Question about black tank and toilet

[BarefootMike]

Hi.

I have a trailer and the toilet goes into the black tank. My question is how do you keep the toilet paper and poo from just stacking up under the toilet, instead of spreading out in the tank. I can see through the toilet drain that the stuff is stacking up.

thanks for your help

[RickO]

Hi Mike

The answer is WATER and lots of it. When we flush our residential toilet anywhere from 3 gallons of water or more is used to flush it away. In an RV it's closer to a pint. Many of us add several gallons of water to the black tank after dumping for just that reason and then make sure we use
l o n g flushes to keep everything disolving. You want to avoid the "brown tower of doom" at all costs.

Good luck

Rick

[Route 66]

I agree with Rick.

Our instinct is to use as little water as possible to extend dumping intervals.

After dumping, it's necessary to fill the toilet bowl flush several times to get enough water in the tank to completely cover the bottom.

When flushing poo down, you need flush it with plenty of water.

I found it worked better to add some water to the bowl before use.

[RustyJC]

Also, don't leave the black tank drain valve open. You need to have it 2/3 full or so before you dump if at all possible so that the liquids will carry the solids out. If you leave the valve open, the liquids drain out and the solids don't, creating the "black tower of doom".

Rusty

[RickO]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RustyJC Also, don't leave the black tank drain valve open. Rusty

Great point Rusty! What a mess!

One thing many folks do too is to dump and then fill the black tank half full of water and then dump ice cubes down the toilet just before traveling. They'll bang around for a while before they melt and can help knock off stuff clinging to the walls.

Rick

[padre44]

Use chemicals to break down solids. I drive to the next campground then dump after adding plenty of water. The motion helps loosen things up.

[hacksaw1340]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RickO Great point Rusty! What a mess! One thing many folks do too is to dump and then fill the black tank half full of water and then dump ice cubes down the toilet just before traveling. They'll bang around for a while before they melt and can help knock off stuff clinging to the walls. Rick

That's an interesting idea! The ice won't hurt sensor? I don't know how the tank level sensor actually works.

[njs42]

I have always believed that the toilet bowl in my rig is actually bigger, more bowl like, than the ones at our home. The very good reason, I deduced, is that it is made to fill with water before you flush---thereby taking the place of the tank on a home toilet.

Once I had a neighbor who was there for a week and he was having the same problem as the OP; so I helped him flush and explained toilet useage to him---the light went on.

When he left he gave me a very nice ceramic "sun face' as thanks, to my surprise. It still hangs from a hook in our rig, A reminder to always be as helpful as you can to a fellow RV'r------and that is the rest of the story.

Good luck and good flushing now that you know "the secret".

[Trudinator]

Hahahahahahahahah....the brown tower of doom. I love it! Newbie here (63) days. We found out the hard way that you must ALWAYS leave some water in your black tank. Not from the "tower" but the odor. We learned real fast. We're now trying the Geo method and so far, so good. We'll dump when we get to our campsite next Friday night, since we've been using the TT for the last couple of days (no "major" transactions), then put the water softener and detergent in with plenty of water. We'll see how long we can go before dumping with only making (minor) transactions. DH says he doesn't want to use the toilet for everything without a sewer hookup. He gags easily, and I'm not sure he could handle dumping poo from the blue boy!

[Sher]

Hi, newbie here....reading about the black water....little freaked out as we have only had the trailer for a week and am not sure what the appropriate measures are to dumping the black water. ...am I supposed to add lots of water before dumping?

[Ray,IN]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sher Hi, newbie here....reading about the black water....little freaked out as we have only had the trailer for a week and am not sure what the appropriate measures are to dumping the black water. ...am I supposed to add lots of water before dumping?

Hi Sher! Happy to have you aboard.
Put everything you have read above into one common rule and you have your answer. After emptying the tank I add about 5G of water to start it off right. When flushing I use about 1/2 bowl of water. I do not empty the tank until either the level gauge reads 3/4 full, or it begins to "burp" when flushed; ie: the water has a bubble in it as it goes down. This is the escaping air being forced out because the normal vent cannot handle all of the sudden amount of escaping air.

[offthewall]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BarefootMike Hi. I have a trailer and the toilet goes into the black tank. My question is how do you keep the toilet paper and poo from just stacking up under the toilet, instead of spreading out in the tank. I can see through the toilet drain that the stuff is stacking up. thanks for your help

Been RVing on and off for almost 50 of my 56 years and have perfected our black tank usage and dumping.

As others have said, use lots of water. Only use Theford dissolvable tissue. Never put anything else in there. This is very important. Never use regular tissue. Start off with a couple of gallons of water and an appropriate amount of Theford liquid blue stuff. Leave the black tank valve closed and only empty it when at least 2/3 full. Dump about four or five bowl fulls of water in after draining the black tank. Close the valve when that clear water drains out. Add a few gallons of water and blue stuff and start over.

Dump your grey water after dumping and closing the black tank. This will clean the sewer hose. BTW, I use Theford gray tank liquid in that tank as well to control odors.

Following these practices, we've never had a clogging issue. I've tried other brand chemicals and the Theford stuff is the best IMHO. The use of the black tank blue liquid and dissolvable tissue is key to keeping things liquid in the tank.

It also helps if you can dump when arriving at your next location, after things have sloshed around a bit.

[SiberCamper]

I stick with my original plan: pee only. At least for a while. Then I'll get braver. Until then I'll make trips to the vault for number 2.

[glennwest]

Two years wife and I full time. We have never used "special toilet tissue". Never had an issue either. Tank had some build up when we got the unit used and bagged ice took care of that. Basically if tissue will dissolve in water, good to go. We have never used chemicals either.