A friend of mine told me that if I half fill my black tank with water, add a cup of Borax before travelling and then dump at the first campground and then add chemicals that my level sensors will remain clean and be much more reliable. Good advice? Create problems?
Newbie Alert - Black Tank Cleaner?
- Thread starter DoubleDee
- Start date
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Wigpro
Well-known member
I doubt it will cause problems, however you can rest assured that over time the sensors will stop reading accurately no matter what you do.
I use NO CHEMICALS in my tank and have no odor and my sensors still work on a 1997 5th wheel...I think the best advice is after emptying add about 5 gallons of water through the toilet so you never do your business in a dry tank and never leave your black valve open while hooked to a sewer system. For the tank to work properly it needs plenty of water to break the waste down, so use plenty of water when flushing and after dumping put some more water back in.
I dump my black about once a week and then dump my grey to wash out the hose. When parked for a long time, I do sometimes leave my grey valve open to the sewer hose, but generally a day or two before I plan to dump my black tank I close the grey valve to accumulate some grey water to flush the hose.
I do sometimes add some water before a road trip and a little liquid dish soap and then empty when I get to the next campground, that seems to do the trick for keeping my tank as clean as it needs to be...it is black water, so it will never be spotless!
Good Luck,
Jim
I use NO CHEMICALS in my tank and have no odor and my sensors still work on a 1997 5th wheel...I think the best advice is after emptying add about 5 gallons of water through the toilet so you never do your business in a dry tank and never leave your black valve open while hooked to a sewer system. For the tank to work properly it needs plenty of water to break the waste down, so use plenty of water when flushing and after dumping put some more water back in.
I dump my black about once a week and then dump my grey to wash out the hose. When parked for a long time, I do sometimes leave my grey valve open to the sewer hose, but generally a day or two before I plan to dump my black tank I close the grey valve to accumulate some grey water to flush the hose.
I do sometimes add some water before a road trip and a little liquid dish soap and then empty when I get to the next campground, that seems to do the trick for keeping my tank as clean as it needs to be...it is black water, so it will never be spotless!
Good Luck,
Jim
kenb1023
Well-known member
Borax, Calogn or any washing soda like Arm and Hammer will soften the water causing the bond of solids stuck to the sides to release. Basically it makes water wetter. Add some laundry detergent or dish soap and it will keep it all nice and clean. Well as clean as you can get for a tank that holds your unmentionable discharges 
ArdraF
Well-known member
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2006
- Posts
- 10,695
This is a typical example of needing to keep things simple. The black tank needs bacteria to help break down both the natural waste and the discarded tissues. In order to do this it needs to have good bacteria and it won't have these bacteria if you put stuff down such as antibacterial dishwashing liquids. Cleaning the black tank is not the primary concern here. Keeping the sensors clean and working is the primary concern and that's why the posters above mentioned such things as Calgon. In other words, don't go overboard in the cleaning aspect of black tanks.
We've had numerous black tank discussions over the years and you should be able to see some of them by using the Search button (above left).
We've had numerous black tank discussions over the years and you should be able to see some of them by using the Search button (above left).
