toilet clogging issue

[ou1dadgumit]

been living in the camper full time for a couple months. long story but we were selling our house and lived in the camper. so pooping and showering were done in the house. now we are at the campground fulltime. it is a full hookup spot so I just left the sewer drain open. talked with a friend a couple weeks ago and he informed me that was a bad idea. he said drain it every 7 or so days. so I shut the valve. since then I have had the master toilet (yes my camper has 2) clog 3 times. Friday I left it clogged over night with the drain open after the plunger failing to do the trick. my wife tells me over the phone that it was working fine the next day. then Monday night it was clogged again. I tried the plunger again and it doesn't move anything. yesterday, noon, I opened the drain and by 9pm I could use the bathroom, but you could see the top of the water. BTW I tried flushing the black water tank and water goes in and comes out fine. so I believe the clog is between the toilet and tank. any suggestions? thanks in advance.

[Riccochet]

Use more water in the toilet when pooping. Sounds like not enough water to move the waste from the toilet, through the pipe to the tank.

And, yeah, depending on how big your black tank is you might want to flush it every 3-4 days. Wife and I have been living in our TT for the past 3 weeks due to being between houses as well. Our tank gets filled in about 4 days.

You can leave the gray tank valves open. I'll close the gray tank valve a day before I plan to flush the black tank. Flush black tank, rinse thoroughly until clear clean water comes out, then open the gray tank valve to flush the sewer hose.

[TomM]

Use more water in the toilet when pooping. Sounds like not enough water to move the waste from the toilet, through the pipe to the tank.

And, yeah, depending on how big your black tank is you might want to flush it every 3-4 days. Wife and I have been living in our TT for the past 3 weeks due to being between houses as well. Our tank gets filled in about 4 days.

You can leave the gray tank valves open. I'll close the gray tank valve a day before I plan to flush the black tank. Flush black tank, rinse thoroughly until clear clean water comes out, then open the gray tank valve to flush the sewer hose.

^^^ This ^^^^


Tom

[Bass AHolic]

#1 is to use camper specific toilet paper, not the Home Kind.. dissolves quicker.. get water hose for the black water use only, run it into camper to add water thru toilets to flush out the holding tank and lines, and may have to run it up into the outside sewer pipe. yea its gonna be a chitty job.. but once get them cleaned good. always keep tank with at least 1/2 full. use the camper specific paper. and dump when tanks 3/4 full, then fill with water and flush out system completely clean ever so often. a little dawn dish soap ( Not much) keeps the sensors clean too. do the grey water tank also.. they get stinky after awhile too

[Riccochet]

I also use a good black tank treatment. Thetford AquaKem. After the black tank is clean and empty I'll dump in 1 gallon of clean water through the toilet. Then I'll fill the toilet again and add 8-10 ounces of AquaKem. Use a toilet brush to clean the inside of the toilet bowl and flapper gasket and flush it down. Fill the toilet one more time and add 2 cups of Calgon Water Softener, the liquid kind. Mix in the bowl and flush it down. The water softener will help prevent water scaling in the tank and on the sensor. It also helps make the walls of the tank slippery so waste doesn't stick when you are flushing the tank.

[TightLip]

You cannot leave the black tank valve open all the time. If you do there is no water to remove the solid matter. With a black tank, the more water in the tank the better it removes stuff. As stated above, use a water hose down the toilet to break up the pyramid. Once you do this, depending on the size of your tank, add about 10-15 gallons of fresh water and keep the valve closed. I would suggest adding black tank chemicals to help break down everything. When you empty the tank, add more water. Keep in mind RV tanks are HOLDING tanks, not septic tanks. You can leave the grey tank open as there is usually not any solid matter in the grey tank.

[basscatlildave]

If you can tow it around put about 5 gallons of ice in it. The shaking of going down the road will help break thing loose and clean the sensors

[BigSexyPhoenix]

You need to put some of the chemical in it with some water and pull it around for a nice ride and let it knock some of that stuff loose. With the drain open constantly you have no water in your black tank and are basically creating a poop pile that will just fill up your tank and make it not work.

[Bamaman]

I agree with all that's been said.

I do keep my gray water valves open all the time, but if I anticipate doing a black water dump, I'll close the gray water valves and essentially fill up my gray water tanks.

When my black water tank gets 3/4 full or completely full, I'll do a big flush. Then, I hook up a secondary water hose to my water console and do a fresh water back flush of the black water tank. And then I'll open my gray water valve and dump the tanks to further clean out the hose.

I always run a Thedford powder black water tank treatment, and leave it was about 2 gallons of water after a complete flushout. I also have Calgon bath oil beads that slicks down the inside of the tank and the black water valve.

[okhawg]

If you can tow it around put about 5 gallons of ice in it. The shaking of going down the road will help break thing loose and clean the sensors

This is what I had to do, when a kid borrowed the camper and left the valve open. Like said above, the water runs off and leaves sludge. The longer the sludge is there, the more likely you will have to replace the tank.

[Red x21]

Use this to flush your tank. I flush my tank once a week and I leave the part hooked up at all times, just leave the valve open when done flushing. Open your black tank close the valve in the picture, hook your water hose up and turn on. It'll start filling at the valve then fill your whole pipe all the way to your tank. Time it about 8 mins then cut water off and pull valve in pic, flush a few times and will unclog if it it is clogged. $55 at Rv parts stores like stated keep black closed.

[dryhorn2]

You need to add a water softener on a 4 or 5 dump cycle after you get it clean. The water softener will slick your tank up and make dumping easier .