Newbie in Montana Mountaineer 356 Bathroom Stoppup

[fancherra]

My aft head is stopped up. My elder mother in-law has the habit of using gobs of toilet paper. The toilet is filled up the holding tank is full and will not dump. Will a plunger work, a snake? Need help.

Rick & Michelle

[jsmitfl]

You might try running a hose down in from the top and try and push it thru. Once you get it running good then try and move it around in the tank. If that don't work someone gets the nasty of pulling the tank. Good luck. Make grandma use the CG toilet.

[Sinterior]

Hi, try using Rid-X (available at Walmart) and be patient for a few days, it worked for me about 3 months ago.

[racerjoe]

here is my dumb question, is there a separate pull handle to dump it?

[Tom S.]

quote:Originally posted by racerjoe

here is my dumb question, is there a separate pull handle to dump it?

Yes. There are three handles: one for the grey water from the shower/bathroom sink, one for the grey water for the kitchen, and one just for the toilet.

[Art-n-Marge]

I am assuming you know you are using the black tank valve. The toilet dumps into the tank using a large pipe. The tank is where everything eventually sits. A plunger will not help since everything has probably already entered the tank since it is pretty much a gravity drop. A snake won't work from that point because the tank drain is located too far away to find a path to the drain for clearance.

The problem to solve is getting the paper dissolved since there is a good chance not enough water was used during the flushing. There is a tendency for guests not used to trailers to think that once the bowl contents have dropped, then there is no need to let more water down there unlike toilets with a water tank like in a stickhouse. Also, there are some brands of TP safe for tanks like this because the paper disintegrates easier than others, but there are many more brands that don't work well for this purpose. Paper at RV stores is overpriced so we use Scot. Hopefully someone else can recommend other brands that have passed the "paper dissolve" test.

In your case it sounds like so much paper has been used and maybe not enough water during a flush that the paper has not dissolved and has clogged the drain of the black tank when it tried to exit. The problem with using a snake on the drain side is that you will have a BIG (and mostly illegal) mess if the clog clears even if you are lucky enough to get the snake to the correct drain since the black and grey tank drains are all plumbed together.

Rid-X sounds like the best idea, but depending on how much paper and water is down there it will take a long time to get this dissolved and drained. If you have a Black Water back flush it could help with dissolving the paper - the bad news is it fills the tank if the drain is clogged. I do not envy the work you are about to do.

You may still have extra complications for mom-in-law if you send her to a CG facility (distance, bad weather, clearing clogs, hurt feelings that she is treated different). After her use in the RV, someone might have to flush the toilet to get more water down there and you might have to dump more often to prevent buildup using the backflush to get everything out of there.

We had my elderly Mom-in-law live with us years and reminding her of these types of things was a tough and sensitive chore. Fortunately, DW would try and explain things to her but this was only at the stickhouse. I wish you the best on your situation.

[CmdrDewey]

I am guessing you have a separate drain for that tank. Many of the rigs with the aft bath do. Look for a drain pipe under where the toilet is located and a handle somewhere near.

[H. John Kohl]

quote:Originally posted by fancherra

My aft head is stopped up. My elder mother in-law has the habit of using gobs of toilet paper. The toilet is filled up the holding tank is full and will not dump. Will a plunger work, a snake? Need help.

Rick & Michelle

When you say AFT head I take it you have two bathrooms or heads on your trailer.
If yes then there might be a aft black tank.

If you can not find it I suggest you call Keystone customer service and get the "straight scoop" from them.

Good luck and let us know what you find.

[fancherra]

Thank you to all who answered our request for your experienceincluding Mr. H. John Kohl, Cmdr Dewey, Art-N-Marge, Tom S., Racer Joe, Sinterior, and jsmitfl. It turns out that the dealer in my walk-through (and I freely admit that my family and I have never owned an RV before) failed to show me that there are indeed two separate valves for both the grey water dump and the black water dump for the two bathrooms. All of your shared experience and know-how helped me and my neighbor at the RV park ascertain that this was why the toilet was appearing to be stopped up when it was a wholly separate black water valve that exists to release this waste into the dump receptable. We have still warned my mother gently not to put gobs of anything into the toilets to avoid the very problem that you have each so comprehensively given us know-how. Thank you for assisting us in our learning curve. We really love our Montana but it is painful for adults (worse than kids we think) to learn a new way of life albeit it is a better way of life no question. If we can ever be of assistance to any of you please don't hesitate to ask.

[kmh3212]

Hint: Always start the camping weekend or trip by starting out with 2 or 3 gallons of water in the black tank to help break up the paper and waste. Use plenty of water on each flush as well.

[Mrs. CountryGuy]

More water, less paper!

(Maybe a sign near the toilet to remind everyone?? NAHHHH, that is beyond tacky! )

[sreigle]

Fancherra, don't feel bad or lonely. Many, many of us have had similar problems because we, too, were not told of all the dump tanks and valves and their locations.

That said, since you said you are new to rv's, may I suggest you do the "shake test" on your toilet paper. First, it is not necessary to spend lots of bucks for "RV toilet paper." You just need a paper that will pass the "shake test" and, also, the "touchy feely test." The one confirmed by your aft end. To do the shake test, take one sheet of the paper and put it in a jar. Fill half to two-thirds full of water, close the lid and shake the devil out of that jar. If that paper does not disintegrate immediately, do NOT use it in your RV.

There are several papers that work well. The one we like is Angel Soft double roll. I personally do not like the mega roll. It doesn't pass my touch test (also known as my "tail sensitivity test." But the double roll works well. There are other good papers out there, too.

Should you find that tank is plugged up by the paper, what we have done successfully is to attach a high pressure water nozzle to a hose, stick it down the toilet, and let it blast away. What has happened is this... the toilet tank is only a few inches deep. When the paper has not disintegrated it tends to build up directly below the toilet. This can also happen when a lot of paper is used (along with not enough water) and not enough time has passed for it to disintegrate before it blocks the downpipe from the toilet to the tank. Either way, this is known here as "the dreaded pyramid."

After you clear at least enough of the pyramid for waste to again flow into the tank it is not a bad idea to go to your rv dealer, or camping world, and buy some tissue digester. Use it EXACTLY as directed. It takes a few days but it does work.

Sorry so much info but maybe it will help you avoid problems. Just use a paper that passes the shake test and you should have little or no problems.

[jsmitfl]

Well thats great you got it figured out with no dirty work.

[DonPd]

Here is something that might help with keeping the tank clean. It helps break down the waste.

http://uniquemm.com/rv-digestit.html

[grampachet]

I unplugged my SIL SOB black tank blockage by cutting a slit in the stinky slinky and feeding a smaller diameter garden hose through the slit and up into the chocolate pyramid and was able to get things moving with very little to no mess to clean up. Not suggesting anything, just passing on what I did with good results.

[awaywego]

Fancherra

Did your dealer tell you to leave the valve closed on the black tanks until you are ready to dump? Open to dump and then close it back until it needs dumping.
You can leave the gray valves open when hooked to sewer. Just a thought.

[Jdrobone]

Water, water, water. You can't put too much - dumping is easy, cleanouts are not!
Every three of four empties, even with the internal cleanup having been run, I completely fill the tank with fresh water and then dump that. Guess what - it never fails to get out additional "stuff".
Jerry