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Old 09-28-2015, 10:26 PM   #1
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8289 Black tank flush out

Hi
Our new 5er model 8289 has a black water tank flush line that you can use instead of the toilet wand. We tried it on our first trip out but we are not sure how it or if it works. Can anyone out there tell us how you use yours? Thanks
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Old 09-29-2015, 08:05 AM   #2
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I have a Windjammer, if it's like the one on mine, I use it like this.

I dump the black tank, then I hook up a water hose to the black tank flush on the camper. Here;s what I do that the directions say not to do, I then close the black tank drain valve. I turn on the water and let it run for a few minutes. While its running I can hear the water spaying into the tank, I listen for the sound to change, don't know how to describe what the change sounds like. When it changes I turn off the water and drain the tank again. I usually do this two or three times until the water is running clear. I have a clear 90 degree elbow that I mount on the dump stand pipe coming up out of the ground.

The directions say to leave the valve open when running water thru the black tank flush but I think it does a better job if you let the water build up some in the tank before you drain it again.
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Old 09-29-2015, 08:15 AM   #3
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I have the same unit, you really need a clear elbow to see it work . You drain your tank first then you hook your hose to the black tank cleaner. You will here water being sprayed inside the tank at the toilet. You could watch the clear elbow to and see a stream of water coming out. when the water turns clear and you will see it, then just shut the water off and disconnect the hose. Some people use a separate hose being your hooking it up to the black tank.
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Old 09-29-2015, 01:24 PM   #4
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I do it just like strat56 does it.

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Old 09-29-2015, 05:00 PM   #5
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The reason they tell you to always have the valve open is in case you walk away and forget you have the black tank flush hooked up...the tank will eventually fill itself and well....I think you get the picture!
But it doesnt fill that fast, so I also do what others have mentioned and close the valve and let the tank fill some., and do this a couple times. Just don't get distracted and walk away.
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Old 09-29-2015, 05:47 PM   #6
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The reason they tell you to always have the valve open is in case you walk away and forget you have the black tank flush hooked up...the tank will eventually fill itself and well....I think you get the picture!
But it doesnt fill that fast, so I also do what others have mentioned and close the valve and let the tank fill some., and do this a couple times. Just don't get distracted and walk away.

A buddy of mine just texted me last week. Said he spaced out and "turned off the black tank flush .... twice." Meaning, when he walked away, it was on.

He said the tank ended up rupturing from it. I'm curious about that since I would have actually expected water to fill up and come out the vent pipe for a horrible crap-fountain/shower.
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Old 09-29-2015, 05:48 PM   #7
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I do it just like strat56 does it.

Bruce

Same here; in fact, dumping tanks right now. The elbow takes all of the guess work out of knowing if the tank is empty and if I'm getting clear water or not.
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Old 09-29-2015, 05:56 PM   #8
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I generally leave my valve open after the inital dump and use a clear elbow as well unless I know it is not draining well and have some build up. Then I will (without leaving) close the valve and let it fill up some to get things flowing again.
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Old 09-29-2015, 06:00 PM   #9
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I use the clear elbow, and...

I shut the valve off and let the tank refill only slightly, and...

in addition to ordinary non-formaldehyde toilet treatment (whatever is on sale at Walmart) I keep a small scoop of laundry soap and some fabric softener in the tank during use and retreat after dumping. Makes the tank slippery so it cleans easy.

Some folks insist on Calgon but any brand will do.

I have a 2009 Rockwood and you can easily hear the washer arm spinning inside the tank. Just let it run.

I bought a 50ft green water hose. I made a 15' and a 35' out of it. I use the 15' at the dump station. It's easy to handle and doesn't need to be any longer as it just takes up more space and time to handle. And the white hoses stay packed away at the dump station. Eeewww!
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Old 09-30-2015, 08:12 AM   #10
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8289 Black tank flush out

Good ideal on the green hose Radio.

Both of mine are white but the one I use for the sewer flush hose is the one provided with the trailer and it is shorter so I have no problem keeping them separate.

My system is pretty much like mentioned here. Key is the clear elbow. I like to see what is going on, or rather "going down."


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Old 09-30-2015, 11:50 AM   #11
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A buddy of mine just texted me last week. Said he spaced out and "turned off the black tank flush .... twice." Meaning, when he walked away, it was on.

He said the tank ended up rupturing from it. I'm curious about that since I would have actually expected water to fill up and come out the vent pipe for a horrible crap-fountain/shower.
I was camping next to a family over July 4th weekend that did just what you described. They had a rental MH and their young son hooked up the water. I was sitting outside under my awning when all of a sudden water started shooting from the vent on top of their coach. I shut their water off at the spigot. When we looked, city water had been hooked up to the black flush. Luckily they had not used the coach yet so for the most part, it was clear water. The downside was that in addition to the fountain on the roof, the toilet overflowed inside as well!
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Old 09-30-2015, 12:54 PM   #12
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Black tank flush

Never had an RV with a built in black tank flush. I've always used an add on that attaches to the tank drain outlet. The unit is nothing more than an additional gate valve and a hose connection that shoots water into the drain. I pull the black tank drain and empty the tank then close the added gate valve and let the tank refill with the fresh water. Open the added valve and drain the tank. The clear pipe lets you see what's coming out (lots more additional nasty stuff). The point is this--water spraying into the tank doesn't seem like an effective way to clean it out. The main cleaning action is the sudden force of liquid moving toward the drain. The second fill and dump uses the same driving force to remove any remaining liquid and stuff. A previous post above duplicated the same action by closing the drain gate valve and letting the sprayer fill the tank with fresh water.
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Old 09-30-2015, 01:50 PM   #13
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I have a Windjammer, if it's like the one on mine, I use it like this.

I dump the black tank, then I hook up a water hose to the black tank flush on the camper. Here;s what I do that the directions say not to do, I then close the black tank drain valve.

The directions say to leave the valve open when running water thru the black tank flush but I think it does a better job if you let the water build up some in the tank before you drain it again.
Pretty sure they say NOT TO DO THAT, for CYA liability reasons. Because at a potential hose flow rate that can be 10 gals per minute it will only take four minutes and a brief distraction and your Black tank will be overflowing. That means backing up in to the toilet and on to the floor or leaking at the seal between tank and toilet or GOD forbid black tank gooo flowing out your roof vent SO TO COVER THEIR A** they say do not do it.

Of Course it is possibly the BEST way to do it so there is the dilemma. DO it well and Take the Risk or if you are prone to be easily distracted, do it the safe way. I cannot easily get to my black tank to install a flush so I stand at the dump station after dumping the black and I hold the sewer hose above tank level and stick the water hose in to my sewer hose and back fill the tank that way. I assume a 10 gal rate and my tank is only 30 gal so I time it to a bit less than three minutes and then pull the hose and lower the dump hose in to the drain. Not surprising to those who follow the poop threads on here, it usually takes two or three back fills with fresh water before the tank is running out clear. Sometimes the tank sensors even say it is empty if I flush it really well.

Be careful if you use the black tank flush with the gate valve closed. Know that in a simple 5 minute distraction, oh say talking to a by stander; you MAY FLOOD YOUR FLOOR OR YOUR ROOF (not sure which is worse) with POOO water.
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Old 09-30-2015, 02:01 PM   #14
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Pretty sure they say NOT TO DO THAT, for CYA liability reasons. Because at a potential hose flow rate that can be 10 gals per minute it will only take four minutes and a brief distraction and your Black tank will be overflowing. That means backing up in to the toilet and on to the floor or leaking at the seal between tank and toilet or GOD forbid black tank gooo flowing out your roof vent SO TO COVER THEIR A** they say do not do it.

Of Course it is possibly the BEST way to do it so there is the dilemma. DO it well and Take the Risk or if you are prone to be easily distracted, do it the safe way. I cannot easily get to my black tank to install a flush so I stand at the dump station after dumping the black and I hold the sewer hose above tank level and stick the water hose in to my sewer hose and back fill the tank that way. I assume a 10 gal rate and my tank is only 30 gal so I time it to a bit less than three minutes and then pull the hose and lower the dump hose in to the drain. Not surprising to those who follow the poop threads on here, it usually takes two or three back fills with fresh water before the tank is running out clear. Sometimes the tank sensors even say it is empty if I flush it really well.

Be careful if you use the black tank flush with the gate valve closed. Know that in a simple 5 minute distraction, oh say talking to a by stander; you MAY FLOOD YOUR FLOOR OR YOUR ROOF (not sure which is worse) with POOO water.
GEEZ, I will close and fill a minute or two then pull the valve if I'm not at a dump station and at a connection. I mostly just hook up and leave the valve open and come back in 15 or 20 mins and the water is clear as a bell. But on the other hand I have been accused of not being green. I don't live in a drought area, or I'm sure I would change my procedure. I wouldn't dare do that in the current California conditions, but where I live, I will be lucky if we don't get flooded out....
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Old 09-30-2015, 02:04 PM   #15
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My black tank drains like gangbusters for about 30 seconds. I have to leave the black valve open for about an hour before the tank is drained. The clear extender is a good idea and also the fabric softener. Getting distracted is easy. Our neighbor siphoned a full tank of gas from his car once trying to get a gallon for his mower.
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Old 09-30-2015, 02:21 PM   #16
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GEEZ, I will close and fill a minute or two then pull the valve if I'm not at a dump station and at a connection. I mostly just hook up and leave the valve open and come back in 15 or 20 mins and the water is clear as a bell. But on the other hand I have been accused of not being green. I don't live in a drought area, or I'm sure I would change my procedure. I wouldn't dare do that in the current California conditions, but where I live, I will be lucky if we don't get flooded out....
Agree, and I bet 90% of the folks in the drought areas haven't changed their SOP unless mandated by law or regulation.
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Old 09-30-2015, 02:34 PM   #17
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I also do what others have suggested: -
Flush black tank
Flush gray tank (on same connector)
Hook up (separate, dedicated for the purpose) hose to sprayer/flush inlet
Let it run for a minute until mostly clear
Close black tank valve (for 1-2 mins, never longer) with the sprayer still running
Open black tank valve, and let it flush until clear
Close black tank valve
Go turn off water straight away (in this order so that I get 1-2 gallons of water left in tank).

Unfortunately my 2nd black tank (for the bunk-room half-bath) doesn't have a sprayer so I've just been cleaning by dumping, running faucet for a while, and then dumping again.
I'm not really familiar with the toilet wands that I've seen mentioned.

I did think about either trying to retro-fit a sprayer to the 2nd tank (tho' I'm not keen on the idea of messing about with the black tank), or buying one of the extra valves that milvet33 mentioned (but they don't seem to do any more than just closing the valve and flushing the toilet a few times).

I thought this video comparison of tank cleaning methods was pretty interesting: -
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Old 09-30-2015, 02:43 PM   #18
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I have an outside shower hose in the same bay as the flush...simply installed quick connects to both & use the outside shower hose to flush.
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Old 09-30-2015, 07:07 PM   #19
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If I were building a campground... The dump station parking pad would have about a 6 degree tilt toward the street side of the RVs so that the tanks would drain a little faster and better.

Just sayin'

Maybe some CG owners will see this...
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Old 09-30-2015, 07:12 PM   #20
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STRAT 56. Is right on .we do ours the same way with no problems
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