Black Water Tank Will Not Drain

[tbs]

I have a 2010 Heartland North Country and it has given me problems with the black water tank since day one. I have had it back to the dealer twice and it still has issues. The first time I took a flashlight and looked down the toilet and could see the 2 round black tank cut outs floating around. I thought the cutouts were clogging the line and once they were removed my problem would be solved. Wrong, the dealer removed the cutouts and I am still having issues. Took it back and they claim they ran a camera up the line and could not find any blockages. It is now out of warranty and I am still having issues. The gray water tank drains great. You release the valve and it gushes through the line. The blackwater tank will barely dribble. I can hook up the flush line and it will flow a little more. The only way I can get a good drain is to hook up the flush line with the valve closed. Fill the tank about ¾ full and then pull the valve open. I am about to tear into it myself and see what I can do. I am mechanical so that’s not a major issue, but I dread having to take the under lining of the trailer off to get to the tank fittings. Anyone else have this issue? Any solutions?

Thanks

 

[rick_debbie_gallant]

Try backflushing your sewer discharge yet with one of these: http://www.amazon.com/Valterra-F02-4100-45°-RV-Hydroflush/dp/B0002UHVAA

 

[danemayer]

Here's a possibility: if the black tank gate valve has a slow leak, and you camp with the gray valves open, most of the fluid will leak out of the black tank without you realizing it. The solids will be left behind causing problems. When you close the valve and use the flush to fill the black tank, things work more normally.

If you put a few gallons of water back into the black tank after you dump it, and then travel, with a slow leak, you'll get a bit of a mess when you uncap the sewer line. A gallon of black water after driving for a few hours is a good tipoff that you have a leaky valve.

If this is your scenario, you'll probably need to replace the gate valve. But it also could be caused by toilet paper jammed into the valve, keeping the mechanism from closing completely. It might be possible to disassemble and clean out the TP.

 

[Boca_Shuffles]

If the only way you can get a good flush is to fill your tank 3/4 full, you may not be using enough water when you flush. Try putting more water in the toilet before using or running more water after using.

Our problem has been the toilet paper. All women say that men can't understand why they have to use so many rolls of paper. But the problem is fluid to solid ratio. So use more water.

On most models, there is a bend in the pipe from the toilet to the tank. If you use minimal water, you will have a build up of paper. This will not be cleaned by your back flush because it is above the tank and most people don't back flush until the water comes up the toilet (NOT recommended).

There are enzymes that you can put in our tank to break up solids. Try this before your tank is plugged and use more water.

Also, put some water in you black tank and then a bag of ice before traveling. This will clean up some build ups.

 

[donr827]

As Tom mentioned, the best way to keep a black tank happy is to use plenty of water when flushing. If I want to empty my black tank before it is close to 3/4 full I add water so that I will have plenty of liquid to flush the tank.
Don

 

[Birchwood]

A week of using our flush with the two of us is only 10 to 15 gallons.The grey water would be easily 20 times that if not more.
If you are dumping after a weekend you will only have a couple gallons in the black tank.
If you close the black tank valve and partially fill the tank with a garden hose at the flush and open the valve and it drains
I can't see what your problem would be.Someone else mentioned a leaky valve but that should be evident if the valves are closed
and main cap is removed.

 

[tbs]

Thanks for the input. I do not think it is a leaky valve. I very seldom camp at a place that has sewer hookups and therefore I usually go to the dump station. When I remove the cap at the dump station there is never any water behind it. There is no bend in the pipe from the toilet to the black water tank. It is a straight drop into the tank. When I drain the black water tank I can go inside the camper, open the flush valve on the toilet with the water turned off and I can look into the black tank with a flash light and there is water and toilet paper still in the tank. I do think the water volume is part of the issue. I usually try to put extra water in the tank before I go to the dump station. I usually run extra water in the tank after I have used the toilet as well. Also, we typically limit our toilet usage to #1’s only. When nature calls for the #2 we go to the camp toilet facilities.

 

[Boca_Shuffles]

If you mainly use dump stations, you are probably cutting your black tank rinse short on time. when someone is waiting behind you, its hard to do a thorough rinse. Some members do a rinse for 10-15 minutes. Even when I think my tank is clean, I've had the water stop running out for a couple minutes and then flush out more TP.

Since you currently have a problem, you might do a station dump with a black tank rinse. Then partially fill the tank and drive around the park with several jerky stops to slosh the water in the tank. Then fill the tank to near full and go to the dump station again.

Once you have your tank cleaned and working properly, you might alter you set up procedure to putting in 5-10 gallons of water at the Start of setting up camp. This will keep the bottom of the tank wet.

Remember in school how those spitballs stuck to the wallboard? Putting wet TP into a dry tank is very similar.

I thought that I was doing the dump procedure properly for the last couple years and still had problems. So its a still a learning process for me regarding my rig also.

 

[rick_debbie_gallant]

Perhaps you Missed my post about trying one of these gizmos: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0002UHVAA/ref=redir_mdp_mobile

Once you try that with 40 psi of water and it still ain't draining ya gots problemo's!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[RollingHome]

tbs, there are as many ideas and fixes on holding tank problems as there are RV's... A favorite and proven beyond a doubt technique used by myself and thousands of other RVers is to put a little Calgon water softener (ONLY water softener) 1/2 cup and 1/2 cup of laundry detergent. This concoction loosens up and reduces adhesion, cohension and other spitball like tendencies. The first time you dump after doing this look into the tank with a flashlight, you will be amazed. If you can put a clear plastic 90 on the sewer line you will see how much "extra" stuff comes out. I'm sure other posters will concur that so far this is the best technique we've found. I do this on every tank and on the way home with 5 gallons of clean water...walla... the probes fixed themselves and we no longer have issues. Give it a try a few tank fulls and I'm sure you will share this idea with others.

Happy Rving !

 

[Kwalt]

I know I'm a little late to the party on this, but I had the same issue with my old Everest and with my new LM. With the LM I can see the black tank in the mechanical area, the line has very little drop if any when it leaves the tank and goes thru two elbows. I haven't put a level pin it but it may be slightly uphill. This is what I thought may have been wrong with my Everest. I plan on looking into it more when I have time.

 

[dreamcatcher108]

Hi, did you find a solution? We are having a problem with the black water tank not draining. Wondering if it is the valve?

 

[danemayer]

Hi, did you find a solution? We are having a problem with the black water tank not draining. Wondering if it is the valve?

Hi dreamcatcher,

Can you describe the problem you're having.