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Old 01-19-2014, 01:48 PM   #1
leemedic
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Black Tank Indicator

I was at the Tampa RV show this past weekend and there were a couple Montana reps there. I mentioned to one of them at our blank tank indicator always shows it is full.

He recommended the next time we dump to super elevate the front of the Montana. He said the sensor are in the rear of the tank and this might clear any foreign matter stuck to the sensors.

 
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Old 01-19-2014, 02:35 PM   #2
jbcason
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Nest time you go out dump your tank before you head home. Put about 4 cups of laundry detergent and about 4 cups of bleach along with 10 or 15 gallons of water. When you get home empty the tank. That will serve two purposes. Clean your tank and sensors and your tank won't stink. Soft water helps the process also. If you don't have soft water put some calgon in it. Has worked for me a long time.
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Old 01-19-2014, 02:43 PM   #3
Mrs. CountryGuy
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With the history of the tanks breaking loose and cracking, I would prefer to not run with 10 to 15 gallons of liquid in any of the waste tanks. 2 to 4 gallons MAYBE, but never 10 to 15.

Your mileage may vary, as they say. Calgon works great, I use a bit of laundry detergent in the black tank, and nothing but Calgon in the two gray tanks.

If we raise the front of Tana that high I can guarantee you that the kitchen gray will not dump due to the almost level discharge lines. I guess we could raise, and then lower. Not that I see us doing that, us being a big lazy. But, I guess you could.
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Old 01-19-2014, 03:22 PM   #4
Art-n-Marge
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I'd be more concerned about raising my rig too high. My luck I'll overextend and bust something so I'd rather figure out how to clean the sensors using the tornado flush, or the other trickery mentioned above other than raising the rig. Please be careful if you try to raise the rig too high.
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Old 01-19-2014, 03:28 PM   #5
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What makes them think that will fix the job and not make it worse?
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Old 01-19-2014, 04:18 PM   #6
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I have been "cleaning" my tank on the way home like I described for many years. Sensor works and tank doesn't stink. I very rarely have to use any kind of chemical. Only if I don't drain for a week or so. I do use the flush system before I put in the detergent and bleach. When I drain at home pretty much just soapy water.
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Old 01-20-2014, 01:12 AM   #7
Phil P
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Hi

I never tried elevating the front of the trailer.

All of the above works.

The only thing I have to offer is to fill the tank full before dumping. You can do this by running the toilet until you can see the water in the bottom of the pipe to the tank.

Ours have worked well ever since I got the probes installed in the tank properly and stated using Calgon and Pine-Sol about half a container of Pin-Sol and 2 cups of Calgon after dumping and add about 10 gallons of water.

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Old 01-20-2014, 01:31 AM   #8
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After final dump before travel, put ice in tanks and enough water to allow the ice to move freely. Add whatever cleaning product you like. We use Happy Camper. Scrubs the tank well by the sloshing of the ice. Although in our new BS the gauges have worked perfectly well so far.
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Old 01-20-2014, 05:28 AM   #9
DonandBonnie
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We have found that all of the above works to some degree. We have learned to judge by use how often we need to dump. We dump the gray tanks on the average of twice a week and the black once a week. We don't wait until either gets full and certainly don't rely on the gauges. We periodically leave the black tank flush run for about a half hour. This does a pretty good job cleaning the tank. While it's true that you need a good quantity of water to cause the flow out of the tank, a more frequent dumping schedule will help keep contents from solidifying on the bottom of the tank. Last time we checked the black tank gauge was when we did the PDI at delivery.
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Old 01-20-2014, 08:10 AM   #10
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I'm assuming when you say "you run the black tank flush for 1/2 hour" you're at a campground with sewer hookup. If I did that at a campground dump station here in the midwest, I'd be knocked unconscious, my fiver would be ransacked, and my truck up on blocks being parted out all by other campers waiting to dump.
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Old 01-20-2014, 09:38 AM   #11
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I was not impressed with the crew at the Montana exhibit. When I asked for a brochure ( should not have to ask at a RV Show?!), they looked irritated and could not find one for me.
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Old 01-20-2014, 02:30 PM   #12
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The only solution to the gauges in Montanas working consistently is when Keystone puts high quality gauges in them.
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Old 01-20-2014, 04:49 PM   #13
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Quote:
quote:Originally posted by leemedic

I was at the Tampa RV show this past weekend and there were a couple Montana reps there.

He recommended the next time we dump to super elevate the front of the Montana.
I think this may be the "goofiest" advice I have ever heard on clearing out a black tank. It would be interesting to know if that salesperson actually owns an RV and if so, does he actually perform this procedure when emptying the black tank.
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Old 01-20-2014, 05:37 PM   #14
HamRad
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Water and more water. That's the way to keep your tanks relatively clear/clean. We only trusted our black tank meter one time. That was before we used it for the first time.
I've never heard of anyone giving advise to raise the front of the rig to help drain and keep tank clear. Just use more water. Sometimes the tank will read normal but most of the time it is stuck and never moves no matter how full or empty. We use the "sound" method to determine when the tank is getting full. So far that has worked great. Good luck. Dennis
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Old 01-20-2014, 05:51 PM   #15
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quote:Originally posted by HamRad

Water and more water. That's the way to keep your tanks relatively clear/clean. We only trusted our black tank meter one time. That was before we used it for the first time.
I've never heard of anyone giving advise to raise the front of the rig to help drain and keep tank clear. Just use more water. Sometimes the tank will read normal but most of the time it is stuck and never moves no matter how full or empty. We use the "sound" method to determine when the tank is getting full. So far that has worked great. Good luck. Dennis
What is the sound method, and how does it work?
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Old 01-21-2014, 03:06 AM   #16
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The little sensor on the tank cost $3.50. I would hope in the future someone would develop a better one . I bet everyone would be happy if it added $10.00 to the cost of your rv if you got something that actually worked without having to spend all that extra money for different soaps and cleaners and bags of ice and then take all the time to mix all this stuff up.
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Old 01-21-2014, 03:07 AM   #17
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I honestly don't think that the floating type of sensors in these tanks can withstand years of service. I have replaced the floats in some of my bigger boats over the years and they may work for several months but all end up failing.
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Old 01-28-2014, 04:19 PM   #18
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Agree with others that tank sensors work less than 1 year. Sound method on black is you can hear when washout water is hitting bottom. Every dump I flush 5 times then about every 3rd dump I close valve and fill with about 15-20 gals and dump. This has worked for 7 years with out 3400rl. Dave
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Old 01-29-2014, 12:30 AM   #19
Phil P
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Quote:
quote:Originally posted by 1retired06

I was not impressed with the crew at the Montana exhibit. When I asked for a brochure ( should not have to ask at a RV Show?!), they looked irritated and could not find one for me.
Hi

I have seen this attitude before!

Fortunately the companies some of them bigger than Thor Industries either don’t exist any longer, have downsized to almost non existents, or have been absorbed in to a company that was surviving well.

When the company personnel lose sight of whom the consumer is it indicates they are on their way out unless they get a CEO that turns things around like IHOP did.

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Old 01-29-2014, 02:07 AM   #20
richfaa
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the black tank indicator said 1/4 full the day we took delivery.the only gage that works is the fresh water sensor.
the gages on our 06 3400 were just as useless. It is a poor build quality issue that we just put up with. Since we are at full hooks 98% of the times we dump every two days or so and never worry about the tanks filling. Of course right now we do not have the use of the Galley and gray tanks on this 13 3402 as they both failed so we leave the handle open and dump directly into the sewer.
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