Black Tank Info Needed

[idenphones]

Our toilet suffered a broken flush handle so while repairing it I decided to change the seal on the ball at the same time to fix a slow leak.

I gave the tank a good flushing from below with the sprayer and used the "Magic Wand" from the top to eliminate as much crud as possible.

The repair was easy enough but when I removed the toilet I noticed that instead of a mucky pyramid, I had a toilet paper crater on top of what looks like some sort of baffle directly under the 3 inch opening from the toilet.

The sensor for the black tank has always been plagued by incorrect readings.........I thought

Looks like the sensor was right!

Never could get the reading to say empty for more than a few minutes.

Anyhow, the question for the Black Tank Experts is "What is the Baffle all about?"

And.............approximately, how deep would the tank normally be?

Lots of rough edges on the baffle to capture toilet paper. Should be fun to clean up or remove.

[Tha_Rooster]

Home toilet paper doesn't resolve as quick the make a tank cleaner that eats crud fill tank add cleaner slosh and drain. That's another good reason not to leave black valve open it leaves solids behind.

[bldrbob]

Are you sure it is a baffel or is it a petrified pyramid?

[Tha_Rooster]

Now that was good.

[InfinityJim]

Having been in the business a while building bus conversions, doing RV repair's updates & re-models. There typically is no baffle of any kind between the toilet & the tank (at least that I’ve ever seen). I agree with bldrbob that it might be a petrified pyramid. Yes, it does happen. Not very often do we see it, normally it’s from the black tank valve being left open.

Clean it out with whatever means you can. High powered pressure washer with a cutting tip works really well. The tip has a specific name used by the roto rooter guys. Also clean up the edges so to not attract the paper going down.

About the toilet paper. I sell RV toilet paper at our shop. I don’t use a macerator on my coach so I use the same tp from the house. Yes it doesn’t dissolve as quickly in the tank - - but I’m not a fan of my fingers going thru it while using it. Seems like to me that it takes twice as much of the rv tp to get the job done - - so then I’ve got twice as much to dissolve and the tank fills quicker? I’ve just never seen a reason to use RV specific TP unless your using a macerator. To be honest I’ve used a portable macerator in the past for months on end while living in the coach with 2 kids and the wife, used normal TP and the only problem ever was when the wife put the lady paper with the strings down and the strings stopped the pump - - ? Now that was a fun day!

[sadiebug]

White rats.

[Tha_Rooster]

When I bought my unit waiting for final inspection a gent brought in his new american tradition his wife flush a white rat tangled up electric motor they can also clog dump valves.

[AFChap]

Quote:

his wife flush a white rat tangled up electric motor

Eh ????

[idenphones]

I should have mentioned that the "Baffle" is black, about 4 inches square and seems to be held in place by four screws about 3 inches below the toilet and towards the rear of the toilet.

The more I think about it, it kind of looks like someone took a router to the top of the tank for the inlet pipe from the toilet and neglected to take the piece of the tank away.

But, there are no leaks even when I got carried away flushing the tank and forgot to open the valve a few weeks ago so that is probably not what is going on.

The Magic Wand that I spoke of is a 3 foot hose with a fitting and a bunch of jets on the end to let you do a pressure wash of the toilet and points further south from the comfort of your bathroom with the help of a water hose.

The Magic Wand let me get rid of the toilet paper crater and flush it out to the used toilet paper land with the help of our trusty Sani-Con.

Using a flashlight I was able to see the edges of the "Baffle" and a drop off of who knows how far leading to the Sani-Con and drain.

So far, this has me.........................."Baffled"! Sorry, I couldn't resist that one.

[bldrbob]

Maybe someone decided to modify the tank with the pyramid . The idea is to deflect the solids to prevent buildup under the toilet.The problem being the point acts as a paper spindle instead of a diverter.

[scenic route]

I think it was Confucius that said: "Man who religiously works from top to bottom on his outhouse, will eventually find himself in deep shiite".

We have an RV with two black water tanks...so we've been there. I think the whole key is NOT keeping the black water tank dump valve open while hooked up to a CG sewer. All the water will drain out and that leaves the dreaded petrified "pyramid". I think most RV'rs know this.

The PO of our RV did not...or he was a Pharaoh of de'Nile and didn't think it necessary to keep adequate water for the 'floaties' to remain in suspension, so to speak. It really is kind of a common sense thing...even the lowly trout needs a certain amount of water to navigate! Geez.

Anyway, a gentle 'probing' with a Magic Wand will let one know if you've got a mountain of mummified matter massively mounded in the middle.

If your toilet is still removed, I'd recommend fitting a rubber glove over the tank flange/fitting after cutting the tip off the middle finger. There's no 'hidden' meaning here, although it does seem appropriate, the hole is to accommodate your Magic Wand hooked up to a water hose so you don't add any 'color' to that beautiful surrounding wallpaper. This will cut down on any unwanted 'freckles' to the facial area as well. If the throne is installed, just stretch some clear plastic wrap over the head (slightly overlapped in the middle) to do the same thing.

Oh, one other thing. I'd also recommend adding about 5 gallons of water mixed with some Calgon water softener before getting started, just to make sure 'everything' gets slippery. That way the solids will not reconnect before heading south.

Now, would someone explain why I've been humming Neil Sedaka's 'Breaking Up Is So Hard to Do' while pecking this mess out? Good luck...Bob

Edit: Must learn to type faster...glad you solved the problem. Agree with the assumption what the 'baffle' was to deflect or act as an anti splash device...I can also think of better things to put on a 'pedestal'. : )

[gg]

Ray,

After all your repairs how is the B tank and head working? Does the B -guage work now after a super clean out??

I found a drawing of our black tank and I don't see a baffle specifed see the attachment.