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Old 05-22-2018, 07:02 PM   #1
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Easiest way to dump and clean out the black water tank

I have a 2018 HW277 and I'm looking for suggestions on the easiest way to dump and clear out the black water tank without having to, pretty much, set up the camper.

I'd like to use a water wand to flush out the tank by sticking it into the tank through the toilet but that would appear to require that I:
- set up the hardwall shower surround, which requires that I
- pull out the rear bed and raise the roof
- and probably pullout the front bed so I can reach the shower surround
- and even the dinette for the same reason...
I might as well be camping at the dump station!

There has to be an easier way. Or do folks just save that exercise for their last camping trip of the season?

Thanks,
Ken
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Old 05-22-2018, 09:29 PM   #2
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We do full clean out when we camp with full hook up and at the end of the season.
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Old 05-22-2018, 10:17 PM   #3
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x2 Spending the money for getting a full hookup site at the end of the season is well worth it.

It's pretty hard to get a good cleaning when you are at a dump station. The best you can do is fill up the black and grey water tank to get a good flush. (Dump the black water first, of course.)

People don't want to spend a lot of time waiting in line for the dump station.
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Old 05-22-2018, 10:52 PM   #4
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As a previous user of the wand, it's a joke and a waste of your time. Test it out on a garden hose before you need it and you'll see what I mean. Totally weak. I even plugged one of the 2 nozzles and it was still garbage.
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Old 05-23-2018, 01:05 PM   #5
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I swear by the Flush King . . . works great!

https://www.amazon.com/Valterra-F02-...rv+flush+valve
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Old 05-23-2018, 01:32 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by khackbarth View Post
I have a 2018 HW277 and I'm looking for suggestions on the easiest way to dump and clear out the black water tank without having to, pretty much, set up the camper.

I'd like to use a water wand to flush out the tank by sticking it into the tank through the toilet but that would appear to require that I:
- set up the hardwall shower surround, which requires that I
- pull out the rear bed and raise the roof
- and probably pullout the front bed so I can reach the shower surround
- and even the dinette for the same reason...
I might as well be camping at the dump station!

There has to be an easier way. Or do folks just save that exercise for their last camping trip of the season?

Thanks,
Ken
We do a thorough cleaning after each trip, regardless of duration. But to make that easy, we use the Geo Method (find it on this forum or Google it) that combines detergent, water softener and chlorine bleach to keep the tank from getting ahead of you. Fortunately, we have a septic system at home and a way to dump into it from a slope tilted toward the outlet, thus getting gravity on our side. When at a dump station, we use the little plastic trailer levelers to lift the side opposite the outlet to accomplish the same advantage. Yes, it takes a few minutes longer at the dump station, but if you dump mid-day or in the evening instead of the morning, there is usually less traffic backed up. Hope this helps.
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Old 05-23-2018, 01:46 PM   #7
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I'm not familiar with pop ups, but assuming you have a standard black tank and not, say, a cassette type toliet, then you can try using a combination of one of these:


https://www.amazon.com/Valterra-T58-...words=valterra

and one of these:


https://www.amazon.com/Valterra-F02-...words=valterra

Put them:

Black Tank -> Flush Elbow -> Twist on Valve -> Sewer Hose

Close the twist on valve, back-fill the tank through the flush elbow (keep an eye on your capacity) and then open the twist on valve to dump. repeat as necessary until it's clean.

But, this is something I wouldn't do at a dump station. Typically, dump stations have their own etiquette rules of dump and move on. If there's people in line behind you you don't want to be 'that guy' who's holding up the line. When doing the dump station thing, maybe just add water to ensure tank is full before breaking down, then let 'r rip at the dump station.

At a full hookup site, or if you're the only one at the dump station, you can do the whole dump/fill/dump thing.

And I fully agree about doing the end of season at a full hookup. We do this every year to ensure everything gets a good clean up, then it gets it's lines blown out, systems bypassed, antifreeze pumped, and it's away home we go after all that. (Need to make sure they're ok with the late checkouts for these too.)
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Old 05-23-2018, 01:46 PM   #8
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re

Flush King works great. I fill my tank right up to the neck of the bowl 2 or 3 times before I leave campground and I do 4 stops evry time we go out and although the tank is flushed and cleand I still can't get less than 3 lights.
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Old 05-23-2018, 01:55 PM   #9
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The sewer port flushers can do a good job provided the entry pipe into the black tank is fairly straight back into the tank. If not, all the elbows and pipe make them less than useful. They simply become "tank fill devices" at that point.

You could always add a tank flush system to your black tank and then you would not have to open up your camper to use it.

Tornado Tank Rinser

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Old 05-23-2018, 04:21 PM   #10
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Why don't you just stick an old hose through the window with an assistant and flush it out like that once in awhile, and we did that and the stuck on 3 lights problem was solved. Temporarily LOL
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Old 05-23-2018, 04:24 PM   #11
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and that is the main reason we did not use the toilet in our HW277 (or the shower either - the bathroom made a great closet we had the dealer hang a second hanging closet in there ). We always camped at campgrounds with facilities and we would use them. That and the fact that the grey and black tanks are small (12 gallons each).

I would vote for installing a tank rinser like 5picker showed you -if you don't go that route - you may want to consider using a tote.




we used a tote for dumping the grey tank and probably would have used it for the black if we had gone that route. just dump into the tote, rinse with the wand and then take the tote to the dump station. (We always used the tote as our grey tank anyway - even weekends because the grey tank was way too small, I guess we used too much water). The tote handle loops over the ball hitch on the tow vehicle and you just drag it to the station (slowly that is).
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Old 05-23-2018, 07:52 PM   #12
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I agree pop ups are a pain for draining the tanks. I have a HW296. I use a 36 gallon tote along drain tank. So with a 12 gallon black tank I can drain it, fill and flush it, and then drain the grey tank. I then pull that to the dump station and empty it. Then I can pack up the camper and leave with clean tanks. It is not ideal, but it beats setting up the camper to drain the tanks.

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Old 05-24-2018, 07:22 PM   #13
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Do you have an HW277 or at least a black water tank with a 90 degree angle at the end of the pipe? I think I've read that these "hydroflush" attachments only work if the pipe leads directly into the tank so the water can shoot directly into the tank...
Ken
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Old 05-26-2018, 11:55 AM   #14
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The "Camco 40126 Tornado Rotary Tank Rinser with Hose" looks like a very interesting solution! Has anyone tried it on a FR tent camper?
Ken
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Old 05-29-2018, 09:00 AM   #15
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Such a nice solution - if

Quote:
Originally Posted by 5picker View Post
The sewer port flushers can do a good job provided the entry pipe into the black tank is fairly straight back into the tank. If not, all the elbows and pipe make them less than useful. They simply become "tank fill devices" at that point.

You could always add a tank flush system to your black tank and then you would not have to open up your camper to use it.

Tornado Tank Rinser

If this thing works as described, this is the ultimate solution for black water tanks on pop-ups. I went ahead and purchased one from Amazon for about $25. Then I scoped out my BW tank... No way to access the tank from the outside. It sits above the plywood sheet which sits above the trailer frame. I'm going to hang onto it anyway. There may be a way to access the tank from inside the camper (a Rockwood HW277). If you've already solved this one, please let me know what you did.

Thanks,
Ken
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Old 06-10-2018, 11:22 AM   #16
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works like a charm

I just wanted to follow up on this question - that I originally posed.

Based on a suggestion here I went ahead and purchased a "Camco 40126 Tornado Rotary Tank Rinser with Hose". It turns out that there's a access panel near the back bed for servicing the tank level terminals on the black tank (see picture). I opened that panel and had easy access to the side of the tank opposite the outlet pipe (which is exactly where Camco wants you to mount the rinser). I drilled a hole in the floor (1/2 inch with some additional reaming to make it easier to push the hose through) (see picture). Drilling for and mounting the rinser was straight forward using the template they provide (see picture). The hardest part was drilling the camper frame to mount the inlet port for the hose - but not all that difficult, it's just hard to keep the drill oiled upside down (see picture). I also picked up a "Camco 40143 RV Plastic Water Pressure Regulator - Lead Free" because the rinser has a preferred water pressure range and I couldn't guarantee what I would be getting at the dump station and I added a quick connector just to make things run as smoothly as possible (see picture). Finally I added a "Camco Sewer Hose Adapter - Attaches to RV Outlet Connection, Extends connection for Easier Hookup- Transparent Adapter Allows You to View When Tank is Cleared - 3.5" (39562)" so I could verify that the rinser was working as advertised (not pictured ).

Just got back from camping and dumping/rinsing the black water tank went very smoothly. Yes, I could see through the transparent connector that the water eventually ran completely clear.

I'm considering doing the same thing with the grey water tank. The total cost of components is about $43.

Thanks again for everyone's suggestions! I no longer have to set up my camper at the dump station!

Ken

P.S. for folks with the 3-lights problem, the spray pattern for the rinser should directly spray the sensor terminals and may ensure that the terminals get properly cleaned.
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Old 06-13-2018, 10:52 PM   #17
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Because there are two grey water tanks, connected by a common drain, it's really impractical to use this solution for the grey water tank(s).
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Old 06-13-2018, 11:06 PM   #18
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I would be looking at a way to seal up the OSB wood that I noticed in the image of your water hookup you posted. That stuff swells up when it gets wet.
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Old 06-15-2018, 08:58 AM   #19
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Are you thinking that it would get wet from above or below? If from below, that wood is exposed along the entire underside of the camper.
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Old 06-15-2018, 07:58 PM   #20
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Are you thinking that it would get wet from above or below? If from below, that wood is exposed along the entire underside of the camper.
Yes I would be concerned about it getting wet, mostly from driving in the rain.
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