Need help unclogging my toilet. Not having any luck.

I have a 2004 Forest River Cardinal 5th wheel and the toilet is completely clogged.  The tank is empty and the clog is at the toilet before the black tank.  My son opened the black water tank and I'm not sure how long it was open for so by the looks of things everything solidified.  It appears that water is slowly draining thru.  I obviously need to break this waste up but I'm unsure how.  I've read that many 5th wheels don't have straight shot from the toilet to the black tank and some have a bend in the pipe so I don't want to go hammering away at things and end up breaking a pipe or anything.

Before we were clogged the toilet was burping whenever you would flush it and then it completely stopped allowing anything to drain.  I've read that this burp is the cause of the vent being blocked but could this just be because everything is blocked or could it be from something else?  Would a Toilet snake help loosen this up or are there any tricks?  I could get a sharp stick and poke away at things but like I said I don't want to puncture any of the pipes.  Any help is GREATLY appreciated as we're heading back to the campground in the morning and we obviously are going to have major issues if we don't have a toilet.

Thanks in advance,
Pete

lots of hot water and let it soak a day or two. also a flush king (available at camping world) will back flush the system and help getting thing flowing down hill again.

You have at most a 45 degree bend (unless it is a macerator-type toilet, e.g. the Tecma), so you can use flexible toilet tolls to help work loose any clogs in the downpipe. There is no P-trap in the standard RV toilet. You can also use standard toilet de-clogger chemicals - anything that is safe for septic tanks.

I doubt if you have a vent problem, based on your description. Vent problems generally occur only if the vent pipe had broken loose and dropped into the tank.

I will add that after partially filling it with water (1/2 to 3/4 full) plus whatever chemicals you decide and after letting it set for awhile (at least a week), I would then hookup and drive it around for an hour or so.  The sloshing water will breakup the solids and clean the walls.

While my tank is not clogged the sides are crudded to the point that the sensors are worthless.  When I get home from wintering in Florida I thoroughly drain and clean the tank as best I can with the built-in Backflush, I then fill it with water and overdose Septic Enzyme (Rheobic) and let it set for no less than a month, take it out for a spin and come back, dump and backwash.  My sensors will then work until the 3/4 point of our next Winter in Florida.  I do have the advantage of full hookups where I park.

Good luck.

Water is your friend in RV black tanks, use lots of it and let it sit.  A toilet snake would be fine, as would a few pots of boiling water poured straight down the toilet with the flush valve held open (watch out for hot water splashback as you pour).  Once it is clear, mostly fill the tank with water, drive around, let it sit for awhile, and try to dump.  Hopefully the mass will have broken down enough at that point to successfully be flushed out.

I have a Flexible Tank Wand http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/flexible-tank-wand/14497 that works well. it has a spinning spray head and is long enough to hit the bottom of my tank. A tank rinser helps clen the tank and works very well, but this will get right to the poo pile at the bottom of the tank enterance, and help break it down faster.

  I have to ask a few questions.  When this problem occurred was it hooked via a sewer hose connection?  When you say your son left the tank open, I suspect you mean left the drain valve open when you were connected to a sewer hose connection.  If these are both true then you have the black tank volcano.  The liquids will drain out but the solids create a solid volcano in your tank and I suspect if this condition lasted long enough until your vent pipe was clogged all the way up to the drain pipe from the toilet. 
  I agree fill the tank with as much water as it will hold and a full bottle of liquid Ridex.  Let it sit for a week or more, then try dumping and flushing.  I have heard but have never seen it tried that fabric softener possibly a full bottle plus water might work. 

Last bit of advice when connected to a sewer connection ALWAYS leave the gray tank valve open and the black tank valve closed.  When the black tank is full, dump it, flush the tank and close the valve.  Simple rule of thumb is the black tank valve is ALWAYS closed, unless dumping. 

I had a Georgetown with a clogged black tank. The problem was the Forest River people had dropped a round peace of plastic in the tank while building it.  the plastic was the exact size of the outlet hose and must have been dropped in when the hole in the tank was cut.

We had a ''thingie'' that came with our coach.  It is a long flexable thing that you hook a water hose too the handle end and you poke it down the toilet and turn on the water and you can twist and gouge around with it as necessary.  The ''down side'' is that eventually you must pull it out of the toilet and wipe it off.  (not fun).    We have never had our black tank to ''stop up'' but sometimes we have a problem with it flushing properly.  To resolve this I bought one of those ''plumbers plungers'' and when the toilet gets kinda slow.  I ''plumbers plundge'' the heck out of it and that solves the problem.  My coach also came with a ''flush out port'' on the black tank.  When I dump the black tank I hook a hose to the flush out port thingie and let the water flow till it comes clear.  I stay with the flush out and sometimes I will close the drain valve and let water half fill the black tank and then pull the valve and let everything go all at once.    This seems to help clean the sencors inside the tank. I would suggest that when you get it cleaned out again that you get one of the Plumbers Plundgers and when it starts to gurgle..... Give it a good plunging and see if that helps.
 
This valuable suggestion will cost you ten cents and you can pay me the next time you see me. 

Thank a vet for your freedoms..........they like that .......cj....

Ok... So this morning I had a similar problem. Seemed like the pipe was clogged from the toilet to the black tank. I shut the city water off... Drained the rest of the water through the faucets... Dumped some boiling water into it with the valve open and took the antenna off of my truck and stuck it down the chute. Wiggled it around and pushed. Nothing....  Then I thought about it for a sec and realized to let gravity help while giving it a little shake. I put my stabilizer jacks up to allow a little flexing with the suspension and JUMPED up and down a few times on both sides at the front of the toilet. Next thing you know... It sucked down and everything went down just fine!!! I then flushed the black tank with the installed washer external connection pretty good and after draining it all out, closed the black drain valve.... I then took a big cooking pot, put some Dawn dish soap in it... Filled it with boiling hot water until I filled the bottom of the black tank up and left it in there. I figure this will help break up any remainder solids (and incase whatever was clogging the drain to begin with if it hadn't passed all the way out yet) at the bottom of the holding tank since I normally do this trick anytime before I get on the road so that it sloshes around and gets the whole tank good and clean! Hooked my city water back up to the trailer and I am good to go! I don't see any reason to go BUY EXPENSIVE THINGS when you already have things (PLUS A LITTLE COMMON SENSE) already! So give this a world and you might be surprised!!!

1/3 fill the tank with water and then a bag of ice cubes down the pan and take it for a drive, magic  :

[quote author=loddy]1/3 fill the tank with water and then a bag of ice cubes down the pan and take it for a drive, magic
[/quote]

Then add the remaining floating ice cubes to the scotch 

Better yet, use the last half of the ice and scotch first and then deal with the black tank.

We have 2008 Monaco Lakota 5th wheel.  Have tried the ideas suggested on the clog I am dealing with with no success.  The toilet drain pipe has two 90 degree angles.  We were on the road two weeks, no problem.  Starting the third, the toilet clogged.  The water is up to the base of the bowl .  Tried an auger, snake, chemicals, and driving miles.  Nothing.  Does anyone have another suggestion? 

Amazing how a clogged toity gets so many reads. The scotch and ice-cubes made me blow my coffee all over my lap tonight. Funny as , well, I won't say it.
Anyway, I found a really good and very inexpensive tool for black tank clogs. It's called, The Flush King. Watch it and weep. Worked for me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EM6hJp2bPbg

Okay..there is something called  "flush king.." but this one is a different model. I think I'll invest in the toity wand. Looks fun. (retired teachers like *S^#T* like this)

Here's my husband's blog about similar matters:
http://cowboylawyer.wordpress.com/2012/09/24/stinky-slinky-and-miss-sugar-and-me/

The toilet drain pipe has two 90 degree angles.

Click to expand...

That's unusual. Are you sure they're not 45 degree bends? In any event, have you previously dumped the black tank? How long since you last dumped?

With the dump valve open (while hooked up to sewer), you might try a simple home 'plunger'.

TxRvMan said:

...took the antenna off of my truck and stuck it down the chute.

Click to expand...

Which brings us to the next question: "Why do I get such crappy radio reception?"  :

Tom said:

That's unusual. Are you sure they're not 45 degree bends? In any event, have you previously dumped the black tank? How long since you last dumped?

With the dump valve open (while hooked up to sewer), you might try a simple home 'plunger'.

Click to expand...

We were on a trip.  We stopped in one place a couple of days. Before leaving, dumped and close valves.  Same for  three stops.  It clogged on the fourth  stop on the second day.  Inserted the auger 3 feet.  brought up TP...clog not cleared.  Tried snake (because longer) 31/2 ft but not strong enough to work on the clog. Dumped total of four doses of chemicals.  Need a stronger chemical or more rigid tool to insert.  Any ideas?  We drove quite a while hoping the chemicals would liquify the clog.  No luck.  Trying to avoid $$$ to drop the tank to clear the clog.

Most hardware stores will have heavier-duty augers up to 15' or so... sounds like you need one of those that you can attach to a power drill to spin around in there and get that sucker broken up.  I'd say blast some water down there too with a garden hose attachment, but you want to make sure there's at least SOME hole in the clog first (for the water to drain into the tank) or you'll just cause an overflow.

Good example of why it's important to use TP sparingly, coupled with flushing with plenty of water in RV toilets.

Have you tried an enzyme that is normally used for septic systems??  It will take a while but if you are able to leave the RV for a period of time it may help.The product names Roebic-K67 and Rid-X come to mind and there are likely more...