Black water tank won't dump

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Spirituallifetime

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I have a problem with the black water tank on the 5th wheel, it is full and won't dump! We thought it was frozen this winter, it shouldn't be frozen now. When I went to dump it I just got a trickle out of it and that was all. Any one have any suggestions? Or experience with this kind of problem?
 
either the gate is not opening or you have blockage......if your certain the gate is pulled open then your going to have to clear whatever is built up near the inside opening either by snaking it from the top thru the toilet or getting a hydro unit and clearing thru the line.....I would suggest going thru the top first....
 
Well, this is never pleasant, but I've been down this road before. Step one is to turn the water off, open the flush valve, and look down into the tank from the toilet. If you are looking at a dried mass, you are going to have to get the mess rehydrated and maybe even get some decomposition rolling, depending on your time frame. If it's dried up, fill it with water and let is sit for a few days. This might be enough to get things moving. Or, If you are getting a bit of liquid flow out of the valve, the next step would be to buy a wand and use it. A wand is a flexible shaft that attaches to a garden hose and allows you to probe the tank from the toilet opening and by poking and blasting water out the end of the wand, it will often loosen up. If this all fails, fill the thing to the top, add some Rid-ex septic tank additive and give it a week or two. In warm weather, with a lot of water in there, everything will eventually decompose to a nearly solids free brown soup. Good luck, and don't forget to wear some disposable gloves. Any cuts on the hands ,and shit water are a bad combo.
 
Thanks for the info. I have the additive in and the tank full of water, I will wait for the weather to warm up and see what happens. Its still cold here, should be much warmer by June.
 
This will (and did) happen when an RV is stored prior to winterising or when free falling. Free falling is when an RV is hooked up to a sewer line with the sewer gate open. The black water tanks work best when filled to the max then released. The pressure of a full tank will empty best. A free falling tank will cake up.
Go to your RV dealer and get some black tank enzymes. Follow directions. Some have said that ice and a rough road will help chip away at the caking once it becomes softened by enzyme treatments. Dump a bag of ice down the commode.
 
The ice trick only works while the unit is moving.
I've heard of ice being used to help "scrub" and empty tank, but I'm not so sure it will break up poop pyramids, especially sitting still.

The type of paper you use matters also. No need to buy special TP tho.
Put a couple inches of water in a bottle along with a small wad of your TP and shake. The paper should shred almost immediately.
We use Scott soft. Several of the common brands work just fine.

Its best to empty the tanks before storing a rig for the season.
Are you sure the tank has enough water to liquify the stuff??

I've seen backflush work with good results...
http://www.amazon.com/Valterra-F02-...=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=rv+clear+dump+flush+rinse


In Quartzsite there's a guy who calls himself the "RV Proctologist". He stays pretty busy backflushing "dry tanks".



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In the winter we had to wait for a water truck to fill us so I constantly ran out of water. Even with the jug I kept by the potty, It wasn't enough to keep everything flowing. On empty the waste tank day I had to take a long pole, add tons of water and stir until I got poop soup. Lovely job but better than the alternative.
 
Bindi&us the hydroflush looks like it works but I don't have a rig to pull the 5th wheel to where I have water to hook up a hose, I have a septic here but no water I have to haul water in. I pulled it up to the property with a semi truck and it was sold when its trucking job was done(semi trucks make great 5th wheel pullers at 500hp and 12mpg not a single mt pass slowed it down). I'm not sure how much water is in the tank but it is full. I hope I don't have to do the pole and poop soup method!
 
No water hose. dang. If you have an air compressor could you get some hose down the toilet into the tank and try to stir things around. Last choice is to put the air wand up the drain valve. That would NOT be pretty but may work.
 
Likely to be tricky getting the soup to stir down near the valve. Let's hope you're not "dry tanked" and need to dump in a bunch of water to make soup.
 
Try using one of these ... http://goo.gl/5YXB2U

The owner of an RV park I stayed at loaned his to another patron staying there who was experiencing the same problem. The water blasted straight thru the clog and helped clean out the tank as well.
 
Just a thought....
How about lifting the stinky slinky out of the sewer and hold the end just higher than the valve on the rig. Dump in a few gallons of water and lift the hose causing the water to rush toward the valve. Quickly plug the slinky back into the sewer. Maybe the impact of the water will bust something loose. Might have to repeat.
I don't know if it will work, but introducing water is your best shot from that end.

Another option....
The backflush elbow and a water pump fed from a bucket.


sl1966 said:
Try using one of these ... http://goo.gl/5YXB2U

The owner of an RV park I stayed at loaned his to another patron staying there who was experiencing the same problem. The water blasted straight thru the clog and helped clean out the tank as well.

Sl1966...see post #6 and 8
We gotta put together a bunch of hoses and get him some water :D
 
I'm heading to Las Vegas and will have to take care of this problem in a week when I get back. For now we are using the bucket compost method to take care of stuff.
 
bindi&us said:
Sl1966...see post #6 and 8

We gotta put together a bunch of hoses and get him some water :D

whoops, i'm a victim of TL'DR (too long; didn't read), but great minds think alike. on both accounts :)
 
SL...As long as we've got thought flying back and forth we can usually come up with a solution for about anything.

Did you notice how the Amazon link popped up in the main banner for the product we discussed??
The top banner advertized a local Chevy dealer trucks/vans since I've talked about being in Tucson currently.
Talk about spam :s
 
As much as I dislike chemical stuff, that may be the workable option. I wouldn't count on fast results, as advertized, since you are dealing with a good sized "box" of crap that may be dry and very compacted. It certainly would help with the soup action, if nothing else.
 
No matter what method is used, it's going to take a bit of time and effort. Glad it's not me!!!!
 
That product is caustic soda. Dangerous stuff. After it is in your tank and does not work, you have to deal with that new problem. Caustic works well enough in pipes, but I don't think it will work in a holding tank.
Your solution will be mechanical action. A hose would be good, an air line, or a mechanical snake up the drain pipe. Messy, dirty, but not dangerous if no chemical are in your tank.
 
And you are surprised it's lye? Most drain opener/cleaners are lye based. If the OP has a solid mass in their tank it will tank more than a snake and water. RV waste holding tanks are square or rectangular boxes that simply do not react well to a sewer snake. Just using a snake and water will involve dropping the tank and cleaning it outside of the RV. At that I'm not sure it would work. We've removed more than one RV waste tank, including a well aged, partially "filled" tank.
 

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