Cleaning up of holding tanks.............

[araucano]

Hello everyone:
I'd like to know :
How do you clean up your holding tanks,all 3 of
them.many thanks in advance.araucano

[araucano]

Hello everyone:
I'd like to know :
How do you clean up your holding tanks,all 3 of
them.many thanks in advance.araucano

[Gary RVRoamer]

Short answer: I don't

Long answer:
Black: I flush it good (have a built-in flush fitting) when dumping if there is plenty of water available and nobody else is waiting to use the dump station. We seldom use any chemicals in the tank anyway and find that it stays "sweet" without them. However, our rig gets used a lot, 150 or more days/year, so it gets plenty of action from regular dumping.

Gray: Periodically I add a bleach solution down the drains, to kill accumulated food odors

Fresh: If I haven't been using the fresh water from the tank and refilling, I drain it and refill (usually only about 20 gallons)from a chlorinated water supply. From what I have read, chlorinated tap water will stay safe to drink for around 6 weeks, so if I haven't been using and replensihing, I dump it and start over. The trick is knowing - or guessing - if the available water supply is adequately chlorinated. Campground supplies may not be.

Your water heater is also a tank, containing 6-10 gallons of water. It needs to be drained and flushed periodically too. There is a bacteria that thrives in the hot, dark heater tank and the water will have a slight smell of rotten eggs (hydrogen sulfide) if it forms there.

[RV Wizard]

To clean the fresh water holding tank use 1/4 cup of chlorine bleach to 15 gals. of water. fill each water line to to each end hot & cold. You will need to run the hot side longer to fill the water heater tank. Let stand for three hours then drain tank & flush water heater and lines with clean water.
To clean black: dump and rinse with plenty of water (we happen to have flush outs). Prior to leaving on a trip I will fill tank 1/2 full with clean water and add about a 5 gallon bucket of ice down the toilet and then drive to our destination. This bounces around inside and breaks up anything left remaining in tank or on sensors.
To clean gray tank I again have flush out nozzles in the tank so I will flush well after dumping.
We use an enzime that breaks down solids and tissue. We put this into the gray tank about once a month as well. We are carefull not to use chemicals that would kill this bacteria such as bleaches or anti bacterials down the drain. So far we have not had any problems but we are constantly using the system as we full time.
Be sure to drain & flush the water heater tank as Gary has recommended and change the anode (if you have one) when it is about 1/2 deteriorated.
If you cannot get good results you may have to consult a company that can go up into the system and pressure clean the tanks periodically. THere is a company out here in the Phoenix area that does this and also has a camera to see inside the tanks too. Those that have slow draining tanks may needs this kind of cleaning more ofthen than those that drain quickly; according to the company.

[full-timer]

We full time and use out of the fresh water tank so it is always fresh. The black tank I use to use some of the chemicals on the market and it always had a bad smell. Now I just use a little bit of dawn dish washing liquid when I flush. Result--clean smell and working gauges on the tank.
Joe

[Workers On The Go]

There are probably many reasons a person would want to clean their holding tanks.
1) it might be a used rig they just purchased
2) control panel may not be working ... showing partially full when just emptied.
3) smell doesn't go away when emptied
4) preventive maintenance

All the suggestion on how to clean have been good one but I would like to add:
Try adding a bag of ice to the black water tank when you have just dumped and you will be on the road for several hours. This should knock loose attached particles.

[FiverBob]

A follow up on Mikes suggestions: enzyme products work very good on keeping the tanks clean and it is a natural process. But, the process takes a minimum of two weeks to work - - the little critters need time to do their thing. The secret is to plan ahead so the enzyme will stay in your tanks while the unit is in storage. On the last day of a trip I empty the tanks and rinse - - then I put about 6 - 8 gallons of clear water in them and add RID-X. The driving home will slosh this mixture around in your tanks, then stay in there while the unit is stored for at least two weeks. RID-X is available in most hardware stores, Wally World, etc. RID-X is for septic tanks to accellerate the break down process and is a natural process.

Bob

[robsouth]

* ** **** **** *** *** ***** ***** ******** ***** *** *** ******* **** ** ****** ******. Please investigate rid-x or a non-chlorine bleach if you need it.

(edited to remove flaming commentary)