Toilet not flushing

[Jim_Hull]

Toilet not flushing properly

I am having an issue with the commode in my 2016 Big Country 4010RL. It has just started and it is very odd. For several days, when we would flush with the foot vale, the ball would o0en and air would bubble out before the waste went down the chute. Then, last night, the chute filled with water and waste and filled up the bowl. I ran a sewer snake up and down the chute using at least 6 feet of snake, so I think I made it to the tank. I never could get the water to flow out. I opened the dump valve and no water flowed out untili hooked up the black water flush. Then water ran out of the drain, but the chute and bowl remained filled. I finally sucked the waste water out of the bowl and chute with a wet vac, but it filled right back up. I am at my wits end as to what is going on. Common sense tells me there is a blockage, but I have used the snake from the commode down and from the drain up and not improved the situation. My last option is to cut into the drain line from the commode and see if I can find the problem, but am hoping someone has some advice for me that might solve my problem without getting the Sawzall out.

 

[BigJim45]

Maybe checking the vent pipe from on top of your rig might find something. Vent needs to be free and clear for toilet to work properly.

 

[danemayer]

Sounds like the black tank is full but isn't draining when you open the gate valve. If pulling the handle feels normal, you probably have a blockage at the outlet from the tank. It's also possible, if the gate valve has a slow leak, that you've built up a poo pyramid. But since you've run a snake from the commode, the pyramid is less likely.

So there's probably a big wad of TP and solids stuck at the gate valve. If you have a clear adapter with backflush fitting at the sewer outlet, and a twist-on gate valve on the outside of that, you can close the twist-on gate valve, and run JUST enough water through the backflush to try to move the blockage away from the outlet. It'll probably take repeated tries to get things flowing. Here's a combo attachment from Amazon. A local dealer may have these as separate or combination units.

You need to be careful how much water you use in the backflush as your tank is already full.

 

[JohnDar]

In my rig, the toilet tank is directly below the toilet and would take maybe 5 feet to get to it with a snake. Depending on how yours is plumbed, you may not have made it into the tank using six feet. I would try again until you can sound the bottom of the tank with the tip. And it's not a straight drop into the tank, either. There may be elbows that you caught with the tip, thinking it hit bottom. Checking the vent pipe to the roof is a good idea, too. For liquid to drain, air has to enter to displace it. And the valve may seem to be opening, but if the cable linkage has become disconnected at the valve, it may be stopping when you pull it but not moving the blade.

Odd, though, that you do get flow when running the tank flusher but the toilet bowl won't drain. Didn't do like Slim Pickens in "1941," and drop a boot down there, did you?

 

[Jim_Hull]

I didn’t drop a boot but that is not to say that my DW or our daughter did not. I forgot to mention that I did check the dump valve and it seems to be functioning okay.

Dan, I have the setup you linked me to. I will try your suggestion, but I am puzzled why the chute and bowl fill up and will not drain. I have to think the problem is between the commode and the tank. That is not to say there is not a paper block at the outlet too, but I have to think there is something going on at the “front end”.

I will also check the vent pipe. I wondered about this when the commode would “bubble” when flushing. In other words, when you depress the foot valve, a large bubble of air would come up before the waster would flow down.

Thanks for all of the suggestions. I won’t be back to the rig until next weekend, but I will try these before cutting the waste line.

 

[SLO]

DON’T cut your waste line. Unless the gate valve line is not working and needs to be replaced, there’s no need to cut the waste line. If there’s a horizontal section of waste pipe between the toilet and the tank, it’s possible it might have sludged up. Running a snake through sludge will not just cut the sludge out. You have to stir it up. Maybe 20 or 30 times back and forth. Works best with a power snake. Or you could use a 3” to 4” bladder through the toilet and blow the stoppage out. Be careful with that though. If the plug is at the outlet of the tank you can snake from the discharge end of you sewer. That will only work if there are no wyes, tees or low heel fittings that would direct the snake on the wrong direction. You’ll get pretty messy with the last suggestion though. A plugged vent will not prevent the tank from draining it will just drain much slower.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[wdk450]

You may want to enlist the help of a professional RV tank cleaning/troubleshooting company. Most of these companies have a fiberoptic viewing system to SEE what the problem is in your black tank system. This is the business of these companies, and they know how to fix things with the least mess and fuss.
Here is a link to a company in Illinois, but you may want to do your own websearch for "RV tank cleaning near me".
http://kleentank.com/about-us/

 

[Jim_Hull]

You may want to enlist the help of a professional RV tank cleaning/troubleshooting company. Most of these companies have a fiberoptic viewing system to SEE what the problem is in your black tank system. This is the business of these companies, and they know how to fix things with the least mess and fuss.
Here is a link to a company in Illinois, but you may want to do your own websearch for "RV tank cleaning near me".
http://kleentank.com/about-us/

Bill, thank you for the suggestion. I am going to use an endoscope to see if I can figure out what my problem is. The company you linked is in the Chicago area and I am on the other end of the state. But, it might be worth a call if I can’t get it figured out.

 

[TedS]

You are getting the burp when you open the ball valve because the tank is full to the point of blocking the vent and air can no longer go out the vent. Suspect the tank drain valve.

 

[Flick]

You are getting the burp when you open the ball valve because the tank is full to the point of blocking the vent and air can no longer go out the vent. Suspect the tank drain valve.

Have you tried just a plain old plunger. Sometimes simple things are overlooked.

 

[Jim_Hull]

Have you tried just a plain old plunger. Sometimes simple things are overlooked.

Yes, I did try a plunger as well with no change. I am going to go in with an endoscope this weekend to see what I can determine. I hope to find there is a blockage. Then I would have something to deal with. Right now, I have no idea what I am up against.

Jim Hull

 

[Lou_and_Bette]

I agree with TedS (post #9) that the "bubble" effect when flushing is what most of us call "burping." Since the tank sensors are notorious for being inaccurate, we use this as an indicator we need to dump the black tank. IMHO, since you were getting this bubble whern flushing, I think there is no blockage between toilet and tank because the air is coming from the tank. You have some sort of blockage at the tank outflow. This could be the infamous "pyramid of poo" if you leave the black tank valve open continously, or have a leaky valve that allows the liquids to drain but not the solids. There have been incidents where, when the factory cut the circle at the top of the tank for the toilet drain pipe, the disc of plastic falls into the tank and some how works its way over the outflow orifice. Back flushing may help, especially if the problem is the plastic disc. If the problem is the "pyramid of poo," then you need to use something that reaches from the external drain opening up to the tank itself. Good luck

 

[Jim_Hull]

I agree with TedS (post #9) that the "bubble" effect when flushing is what most of us call "burping." Since the tank sensors are notorious for being inaccurate, we use this as an indicator we need to dump the black tank. IMHO, since you were getting this bubble whern flushing, I think there is no blockage between toilet and tank because the air is coming from the tank. You have some sort of blockage at the tank outflow. This could be the infamous "pyramid of poo" if you leave the black tank valve open continously, or have a leaky valve that allows the liquids to drain but not the solids. There have been incidents where, when the factory cut the circle at the top of the tank for the toilet drain pipe, the disc of plastic falls into the tank and some how works its way over the outflow orifice. Back flushing may help, especially if the problem is the plastic disc. If the problem is the "pyramid of poo," then you need to use something that reaches from the external drain opening up to the tank itself. Good luck

Lou,

I plan to check this out this coming weekend. You may be right that the blockage is at the discharge end.

Jim Hull

 

[Lynn1130]

I wonder if in the mean time adding some Happy Camper to the system might help break things up? If it has to sit a few days it may clear up the problem, who knows.

https://www.amazon.com/Happy-Camper...2?keywords=Happy+Camper&qid=1578960263&sr=8-2

It does work.

 

[rhodies1]

Go to Walmart and pick up a couple boxes of Commando. Throw 2 packs in while it is setting full. This will definitely break down toilet waste. Try anything for now .

 

[Jim_Hull]

Re: Toilet not flushing - UPDATE

I appreciate all of the suggestions. It turns out that I had a huge clog of paper in the chute between the commode and the tank as indicated on an endoscope. I ended up using a piece of service entrance wire to push through that and finally get it in the tank. I then used the black tank flush to fill the tank and flush it. I currently have the tank full with Commando in it that is supposed to clean the tank in 24 hours. I should have a pretty good idea tomorrow.

Ultimately, it seems that my blade valve that drains the black tank leaked enough to let the liquid seep out while leaving the solids. My camper is stored in a pole barn with full hookups, so the sewer is always hooked up. I stay in the camper during the weekends. I have addressed the leak and hope the Commando takes care of the solids.

Jim Hull

 

[Fox]

Not to point fingers BUT I believe that's a fault of our loveable female species.
When my daughters are home they consume a full package of TP in just several days.

YMMV.

 

[wdk450]

Make sure any TP you use is marked "Septic safe". This means that it has passed sanitation groups dissolving in water tests.

Most RVers agree that the "continuous flow" sewer hookup is wrong for an RV with holding tanks. If you just had pipes to the outflow (like houses do) leaving the valves open would be OK. But the tanks have large flat areas that accumulate waste even if the valves are kept open. It is better to fill the tank with waste, then discharge it in one fluid rush than try to have it trickle out continuously. The use of tank flusher sprayers after the fluid rush can be helpful, too.
Using a lot of water with #2 solids helps make a more free flowing "soup" rather than a little water and a lot of "sewer trout". Of course, tampons and pads, wipes, etc (non-water disintegrating items) should NOT go into your RV tanks systems.

An add-on valve at the sewer discharge fitting can help with leaky valves upstream. Like this: https://www.amazon.com/Valterra-T58...ocphy=9031271&hvtargid=pla-448831038926&psc=1

 

[mlpeloquin]

Only once did I have one clog that I could not free up. I tried the gray water back flow, etc.. I purchased and dumped one 64oz container of Roebic septic tank treatment. 24 hours later I opened the valve and not one piece of TP was visible. All eaten up and the tank sensor actually read empty! This was my mistake for forgetting to put Happy Camper into the tank. Costco Presto TP is septic tank safe, but is probably the least dissolvable of all of them. I have since switch to Amazon's brand Presto. You got to realize when using this stuff that it is most likely the most quickly dessolving TP made. It is thick and soft, which can be deceiving at first. I read the reviews and watched a demo on U-tube. You will not get the clog with this stuff.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/ROEBIC-64-oz-Septic-Tank-Treatment-K-37-H-3/203182384

 

[NP_Chief]

I never thought I would ever watch a video about toilet paper, but this one was a pretty good one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceCdXandlLU