Poop pyramid troubles

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OP posted this and never returned it seems.

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But some good information was gleaned.
 
Just made a trip to Home Depot. Seems Gary was right, they didn’t have any real TSP. Just phosphate-free stuff. It was just a matter time, phosphates we’re removed from soaps and detergents decades ago.
You may find it in another department than the detergent aisle, e.g. where the wallpaper or tile installation stuff is, but in some states or communities it is not available at all. Amazon has retailers for TSP, but I don't know if they ship everywhere.
 
another department than the detergent aisle
I just looked and the Home Depot in Mesquite TX has TSP but not with the cleaners but in the area with wallpaper and assorted items. If you can't get it there I have gotten it from Amazon many times and from several different states. I have used it since it was recommended in a seminar by an engineer from Thetford.
 
I just looked and the Home Depot in Mesquite TX has TSP but not with the cleaners but in the area with wallpaper and assorted items. If you can't get it there I have gotten it from Amazon many times and from several different states. I have used it since it was recommended in a seminar by an engineer from Thetford.
Thanks Kirk. I got my last box last year at our local Home Despot, it's always been in the paint and wallpaper section with other prep and cleanup remedies, still have some left. I found the same stuff on Amazon, so I guess that's where my next box comes from, when necessary.

Kevin
 
Remove the toilet, glove up, and remove the offending stalagmite the old fashioned way. I recommend a 3M niosh respirator as well. Fill the tank with water a couple days prior to soften it up a bit, then drain. Use a plastic putty knife carefully around the base of the fecal Mt. Fuji until you dislodge it from the bottom of the tank. Remove it from the top.

The nice thing about doing this is that you will only want to do it once......and going forward, you will make sure that your black tank system is used correctly.
 
FYI, Some HD's have the TSP and others have the TSP Substitute. And then some have both. Typically kept in the paint dept along with the paint thinners and other nasty chemicals (former employee of HD - fulltime paint dept associate).
 
Old thread. I must be concerned about a PP to fund this.

I bought a 2008 Class A with a dedicated black-tank flush connection in the wet bay.

Today I decided to fill the black tank to see how accurate my sensors were (pretty good). I used a flashlight while depressing the foot pedal and to my “horror” I could see what amounts to a PP with waste and TP.

I googled the situation and found a Poop Pyramid to be a relatively common problem.

After filling the black tank as high as I felt comfortable I could visually see the tip of the pyramid slump over. That seemed good.

I’ve read about the various chemicals to break things up. I have no idea how hard the PP is; the top part moved.

I plan to rinse the heck out of it today. But we will be driving tomorrow.

A wooden stick sounds reasonable. About how far from the toilet flap is the base of the tank? I won’t be doing this today.

I read to fill it 3/4 and add 10# of ice just prior to driving. Sounds reasonable too.

Any advice is welcome.
 
I'm not sure I would fill it 3/4, maybe 1/4 and a large bag of ice, and a good squirt of Dawn dishsoap. After dumping, always add a few gallons of water, it helps keep things soft in there.
 
First dumping of black tank AFTER filling it all the way up was “so satisfying”. Holy Cow did the bad stuff come tumbling out. I had never seen that before (we are newbies, 3 months).

I refilled it two more times and by the end the water was clear. Now I’ve filled it 2/3 with some Tank Blast. I won’t have the full 24 hours as per directions but it will be close. My sensors all seem to be acting perfectly.

My plan going forward it to always add water to the 1/3 light after a dumping of the tank and fill that sucker up just before draining.
 
About how far from the toilet flap is the base of the tank?
That will depend on the size of the tank and the configuration. Most waste tanks are not very deep but wide. There really are no standard dimensions for waste tanks but very few are more than 10" in depth and usually they will be more than 6" in depth. You can get a pretty good idea of the depth of the tank by going under it and see if you can't measure on one of the ends. Looking on Amazon, all that I found from 20 gallon to 60 gallon had depths between 6 & 10 inches. Of course you then have to add the distance from the bottom of the toilet to the top of the tank, perhaps another foot to 18" in most cases.

You can probably loosen things with the use of this flush wand from Amazon. I also recommend use of the Johnny Chock to hold the toilet valve open when needed.
 
Over the years working on other people's RV's, I've broken up a number poop pyramids just using a standard manual awning rod down through the flush valve.
 
Before we empty the fresh water tank leaving the campground, we always hold the toilet valve down until the black tank is at least 2/3 full. The agitation while driving to the dump station does a good job scrubbing the tank. I know this doesn't help the current problem, but its a good way of making sure you don't get this problem in the first place. Of course, its just the two of us and we use the cardinal rule (unless its a middle of the night emergency).
 
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I thought that I was past worrying about PPs, but my son in law had a hernia operation and part of my daddy do list was to winterize their Hybrid TT. This is their first year owning an RV with a black tank and they had forgotten that I told them to flush it out after dumping. Well, after about an hour of running the hose through the toilet, it finally ran clear. I told my SIL this was twice (first and last), so make sure to flush after dumping.

Ed
 
While others have "Poo pooed" the idea, I have read a number of cases on various forums where people use probiotics to help dissolve (over a number of days) much of the stuff that adheres to the tank walls. One product intended for such use is Unique Clear-It and there are "weaker" versions of the Unique intended for continued maintenance. Of course the tank has to be full of water for this to work. Anytime you drain the black tank, you need to add three gallons of water or more to it, and when it sits, it needs to have water added to account for evaporation.

Charles
 
First dumping of black tank AFTER filling it all the way up was “so satisfying”. Holy Cow did the bad stuff come tumbling out. I had never seen that before (we are newbies, 3 months).

I refilled it two more times and by the end the water was clear. Now I’ve filled it 2/3 with some Tank Blast. I won’t have the full 24 hours as per directions but it will be close. My sensors all seem to be acting perfectly.

My plan going forward it to always add water to the 1/3 light after a dumping of the tank and fill that sucker up just before draining.
Most people are not so easily satisfied. :eek:
 
This works very well. Haven't found a clog that would not bust up.
drain snake attachment for pressure washer

I use a small electric pressure washer with the snake fed through a 90 into the tank. Set up, and clean was usually 40 minutes. No mess, charged $175.00. Cheap camera would show the customer inside the tank.
 
While others have "Poo pooed" the idea, I have read a number of cases on various forums where people use probiotics to help dissolve (over a number of days) much of the stuff that adheres to the tank walls.
What it takes is a very subjective thing since it will depend on how old the pile is, what it is made up of, how large it is, and a myriad of other factors. There is no one product that will always work. These threads sometimes degrade into a "my poop is better (or worse) than your poop!" The diet of those contributing to that pile probably makes a difference.
 

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