Black water dump - OMG

[sherman12]

DW and I always pour two or three dishpans of Dawn dishwater down the toilet before we break camp. The more room we feel we have in the tank the more sudsy dishwater we pour down. That way when we drive to the dump the soapy water has a chance to slosh around with the rest of the contents of the black tank.

[Rooikss]

On my Rockwood Roo my sensors will read low if my maxair fan is on. As soon as I shut off my fan, I get a true reading.

[helirob]

RCSP - There is also a dump site at The Waukesha County Fair grounds (fee) and one at the Waukesha sewage treatment facility (free)

[rlh1957]

I really enjoy hearing everyone's stories, experiences, fixes and work around. As long as I can hit the internet I feel there is nothing I can't have a solution to in a couple of minutes no matter where I am.

[colretired]

The balck water holding tank the gray water holding tank and the fresh water tanks are independent. They do not overflow into one another. However, if the drain valve for the grey and black water tanks are both open then water can back flow from one to the other. Secondly the drain pipes from the sinks the shower and the sometimes the toilet that go to the roof of the unit. If they connect so that a single vent serve multiple then you have the possibility for water to back flow that way depending on how they are plumbed. My bet is you had the drain valves open and the main drain cover on so you were backfilling that way between the two tanks

[hotrod4448]

Originally Posted by RCSP

Thanks for all the help. I bought this camper late last summer, the guy said he had never dumped the black tank because the camper was only used 2-3 times.


Soooo, I went to the dump station. I did wear gloves thanks for that tip. Hooked up hose, went to release the lever near the black tank, and it was already open, UGGG, I never touched it, must have always been this way. I opened the release lever near the drain hose I had attached, and quite a bit cam out maybe 15 gallons but that is a wild guess. I left it open 15 min and it was still draining but slowly. I looked in the toilet, it definitely looked different, more liquid and less TP. But clearly not empty. I then emptied the gray water, a lot of water came out, guessing 30 gallons. Drove camper home. Through toilet I took a metal rod and measured the poo depth, about 12 inches. I did take a flashlight and look into the drain pipe and it's completely clear, I can see all the way to the 90 degree bend. So I have a poo dam. I guess that is tomorrows job is to figure out how to fix that. I bet that is a sh*tty job.


Thanks again for all the help!

Always use a lot of water to flush or it'll dry to form that dam you speak of. Had a friend who said he and his wife could go for weeks and not have to flush. Then one day the toilet wouldn't go down. Yep , dried dam.

[Subcrit]

My sensors do the same thing. I suspect that as the water is spraying down into the tank, the level sensors see this water falling over the entire height of the tank, so it thinks it is full. When I turn off the water, the level goes back down. This occurs every time I flush the black tank starting with the tank being empty and the sensor indicating empty. When I turn on the hose, it reads full.

[joeuncool]

I think the one thing that can be taken away from this thread is, dump your tanks (especially black) after every trip. Your black tank isn't a septic tank where things get magically processed and go away or might get better over time. It just gets worse. Yes dumping your black tank isn't the most fun thing to do, but, if you do it slow and methodically, it isn't even close to how bad you imagine it is.

The difference between waiting longer to dump and dumping every trip is that I would much rather dump 10-15 gallons of black tank than 40. Don't wait. Don't ignore it and hope it goes away. It won't.