Black Tank Flush Plugged

[blightle]

Hoping to avoid a lengthy drive to a dealer. The black water flush on my new 2011 Georgetown appears to be blocked - never checked that when picking up the unit. I hook up the garden hose and turn it on and no water enters the black tank. Looked as far up behind the panel in the compartment with the garden hose connection and did not see any kinked hoses.

Any idea where the black tank sprayer is located on the black tank. I am hoping that I can unscrew a fitting or valve or something where it enters the black tank to see if something is plugging it. Any thoughts would be welcome.

[bad1032]

If i turn my hose up full pressure mine does the same thing , try less pressure and see it your works, mine will only work on half pressure for some reason

[cfsoistman]

Originally Posted by blightle

Hoping to avoid a lengthy drive to a dealer. The black water flush on my new 2011 Georgetown appears to be blocked - never checked that when picking up the unit. I hook up the garden hose and turn it on and no water enters the black tank. Looked as far up behind the panel in the compartment with the garden hose connection and did not see any kinked hoses.

Any idea where the black tank sprayer is located on the black tank. I am hoping that I can unscrew a fitting or valve or something where it enters the black tank to see if something is plugging it. Any thoughts would be welcome.

The sprayer is just attached to the tank. I would believe it's straight back from the hose you described. There are no check valves in that line either so when you disconnect the hose the water runs back out. Check the screen in the fitting for blockage. The fitting in the tank is just a plastic pipe with a bunch of holes drilled so the water sprays in different directions. There's not a lot to it unless the pipe wasn't drilled? You are using this after the tank has been emptied? Was your tank full the last time dumped? Maybe there's something that dried on the fitting and is blocking it?

[powerboatr]

i will second to much pressure
mine will not spin if i go wide open,
i think it to much friction to let the plastic piece turn
try slowly opening the water supply and listen to see if its making noise.
they do have a back-flow preventer installed so you know what wont run out by some chance.
sometimes it gets blocked by (solid) material.

you may have to pour some detergent or cleanser in the supply hose and try to use water pressure to force it through and let it soak
if not your going searching for the side where its located on the tank
on our fiver it was a BEAR to get the bottom panels out to get to it.
on the mh its a right behind a panel

[yvesm]

Hey my black water flush on my 2011 rockwood leaks behind the bath vanity(at the vaccum breaker) where the line comes in. Dealer told us there is nothing wrong with it even though it still leaks. But then again they told us that water pump not working is also normal (LOL). I might list them in the bad dealer area.

[NWJeeper]

Ours was the same way when we received our rig. Turns out that FR got a bad batch of check/vacuum breakers for those and they keep the water from flowing. Call FR and tell them you think the vacuum breaker is bad and to send a new one. Tell them you are perfectly capable of changing it out on your own and they shouldn't have a problem sending one. Ours was located in the cabinet where our washer/dryer should go in the bedroom. Once I changed that out the flush worked like it should.

We just got home from a trip and are unloading the rig but I will post a pick of the check/vacuum breaker valve here ASAP....

[NWJeeper]

Here is the photo of the black flush vacuum/check valve. It is the black box with the two pipes coming and going from it. You should find it in a closet inside the rig. I believe they try and keep them inside the heated space of the RV and at a level far above the black tank. I'd be willing to say with about 99% assurance this is the problem with your black flush system.

[blightle]

Bad1032 and powerboatr - thanks for the tip on too much pressure. I have only dumped the tank once (the RV is new) and I do remember thinking that the garden hose at the dump station had a tremendous amount of water pressure so that may be the issue. NWJeeper, if reducing the pressure does not solve the issue, I will look for the check valve.

Look forward to trying the flush system again on Friday when I go pick up the RV from storage.

Really appreciate the advice!

[NWJeeper]

Originally Posted by blightle

Bad1032 and powerboatr - thanks for the tip on too much pressure. I have only dumped the tank once (the RV is new) and I do remember thinking that the garden hose at the dump station had a tremendous amount of water pressure so that may be the issue. NWJeeper, if reducing the pressure does not solve the issue, I will look for the check valve.

Look forward to trying the flush system again on Friday when I go pick up the RV from storage.

Really appreciate the advice!

If the valve was working there is no such thing as "too much pressure" The vacuum breaker is a simple loose coil spring inside that valve which in fact if turned upside down should click back and forth so "too much pressure" isn't a valid reason for the system not working. Find the valve it has a flow arrow on it showing the line coming in from the side of the rig and the line going to the black tank. Blow on the output line to the black tank and I will bet you there is no resistance there. If you remove the valve and blow in the input there should be no resistance at all. Mine was bound right up therefore neither air or water would flow through it.

[blightle]

Mystery solved on my black tank flush. Kind of embarrassed to admit this. I had hooked up the hose 2 different times at my RV storage place and did not have any luck. I was getting a lot of water leaking around the connection where I screwed the hose on. I assumed that there was something blocked in my system and causing the water to spray out coupled with the fact that the hose did not really seem to screw all the way in (should have been my first clue).

Brought the rig to the house and proceeded to take things apart. Called Forest River and they said my check valve was behind the circular access port in the shower. Looked there and did not see anything. I then spent an hour or more searching and going through the painful process of removing the exterior panel the surrounds the hot water heater (the back of my black tank is located there and I assumed the black water sprayer entered the tank there - which by the way is correct). Once I located where the sprayer entered the tank I noticed that the hose went up inside of the wall. Seemed a little odd. To make a long story a little shorter, I have a 2011 Georgetown 350 and to the right of my refrigerator is a small pantry with 3 or 4 drawers at the bottom. Pull the top 2 drawers out (have to release the clips to get the drawers to pull out). Look back in there through the openings for the drawers and there is extra space way back in there and that is where the check valve is located. Mine was clear so I could see all of the springs, etc. Decided to hook up the water with my garden hose at home to see if the valve worked. Hooked it up and it worked perfectly. I determined that the end of the garden hose at my RV storage lot is messed up and actually was not allowing me to put enough pressure into the system to activate the valve (remember it was leaking around the garden hose end).

The downside to this story is that I probably wasted 1.5 - 2 hours trying to solve a problem that at the end of the day did not exist. Oh well, at least I know where the check valve is located in this particular unit and others will as well after reading this.

[ronhanson]

At least you know where the check valve is now! And thanks to you, I do also

[cfsoistman]

Ok I have 2 black tanks and 2 flush set-ups but I have no idea where any check valve is located. Any other 370 bath & a half owners located theirs?

[bad1032]

I have the clear valve on mine, if I turn the hose full blast it will not flow, if I do it half on it works perfectevery time