Kleen tank

[jakswild]

Dose the clean tank solution work or should I use a product like digest it.

 

[Mark_K5LXP]

Dihydrogen Monoxide has worked perfectly for me for years.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

 

[Domo]

Here's my opinion; If it's sold at Camping World and it isn't toilet paper, you probably don't need it.

... And I know most toilet paper dissolves without an RV Friendly label on it - just take your home paper, put some in a jar, let it sit for a few minutes and shake it. If it breaks down - you're good to "go!"

 

[TheBar]

I add a Camco deodorizer/cleaner on every trip but the sensors in my black tank quit working anyway. Now I add a recipe using Borax and Calgon Water Softener (in the laundry section at Walmart) to the black tank every year. It initially took a couple trips but they have been working fine since then. The borax eliminates odors and the slippery Calgon coats the inside of the tank. It also helps to completely fill the black tank before dumping so the water level sloshing around washes off the sensors while driving to the dump station. It also helps if you explain to the wife a half roll of toilet paper isn't necessary on every tee-tee

 

[Mark_K5LXP]

I dealt with struvite when I first got my RV and it's not a consequence of putting what comes out of you into the tank, it's a reaction of that *and* chemical treatments you also put in there. If all you use is water, or maybe a benign treatment like the geo method or happy camper, struvite accretion will be little or none. The section of the tank I can see that I cleaned off is still clear years later. "Tank treatments" I think are more to treat the owner than the tank and careful of secondary consequences. A "healthy" tank needs no active interventions.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

 

[Onyrlef]

A case of Poms single ply tissue at Sam’s will last an eternity and is a fraction of the cost of RV toilet paper.

 

[Kirk]

You probably have the standard tank level indicators found in most RVs that have buttons that pernitrate the wall of the tanks and sense a small current between the buttons. There is nothing that will keep those working accurately long term. Most of us just learn about how often to dump tanks and ignore the cheap indicators, although they usually are fairly accurate for the freshwater tank but the others, not so much. There are many home remedy mixtures in RV mythology that profess to work but the most important part is just plain water. There are more accurate and reliable systems if you are interested in upgrading.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Probably don't need either. Certainly not as a regular "treatment" with each use. Just keep plenty of water in the tank so that natural biologics liquefy the waste and have the tank at least half full for dumping, so as to flush the gunk thoroughly.

If you have problems with tank level sensors (see Kirk's reply) it's helpful to let an enzyme-type product soak in a tank full of water for a few days before flushing. Do that maybe once a year.

 

[Kirk]

Let me add as an afterthought, many of us do clean our tanks by dumping them and then adding about 1/3 - 1/2 tank of water and a healthy dose of detergent. I have found that either dishwasher or laundry detergents work best as they do not suds up the way that dish detergent do. Do that just before travel and then dump the detergent mix when you arrive at the next stop. If you want the absolute best tank cleaner, in my experience TSP is even better and I have used that at times but it also means carrying an extra cleaner so have reverted to using laundry detergent with very good results. Even that doesn't always keep those cheap sensors accurate, but we mostly ignore them anyway and just dump the tanks once a week without looking at them.

 

[DutchmenSport]

Dose the clean tank solution work or should I use a product like digest it.

First, it DOES make a difference if you travel with your camper or if you are sitting stationary for a length of time. There ARE different methods for cleaning the tanks.

If your camper is constantly "mobile", then the easiest way to keep (all) the tanks clean is to dump the tanks, then add a few gallons of water back into each tank. After that, drive to your next destination spot. The sloshing of the water in the tank will be the best thing you can do to keep it clean. If you a 1/4 cup of Dawn dishwashing liquid, or a cap full or two of Tide dishwashing detergent, and let that slosh around, you tanks will be cleaned out. When you reach your destination, you dump the tanks again, then use them as normal.

After the very first use, the tanks will NEVER be "new" clean again. All you can do is keep it as clean as possible.

You can also do some creative things, like back-flushing your black tank using your grey water tank. There is an entire process for this, but it's very easy to do, and you don't use any extra water to do it.

Some folks use toilet wands attached to garden hoses and shove them down the toilet bowl hole. This works well too .... especially if sitting stationary.

Another trick you can do is, when you wash dishes, use a tub in your kitchen sink and keep the dish washing soap water and pour it down the toilet. The dishwashing soap is always a good thing for the black tank, no matter how much or how little you use.

I personally do not use any type of chemicals and we do not use toilet paper at all.

WHAT??? you say???? It's a long story, but I installed a bidet in our camper and we don't need TP any more.

Second, I back flush from the grey tank to the black tank and then dump the black tank EVERY time I dump tanks.

We also have a washing machine and dryer in our camper and the washing machine water will get back-flushed into the black tank (Tide) and helps clean the black tank without having to do anything else, except dump tanks.

Last, I use this the least, my camper is installed with a black tank flusher. I use it occasionally, but I've learned that the back-flushing works a whole lot better and it does not use additional water.

So, there are alternative ways to clean your tanks without using high costly RV chemicals and RV tank chemical. They are not needed! You already have everything you need.

Here's the rule .... anything you can wash clothing with is OK to use to clean your black tank out with. Anything you washing dishes with is also OK to use in your black tank to help clean it out. More is not needed!

If you don't do the back-flush method, then you need to make sure you fill your black tank before dumping. If you are cleaning the tank, (and not driving), then fill the tank a second time with laundry or dishwashing products and then dump.

Avoid bleach in the tanks. However, we do use bleach in our washing machine and after 4 years, we've not had any ill effects yet.

 

[Kirk]

should I use a product like digest it.

I think that all of us are thinking about cleaning the tanks but if you mean all of the time, most of us eventually learn that adding chemicals to the waste tanks is mostly a waste of money. Be generous with the addition of water and that is all you need do.

 

[Capnbny]

Dose the clean tank solution work or should I use a product like digest it.

Hey! I love Digest it. I also use happy campers. Either one works great.

When I treat my black tank, I dump it and flush it completely. Then I fill the bowl, add a scoop of treatment, some calgon, and about a half cup of dawn dish soap. I follow that with about 2 more gallons of water. It's my version of the geo method. It works great, and keeps my tanks from clogging and getting build up.

Here is an article about how happy campers works: RV Holding Tank Treatments Review: Happy Campers

And here is a video that shows how I mix my black tank treatment:

Hope you find this helpful