Help, black tank not flushing

[Roadventure]

The short: we are at Camping World dumping after a week of use our grey water is empty our black says it's still full. Part of the problem is the lack of clarity with the labeling for the valves. I have probably done something wrong with the order of the valves because of this.

Front panel for valves:

I *think* the one on the right is for black:

Rear valve cover:

Rear valve (obviously grey):

Levels:

This is the first time the black tank has been used in 1.5 years it was in storage that whole time with the winterization fluid.

We had it de-winterized and flushed through service a month ago.

The manual is useless for this. Pics in the manual show a totally different setup with different valves that are labeled.
Looks like I might have to spend the night here and wait for service to help us out in the AM.


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[rxbristol]

You didn't say if you could tell if any fluid came out when you opened the black tank valve. The indication lights are notoriously inaccurate. Does the black tank "burp" or sound full? I ask this because your black tank may be empty and the lights are wrong.

 

[jnbhobe]

Don't trust the Black tank guages put some water in the toilet and pull the valves again, watch to see what comes out.

 

[mlpeloquin]

Get a flashlight, hold your breath, flush your toilet, look down and check the level. If it is empty or full, you will know. So far all the RV's I have had had the toilets directly above the black tank with a direct shot down.

 

[olcoon]

Like has been said, if your toilet "burps" when you flush the black tank if full. By "burping" I mean when when you push down the pedal to flush, it it kind of has a bubble coming up your tank will be full. Also I see your rig was built in 2011, back then when they would drill the hole for the sewer pipe, they used a hole saw, and sometimes the drilled/sawed out portion would fall back into the tank & they would leave it in there. That can plug the valve & either not let it drain, or get stuck in the valve, not allowing it to fully close. We had that happen on our 2011 Elk Ridge. And the level gages seldom work as they are supposed to. Our's worked fine for about a year, then they were useless. Now whenever I dump the black tank I'll also dump the grey. In case you don't know, flush the black tank first, then the grey, that way the grey will rinse out your stinky slinky.

 

[JohnD]

I use my gray water to back flush into the black tank to clear out the pipe.

First I completely drain the black tank while also running the black water flush.

With the Valterra Gate valve from Camping World ($25):



I can block the drain so the the gray water is forced back into the black tank, thus removing any clog that might be there or forming.

I've found that it also helps to clean out the bottom of the black tank of any buildup.

 

[Roadventure]

After 2 hours and DW asking for help from CW employees who all seemed kinda perplexed about it. We called the previous owner and left a msg. He called right back solid guy. He said the forward most valve is the black tank, so in the area with 2 valves that makes it the left one. We ended up running fresh water through and did the ice cube trick. Once those flowed through we knew we were clear. I think next time will be smoother and the time after even better. I am going to go through the trouble of labeling the unlabeled confusing system and write my own step by step for my RW. Stunned the owner's manual was so vague.


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[SNOKING]

Here is the routine I have developed over the winters sitting in a snowbird park.

1. Get a clear sight adapter and put it between the trailer and the sewer hose.
2. I leave the black tank closed for a week at a time. Grey tanks open.
3. I form a pee trap in the sewer hose with a couple boards, one 2x and a 4x4.
4. To dump and flush, I remove the pee trap boards.
5. Close the grey water tanks.
6. Open the black water tank and turn on the hose to the built in flush system.
7. Watch the sight tube until I am down to just hose water coming out.
8. Go inside and do two full bowl super flushes. "Bomb the Pile!" Note: Full bowl means filling the bowl to the bottom of the upper rim.
9. Go back outside and view discharge.
10. Close the black water tank and run the flush water in for four(4) minutes. Do not let anyone distract you at this point.
11. Open and drain and repeat 10 again.
12. Flush a bit and verify that you have nice clear water coming out of the tank. If not go back to step 8 and start again.
13. When you have nice clear discharge, put the pee trap boards back the sewer line and fill the pee trap.
14. Close the black water tank and add about a minute worth of water to the tank with the flush hose.
15. Secure the flush hose. I have a little inline valve adapter at the side of the trailer and the other end get turned off.
16. Open the grey water tanks and go add your chemical to the tank.

I have had the burping a couple of times, however the super flushes seem to have fixed that issue.

Having piles in not good!!

Chris

 

[Lynn1130]

So far all the RV's I have had had the toilets directly above the black tank with a direct shot down.

Mine doesn't. Makes it difficult to check for me. I go by the burp.

I am not sure with your model but by drain pipes are visible under the trailer and the larger is the black drain. Even though I know the forward valve is the black I always double check. One of these days I need to mark them.

 

[avvidclif]

Here is the routine I have developed over the winters sitting in a snowbird park.


10. Close the black water tank and run the flush water in for four(4) minutes. Do not let anyone distract you at this point.
11. Open and drain and repeat 10 again.


I have had the burping a couple of times, however the super flushes seem to have fixed that issue.

Having piles in not good!!

Chris

I tried the timing method. 4 minutes puts abt 15 gal in the tank. I found this out after buying a cheap meter to put inline. Now I drain, close valve and put in 30-35 gal, drain, and repeat. I also have a clear elbow to see when it's running clear.

 

[mlpeloquin]

I cannot stress this enough. When SNORKING says to not let yourself be distracted when flushing the BKACK tank, this should be in big bold underlined type. Time goes slow when waiting for the time to go by, but so very fast if you allow your self to do other things including talking with anyone. The results could be poop water coming out of the toilet all over your rig. I read about this happening to someone on a forum.

 

[Roadventure]

A quick note: I wrote my post under duress. It was my first time draining our rig, and I was a little heatstroked as a 15 min job took me 8x longer. I will take all the tips to heart. It can only get better from here!

 

[billyjoeraybob]

A quick note: I wrote my post under duress. It was my first time draining our rig, and I was a little heatstroked as a 15 min job took me 8x longer. I will take all the tips to heart. It can only get better from here!

Hang in there before long it will all be second nature and you will be using your experience to help others here! BTW don't trust the tank level indicators they are rarely accurate ☺☺☺

 

[ram_1955]

Check out this section of the forum page 2 I posted info on our Road Warrior tanks and valves
https://heartlandowners.org/showthr...-tank/page2?highlight=Road+warrior+black+tank

Hope this helps

 

[Roadventure]

Very helpful all. So here's a ? If you can't trust the gauges, but have to rely on something to know you are due to dump what do you do to get a better idea of what your tank levels *really* are?


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[mlpeloquin]

I just dump the gray water every two days, after four showers, or after doing four loads of laundry. I dump the black water every four days and before we take off. I don't rely on gauges and yes the tanks are not full, but who cares. It doesn't take long to do.

 

[JohnDar]

With "experience" you can tell by the sound when you flush the toilet that it's ready to dump. About 2-3 flushes before it "burps." Once you get the "burp," better dump or the wife will have you out there at zero-dark thirty feeding the mosquitos as you dump it.

 

[travelin2]

Very helpful all. So here's a ? If you can't trust the gauges, but have to rely on something to know you are due to dump what do you do to get a better idea of what your tank levels *really* are?


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If we're stationary I dump the black tank every seven days regardless. If we're traveling I'll go 14-15 days and dump the black tank when we arrive at our days destination after all that stuff has been shaken and stirred. I never wait until it's full just because...



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[Oregon_Camper]

A quick note: I wrote my post under duress. It was my first time draining our rig, and I was a little heatstroked as a 15 min job took me 8x longer. I will take all the tips to heart. It can only get better from here!

Are you planning to attend any Rallies? If so, I am sure some of the folks there would be happy to guide you through this process. It is only daunting at first...then it become very easy.

 

[Roadventure]

Are you planning to attend any Rallies? If so, I am sure some of the folks there would be happy to guide you through this process. It is only daunting at first...then it become very easy.

We don't have plans for that unless it's along our way. I think by then we'll be pros. We are stationary for 17 days, but after that the frequent moving will force us to empty more often.


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