Black Tank Help Needed

[DallasSteve]

I have a black tank problem in my new Jayco trailer. Today it was 2/3 full on the meter and I emptied it, but it didn't empty. It flowed for about 15 seconds and then stopped. I went back inside and it still said 2/3 full. I flushed the toilet a couple of times and went back out and opened the tank again and very little water came out.

The trailer is less than 1 month old. I've owned a motor home before and I never had this problem. I've been set up in a park in North Carolina for 14 days now. I've been leaving the black tank closed until it's about 2/3 full and then I empty it and then I back flush it. I've done that about once a week. It's just me using the trailer. I've been leaving the gray tank open because the release valve is up under the slideout. Maybe I have to close the gray tank like I used to do. Maybe there is a long tool they sell to reach a tank handle like that.

I filled the gray tank to 2/3 full and then released it. It appeared to clear out some more black tank waste, but not all of it. I went inside and it still said the black tank is 1/3 full. I'm going to go to the store and by some toilet cleaner for RVs and a toilet treatment to add to the toilet. I can try to back flush the black tank, but I'm worried it may overflow. My toilet paper says it is septic safe, but maybe I can't flush any paper in this Jayco. I never had this problem in the motor home I owned for a year. Can you suggest my best way out of this mess?

[Cummins12V98]

You need a clear 45 or 90 at your 3" connection so you can see if you are actually discharging the SH!T. Forget what the "Lie-O-Meter" says.

[Bobbo]

That is perfectly safe. The black tank rinse has a backflow preventer inline so you should not be running the risk of cross contamination.

[Grit_dog]

I cannot speak for the water quality where you’re camped. And evidenced by a recent thread, some folks are far more finicky than others when it comes to drinking water.
But reasonably you should have no issues (gastrointestinaly) using the fresh water supply filtered or unfiltered.

With your black tank flusher. Try this occasionally. Do what ya did but also run it a while with the valve closed so a greater volume of water flushes out faster. You’re likely to see it remove more “matter” than just leaving it open while flushing. (Which is generally fine as well. Imo)

[DallasSteve]

Grit dog wrote:
PS I always thought the backflush caps with the hose connection were gray water drains.
That’s the only thing I use them caps for. Always pack an old garden hose with so I can be environmentally conscious and recycle and irrigate the local flora in the hot dry summer!
Lol.

My trailer came with a black tank flush connection on the side. It is next to the fresh water intake and the electrical connections up higher than the black tank. I connected the hose from the water supply and opened the spigot. I opened the black tank slide dump valve and I could hear the fluid coming out to the dump.

I've been using my fresh water supply to refill my Pur filter water jug that I drink. Do you think that's safe? I'm also adding a water filter on the fresh water intake so it will be double filtered.

[Boomerweps]

Grit dog wrote:
PS I always thought the backflush caps with the hose connection were gray water drains.
That’s the only thing I use them caps for. Always pack an old garden hose with so I can be environmentally conscious and recycle and irrigate the local flora in the hot dry summer!
Lol.

I bought one of the basic caps with a garden hose fitting because it was see-though. One experience with leakage past the black tank valve when removing the cap is enough. Now I have a visual warning to be prepared for a problem. The garden hose connection is a bonus for draining any leakage before pulling the whole cap.

[Grit_dog]

PS I always thought the backflush caps with the hose connection were gray water drains.
That’s the only thing I use them caps for. Always pack an old garden hose with so I can be environmentally conscious and recycle and irrigate the local flora in the hot dry summer!
Lol.

[Grit_dog]

Are you talking about back flushing or an internal tank flush?
From your description, it sounds like the latter. Which would have been the first go to if you thought the poop a mid was gettin ya.
You probably didn’t have any issue at all. And the flush kit (if that’s what you’re describing) just cleaned the sensor and of course it’s going to clean some solids that otherwise would not be in solution or suspension since the camper has been stationary.

Fwiw you didn’t say you had a tank flush kit on it. Hence my recommendation to fill it up a ways and drive it around = poor man’s black tank flush tornado!

Glad your back in the business of peaceful #2s!

[DallasSteve]

Update: It looks like the problem is solved. I talked to my brother who also lives in a camper. He said, If you have a black tank flush why don't you use it? I was concerned it might overflow, but the meter was reading only 1/3 after I dumped today. So I connected the back flush and opened the black tank. I watched the water through the clear opening and it started dirty but kept flowing so I left the water running until it became clear. Then I checked the meter inside and the black tank says E which means it's empty. So now I'm a happy camper again. Thanks for all the help. I'll keep doing the back flush after every tank dump.

[stickdog]

I once had a black tank problem of my own making. It seams I didn't close the BT valve completely and the liquid ran out leaving mostly solids. Amazon to the rescue with the above mentioned back flush valve. Turned out I could have gotten by without it as I had firmly closed the BT valve and enough water filled the tank while waiting on Amazon delivery. I did attach the valve and my BT flush hose opened the BT valve and had a good flow.

.

[Grit_dog]

I use smelly tabs occasionally when we get a little stink. Generally only happens when parked for a week or so with 4 people contributing to the black tank. It’s inevitable if there’s a lot of solids being deposited and not dumped before getting near full. Or worse if ya gotta drive a distance with a full black tank.
If that is the case with your new rv either the vent isn’t working or you haven’t flushed out any poo in 2 weeks. (Still seems like a stretch with 1 person, 2 weeks unless you poop like a horse…lol).
But you’re just throwing money down the toilet since you appear to have an issue and the issue isn’t from a massive collection of waste in your tank.

This will continue to be difficult if you continue to ignore sage advice and continue to hood for magic fixes.

Dip the tank (unless you have the oddball scenario posted above with an offset pipe, which you presumably would have seen even with poor vision…)
Depending what you find, do what I said and go make the contents easier to dump by agitation. Go for a drive if you can’t solve it other wise.

[Thermoguy]

It sounds like you are leaving your grey tank valve open when you are dumping the black tank - is this what you are doing?

If you are, don't do that. Close any other valve that shares the same outlet and only open the valve to the tank you are draining.

The clear pipe is also a great help to "see" what is coming out.

[DallasSteve]

Bobbo

Thanks for that image. Now I understand. That seems like a good idea. If I can't clear my clog I may buy one of those and give it a try.

[LouLawrence]

There have been many cases of new RV's having the plug that was cut our to connect the valves being left inside. Eventually, that plug gets flushed back to the outlet and clog the whole thing up. The only real way to know what's going on is to remove the valve (having a bucket handy) and see what's what.

[Bobbo]

On my first RV, I sometimes had a slow drain when dumping, and sometimes not. One day, after about 2 years, I was dumping my black tank at home using a macerator. I had a clear section so I could see when "stuff" stopped coming out. Imagine my surprise when a perfect circle of the tank wall plopped down into that clear section. I did, indeed, have that circular cutout in my tank. Once it came out, I never had a slow drain again.

DallasSteve wrote:

Boomerweps wrote:
There is a sewer fitting that’s clear and has a garden hose inlet. You can use this to flush the drain lines out. Worse case, you can backfill your tank this way and see if it pushes any blockage around.

That sounds interesting, but I don't understand. Is there an Amazon link or something you could share? My trailer comes with a black tank flush connection. Will that do the same thing?

Flushing from the dump valve end may push a blockage out of the way when flushing from above may not.

Backflush valve