighbors suggestion of not putting "any" paper down the toilet.
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Old 06-27-2015, 06:33 AM   #44
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Hey gearhead. How's it going? I haven't been on here too much lately, working too much. The black tank not flushing had me really worried. Didn't turn out too bad though. I will definitely take your advice on increasing the water ratio. Better to do this than the neighbors suggestion of not putting "any" paper down the toilet.
It's all good here. Well....the bay is fresh and the lakes are muddy!
Another possible solution to try if this happens again:
Replace the drain cap with one that has a water hose connection. Open black tank drain valve only. Hook water hose to the cap and slowly give it some pressure. If you need more pressure, close black tank to allow a pressure buildup and open the valve again.
Warnings: There is obviously a good chance for a mess.
Bigger warning: Have a back flow preventer on the end of the hose so you don't contaminate the water supply.
This is a brain to mouth idea so there could be some issues.
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Old 07-04-2017, 01:04 PM   #45
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Black Drain Problems

New to this forum. I have a less than year old 3610RL 5th wheel that the black tank has never drained properly and the grey tank valve does not close fully. This is the cable operated valve.

I dropped the belly to see if I have room for a electric valve and see what is up there a what the plumbing looks like.

I believe I found the problem with the black drain. After the valve a before the Y with the graey tank the pipe runs uphill. The trailer is level.

Anyone seen this, any ideas on fixes? I will be contacting Keystone this week
to see what they say.

Thnaks
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Old 07-04-2017, 02:32 PM   #46
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I know I'm jumping on this late, but I keep an extra water hose in with my sewer hose for such occasions. Just run the hose down the toilet and turn the water on. A little prodding with the hose will clear everything out quickly. Not the most glamorous way to clear a clog, but its effective and quick.
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Old 07-05-2017, 07:40 AM   #47
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Black Drain

Yes I have gotten the clog cleared, my problem now is it does not drain fully or quickly.

After dumping it shows 1/3 then does not take much usage to show 2/3. The last part can't make it up the uphill run of the pipe.
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Old 07-05-2017, 08:46 AM   #48
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If you have owned it less than a year, I would contact the dealer. I would make it a priority to get it in the dealers service department well before the year is over unless you want to pay for any repairs yourself.
I don't trust the tank level sensors. I know when I empty the tank I'm empty no matter if the sensor says 1/3 full. I know we can make at least 4 days using the black tank. The tank can be cleaned to get the sensors to work but mine will go bad soon after, even after I use the black tank flusher.
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Old 07-05-2017, 10:44 AM   #49
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Don't waste your time or money worrying about the sensor readings. They rarely work long after the rig is put in service for most people. The slight angle on your drain will not hold back more than a quart or two of waste and will not affect the drain speed. With your black tank, you should have it at least half full or more before draining and be sure to use plenty of water when using the toilet or you will continue to have issues. If you also have a tank flush system, be sure to use that also when draining, as it will aid in the drain process.
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Old 07-05-2017, 12:20 PM   #50
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Properly maintained, tank sensors will work for the life of the trailer.

Improper or lack of rinsing/cleaning will cause sensors to not work.
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Old 07-05-2017, 03:35 PM   #51
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OK, I believe you may may have the problem that I've read about (but never experienced!) where a lazy installer drilled a hole in your tank to hook it up and the hole piece fell in, but he never fished it out. The fix is messy if that's what it is, but even if it's a solid something blocking the valve, you've still got to run a fish tape up that pipe to push the block back enough to let it drain. You'll probably have to do it several times until the tank is empty enough to try getting it out some other way. You might look into one of Valterra's transparent elbows with a flush-out port that you could use for the tape. At least with one of them, you could hold your hand (with rubber gloves!) over the port.
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Old 07-05-2017, 05:39 PM   #52
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It's amazing some of the objects I've seen come out of a brand new waste tank
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Old 07-06-2017, 02:25 PM   #53
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.I have flushed many times. I don't trust the sensors but if the tank was draining fully it would not sense full in two days on a 50 gal. tank.

I know I am full of it but not that much. Waiting to hear from factory on the pipe that runs uphill. Runs up 1/4" over 8".
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Old 07-06-2017, 02:41 PM   #54
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.I have flushed many times. I don't trust the sensors but if the tank was draining fully it would not sense full in two days on a 50 gal. tank.

I know I am full of it but not that much. Waiting to hear from factory on the pipe that runs uphill. Runs up 1/4" over 8".
1/4" over 8" ain't nothing unless the run is more than 24" I suspect that you got a big pile of poop & paper stuck in the tank...

Lots of water, Dawn dish detergent... forget the gauges, fill the tank until bubbles start coming out of the toilet.... let it sit for a few days then flush aggressively...

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Old 07-12-2017, 09:18 PM   #55
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Let me jump in here with some of my past experience. To start with, I am a retired professional RV transporter, Coast to Coast and Canada. Also, over the past fifty plus years, I've owned between 25-30 RV's.

Ever now and then, I too would have a black tank go South and fill up with solids. I learned from a RV tech years ago to have two things in your tool kit.

One is a hose wand about three feet or so long. (can't remember the proper name) you put a hose on one end, stick the other end in the toilet and turn on the hose high to force water into the holding tank and move it around to try and knock solids loose. (make sure the outside discharge gate is open). Then I use one of these medium to smaller balloons that you hook a hose onto, stick in the toilet just where it starts into the holding tank, but not into it. Turn the water on high, allow the balloon to swell and start passing water through.

With the balloon swelled up, it will prevent back flow into the bathroom. The pressure should start things moving out. Over a fifty plus years in RVing, I've had to do this several times. It works if done properly. Good luck. I also have all those other flush out kits etc.
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Old 07-13-2017, 05:35 AM   #56
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Thumbs up Black tank blocked

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Originally Posted by tgpilot View Post
. . . . Then I use one of these medium to smaller balloons that you hook a hose onto, stick in the toilet just where it starts into the holding tank, but not into it. Turn the water on high, allow the balloon to swell and start passing water through.

With the balloon swelled up, it will prevent back flow into the bathroom. The pressure should start things moving out. Over a fifty plus years in RVing, I've had to do this several times. It works if done properly. Good luck. I also have all those other flush out kits etc.
Sounds like an good / interesting way to unclog a black tank. We recently experienced this problem so that may have been an option. As you know on a fifthwheel, there are many bends, turns and elbows to get to the black tank, you can't get to the blockage from the outside, it's so frustrating! We used several of the chemicals suggested, and I assume those made a difference, but it was still a good deal of effort to get it unclogged. What finally worked for us was just the good old plunger. It's not easy, since the shape of RV toilets doesn't really allow a good fit to put pressure into tank, and since the tank is so large (ours is 36 gallons), any pressure is easily dissipated by the volume of the tank. Plus, I wondered if the vent would just allow all the pressure to go out it, instead of towards the clog. My only negative thought about it is, what if the pressure is relieved out the vent? Not sure I'd like the contents of the black tank raining down from the roof!

However in the end - yes, there was a happy ending, the plunger did push the clog out and we are clean as whistle, after about 100 gallons of water flushed through the tank. Of course, we're hoping we never have this experience again, but if we do, might try your idea!
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Old 07-15-2017, 01:52 PM   #57
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Properly maintained, tank sensors will work for the life of the trailer.

Improper or lack of rinsing/cleaning will cause sensors to not work.
I have had a sensor give false reading but the next move will fix it. Never let them get dry when not working correctly is key. Geo + chemical and 2/3 tank over miles has always worked for me. Worked long before black tank flushers too.
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