Callling Blackwater Tank Experts

[blufrog1]

We have a '99 Travel Express which we use for week long trips each month during the Winter. We leave it in Yuma for the summer mid May thru Sept while it gets very hot. I told the wife I was considering filling the black water tank full and treating with happy camper to munch away at the tank sidewalls all summer and perhaps clean the sensors for a change. Her response "but what if all the water evaporates wont that leave an awful mess at the bottom of the tank?"


I can't see 45-50 gallons of water in an enclosed system evaporating, but like I said it does get hot here. I am wondering what the expert advice about this procedure would be - fill it completely and let it work or drain it completely?

[Scrapper]

Originally Posted by blufrog1

We have a '99 Travel Express which we use for week long trips each month during the Winter. We leave it in Yuma for the summer mid May thru Sept while it gets very hot. I told the wife I was considering filling the black water tank full and treating with happy camper to munch away at the tank sidewalls all summer and perhaps clean the sensors for a change. Her response "but what if all the water evaporates wont that leave an awful mess at the bottom of the tank?"


I can't see 45-50 gallons of water in an enclosed system evaporating, but like I said it does get hot here. I am wondering what the expert advice about this procedure would be - fill it completely and let it work or drain it completely?

Some evaporation will take place because of the tank vent which is usually on the roof, but I don't see why that much will evaporate. I'm not sure if you can close off the vent because the tank needs to breath during day/night temperature changes.

[Keystoner]

I'm assuming you intend to start with an empty tank then fill it with plain water and Happy Camper. Then at a later time you will drain it.

I don't understand the concern of evaporation. If all the water does evaporate and leave a mess on the bottom of the tank, then all the messy stuff was already in the tank, on the sides as you mentioned. So refill and drain again.

[blufrog1]

while we are away we leave 5 gallon buckets of water around inside our house to provide moisture in the house due to the dry and hot Yuma summers. When we return they are always empty, evaporated. They served their purpose but always have a salt residue from our hard water. Evaporation in the black tank would likely be less, hopefully much less but some of that hard salt residue is likely to settle out and it turns hard like concrete, and could potentially be problematic.

[AudiDudi]

We're in Casa Grande and do about the same thing you do. 2 5 gal buckets, but there is a guy that keeps water in them over the summer. I usually leave the tanks 1/3rd to 2/3rds full (black and grey) as I don't want the seals to dry out. There is always water in the tanks when we return.

[mnoland30]

Look up the GEO method. The Calgon water softner will help prevent hard water deposits on the side of your tank. You DO NOT want to close the vent. The vent on our houseboat clogged due to idiotic design, and the gases that formed inside bent some pretty hefty angle iron as it expanded the aluminum tank. All that said, I feel pretty confident that my tank is clean after a dump, so I just leave it empty.

[boogiejack75]

Originally Posted by blufrog1

We have a '99 Travel Express which we use for week long trips each month during the Winter. We leave it in Yuma for the summer mid May thru Sept while it gets very hot. I told the wife I was considering filling the black water tank full and treating with happy camper to munch away at the tank sidewalls all summer and perhaps clean the sensors for a change. Her response "but what if all the water evaporates wont that leave an awful mess at the bottom of the tank?"


I can't see 45-50 gallons of water in an enclosed system evaporating, but like I said it does get hot here. I am wondering what the expert advice about this procedure would be - fill it completely and let it work or drain it completely?

Go by periodically and add more water out of a five gallon tote.

[SSBS88]

We have a heritage glen with 2 black tanks - we hooked up the water to use the flush system - we could hear it running but water only came out of one of the valves - it wasn't very much water either. How do we make sure both tanks are flushed? Do we only open 1 valve at a time? Thanks