Cleaning holding tanks

[Montana_1949]

As winter approaches and some of us put our toys down for several months, we arew looking to clean our holding tanks. The black water tank is easy but the gray water tank is not so accessable. Any suggestions and products out there we can use?

Bill,

B-Z riders

[BigBlue]

Bill

We've gone through one winter of storage and didn't really do anything but drain the tanks and add about half of the recommended dose of the black tank chemical along with a little water. No odor the following spring.

[sreigle]

We never did anything with the gray tanks, either, other than drain them. When winterizing with antifreeze I just left whatever antifreeze went into the tanks in there. Never had any odor problems.

[CountryGuy]

Our experience is that heat breeds odor, cold weather, the stuff we winterize for, freezes everything, including the odors.

Gray tanks drain well, fresh water, of course drain well, black tank drain well, and sometimes we put that chemical in and sometimes we do not. Usually NOT.

That said, we usually try to really rinse all the tanks really well before winterizing process begins. Great to stay at a full service campground, fill the tanks, drain, fill again, drain, you get the story!

[NJ Hillbilly]

Adding water softener( either powdered or liquid) to the holding tanks and filling them to the top has gotten all of our tanke pretty clean. The soft water is slick and keeps stuff from sticking. I flushed my tanks a few times and then did the fill and softener, I let things sit a few days and a lot of junk came out of tanks that I thought were clean.

If You don't completely drain them pour some antifreeze in. Don't forget to pour some down each drain and blow out the black tank flush so there's no water left in it to freeze.


John

[kdeiss]

I flush tanks many times and leave valves open and put screen over outlet to let air in and varmits out.

[Montana_1949]

John,
Thanks for the water softner idea. I had come to the conclusion that I was going to fill the tanks with soap and water plus a little clorax and let it slosh around in there while we drive out to our favorite camp area that is close to home here in the Rockies. We can dump at the dump station and then set up camp with clean tanks. The slippery water idea is a great addition , or even a simpler solution.
We hope to get in at least 2 or 3 more outings this year, Fall is the best.

Thanks,
Bill

[kdeiss]

B-Z Rider I have herd Clorax is bad for the seals on the valves.I use TST holding tank Chemical it has a lubricant this keeps the tank and the the seals slick.We use the granular formula.

[Montana_1949]

Ken& Ginny

Thanks for the clorax tip, you are right. Today I was reading Trailer Life and it was mentioned that it would harm the seals. So Iwill go the mild route with Johns water softener tip and some mild detergent.

Thanks for the caution,

B-Z Riders