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Old 12-11-2017, 04:50 PM   #1
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Exclamation New to RVs, toilet won't drain, keeps coming up.

Hi. So life hit us hard around the first half of October and we were forced to move from our home on a very short notice. We're a fairly poor household so we managed to get into this RV in the owner's backyard while we get our bearings. So we've been here for roughly two months now.

We were shown how to drain the septic when it was near full which we've done twice now. We followed their instructions every time perfectly yet when we did it it kind of broke through the pipe and spilled directly under the RV. It was disgusting, but washing it away and it actually wasn't that big of a deal the following day you'd never know it happened. The weird part was after telling the landlord about it both times, they never saw evidence of a busted pipe. I always thought that was weird but didn't think too much into it.

But a few days ago when we try to drain it again it wasn't draining at all. No sound, no nothing. On top of this which seemingly no other thread I've read up on seems to mention though is the water in the toilet is backing up everytime you flush it. Very little goes down, but more comes up. A ton of water with the occasional broken down waste coming up.

As mentioned before, we are a poor household. We have $8 for the rest of the month so a plumber is not an option, the supposed miracle Flush King isn't an option. Landlord won't let us use their gardening hose, and we can't afford one, so we're kind of stuck with what we have available.

The boiling water method I keep seeing doesn't work because there's so much backed up water it won't reach the drain. I've tried shoving an old broken hose I found out back into it and it bends once, but it wont bend for the second one and it doesn't seem to be hitting anything major.

For the past three days I've been resorting to this endless cycle:
* Fill the bowl up with water/crap.
* Use a bucket/plastic cup to scoop it out.
* Flush super quickly for it to fill up again but not as much as before.
* Repeat until flushing brings up almost nothing.
* Use a plunger til the bowl fills up again with water/crap.
* Repeat until I hopefully one day hit the problem.

But its been hours over days. It's making me physically sick and it hurts to keep using the plunger like this for hours at a time. I'd like to know if I'll ever actually hit anything doing this or if I'm just wasting my time. I also want to know if I should keep the black water drain open during all this or if I should keep it closed til I think I free it, then try opening it again?

I don't know if these two things are related but just to mention them:
* The owners have had the Grey Water Tank lever opened ever since we got here. I didn't even know that lever existed until I saw it the first day the clog happened. Apparently that was somewhat normal though.
* The pipe for the grey water is infact broken. Whenever the shower is running water is slowly pouring out the broken end. I'm not letting that bother me right now unless its related.

It's been three days now and I can't let my mom keep living like this. We need to fix this soon. At this point I don't care how potentially messy it gets.
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Old 12-11-2017, 05:36 PM   #2
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Welcome to iRV2. It would help everyone if you told us the make and model of the trailer. It would give some clues as to how your toilet is connected to the black tank (what you call the septic tank).
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Old 12-11-2017, 05:36 PM   #3
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Sounds your black tank is full...either get it emptied or pumped out. It will not go away until it gets empty.
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Old 12-11-2017, 05:40 PM   #4
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Welcome to iRV2. It would help everyone if you told us the make and model of the trailer. It would give some clues as to how your toilet is connected to the black tank (what you call the septic tank).
I don't know the year off-hand and the landlord isn't available to ask but its a "Jazz by Thor" apparently? Just going off the logos on the side of the thing. It does seem fairly old though its seemingly lacking in features I'm seeing others mention when I look around the outside.

And if the black tank itself is full... what do I do? And is there a way to find out for certain?
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Old 12-11-2017, 06:08 PM   #5
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Sounds like you got a clog in the dump hose or the tank. Your gonna need some help based on what you wrote. Location?
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Old 12-11-2017, 06:11 PM   #6
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I'd love for it to just be the primary tank being full. Landlord keeps insisting its our fault so if it was just that then it'd be nice to be 100% sure it actually wasn't.

We're in Dunnellon, Florida but again we can't afford to pay for help. We have a grand $8 for the rest of the month. It's not happening.
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Old 12-11-2017, 06:17 PM   #7
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Sounds like you got a clog in the dump hose or the tank. Your gonna need some help based on what you wrote. Location?
Florida......close the black tank valve, disconnect hose, holding that end high and see if hose drains......that'll tell you about the hose and / or if the dump area can accept more
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Old 12-11-2017, 06:26 PM   #8
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You may have to back flush the drain for the black tank. Put the hose you use to flush the tank after dumping into the open drain and slowly turn it on to release the clog. Be careful or you may have a mess inside if it backs up into the toilet. You can also get an attachment that goes between the stinky slinky (drain hose) and the RV hook up that has a hose attachment so that the back wash goes down the drain line instead off on the ground but they coast about $34. You may be able to find one at a garage sale of $8.
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Old 12-11-2017, 06:30 PM   #9
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Florida......close the black tank valve, disconnect hose, holding that end high and see if hose drains......that'll tell you about the hose and / or if the dump area can accept more
I'll try to do this first thing tomorrow once there's sunlight. Sorry to trouble you but like I said this is the first RV we've ever been in and since its not actually ours we don't have any of the paperwork or manuals for it so I don't know what is what.

* What am I looking for to close the valve? Do you just mean the pull lever I'd use to drain it normally? It's already closed right now.
* Where would this hose be? I only see nothing but pipes back here.
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Old 12-11-2017, 06:35 PM   #10
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Yes, the pull lever.....isn't there a pipe or hose connected to that valve where the handle is to guide the flow of waste to a sewer type area ( collect station.....septic tank) ?? Yeah, no fun in the dark....
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Old 12-11-2017, 06:41 PM   #11
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No hose, it's all pipes that I can't get undone. The landlord/RV owner is being amazingly uncooperative because of how insistent he's being about this being our fault.

I can try to take a picture of what it looks like back here once there's light tomorrow if it'd help.
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Old 12-11-2017, 06:51 PM   #12
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Pic would help...sounds like they used pvc type pipe, but even if they did, might be a slip together piece.....take a pic of the pipe to rv connection and pipe to ground area......does landlord live close? Not to be nosy, but do you pay rent there? And you can PM me with that answer
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Old 12-11-2017, 06:53 PM   #13
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Yes, the pull lever.....isn't there a pipe or hose connected to that valve where the handle is to guide the flow of waste to a sewer type area ( collect station.....septic tank) ?? Yeah, no fun in the dark....

I agree, pull the lever. But I wonder if there is a drain hose attached to this unit, and a place for it to go? If the cap is on the plumbing and no drain hose, that kinda explains why his black tank is not emptying when he pulls the valve. ??

edit. I see it may have pvc piping, possible blockage in it. Although the grey appears to be draining so blockage upstream of that.
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Old 12-11-2017, 06:57 PM   #14
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No hose, it's all pipes that I can't get undone. The landlord/RV owner is being amazingly uncooperative because of how insistent he's being about this being our fault.

I can try to take a picture of what it looks like back here once there's light tomorrow if it'd help.
That will help immensely. The more pictures of the drain area the better.


Also, you are about an hour from me. I'll PM you.
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