Black water tank won’t drain

[snippitts]

For some reason the black water tank in our 2016 cedar creek fifth wheel won’t drain. Have filled it five times with a hose designed in the camper that goes directly into the black water tank. The tank is registering empty. Only a trickle comes out . Where is this water going!

[doc73]

Lots of questions to look at..

Is this a new to you camper? If so does it have more than one tank and valve? I have 2 blacks on my trailer and two separate valves.

Also can you see the valves or are they enclosed (could have com unconnected to the handles).

Can you seen the water down the toilet hole? I am guess you'd see by now if the tank was leaking into the underbelly

Finally tank sensors do not have the best track record of accuracy.

[doc73]

On re-read.. Thisn"hose" you are using is it the black tank flush? The end is probably clocked and you think it is filling up the tank but the water is not even leaving the end possibly. Put water down the toilet side and see if anything comes out. Mine flush had been clocked since the first few months and does not flow water at all.

[snippitts]

We bought it new never had this problem, only 1 black water tank. Enclosed valve. The water is running in the hose, can feel it. Where is the water going?

[upflying]

If you have owned this 5th wheel since new and the black water waste system worked fine before, I would conclude you have a clog.
Are you leaving the black water gate valve closed while at a full hookup campsite? Are you draining the black tank only when it is full or substantially so? Are you using tissue that dissolves? Are you draining the black water after the contents has been agitated after towing? If not, you risk creating the dreaded pyramid others seems to mention in the forum.
Depending on the RV dump station design, I sometimes raise the right side of the trailer to use gravity at its fullest to help drain the tanks completely.

[snippitts]

We do all of that!

[upflying]

Originally Posted by snippitts

We do all of that!

Do you have any children who could have dropped a toy into the tank?

[snippitts]

No children. Our big concern is where is all the water going!

[nomad297]

If you have filled the tank five times, you have also drained it at least four times.

When you filled the tank to where you could see it rising up to the toilet, did you immediately go outside and open the black water drain valve to see if you get the volume of water you should when you open the valve? Or, did you wait and do this later? Have you considered the possibility that your black water dump valve isn’t closing all of the way and the water is draining out slowly?

Bruce

[TheWolfPaq82]

Sorry, but I'm fuzzy on this "Filled 5 times, but don't know where water is going" ?? I'm missing something here.

[hinkle_e]

Sounds like your black tank gate may be stuck open. Water's going in and right out. How are you determining that it's 'filled'? Flow meter? If you have a clear elbow then watch for flow when you're filling. The 150 gallons of water couldnt have just disappeared.

[BandJCarm]

Me too. I have similar model. First, can you tell us how you know it was 'filled' five times??? Did you see water level that high from the toilet?


The black flush is going directly to the black tank, if that is the 'hose' you are talking about. What water source are you connecting to the black tank flush connection??


When you use the black tank flush, are you leaving the dump valve open? If so, do you see water coming out? The black tank flush actually doesn't have a ton of flow to it inside, takes quite a while to fill it with that.


Also, the "tank is registering empty".........I assume you mean the idiot lights inside? I'd ignore them. They are generally useless.

[emm-dee]

Originally Posted by doc73

................Mine flush had been clocked since the first few months and does not flow water at all.

Doc, there’s an easy fix for that. See the recent thread.

http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...rn-189905.html

[snippitts]

We cannot see into the toilet to the tank. There is a plate blocking the view. The dump valve is closing all the way. We are now filling from inside and it is starting to register. Which leads us to believe the water from the hose was not filling the tank for some unknown reason . The hose is the black tank flush
So could the water have gone into the belly and soaked the insulation? Mold??

[Kimber45]

if water was going into your underbelly you would know it, because it would pe pouring out

[martinto]

Originally Posted by snippitts

For some reason the black water tank in our 2016 cedar creek fifth wheel won’t drain. Have filled it five times with a hose designed in the camper that goes directly into the black water tank. The tank is registering empty. Only a trickle comes out . Where is this water going!

You state you filled 5 times with little coming out the BW drain pipe...so if you have a 30 to 40 gallon black tank...that would suggest 150 gallons + going somewhere. That amount of water would have backed up through the toilet. Could it be going in the grey water tank? Lucky that hasn’t happened! I would forego the black water rinse feature and run 5 or so gallons through the toilet and the open the BW drain valve. If nothing...get a clear elbow with hose hook up to back flush through the BW drain pipe. This is a strange one indeed.

[nomad297]

Originally Posted by snippitts

We cannot see into the toilet to the tank. There is a plate blocking the view. The dump valve is closing all the way. We are now filling from inside and it is starting to register. Which leads us to believe the water from the hose was not filling the tank for some unknown reason . The hose is the black tank flush
So could the water have gone into the belly and soaked the insulation? Mold??

You don’t need to see into the tank. Just wait until the water gets high enough to where you see it the bottom of your toilet.

The belly cant hold that much water. You would see it coming out with just a very small amount of water.

Bruce

[snippitts]

Exactly our thoughts! Filled from inside and just drained out perfectly, it’s a mystery where all the other water went! All our tanks are empty!
Thanks for all the feedback, l love this forum!

[BandJCarm]

I had a 3 year black tank leak (see pic) because the dump tube was plumbed improperly where it comes out of the black tank. But I've never heard of anyone else having that issue.....but it is clearly possible. But that means it would leak from black tank discharge into the insulation and belly pan. See pic of that too. And there's no doubt you'd know it.......that'd stink to high heaven.


I'm thinking there may be some obstruction or mis-connection before the black tank flush port. What are you connecting to it? A separate garden hose? If so, are you SURE that water is coming out of that hose? I just connect to city water, then connect my outside shower hose directly to the black tank flush port. I never use it for anything else. I also run the black tank WHILE I AM STANDING THERE with the black dump valve closed.


The only other thing is to make sure both gray tanks are dumped. I'd dump them first (not the normal way, I know) to make sure they were empty. Then I'd flush black tank. Then I'd open gray tanks again to see if water somehow got in there.

That much water has to go somewhere......if indeed it filled 5 times. Maybe you just thought it was filled somehow???


Some of these things.......I wish I could stand there and watch your procedure.....then I'd know.


Let us know.

[snippitts]

The black tank flush is part of the camper. Hose is connected to it. You can feel and hear the water coming out of it. That’s why we can’t figure where all the water went