I saw my black tank today

[digNbubbs]

From the inside

OK, so it wasn't as cool as I thought, but nonetheless, it was pretty cool. My oldest son is a sort of "Drain Proctologist". He works for a company that sends cameras down drain pipes (and sewer mains) to look for cracks, tree roots, etc. I thought it would be cool to see inside my black tank.

I drained the tank, then ran the flushers for about 5 minutes. I did not backwash with grey, as that was empty. After draining completely, we shoved the camera down the toilet. It looked a little weird, but pretty clean. It was real obvious how the buildup on the sensors could be a problem. Seemed that the walls were only mucked up around the sensors. Kind of like they attracted it.

There were some globs of paper, but I figured as much since I quickly emptied it and didn't back rinse it. We then turned on the tank flusher. One the monitor, it just looked like rain - I was surprised to not see it spraying more. However, with the lighting and the darkness of the tank, it could have been an illusion.

We did see the water fill up pretty quickly. It didn't really wash any of the paper from their spots. We then turned on the SaniCon and watched the water drain. Most surprising thing was the good whirlpool that is created while it is draining. Seemed to sweep in quite a bit of particulates.

No real data to be collected here, but just some observations. Appears that tank sensor lugs attract the goop, the tank sprayers seem to do a good job at putting water into the tank (but not necessarily rinsing the walls), and the SaniCon pulls a nice swirly when draining.

Here's a picture of my son - the Doctor



--kevin

[digNbubbs]

From the inside

OK, so it wasn't as cool as I thought, but nonetheless, it was pretty cool. My oldest son is a sort of "Drain Proctologist". He works for a company that sends cameras down drain pipes (and sewer mains) to look for cracks, tree roots, etc. I thought it would be cool to see inside my black tank.

I drained the tank, then ran the flushers for about 5 minutes. I did not backwash with grey, as that was empty. After draining completely, we shoved the camera down the toilet. It looked a little weird, but pretty clean. It was real obvious how the buildup on the sensors could be a problem. Seemed that the walls were only mucked up around the sensors. Kind of like they attracted it.

There were some globs of paper, but I figured as much since I quickly emptied it and didn't back rinse it. We then turned on the tank flusher. One the monitor, it just looked like rain - I was surprised to not see it spraying more. However, with the lighting and the darkness of the tank, it could have been an illusion.

We did see the water fill up pretty quickly. It didn't really wash any of the paper from their spots. We then turned on the SaniCon and watched the water drain. Most surprising thing was the good whirlpool that is created while it is draining. Seemed to sweep in quite a bit of particulates.

No real data to be collected here, but just some observations. Appears that tank sensor lugs attract the goop, the tank sprayers seem to do a good job at putting water into the tank (but not necessarily rinsing the walls), and the SaniCon pulls a nice swirly when draining.

Here's a picture of my son - the Doctor



--kevin

[Robin_M]

Kev,

Interesting observations (really). That's info I would not have known without your post. Thanks for sharing.

Oh, and send me a PM with info on how to get hold of your son, the Proctologist. Next time I have to go for a colonoscopy, I'll keep him in mind. He probably charges less than my current doctor.

[digNbubbs]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Robin_M:
Kev,

Interesting observations (really). That's info I would not have known without your post. Thanks for sharing.

Oh, and send me a PM with info on how to get hold of your son, the Proctologist. Next time I have to go for a colonoscopy, I'll keep him in mind. He probably charges less than my current doctor. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thanks - I found it interesting as well

I can pass along his number, but proceed with caution. The camera he uses is that silver thing at the bottom of the hose reel, next to the paper towels. He may be cheap, but not easy...


--kevin

[Sixpack98]

Uh, you may want to reconsider Rob.

[Robin_M]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">He may be cheap, but not easy... </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Yeah, maybe Mark's right. This may be one of those times when ya get what ya pay for.

[DCTENT]

Just had The PERSONL ROOTO-ROOTER, Don't want to think about it!, But Thanks for the info, Shines a whole New light on A Dark issue!.

[ronboc]

What, no pics of the inside of the tank? What's up with that, Kev?

... Actually, thank you for NOT posting them. Are we going to see your son on "America's Dirtiest Jobs" now?

[discfl]

Should have turned the flush on to see how well it worked in the tank.

[digNbubbs]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by discfl:
Should have turned the flush on to see how well it worked in the tank. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I did turn on the tank flusher. It didn't seem to do a whole lot of rinsing, but it did fill up the tank pretty quickly. When it drained, there was a good swirling from the Sani*Con. It swept quite a bit of stuff away.

One thing I forgot to mention was that the drain for the black tank was almost directly below the entry from the toilet. The pipe on the toilet angles a bit, then if you drop straight below, the drain is right there. That may be helpful if there is a big plug problem and I need to give it some motivation from above.

I think the when I hit the road on Sunday, I am going to flush the black tank, then fill it with about a half tank of water and let that slosh around a bunch while we are driving. When I stop, I will drain the tank to see how much was knocked loose. My guess is that the sloshing of water is the best way to clean the inside of the tank. After seeing the inside, I am a non-believer in the ice cube cleaning trick for this tank. You would need 5 or 6 20# bags of ice to get any kind of coverage, and they would probably just vibrate to the middle anyway. I am sure they would melt away before they had any chance of banging into the sides to clean them. Nonbeliever.

--kevin

[Drifter]

Kev, I saw a guy in a 5th wheel that put a bag of ice in the black tank when leaving camp. He said that it worked very well in cleaning sensors and when they got to where they were going he just drained the tank and it was clean. I haven't tried it yet but sounded good.

[AKBrick]

Hi Keven,
Great post and picture of your son with the sewy hole boroscope. I take it that you did not find any foriegn objects that Monoco dropped in your tanks to get hung up in your Sani-Con, right?

On the job that I retired from, we used a boroscope also to find cracks or any anomolies in our gas turbines at the power plant. They are pretty fun to play with. It does take a little getting used to, to figure out where your at with the thing though. Everything looks huge when your looking through it, (at least it did with ours).

Again, thanks for the post and your observations. What?...nothing good was on television?

AKBrick

[Toby]

Kev

Thanks for the post. Good as usual from you. Very interesting. (wish I could do pics on the web like you do) BTW, I go to the dollar store and pick up a couple of boxes of dishwasher soap (dry) and put in the tank when we get ready to travel. It doesn't foam-up so it seems to work. Don't know for sure since I do not have a look-see like you had. Havn't had any problems with our black tanks though. s/Toby

[digNbubbs]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Drifter:
Kev, I saw a guy in a 5th wheel that put a bag of ice in the black tank when leaving camp. He said that it worked very well in cleaning sensors and when they got to where they were going he just drained the tank and it was clean. I haven't tried it yet but sounded good. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yea, I have heard that for years and don't think I am buying that. I'm going to go Myth Busters all over that someday. My tank is a good 7 feet long, maybe about 2' wide, and a couple feet tall. By the time you pour it in and start driving, I am sure some meltage has taken place. The vibration would probably send everything to the middle, then slosh it around like in one big bunch. I don't see it banging into the walls like a bead blaster to clean the walls.

I think some fresh water and low sudsing detergent is probably the answer. Then a dump as soon as you arrive at your destination. I could be wrong on this, but it just doesn't make sense. If I were to put some water in a bucket, then some ice, then slosh it around, I think that would be a similar result.

AKBrick - I'm with you on the camera perspective thing. My son knew exactly what he was seeing - kind of like the doctor looking at an ultrasound. "Look - there is a foot" - yea, sure it is And yes. I had nothing on Tivo to preempt to viewing

I'm with you on the dishwasher soap, Toby. I use to add Calgon as well. Haven't used it in a long time tho - went with the SeeLevel gauges, so have been less concerned about the sensor nubs. We have fulltimed for about the past 8 or 9 months without adding anything to the tank - no soap, chemicals, etc. Just a good rinse when it is full. We also use regular 2-ply comfy paper. I imagine that is why I had some small chunks, but without any tank additives, I am surprised it looks as it does.

--kev