Need advice on a couple of upgrades

[importman]

Hello all, I have an 06 336RLT that I just placed on a permanent site to use as a vacation home. I have a few things I'd like to do to it but I have questions that hopefully someone here can help me with. First, mine didn't come with the hose beside the toilet to use in cleaning out the toilet/black water tank and I'd like to add one. I suspect I've got a little poop pyramid that occasionally causes the water to back up into the downpipe. Can anyone tell me what's involved in cutting into the lines for the toilet to add this? Also, while on the subject does anyone have a good cure for the poop pyramid? I have one of those cleaning units that's like a hose with a spinning fitting on the end of it. I have used it when the tank was backing up into the downpipe and it quickly opens it up but I'm not sure it's getting all the way into the tank because my downpipe is curved and the hose has a long straight solid piece on it that won't go around the curve. I've thought about dumping the tank and filling it with relatively clean water when we're leaving to go home in the hopes that over time the water will soften up the pile and make it begin to flush out. Not sure if that will help. Any other ideas on this would be greatly appreciated. Next, the campground we're located in does not have cable and the antenna is only getting 6 channels. I'm okay with that except that about half the time the channels cut in an out with that scrambled look you get with digital signals. I see they offer a digital antenna to add on to the regular one and I was wondering if anyone has any experience with them. Do they help and and are they worth the money? Also, the brand I'm looking at is Winegard. Is this a good one or can anyone recommend a better one that works fairly well? I'm sure I'll have more questions as they arise but for now thanks in advance to anyone that can help with either of these. It's much appreciated.

[Mikendebbie]

1. The spray head comes built in with a Dometic 320 RV toilet. I bought mine online from PPL RV Supplies (PPL Motorhomes in Houston??) for about $210 delivered. I would not try to add a spray head and hose to a Thetford toilet.
My observation of the spray head is that it does not produce enough "power" to dislodge a poop pyramid - not like the swizzel stick that you stick down in there. I would guess that the only way to prevent the pyramid is to have some liquid in the tank so that things don't build up in one spot.
I always flush all the tanks out real good before traveling, and maybe leave a small amount of water to slosh - but not much. All of the stories of tanks splitting and needing reinforcement to be held up in place properly leaves me to think that I do not want the water weight on the tanks while in motion and letting the water bang around. Basically I try to travel nearly empty. I have no scientific proof that weight in motion is worse than the dead weight of water while stationary - I just don't want to stress the tanks if possible.

2. What year model is your rig? I think the antennas they have been putting on these things for the past ??xx years IS a digital antenna. The one on my 2018 is...

[dhuhn]

They make the cleaning stick with a flexible pipe on it so you can go around the curves in your drain.

[rohrmann]

You might go on this site. They have suggestions on cleaning a tank that is plugged up, in addition to various supplies they sell. I use their biological in our tank and have had great results. http://tanktechsrx.com/

[mtheo]

This maybe just my thing, but if you use plenty of water when you use the toilet you won't have the problem of the pyramid. Also I alway add at least 5 gallons to black tank along with chemicals after dumping and hitting the road. The motion of driving will break everything loose.

[importman]

Thanks for the reply. I guess I misspoke about what I'd really like to have at the toilet. I'd like to have a short hose that I could attach the flush tool to for breaking up clogs and/or flushing the tank. After looking I agree that the hose that comes with some won't work for that. As far as the antenna, my unit is an 06 model so I don't know if it has digital or analog. Thanks again.

[importman]

Hey, thanks for the reply. My tool has about 2 ft of flexible hose connected to a straight solid piece. The flex part goes around the curve but I'm still not sure it's getting all the way into the tank. Seems like the pipe goes pretty far down in there. Thanks again

[importman]

Thank you for the reply and the link. I took a brief look but I'm going to go back and check it out further. Looks promising from what I saw. Thanks again

[importman]

Thank you for your reply. I totally agree about using generous amounts of water when flushing the toilet. My problem is that my elderly mother lived in this camper for the last three years until she passed away. Although I advised her to, I don't think she always remembered to do that. Plus whatever solution I come up with to clear out the pyramid it won't involve moving the camper. As I said it's now on a permanent site. Thankfully it works well most of the time and only occasionally clogs up. So I can take a gradual approach to clearing it out. Thank you again for taking the time to reply.

[Ram Montana High Country]

If you are on a septic system, might try your idea of leaving tank full of water with using the product Rohrmann suggested. In addition, have more than 10 gallons in the tank b4 hand should help prevent build up.

[jking]

Also, and it hasn’t been mentioned, you need to be sure your NOT leaving the black tank valve open so your liquids just drain away. You keep it closed until dump time, open , flush, close, add couple gallons of water and chemical and start again. Every time!

[importman]

I think that's what I'm gonna do. I'll order the stuff and when we leave the campground to go home I'll probably try to get it a little over half full; (try to make sure the pyramid is covered but not fill it full and dilute the chemical too much). Thank you for your reply.

[importman]

Yeah, I always keep it closed until it's time to dump then I fill it as full as possible and try to flush out as much as possible. Thanks for the reply.

[Carl n Susan]

Originally Posted by importman

I think that's what I'm gonna do. I'll order the stuff and when we leave the campground to go home I'll probably try to get it a little over half full; (try to make sure the pyramid is covered but not fill it full and dilute the chemical too much). Thank you for your reply.

That Tank Tech RX stuff is really good. As I recall, the instructions for a pyramid say to fill the tank and then and add an appropriate (something like 4 or 8 oz.) amount to the tank. No worries about diluting it. Leave it be for a while and it will do the job.

[importman]

I'm gonna go ahead and order some. I hope the lady at the campground will allow me to have it shipped there because we're leaving tomorrow to go there for a week. And I'd really like to be able to treat it when we leave to come back home because it will likely be about a month before we go back. That should give it plenty of time to work. Thank you for taking the time to reply.

[DmaxDually]

When I was replacing my toilet I was also thing of getting one with the spay nozzle. I talking with several RV's who had them and removed them because they all said they leaked after a while and they had no real use for them..So decided not to get one.

[footz1941]

If it will be sitting for a while Ridex works great. No need to get R V Riddex. Same thing as original just more expensive

[Ram Montana High Country]

Originally Posted by DmaxDually

When I was replacing my toilet I was also thing of getting one with the spay nozzle. I talking with several RV's who had them and removed them because they all said they leaked after a while and they had no real use for them..So decided not to get one.

Will shower head reach? I use that and holding foot valve open to partially fill tank after dumping

[Rondo]

The only way to clear that pyramid is to let it soak and have bacteria eat away at it. Rid-X or another good septic tank product will work but it may take a few sessions to break up the pyramid. Fill the tank about half full add the Rid-X through the toilet and add another couple toiletfuls of water. Let it set and dump your tank when you come back the next time. As I said this may have to be done several times IF you have a large pyramid built up. I use Happy Camper additive and they also make a stronger product just for what you are wanting. The Rid-X will be cheaper by far however. I have a pull handle valve at the end of my sewer outlet and it stops from having accidents when the cap is taken off and one of the tank valves leak. I also have a clear 45 degree elbow with an attachment on it that I can screw a hose into and rinse the tank from the opposite direction. You leave the black tank valve open after draining the tank then turn on the water to the attachment and blow water back into the tank from the valve end for about 5-7 minutes, shut it off and let it drain. It is surprising how much gunk you get out of the tank by cleaning it that way. If I'm still getting cloudy water, I repeat the process until the water is running clear. This has to be done once you get the pyramid cleared but it will help clear the pyramid also. If I can get the part number for the clear elbow I'll repost it on this post at the end.

[Texan]

After installing chemicals in tank and flushing them out you can use flexible swivel stick in toilet that hooks up to water hose and has two heads on it that spins around to clean out tank. This fits thru the off-set in the toilet to the bottom and should finish cleaning up the toilet. This is item #15716 for 18.97 at Camping World. You can then install the Valterra hydro flush with 45 degree item #14496 for 25.99 at Camping World and leave it on your rv since you are staying put. Use this as Rondo said and hopefully you won't have any more problems. As many have said use plenty of water. Good luck.