Anybody use Charmin toilet paper?

[OlYeller]

Originally Posted by Ray,IN

To the OP; the "secret" to using whatever paper you desire is WATER, pre-charge the tank with about 10% of tank capacity, use plenty of flushing water so you keep all solids completely covered, do not empty tank until at least 3/4 full so the force of the water will carry all solids away too. If you have less than 1/2 tank when you must travel on, do not empty until you reach next destination, then dump the tank when it reaches 3/4.
If this practice is followed, manual tank flushing is rare.
BTW, we've been RVing for over 40 yrs.; never had a tank blockage.


Same here.

Good advice here. The only thing I'd add is that when I don't have a full black tank (over 3/4) I add water to bring the level up to that and then dump so I travel with an empty tank. The added water helps stuff float and flush when the valve is opened. Our RV has a great draining black tank so we have never had an issue.

[dix39]

I used to clean our black tank by running water into it.

In the mid '90's when we got our last camper I added another dump valve downstream from the other two. That not only allowed me to run grey water into the black tank when it was full, but I could also use it to flush the black tank with grey water when dumping. I would dump the black tank first and leave the valve open, close the valve I added and open the grey valve. After the tanks equalized I would close the grey valve and open the black and added valves. I would do that several times and then open all valves and wait until it stopped draining. That worked for me and, IMHO, it was a little faster and easier than the way I did it previously. I did the same thing to the MH we have now with a twist on valve.

What Ray recommends will work very well if you have a convenient place to dump whenever it is necessary, but will not be very efficient when boondocking/dry camping.

Just my 2c.

Steve

Steve

[Cliffy]

Sears catalog pages are GREAT :-) You have something to read and to use!

[hilgert]

We demand the best for our tushies....we've always used Charmin Ultra Soft...no problems ever.
Properly managed, this should rarely be an issue. Just need to understand how these systems work, and think about how a normal sewer line works in your house. Obviously you cannot shove wads of the stuff down the hole.

I always put a gallon or so of water into an empty black tank before we use it (think of this as the water in your toilet bowl before you flush) to fill the drain line (our valve is immediately under the bottom of the tank). *IF* there were to ever be an issue (which there never has been) I'd simply open the black valve then open the grey to backflush it a bit, or connect a backwash adapter (have it, never used it other than testing), or use my FloJet macerator pump (which has a backwash) which we use when parked in someone's (or our own) driveway.

Whether we have sewer connections or not, I wait until the black tank is at least 1/2 full, or we leave the camp site, to dump the tank, whichever comes first. That way there is enough force to push anything through. Before storage, even if not near 1/2 full (a short weekend), I add water via the black washout connection until 1/2 full, then drain.

Basically, the "Ray Method".

[hilgert]

Originally Posted by Cliffy

Sears catalog pages are GREAT :-) You have something to read and to use!

Better stock up on Sears catalogs...they don't look like they will be around much longer.

[Vanslam]

I use Scott septic safe with out a problem.

[Cranemec]

Keep waiting for the trash can of poopy paper next to the toilet people to chime in.

[dix39]

Originally Posted by Cranemec

Keep waiting for the trash can of poopy paper next to the toilet people to chime in.

Why??

Steve

[dix39]

I was thinking about the sears catalogue. What may be amazing to many here is that our family and most of the other farm family's in the area of WV we lived in had outdoor toilets and used catalogue pages. That was in the '40's through the '50's. Newspaper was a treat. I don't think anyone considered TP as we do today. Modern plumbing wasn't installed in the house I grew up in until the early '60's.

If you grew up with something better, consider yourself very blessed. Those outdoor toilets were very unfriendly during winter when sitting on a frost covered "hole". I think ours was built by the CCC during that era, with a concrete floor and "venting" (not that it helped much) it was pretty "uptown".

Just a bit of trivia from the past.

Steve

[Scottybdivin]

I also like the GEO method. The theory is to keep everything slick instead of sticky. The worst thing you can do is conserve water here. Take shorter showers and save water in other areas, but not the toilet. Don't dump until it is 1/2 - 2/3 full so it flushes out with a WHOOSH. If you use plenty of water and don't let a mound get started in the 1st place, you can use anything you want. It is a holding tank not a septic tank. It is not supposed to break down and decompose in your tank


Macerators are another story. I don't use Charmin in the rear macerator toilet, just the gravity toilet in the 1/2 bath. May not be necessary since many homes are on grinder pumps, and everything goes through them.

[hilgert]

Originally Posted by Vanslam

I use Scott septic safe with out a problem.

Charmin Ultra Soft is septic safe (at least it says so on the package) in case you wanted to give your tushie an upgrade. I just now did a water jar test...fell apart with minimal handling.

I think some of the horror stories are either from non-septic toilet paper, or people not using some version of the Ray Method. It's all about the whoosh from a nearly full tank.

[John Boy]

Originally Posted by peterson

Hi,

We're getting our first RV next week. Is using Charmin toilet paper a really dumb thing to do?

We've read about only using paper that dissolves in a jar of water. Others have said it really doesn't matter.

Can a black tank be cleaned out? We've read of using ice cubes and other tricks to clean it out.

Thanks, Nancy and Phil

Use what you want to. Don't make a big wad. I pour some extra water as I flush.
Six years full-time. No issues with the tissues!

[37driver]

Scott's 1000 here. Some may think it's crude or unsanitary but we bag our TP instead of flushing. Haven't had a black tank problem in 20 years.

[GreaTOne65]

5 Motorhomes, 30yrs. of traveling in one, and have never had a problem. My wife will use nothing else but Charmin toilet tissue. The secret is water, water, water.