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Old 03-29-2021, 10:02 AM   #1
Gary and Buffy
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Black tank flush

I usually flush the tanks after a camping trip before I leave the campground.
I have been wondering if I should leave the black tank partially full so that it sloshes around while driving to the next campground. Thinking that may stir up the solids and create a better liquid to dump.
Does anyone do this and have you found it to be of benefit?

Thanks, Gary
 
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Old 03-29-2021, 10:16 AM   #2
ChuckS
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Nope. I don’t travel with stuff in black tank unless boom docking. Drain the tank and flus( and then if you want put about 15 gallons of fresh water in it and travel with it like that and then dump when you arrive at next hook up spot.. a squirt or two of dawn dish soap down the toilet with the fresh water in the tank will also agitate and clean it.
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Old 03-29-2021, 05:00 PM   #3
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We wouldn't do that either. We use Happy Camper and flush every time before we move.
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Old 03-29-2021, 05:06 PM   #4
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Ditto Chucks.
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Old 03-30-2021, 02:35 PM   #5
Cbrez
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I often flush the black tank the evening before we move, so yes there is a small amount of fluid in the tank when we travel. I don’t leave fluid in the tank because I think it helps scrub the tank. I just don’t want to mess with the sewer hose on the day of departure.

The thing I worry about is the weight of the tanks if they contain fluid. I can just see them falling through the coroplast on some of the crummy roads we drive. For that reason I travel with very little fresh water as well. Not sure how rational my concern is, but I agree with the others that empty is better.
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Old 03-30-2021, 02:46 PM   #6
Gary and Buffy
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Thank you for the replies.

I like the idea of flushing the tank and the adding some water to drive with.
Hope this a good year for all of us.
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Old 03-30-2021, 03:10 PM   #7
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I have a friend that dumps, flush and adds about five gallons of water and two cups of Epson salts - travel to new site: Dumps, flushes and water and happy camper - he indicated after about six trips it is starting to get very clear at the new site. Interesting thought.
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Old 04-07-2021, 01:21 PM   #8
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I'm with those above...... I dump / drain and flush out the black tank before I travel. Then I put just enough water back in with some tank cleaner to be able to use the toilet while enroute and to allow it to slosh around and disintegrate any remaining heavy solids and/or solids that remain on the sensors which always seem to register that my tank is half full when I know it isn't
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Old 04-07-2021, 01:59 PM   #9
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I use the microbiological black tank treatment (Unique brand available on Amazon). They tell you NOT to flush your black tank, just empty. If you flush, you flush out the microbes that are remaining in your tank. Add about 3 gallons back into tank, add a small amount of treatment back to tank and you’re done. This stuff will clean your tank, breaks down TP and solids in a matter of minutes. Cleans your sensors too. The microbes travel up the sides and top of your tank, and “clean” your tank top to bottom. Will eliminate any pyramids in 24 hours or less.
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Old 04-07-2021, 02:48 PM   #10
DutchmenSport
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I always dump my tanks, I also back flush the grey into the black every time I dump. It so automatic now, I don't even think about it. Now that we have a washing machine, the washing machine water in the grey tank, back flushing into the black tank add some nice laundry soap cleaning solution in the black tank now! Gotta love it!

When leaving the campsite, my tanks are empty. After dumping, I'll add 3 or 4 gallons of water to the black tank and a few squirts of Dawn. Driving down the road, this agitation of the water, pounds the inside of the tank, and really does clean thing up. I do this all the time too.

Unless it is absolutely impossible, we never travel with our black tank filled. Just think of all the splashing around going on in the tank, and all the splashing around hitting the top of the tank, that will NEVER get rinsed off in normal use. Flushing first, adding water, a little soap (dishwashing liquid, or laundry, either is good), and your tanks are always good!
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Old 04-07-2021, 04:15 PM   #11
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Wow I am surprised at the responses!

As a full-timer who moves pretty much every week, I ALWAYS keep my grey and black tanks about 1/4-1/3 full with clean water during our weekly moves. And, this past week I started adding Cascade detergent to the tanks to attempt to assist in the sensor cleanup (I saw it here in the owners forum at some point). I will post my findings when I get more results, but so far no negatives.

The sloshing does a world of good in getting remnants and solids into the slurry. As soon as I get to my destination and hook up, I dump the blacks and can see the results of the sloshing's hard work!

Especially if you are not moving frequently, I would totally recommend traveling with fresh water in your black and grey tanks. Loosen the s**t up!

I have only used my grey tank to back fill my black tank once: when there was a blockage in the black tank due to an unusual situation. A full grey tank, a closed wastegate at the exit, and a blocked black tank...open grey and black, and the pressure from the grey cleared the black blockage. Then, open the wastegate and all is empty.

Instead, and I think I posted this on this forum before, here is my MO...

I keep greys open and black closed all the time. Shower and dish clean as much as you like without thinking. Use lots of water when flushing the toilet. Then, once I determine that the black tank is getting full (sound change while flushing, a slight 'bubble' pop when initially flushing indicating that the vent tube opening is under water), I close the two grey tanks. I do dishes, take a shower or two, run a small load of laundry, to fill the grey tanks with the post black empty rinse liquid.

Once I have relatively clean grey tank liquid stored up, I go to town. I bring my foot rinsing and plant watering outside hose into the bathroom. Then, I open the blacks and make sure s**t is exiting, and go back to the toilet and open the hose up to the stream position, and stream away anything I can see inside under the flapper. Once I am satisfied that I did all I could in the visible world, I open the hose full throttle and pour it all into the black tank. Let that hose run!!! After a few minutes, you can see that the effluent going out the sewer hose is no longer brown, but is clear with the occasional piece of something. That is when I close the black tank and let it fill!

A few minutes of a high pressure fresh water hose filling the black tank creates all sorts of currents that loosen up all sorts of debris that was left behind. After 5-10 minutes or so (be careful...depending upon setup it could happen quickly) I decide that the black tank is full enough, and I dump it. I get to see the rewards of my labor by watching the sewer hose and seeing how brown its effluent is. If I still see a lot, I do that all again.

Once my active flushing is to my satisfaction, I shut off the hose, and let the system drain completely (which could take 10 minutes...trickling the final portion can get a little more s**t out). Then I blast the hose on again for a minute or so to get the stuff that settled out, and once everything is running clear, I close the black waste gate, letting a little fresh water seed the next batch.

If I were about to travel, that "little fresh water" would actually be about 1/3 tank. If not, I would add an enzymatic pod to the tank to let it wake up and start eating and have some fresh water to do that with.

With the black gate now closed, I will open both grey tanks (it is amazing to see how much black stuff 'back flows' into the grey tube, as shown at the initial opening of the grey valve which had no black stuff in its tank). The grey water flushes any stuff that remained in the sewer hose.

If I were about to travel, I do all of this the day before departure, and then disconnect my sewer hoses, clean them, and let them dry before storing them. I also partially fill the grey tanks by taking a shower or two and doing some dishes, and I started adding a large squirt of Cascade to the mix with the night before's normal activities.

So, when I travel, I have a black tank 1/3 full with fresh water plus the prior evening's and current morning's constitutionals, and the grey tanks have a few showers and dishes in them...all sloshing during the ride, ready to do their job when we get to our destination!

I think the full-open hose stuck in the toilet is the best thing that I added to my routine. Hooking up the hose to the "tank cleaning spray" input is useless in my opinion, as it takes 20-30 minutes to fill 40 gallons through that "sprayer". Not enough in my opinion to create eddys and currents that would loosen up the flotsam and jetsam left behind.

Thoughts??
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Old 04-07-2021, 04:21 PM   #12
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Oh, and I do Lysol all of the hoses etc. so things stay sanitary...
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Old 04-08-2021, 07:40 AM   #13
GreG L.
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I like it simple. I flush the black tank before departure until it runs clear. I put 30 seconds of water back in the tank and depart for the next destination. Hooking up and dumping, the black tank is dark again, meaning the sloshing has cleaned more of the tank. If I have a sensor issue I fill it more before departure and that clears it up. I haven't tried adding anything to the tank, but may try it.
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Old 04-08-2021, 07:57 AM   #14
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I have found that raising the front of the trailer makes cleaning the black tank easier. My tanks are flat on the bottom and drain to the rear. Adding slope also makes the job go quicker.
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Old 04-08-2021, 01:58 PM   #15
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An old trick if you are going from one campground to another, or a place you can dump, is to put a couple gallons of water in the black tank with a bag of ice and let it slosh around while you drive, that will break apart all the solids and help you to get a good clean flush when you get to a dump station. In any case, you should always keep at least a couple inches of water in the bottom of your black tank to keep things from solidifying and causing major issues!
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Old 04-09-2021, 11:44 AM   #16
shovelhead86
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mikelff View Post
I use the microbiological black tank treatment (Unique brand available on Amazon). They tell you NOT to flush your black tank, just empty. If you flush, you flush out the microbes that are remaining in your tank. Add about 3 gallons back into tank, add a small amount of treatment back to tank and you’re done. This stuff will clean your tank, breaks down TP and solids in a matter of minutes. Cleans your sensors too. The microbes travel up the sides and top of your tank, and “clean” your tank top to bottom. Will eliminate any pyramids in 24 hours or less.
What is the Brand name of this stuff. I am willing to give it a try.
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Old 04-09-2021, 04:17 PM   #17
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Originally Posted by shovelhead86 View Post
What is the Brand name of this stuff. I am willing to give it a try.
The brand name is "Unique". It is great stuff.

https://www.amazon.com/Unique-Digest...NsaWNrPXRydWU=
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Old 04-09-2021, 07:34 PM   #18
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I am not traveling and hard Hooked into a septic. I’m looking to do my first flush and see your suggestion on tipping backwards. Any other suggestions for someone who has never black tank flushed before? I’m scared to actually try it as we are unable to move our RV for the next several months. We got our 2017 Montana to live in while building a house. Hoping to travel next year after making all the mistakes now!!
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Old 04-10-2021, 06:02 PM   #19
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Originally Posted by kbowling View Post
I am not traveling and hard Hooked into a septic. I’m looking to do my first flush and see your suggestion on tipping backwards. Any other suggestions for someone who has never black tank flushed before? I’m scared to actually try it as we are unable to move our RV for the next several months. We got our 2017 Montana to live in while building a house. Hoping to travel next year after making all the mistakes now!!
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Make sure you don't put more than 50psi pressure on the black tank flush system. I read somewhere the plastic anti-siphon, backflow preventer valve (under the bathroom sink) is only rated for 50 psi.
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