Black Water Tank Issue

[markpow423c]

In Oct 2018 we purchased a used 2006 Country Coach Intrigue 530 Ovation and I've been working on fixing issues ever since we started home. With that said, I need some guidance on the issue of the week. We've now used the coach on two trips and both times the black water tank filled much faster than expected. There was just two of us and we barely got 3 days before the tank was full. The coach has one of the Techma electric flush toilets and I've already adjusted the water per flush as low as I can and have the toilet still flush. The tank seems to drain OK and the monitor returns to zero when we dump, however, adding just one gallon of water takes the sensor to 11% which seems really strange. Given it's a 40 gallon tank, one gallon should be less than 3%.

Here's what I've done so far:
Adjusted the Techma to the minimum water per flush
Filled and Flushed the tank multiple times using the built in flush system
Filled the tank, added Rid-X and let it sit for over a month


All suggestions and advise would be appreciated.

[Bob_C]

A lot of folks on here recommend Happy Camper Extreme the first time, then their regular strength.....previous owner might of not added water back in after dumping.....always add 3 to 4 gals back in, and the more water used for flushing, the better the results will be....I use the flush hose while still hooked up to add water back in....

[ThePowells]

Welcome to the forum!!


My suggestion(s)
Fill the tank using 5 gallon buckets or a hose with meter to calculate a reasonable guess how much water it takes to fill it in order to make sure that you don't have residual stuff from the prior owner.

If you get close to 40, then nothing residual. If you think that you have residual, my suggestion is about 20 gallons of hot water with 1/2 bottle of Dawn and Pine-Sol, then go for a ride for about 30 minutes, then let it sit for awhile, then dump and see if anything new comes out. If you think that you have residual and nothing new comes out, you may want to do a camera inspection.

If you don't think you have residual, open the black valve with a bucket under it (or another place for water to go) and open faucets one by one and make sure what is and isn't going into the black tank. You may find something else dumping into the black tank.

Sensors are notorious for being inaccurate, so that brings back the point for calculated filling. Your sensors may be showing full at 1/2 tank or less.

[vito.a]

Tank sensors are notorious for not reading correctly. I suspect your Techma drain sensor is reading incorrectly and/or your black tank sensor is clogged.

When you say the tank was full, did you confirm that visually by looking at the tank, or just that the Techma wouldn't flush?

The Techma also has a second sensor in the drain pipe that senses moisture that prevents it from flushing. It will even get wet when rinsing the tank and prevent it from flushing.

I've had good luck using Blue Dawn dish soap to clean the tank sensors. I get the large bottle at Costco and use it in the black tank on a regular basis.

If it doesn't help, then you need to replace the sensors.

[oscarvan]

Good stuff above.....

1 Verify tank has no residual crud in it by filling with known quantity from empty. Observe the meters as you add......

2 Verify nothing else draining into black tank. (I have seen it where the manufacturer took the shortest route to the black tank with a sink)

[96 Wideglide]

It's common for manufacturers to plumb a bathroom vanity sink into the black tank.

[markpow423c]

Originally Posted by vito.a

Tank sensors are notorious for not reading correctly. I suspect your Techma drain sensor is reading incorrectly and/or your black tank sensor is clogged.

When you say the tank was full, did you confirm that visually by looking at the tank, or just that the Techma wouldn't flush?

The Techma also has a second sensor in the drain pipe that senses moisture that prevents it from flushing. It will even get wet when rinsing the tank and prevent it from flushing.

I've had good luck using Blue Dawn dish soap to clean the tank sensors. I get the large bottle at Costco and use it in the black tank on a regular basis.

If it doesn't help, then you need to replace the sensors.

On this last trip the meter topped out at 94% and stayed that way with continued use for another 24 hours. I never had any issues with it flushing, however, at the end of the trip I could hear the masserator spinning in water so I knew it was full.

[fallbeachlov]

Hi,
I usually have a second hose (the green garden type) permanently connected to the black flush inlet. The hose is fed by a Y connector to the water supply (the other side being connected to the white drinking water hose). At some point I found out the cheap plastic Y-connector with taps was leaky, letting drops of water into the black tank. Over the course of a day or two, it was slowly filling up my black tank. I replaced the cheap Y connector with a better quality one, and now the black tank fills at a normal rate: 4-5 days for two people.
M

[Outbound]

Can't add to above, all good advise.

[vito.a]

The Techma display/push button control panel should have two main buttons:
A water saver flush on the left and a normal flush on the right.
Additionally, there is a small rectangular water symbol in the lower right corner. It is not lighted when the system is in sleep mode (after 8 hours). When the tank is 0- 1/2, it will light green. Above 1/2 it will turn yellow. When full, the symbol will turn red and it will not flush unless you override it by holding the button down for 6-8 seconds (unless it's been disabled).

The flush lockout can be disabled or re-enabled. If disabled, the red light will stay on.
It's possible someone disabled your lockout?
The other possibility is you have a bad sensor. It should have both a mid and top sensor that are a small metal strips attached to the outside of the tank.

[markpow423c]

My Techma (2005) is the old one button controller without tank level integration

[Hartrepair]

It is fun to note: FAA only requires fuel gauges on light aircraft to read empty, when the tanks is empty. We do expect so much more from our machines