Wonderful thing ....if....

[stiles watson]

The internal wash system in the black tank is a wonderful thing if you don't let someone or something distract you while using it. My protocol is to dump the black tank and then turn on the wash. After a bit of washing, then I close the black water valve and let the tank fill a third or half and then empty again.

If you get distracted, the system is not forgiving. It will fill to overflowing. It is fortunate that I had a water vac and a fast mop along with a lot of disinfectant. It could have been messier. It could have been a disaster.

I generally follow a step by step check list when setting up. This time I mixed setting up protocols with the dumping procedures plus we had visitors at our arrival home base.

I was feeling really good that I had made the trip to Branson and back without incident. I have even backed into my spot quickly and straight as an arrow. Then splish splash. Lesson: stick to the plan.

[JH Sechelt]

Good point Stiles,

At my age time flies by.... minutes tick by before you know it..
Not a job you want to be distracted at.

J&D

[H. John Kohl]

Been there, done that, got the "T" shirt and as the Aussies say "and sold it". But this time it was like you and cleaned it up.
The distraction on any thing critical we do is the disaster.
That is why the little sign says always leave the valve open when using. But as we know it does not give a good "flush" that way.
Best of luck and safe towing.

[hookman]

I was told when I picked up my unit yesterday to leave the valve open. If you didn't and filled the tank and it bulged you developed a leak there is no warranty

[Ozzie]

Yuk!! My travelling companion wouldn't be very happy with that mess.
I can just imagine that getting to the carpet......just shoot me now and get it over with...

[adelmoll]

We've got the shirt too. Caught it before it hit the carpet but the whole kitchen got a good cleaning.

Same thing, someone came over and started talking and the next thing you know,,,,,,,,,,, Ugh.

Helen

[Wifeofdano]

Can't let my mind go there! Aghhh! We'd have to trade in for that new model!

[wileecoyote985]

Yup. Hasn't happened to me yet, but it easily could. Heck - I can distract myself - it doesn't take someone else. LOL

[stiles watson]

Just so some of you with too vivid an imagination won't be so grossed out, the water that backed up and overflowed was clear and without residue by this time. The quick use of a water vacuum and disinfectant cleaning left no residual odor. It was work that took 2 or 3 hours. The overflow went into the basement, so it, too, had to be vacuumed and thoroughly cleaned and disinfected along with the contents. Even if I could see nothing, it got washed and sprayed.

[sreigle]

Hookman, I assume you are talking about leaving the valve open when flushing the tank? Otherwise you want the valve closed on the black tank until it is ready to dump. Otherwise the solids will sit in the tank and solidify and eventually block the tank.

[txkrumm]

This very same thing happened to our neighbor last week...unfortunately I came out of the monty and said hello. Of course we started chatting and he forgot what he was doing...until his wife started yelling from the inside of their camper. Boy, I felt soooo bad! They spent the next couple of hours cleaning it up. Thank goodness for wet vacs!
t

[Steve and Brenda]

I guess there's two kinds of people, those who have backflushed their tanks and those that will eventually backflush their tanks...

I noted earlier that if you use a clear hose adapter (WalMart carries these) to flush out your hose and drain pipes after dumping you'll notice a "surge and dump" cycle as the black tank washer operates. I thought I was done washing out the tank and then again there was a surge of sewage so a rough rule of thumb in my Montana is to flush for 30 minutes while packing the rest of the rig for travel - ALWAYS LEAVING THE DUMP HANDLE OPEN.

[rrheik]

Had that experience once in my Wilderness 5er. Started to flush out the tank and got a cellphone call. A few minutes later was wondering what the sound of running water was on the roof. Fortunely the toilet seal was good and the water went up the air vent. After cleaning the rood and disinfecting the surronding area, I had learned a valuable lesson. Now the routine is empty the tank, have the DW flush the toilet about five times, and then flush the tank for a couple minutes with valve open, then close valve for 1 minute a couple of times while spraying the tank, and it works great. AND OF COURSE NO PHONE CALLS OR VISITING WITH THE NEIGHBORS DURING WASTE REMOVAL. But stuff happens, and so will wait, hopefully for a long time, for the next saga.

bob