Lee

[Lee r.]

I have a 2017 - 28'rls. Two questions for the group. One, what are your opinions on the x type wheel chocks? Two, my black water tank has commonly read 1/3 to 2/3 full after dumping. Never sure if it is or a false reading. Anyone have similar issues. Like a dummy I didn't realize the black water tank has a flush/rinse hose fitting on the side. It is apparently plugged at this point. Thinking of sliding a rod or 1/4 cable down the tube to unplug. Any experience on this issue?

[TimC]

Originally Posted by Lee r.

I have a 2017 - 28'rls. Two questions for the group. One, what are your opinions on the x type wheel chocks? Two, my black water tank has commonly read 1/3 to 2/3 full after dumping. Never sure if it is or a false reading. Anyone have similar issues. Like a dummy I didn't realize the black water tank has a flush/rinse hose fitting on the side. It is apparently plugged at this point. Thinking of sliding a rod or 1/4 cable down the tube to unplug. Any experience on this issue?

My experience with the sensors is that they are routinely wrong. One thing I have done that has helped a little is putting 5 or so gallons of water in the tank at the start of a trip and after dumping along with a dishwasher detergent packet. Theory is it makes the surface slippery and so gunk doesn’t stick as well. I do it more so for helping to prevent the poo pyramid and hoping it just helps a little with cleaning the tank when I dump and rinse. My sensors do now show empty after dumping but a lot of times after one flush it’ll show 2/3rds full. Things just end up getting on the sensors, so I still don’t rely on them.

As far as the clogged black tank flush, I did have that problem once. It seemed 100% blocked. After double checking the check valve on it what I ended up doing was filling the tank with fresh water and using some caravan sensor cleaner. It’s basically a liquid full of bacteria that is supposed to break down solids. I did two or three treatments. Each time letting the tank sit full for a few days. Eventually the clog broke loose and my black tank flush worked again. I have no clue if the caravan stuff worked or if it was just soaking it in water that broke the clog loose. Either way I got it working again.

[travelin texans]

Originally Posted by Lee r.

I have a 2017 - 28'rls. Two questions for the group. One, what are your opinions on the x type wheel chocks? Two, my black water tank has commonly read 1/3 to 2/3 full after dumping. Never sure if it is or a false reading. Anyone have similar issues. Like a dummy I didn't realize the black water tank has a flush/rinse hose fitting on the side. It is apparently plugged at this point. Thinking of sliding a rod or 1/4 cable down the tube to unplug. Any experience on this issue?

Never used the Xchocks so no opinion!
As for the tanks sensors it's very common for them to be absolutely useless for tank level information, especially the black. As I said before they are pretty red lights though!!
Add a clear 45 degree fitting to your dump connection then your hose connected to the sewer, then dump & repeatedly flush the black tank with the black flush port you've found til its running fairly clear through that clear fitting. After its running clear close the valve, add a couple gallons of water to the tank along with a good long squirt of Dawn soap down the toilet, then while traveling the sloshing helps break up what's left.
I wouldn't recommend using any kind of rod or snake on any plumbing in a rv due to possible damage to plastic holding tanks.
Also NEVER NEVER EVER leave the black tank valve open while connected to the sewer. This will allow all the liquid to drain leaving the solids behind creating a paper/poop pyramid that's a PITA to remove.

[sourdough]

The sensors are useless IMO. A very few have been able to keep them working, as well as they will, but for most usage will soon tell you when you need to dump. I haven't looked at sensors in years and never on this trailer except when I went in and did a walk through at purchase - didn't even care if they worked, just pretty red lights like Danny said.

Xchocks work. I've tried various things on the tires but they work the best. I tried using one at first but you need 2 for the best results. The little yellow Camco tire chocks with the screw bar in the middle are useless to me. They do not take the place of regular tire chocks so be sure and place those first.

[flybouy]

X2 on the X-Chocks. Use them everytime and they reduce movement. I've been using them for 20 years and still using the original set.

. Tank sensors for the black water tank are useless in my experience. Do not shove anything down the connection for the tank sprayer. Thjere is a backflow preventer that you will damage in that line.

[firestation12]

Several trailers ago, a blocked flush line turned out to be the work of packer bees that had imported dried flower petals into the female garden hose fitting that hadn't been plugged off between uses. We had to remove the hose at the tank connection and back flush. It was remarkable the amount of purple bougainvillea petals the critters had deposited. Fortunately the black tank was exposed and didn't require removing the coroplast.

[LHaven]

Originally Posted by Lee r.

I have a 2017 - 28'rls. Two questions for the group. One, what are your opinions on the x type wheel chocks?

Not a fan. Bought a set because I thought they would be the bee's knees. My first discovery was that I always had to install them upside down because there wasn't enough room under the rig for the activating handle to rotate upwards into locked position. (Upside-down makes the grip handle largely useless.)

Then I discovered that the distance between your tires was not as constant as I had believed, depending on how you turned to get into your space, so I was always adjusting the nylon nut in or out to get the chocks tightened just right. It was enough of a pain that I went to a set of step-on chocks instead. I have to adjust those at times, too, but it's a tool-less job I can do with my fingers in 15 seconds.

[dutchmensport]

If your black tank flush line is clogged, it's most likely the black tank anti-syphon valve that's clogged. It takes only a speck of dirt and these valves become clogged and impossible to unclog. They can be removed or replaced. You'll find it located under your bathroom sink. It looks like this:

[CedarCreekWoody]

I have x chocks but rarely use them. I can't tell they help.

[jasin1]

I have them…I use them if I’m staying someplace more then one day…if it’s overnight I don’t bother

[linux3]

Originally Posted by jasin1

I have them…I use them if I’m staying someplace more then one day…if it’s overnight I don’t bother

Got to agree with this.
X Chocks are kind of a pain to install but they do reduce chucking.

As for the black water tank. My solution is to put around 2.5 gal. of water in the tank, OK I have a 2.5 gal bucket then add 10 lbs of ice and drive around.
The ice churns things up and then melts to be flushed away.

[RickV]

I've used X-Chocks and they did help, then I bought Trailer Legs to get my 5er's tires off the concrete in the Pole Barn when it sat for months to keep em from flat spotting and ultimately separating once I traveled. I noticed that they stabilized the 5er there was hardly any movement since we were pretty much off the suspension altogether so I started using em when we camped it is like having four more jacks. Never had a black tank flush clog but I had one leak and it wasn't under the bathroom sink, it was behind the shower that was a lot of fun to get to and fix. On my last two 5ers the bathroom grey tanks were upstream of the black tank so once I drained the black and let the flusher run until clear I would leave the black valve open and open the grey for a few seconds at a time. You'd be surprised how much more crap would come out. Sometimes we also fill up the toilet bowl to the top and do a flush about 5-10 times until I don't see anymore crap coming out. We usually do that when the 5er iis not gonna be used for a while.

[jasin1]

Originally Posted by RickV

I've used X-Chocks and they did help, then I bought Trailer Legs to get my 5er's tires off the concrete in the Pole Barn when it sat for months to keep em from flat spotting and ultimately separating once I traveled. I noticed that they stabilized the 5er there was hardly any movement since we were pretty much off the suspension altogether so I started using em when we camped it is like having four more jacks. Never had a black tank flush clog but I had one leak and it wasn't under the bathroom sink, it was behind the shower that was a lot of fun to get to and fix. On my last two 5ers the bathroom grey tanks were upstream of the black tank so once I drained the black and let the flusher run until clear I would leave the black valve open and open the grey for a few seconds at a time. You'd be surprised how much more crap would come out. Sometimes we also fill up the toilet bowl to the top and do a flush about 5-10 times until I don't see anymore crap coming out. We usually do that when the 5er iis not gonna be used for a while.

Trailer legs?

[spicercars]

Love the X chocks.

[RickV]

Originally Posted by jasin1

Trailer legs?

https://www.amazon.com/TrailerLegs-w...80935471&psc=1 They are also good to service hubs and rotate tires, etc. If you have a flat you can put one on the same side other axle and lift the flat off the ground.

[BradLV]

Tank indicator lights are, at best, a very rough estimate. Do what others have said, 5 gallons of water and some dish soap and let that slosh around as you travel.

I have a pair of x-chocks and I like them. I had lots of movement in my TT with just the rubber chocks and these really helped a lot to get rid of that and keep my TT stable when parked. Make sure you use BOTH traditional wheel chocks and the x-chocks, you can't rely on just the x-chocks to prevent rolling.

[dutchmensport]

Originally Posted by RickV

...They are also good to service hubs and rotate tires, etc. If you have a flat you can put one on the same side other axle and lift the flat off the ground.

Holy trailer leg batman! Do you really want to support the weight of your camper from the axle? That's an axle just waiting to get bent?

[Life-in-Him]

Originally Posted by BradLV

Tank indicator lights are, at best, a very rough estimate. Do what others have said, 5 gallons of water and some dish soap and let that slosh around as you travel.

I have a pair of x-chocks and I like them. I had lots of movement in my TT with just the rubber chocks and these really helped a lot to get rid of that and keep my TT stable when parked. Make sure you use BOTH traditional wheel chocks and the x-chocks, you can't rely on just the x-chocks to prevent rolling.

We use x-chocks as backup.
As to the tanks, on our 2020 cougar the fancy in command uses very low voltages for readings.
0-0.74 v is empty, 0.75 -1.74 v, 1st 3rd, of tank, 1.75-3 v 2nd 3rd, 3.1 up is full.
But these are all measured from pin 11 on the control board which is 7 volts.
Anything other than absolutely pure water conducts differently so the readings will be all over the place.
After draining your tanks, look at the lights & a change after that will mean something has changed but it's your guess as to what.😭
Our #1 grey tank has shown 1/3 full since the rig was new & the voltage reads 0.5 when empty

Enjoy your rig for what it is & deal with its idiosyncratic modes.🥳🙃

[UKLimey]

Originally Posted by jasin1

I have them…I use them if I’m staying someplace more then one day…if it’s overnight I don’t bother

Same here!

[lestahhh]

Hey there.

I have X-Chocks I bought from Camping World. A fellow there told me they work for his trailer and I tried them and never looked back. It does come with a tool but once you put them on you won't have to adjust them. My wife stomps her feet when she walks so she was causing lots of rocking motion which is why I looked into it. Afterwards? Nothing. I had them for on for over a month at my last extended stay. Here is a link:
https://www.campingworld.com/x-chock...ack-49876.html

As far as black tank sensors, I had this question at the beginning and I did what others told me to do: leave some water in tank and put some dawn soap or other equivalent and drive with it on and it worked great. Those sensors are worthless. You'll learn to know when your tank is getting full by the hiccup noises it might make whenever you flushed. Not to mention how bad the odor will get whenever you do flush. Best of luck!