A stinking black tank! Puke!

ChopperBill

Well-known member
Finally got the BH out of storage for a trip next week. Doing all the regular prep that it takes. Flushed the toilet and about Puked!. The most wretched foul oder I have ever smelled came up the toilet! Had it in for my last warranty trip and told them I didn't think it was draining right and I flushed with the tank flush numerous times at our last dump. They marked the Work order "no problem found". I have the new 42 gallon Barker blue boy and ran about 400 gallons through the toilet and hauled it to my sewer dump before the stink quit and water ran clear. I now Have it sitting all night with 16 Oz of blue chemical and twice the amount of recommended "Five Star Happy Camper" cleaner in it. Renee told me to buy a new fifth wheel because she is tired of me working on it every time we take it out. I'm stubborn. It is out of warranty but I am going to contact the dealer and see what can be done. Haven't used it since the warranty ran out and the problem wasn't fixed before. Any one guess what my chances are?
 

Forrest Fetherolf

Senior Member
Chopperbill,

Your chances are "Zero." That is one of those items we just have to live with.............a big flat tank, toilet on one side and drain on the other equals a big smelly. If you elevate the door-side about a foot and stick a high pressure hose in the toilet and continue flushing, you might reduce the smelly. If I leave mine parked for a long period, I keep adding no smelly toss-ins. The factory will state the tank was installed as per industry standards and the smell was owner induced.:eek: :eek: :eek:

Sorry................life isn't always pleasant.........Pew!:eek:

Forrest
 

ChopperBill

Well-known member
Took me about 3 hours to flush the darn thing out! Not sure I want to do that parked at a dump station every time. Don't know what I am going to do when I go into full retirement in a few months. Mine would make a great "Park Model" but between that and my fresh tank woos, it sure ain't working out for a part time dry camper. :(
Oh and I filled the fresh tank clear to the top to sanitize it. Yes FULL! Even with the 4 inch channel iron running across the middle of the bottom it sure didn't look purty. Instead of a big beer belly it looked like a couple of fat butt cheeks! :eek: Guess I am going to do the double swelling belly bar support.
 

Forrest Fetherolf

Senior Member
Chopper,

Full retirement and owning an RV is not synonymous, if you are handy and have the proper tools, you might have to settle for 50% retirement and 50% RV technician. I have spent as much time under the rig as I have in the king bed.:p

Forrest
 

Pulltab

Well-known member
Bill, we have the same issue with smell. The tank apparently is flat enough to make it hard to clean. Seems the drain would have been better off on the bottom rather than the side at one end. After pulling the valve and I don't think I am exaggarating that it literaly takes 5 minutes to drain. Tank in my Fleetwood the drain was on the bottom and WOOSH it was empty. Had very little problem with the smell in it.

What we have done now thanks to our friend KaKampers is added the Bluestreak toilet system with automatically adds the proper amount of chemical to control the smell plus I still put a bottle of the blue stuff in to get it started. So far it is working great. We live fulltime in our unit so I can attest to it helping.
 

ChopperBill

Well-known member
Thanks for the BlueStreak info. I will check it out. I first discovered the black tank problem this last January in AZ. I drained the black tank into my blue tote until nothing ran out. Told Renee to fill up the toilet a few times to help flush it out. When I pulled the handle NOTHING came out. Kind of strange that I emptied it then put more in and it disappeared. When we left we went to the dump station and I used the sani-flush until clear water ran out. I even charged the tank with chemical and anti-freeze. So how in the heck did I get the stinking brown mess with it sitting in storage? The tank design must be the culprit. My biggest concern is one of the reasons I picked the Bighorn is because of the size of the tanks and we do a lot of dry camping. For that it just isn't working too well.
 

Retyred

Active Member
ChopperBill:
I saw in you first post on your problem that you used "Happy Camper" holding tank deodorizer. What is you opinion of this product? I wondered how well it really worked, all of these products claim great results. I was going to order some and just wanted your opinion.
Retyred:
 

Uncle Rog

Well-known member
Chopper, I have had pretty good luck flushing my unit with the sani flush unit. I installed, as Sailorand aptly called it, a Polish tv on the end of my hose and when the water runs clear I can use a flashlight and verify the tank is pretty much empty. If I remember you had an "uphill" drain issue previously, if you refresh the dealers / HL's memory they might figure out that they never resolved the problem....just a thought.....
 

Pulltab

Well-known member
ChopperBill said:
Pulltab, that Bluestreak set up looks pretty good. How long will a bottle of chemical last?
Not sure yet Bill, but we have had it installed going on 2 weeks and doesn't look to be hardly an 1/8 of the bottle used. I was concerned about how fast it would go also but I think it is suppose to be good for 400-500 flushes or some such number.

On Edit: I looked at noon and I would say not quite 1/4 bottle is used.
 
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GARTH

Member
I had the same problem with our 3055. The black tank sagged just like the fresh water tank did,but it sagged the wrong way. So once again I had to fabricate bracing under it so the tank would drain the correct way. Because I purchased this coach out of state (better price) no local dealer wanted to do any warrenty work. Not so sure I would do this again! Garth
 

ChopperBill

Well-known member
Thanks for the brace idea, Garth. My local dealer has taken good care of me but no longer sell them and it just went out of warranty. Seeing how I had the problem and told them about it I am going to contact them and see whats up even though they said there was no problem. Having a tank sitting full of the most foul smelling stuff I have come in contact with seems to be a problem! I know if I fix it myself I would do a better job. Just not in the mood to lay out in the street with the temps in the high ninety's!
 

Uncle Rog

Well-known member
I don't blame you one bit for that! It has cooled down here but still close to 100 by mid afternoon. The asphalt gets hotter than a chain gun barrel by noon. Sounds like your dealer has been good so far, let us know what they say............
 

GARTH

Member
Chopper: If you have any problems with your dealer get back to me as this was a fairly easy fix. I just dont know why the factory's can,t figure it out! even though they have certain problems, they keep pumping them out. I guess they figure the dealers or customers will fix the problems for them. As a manufacture of farm equipment if I did this I can guarantee you my customers would go someware else. As soon as I realize we have a design flaw the next unit gets the new fix period! This is one of the reasons this company has been in business for over 61 years!
 

ChopperBill

Well-known member
Well maybe some good news finally. Filled the black tank clear up to the toilet with a concoction of chemicals and let it sit for about 24 hours. Got my 42 gallon blue tote and drained it into there. It filled to over flowing so I drained some off and sure I got at least another 2 gallons out. And it emptied rather fast. So I came to the conclusion that I must be getting near my full capacity now. Must have been something blocking it before I rinsed it out. Get this, the gauge indicated it was EMPTY! Did charge it with about 3 gallons and it now says 1/3 full. :confused: Still has a little oder but with some extra chemicals and maybe that Bluestreak thingy I can get it under control. Another conclusion is I don't think the sani-flush thing is much good. Will try to flush it through the stool when time permits from now on.
Garth, What company? I have been in the ag equipment business over 40 years.
 

jpmorgan37

Well-known member
Chopper & Rog;

If you get around a marina (I know, there aren't many in the Mojave) pick up a bottle of SeaZyme. It is as good as it gets for breaking down the solids in a holding tank. A dose of that when you park it for some time will dissolve anything that happens to be left in the tank.

John
 

Trap

Well-known member
While I haven't posted for quite a while, I'll tell you my method of keeping the black tank clean.
We usually go for 10 day trips at a time. After dumping tanks before heading home I add 10 gallons of water into black tank along with 1-1/2 cups Calgon water softener and 1/4 Dawn Dishwahing liguid soap. We then drive home with the water sloshing around in the tank. I dump just before I get home and you wouldn't beleive how dirty the water is that comes out. Once home I rinse tank and drain on grass (water always comes out nice and clear).
then I add 5 gallons of water and chemical and we're ready for our next trip. My sensors always work after this kind of cleaning and have never had any issues with my black tank since I started doing this.

I NEVER let my black tank sit empty always keep some water and chemical in it.

Trap
 
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