Black tank issues

[Hawlguy]

Couldn’t find recent posts on this, so be patient with me. Ok, bought used 2017 3456 a few months ago and all was good for first few weeks. Now black tank burbs and gets clogged when trying to flush small amount of very thin toilet paper. Still burbs when flushing without paper, but drains fine. And can empty/flush tank with no problem. Have snaked the vent pipe from roof and couldn’t detect any blockage. However a couple of times I have noticed small drip from bottom of underbelly cover below where black tank is located. When it does clog I can run a smaller snake down toilet (without making a mess) and get it to drain into tank. Assume it is vent, but cutting underbelly to inspect is difficult with my physical limitations. I did see a clean out plug/piping in top of my pass thru storage compartment. Could this be a good next try to clean vent option?

[aceinspp]

See your new to the forum. Welcome. Would help if you pit your camper name and type in signature. That way we know about your camper. What type of dump handle o you have? A straight rod type or is it a cable type pull. If its cable its possible you bend the cable causing the valve to not open all the way and allowing to clog. I had this issue hand had to rake back to dealer to replace. Just another idea from what you have tried so far. Later RJD

[Hawlguy]

I have rod type dump valve. But that’s not the issue. The tank dumps and flush system works great. The problem is burping/ clogged toilet.

[NJBreeze]

Not terribly clear on what the problem is. What is burb?

Is the tank not flushing?

Is the toilet clogged?

The vent is just a vent so not seeing how that is supposed to hurt water flow unless it creates enough suction to hold back the weight of water which is really heavy.

Fill the tank with a hose right down the toilet but don't let it overflow!!Leave it for a few days, flush it, repeat. People don't take good care of their tanks and in my case some knucklehead wife or kid sometimes manage to throw a paper towel down the toilet.

[Hawlguy]

All your questions are answered in my original post. Thanks for reply

[Iwritecode]

Originally Posted by Hawlguy

I did see a clean out plug/piping in top of my pass thru storage compartment. Could this be a good next try to clean vent option?

I've never heard of such a thing in any RV.

[aceinspp]

Originally Posted by Iwritecode

I've never heard of such a thing in any RV.

X2 Later RJD

[HangDiver]

If I'm understanding the problem correctly, its possible your vent pipe has slid down into black tank and is resting on the bottom of the tank or is below the water line and is not allowing air to escape properly.

It would be helpful if you let us know what RV you have.

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by HangDiver

If I'm understanding the problem correctly, its possible your vent pipe has slid down into black tank and is resting on the bottom of the tank or is below the water line and is not allowing air to escape properly.



It would be helpful if you let us know what RV you have.

The OP posted this in the Cardinal sub-forum and posted the model number in their original post.

[HangDiver]

Originally Posted by bikendan

The OP posted this in the Cardinal sub-forum and posted the model number in their original post.

[Hawlguy]

Well guess the previous owners were not good keepers of the flush. I had a poop pyramid. Took many times snaking down in the tank to get it demolished. And yes there is a clean out plug in the black pvc drain manifold above my cargo bay. Didn’t try to use it, but that was going to be my next step. I should have remembered the KISS rule. Thanks for all the info.

[Iwritecode]

Originally Posted by Hawlguy

And yes there is a clean out plug in the black pvc drain manifold above my cargo bay.

Can you post a pic of that? I'm interested to see it.

I wonder if it's something the previous owner installed?

[tomkatb]

The DW and I had a similar issue early on.

We were trying to conserve water, too much for the toilet.

Then too we used standard household paper. Now we order a case of the Scott's brand of rv paper from Amazon. Also good price at Wallyworld.

Now we use plenty of water to flush.

The first night we do dishes the wife uses a tub in the sink to collect all of the wash and rinse water. That goes in the toilet. Less in the gray tanks is good.

Also I dump water softener and dawn down the toilet after every dump.

All is now swell.

What actually got our pyramid out was a long trip, 400 miles with a near full tank sloshing around. Prior to that we dumped as often as possible. Now we do not. Pretty much every 5-7 days.

[FirstFiver]

To stop this we always "double flush".
#1 or #2. Fill the bowl all the way, then flush. Fill the bowl a second time and flush.
That way there is plenty of water going to the black tank. We do not boondock so water use is not an issue.

Never any problems and when draining the black tank, everything flushes down the stinky slinky.

[Hawlguy]

Thanks for advice. I guarantee we’ll do the double when hooked to sewer sys. Plane to do some boondocking this year, so will have to experiment with the flush, however I purchased one of those spinning hose connection wands and plan on using at first sign of a pyramid problem 💩