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Old 04-20-2014, 08:30 PM   #1
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Black tank won't empty

Just finished first big trip to Fla Keys. Great trip!

Got near home and hit the RV dump station, black tank is near full but nothing comes out!!

Checked the gate valve is actually opening when pulled, I put cap on and tried to use full grey water tank to push anything blocking, and filled sewage hose with fresh water and lifted up quickly in effort to get a water blast to free up, all to no avail.

Looking for any ideas on how to best deal with a near full tank and the likely unpleasant job of breaking up whatever is blocking the opening.

Also, appears my sewage flush is blocked as when I hook up hose with pressure I hear water pressurize but no flow.

Thanks,

Rob
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Old 04-20-2014, 08:45 PM   #2
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Get a back flush clear connector.
This fits on the drain before hooking your hose
up. There is a connection for a water hose so you
can directly flush back through the drain valve into
the tank. It is clear plastic so you can see what is
happening.
Alternate between flush and drain.
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Old 04-20-2014, 09:02 PM   #3
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Just remember the scene in the movie "RV", when Robin Williams went to empty his black tank!
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Old 04-20-2014, 09:34 PM   #4
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If it's dried sewage causing the clog, I have heard of dumping a couple of bottles of liquid Rid-x in and letting it sit for several weeks helps break it up. It concerns me that you say the flush inlet it also clogged. That sounds like dried sewage that has been in the tank for a long time.. Good luck

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Old 04-20-2014, 09:46 PM   #5
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You said you checked that the gate valve was working......how do you know it was. The "T" bar can come unscrewed from the valve and still pull out. The reason I ask is because you said you checked it with the black cap on....if it was on, you wouldn't be able to see if the valve was opening.

If you know for sure that it was opening......it's time for the big glove or fill the tank with some more water, including raising the coach on the driver's side to fill the tank and thin out the stuff.
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Old 04-21-2014, 07:42 AM   #6
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Recently ran into the same problem and my black water valve was opening fully. Probed with a fish tape past valve. Tried all of your methods and even tried tilting the coach using the hydraulic levelers and nothing was working. Spent 5 months desert camping and had not used the built-in tank flusher, ERROR!

Solution was to get a 20 foot long shower and drain pipe snake at Home Depot and reverse snake the piping from outlet to tank. I had a bucket positioned to catch any YUCK and had my DW with instructions to close the valve when I yanked the snake back out. The perfect plan!

Hit the obstruction and flow started. I started extracting the snake as fast as I could. The perfect plan being executed.

Only problem was that my DW got excited and closed the valve before I could get the 1/4" snake cable out of the piping. I yelled for her to open the valve then, fully extracted the snake and the valve was finally closed. Needless to say the clean-up took a while . I then used the tank flusher till I saw no large debri in the clear pipe section of my hose.

While my method works, next time I will try snaking from the top down.
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Old 04-21-2014, 09:09 AM   #7
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Tank could be empty but level indicator could show 1/2 full, I always empty my black tank when 3/4 to full, add water if necessary, also alway pour. Minimum of 5 gallons of waters into the thank before using it, this will avoid solid waste at the bottom of the tank. One more idea, would be to pour a few bags of ice cubes into a 3/4 full tank and drive a few miles , this should dissolved any solid and also it will clean your sensor.
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Old 04-21-2014, 04:48 PM   #8
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You say the tank is near full but not emptying.. How are you determining that it is near full?

True stories

1: The sensors often indicate that the tank is full, or near full, even when it's empty.. There are better sensors and there are ways to tell but not something I care to describe over the net.

2: Had one Camper telling me the tank was full and would not dump.. Turns out the toilet was clogged and it was not going down into the tank.


3: The owner reported on the forums that he found the problem.. Turns out when they cut the hole in the floor to install the toilet, the worker, instead of removing the pieces to a trash can, simply dropped them into the tank where they covered the outlet and caused a very slow drain.

He got 'em out (Please do not ask me how.. I do not know) and returned them to the factory.. Or rather the CEO.
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Old 04-21-2014, 07:24 PM   #9
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Thanks all for fast responses.

Couple responses:

I know knife valve opening because I used coat hangar to validate presence of valve closed and not there when open. Test passed and I used same "tool" to get as high up to tank as it would reach but no dice. The mountain aire tank is much higher up than my old bounder!

I know tank is full because I poured 1.5 gallons of fresh water down toilet and water level can know be seen when looking down toilet flush valve. For this reason I'm nervous using the clear back flush tool as I don't want to pump a lot of water in there. I also know it was used a bunch but nothing came out at attempt to empty.

I'm on same path as shaman52...... Time to get a little dirty. Local village sewer dump has an rv dumping service with larger openings..... Gonna take full advantage of the larger hole to catch when all, uh, hell breaks loose..... Hopefully my perfect plan comes together, but I'll be ready to hop in shower at station if it goes awry. I can't do the top down thing because MA toilet doesn't go straight down into tank, there's at least one 90 degree elbow used to get yuck over to tank

I think main issue is I didn't fill black tank with any water before leaving. I had gate valves replaced last month, and forgot no water in there. Lesson learned, hopefully won't be too painful

I'm sure there will be crusties in there after I dump, so going to try the ridx thing and let it sit a few weeks and flush again.

Then I will always dump 3-5 gallons water in before heading out. I also spread on another chain the idea of using fabric softener to soften water so nothing sticks. Anyone try this?

Will let ya all know how I fare, and thanks again for the help and fast responses.

Rob
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Old 04-21-2014, 10:20 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rpiersie View Post
Thanks all for fast responses.

Couple responses:

I know knife valve opening because I used coat hangar to validate presence of valve closed and not there when open. Test passed and I used same "tool" to get as high up to tank as it would reach but no dice. The mountain aire tank is much higher up than my old bounder!

I know tank is full because I poured 1.5 gallons of fresh water down toilet and water level can know be seen when looking down toilet flush valve. For this reason I'm nervous using the clear back flush tool as I don't want to pump a lot of water in there. I also know it was used a bunch but nothing came out at attempt to empty.

I'm on same path as shaman52...... Time to get a little dirty. Local village sewer dump has an rv dumping service with larger openings..... Gonna take full advantage of the larger hole to catch when all, uh, hell breaks loose..... Hopefully my perfect plan comes together, but I'll be ready to hop in shower at station if it goes awry. I can't do the top down thing because MA toilet doesn't go straight down into tank, there's at least one 90 degree elbow used to get yuck over to tank

I think main issue is I didn't fill black tank with any water before leaving. I had gate valves replaced last month, and forgot no water in there. Lesson learned, hopefully won't be too painful

I'm sure there will be crusties in there after I dump, so going to try the ridx thing and let it sit a few weeks and flush again.

Then I will always dump 3-5 gallons water in before heading out. I also spread on another chain the idea of using fabric softener to soften water so nothing sticks. Anyone try this?

Will let ya all know how I fare, and thanks again for the help and fast responses.

Rob
Not to make light of your dilemma but send pics if you can. I'm sure RV Geeks would pay a good sum for a video. Might offset some of the pain.
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Old 04-21-2014, 10:38 PM   #11
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Another thought....If you have a local pump out service, they could suck it out.
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Old 04-22-2014, 04:24 AM   #12
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This is the cleanest way to clear a clog.

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Old 04-22-2014, 04:42 AM   #13
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Old 04-22-2014, 04:56 AM   #14
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Wow, A lot of good ideas but from my many years in the RV business where I always told people not to sit at a sight with full hookups with the dump gate open. I called it the build up of Mt POOPIE and it could be your situation. One other word of wisdom " if you didn't eat it don't put it in there" I have a few grenades left over if you want one. Good luck and I realy mean it.
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