Black water tank design?

[GOOFY]

We have a 2011 Salem Hemisphere 262RL.
It's our third RV, so I'm somewhat familiar with black/grey water draining issues. This tank seems so shallow that it is a constant situation of the solids stacking up to even causing the toilet tube to be clogged even if tank is not full. The tank will never completely drain without using the black water flush inlet AND using the wand.
Have any of you experienced this situation and do any of you have any tips?
We us the proper paper and use plenty of water when flushing.

[FrankMor]

The tank on our TT seems designed to cause problems. It is about 6" tall, our MH tank was about 2' tall. I never had problems with it. You have to use an outrageous amount of water to empty it, and it did not come with a tank rinse installed. I have not added one yet, it is on the list to do, next time it is on sale with cheap install! We have sealed bottom on trailer.

[B and B]

Hmm. Sorry to hear about the problems. I have a 6 inch tall tank in my Fiver and no issues ever or the dreaded poop hill forming. We do use enough water and often dump prior to being full after a weekend. Seldom do we get black flush privileges, i do put 5 galloons and laundry soap/softener solution and drive to camp dumping prior to parking. No real problems.

I would try slosh and clean while gong down the road.

[GOOFY]

Thanks for the feedback.
We have this RV set up permanently now. While RVing it was not such a problem because of the movement and flushing and using the wand after set up somewhere. My wife is really concerned that she would be unable to do more than pull/close the valve to drain when/if I become unable to do it. We are seniors.

[Jack350]

I have just flushed the black tank on my TT at full hook up sites and drove home with some water and chemicals in the tank and things were great. No bad smells ever and flushed the tank with a wand during winter prep.

Not the case with my FW. I tried the same approach with the new camper and things did not go well. After some bad smells, I hooked up the power hose flush and was amazed at what happened. Lots of solids and paper came out and it was obvious where the smell was coming from. Now I flush the black tank after each use and I am lucky to have a sewer hookup by the camper. I have no idea how I would handle this without a place to dump and a good water supply. I do not know of any other way to flush the tank other than what I am doing.

Are there any other ways to do this?

[Grampa Jim]

I don't want to sound like I'm talking down to you, but is your black water tank drain valve closed or are you running it open?

[Jack350]

`Thanks for the response. I always have my valves closed until I leave the campground or they are full. I guess my TT had a better drain pattern as compared to my current FW. I really do not see what the big difference is between the rvs I have owned.
I have had my current FW for two years and various TTs back to 1990. My post sounded like I still have my TT. Typing too fast.

Still welcome any other ideas. Thanks

[GOOFY]

Ok, I have an update on the "shallow" black water tank.
While winterizing, I cleaned the tank enough to measure just how shallow. 1 3/4 to 1 3/4 from bottom of pipe to bottom of tank !!
Must have been a disgruntled production worker or some unsupervised rookie.
Forest River was shocked when I called with this complaint. They told me to have it repaired and send them the bill.
Stay tuned

[Jack350]

How did you measure that? You must have a straight pipe to the black tank. Mine has a offset.

[FrankMor]

Ours is straight shot, no room for an off-set. My measurement may be off, I may have measured the coupling, not much light in there.

[GOOFY]

Ours is straight down to the tank. Easy to measure with the wand.

[GOOFY]

I'm wondering if I should just take up the toilet and pull up the pipe and cut it off?
Any fix from below would be a huge task.

[OldCoot]

Originally Posted by GOOFY

I'm wondering if I should just take up the toilet and pull up the pipe and cut it off?
Any fix from below would be a huge task.

Don't think you can pull the pipe if it is glued to the tank.

[GOOFY]

Ok, I was afraid that would be the case. Darn

[Evereddie]

Originally Posted by OldCoot

Don't think you can pull the pipe if it is glued to the tank.

Here's a thought. Get a grinding wheel, grinding stone, etc. or something similar that goes into a drill. Get a long drill bit extender long enough to place the grinding wheel below the end of the tube. Set your drill on high speed and put the grinding wheel below the end of the tube and pull up. Little by little you should be able to grind the end of the tube upward. The grindings will be flushable in the tank. Probably need several wheels as you grind them down. It sounds a little crazy but I bet it would work.

It will take a while but it is simple work compared to the alternatives.

Something like this but bigger that you can pull up on. Hopefully you can find something a little more aggressive than that wheel in the photo to speed things up.
http://www.holeproducts.com/userfile...ding_wheel.png

[Iwannacamp]

They make internal PVC cutters. It is a small saw blade on a spindle



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[Evereddie]

Originally Posted by Iwannacamp

They make internal PVC cutters. It is a small saw blade on a spindle
Attachment 90579


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I had thought of that too but what do you do with the piece that falls off into the tank when you cut it.


I think the direction both of us are going in is the solution. There has to be something you can do from the top without all the work of dissembling the tank and such.