Dissolving contents of black tank

[djw2112]

Hi, what is the fastest way chemically to desolve everything inside the black tank so i can flush it clean? I might have a build up pile.

Update: i ordered some product called unique, a video says it should work within a few hours. We will see... I will come back and update this after i receive it.

 

[jackiemac]

That will be an interesting result. Be good to know the outcome!

 

[SC5thWheeler]

There's a concoction that people swear by which is Dawn dish soap, Borax soap and possibly something else. There are tons of YouTube videos on it.

 

[Larry N.]

Just note that those tanks are holding tanks, not intended to dissolve the stuff, just to hold the contents until it can be transferred to a sewage facility. Some chemicals can be a problem for septic tanks.

Many of us just use plenty of water, no chemicals.

 

[phil-t]

Yes, on the chemicals being bad for septic systems. We have seen firsthand,here at the campground of the results of campers dumping all kinds of stuff (other than crap) in the the campground dump station septic system here. I've seen them have to pump the tank 2 times a year and rebuild the leech system twice in 3 years. It's amazing what some folks put in their holding tanks; no wonder they have RV issues.

 

[Kirk]

Hi, what is the fastest way chemically to desolve everything inside the black tank so i can flush it clean? I might have a build up pile.

Why do you think that? The best thing to use in an RV waste tank is generous amounts of water as a general practice. A couple of times a year just add a healthy dose of laundry detergent and about 1/3 tank of water just before traveling, then dump the tank as soon as you reach your destination. Doing that will remove any residue that has built up along the sides and bottom of the tanks, as can happen.

As to the products from Unique, it may help if you drive around some to agitate it but probably won't do anything that the laundry detergent would not have done. Nothing will pernitrate a significant built-up without agitation, if it does so then.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

If you already have a "poo pile", there is no fast & easy way to get rid of it. Especially if it has been building for awhile, meaning the bottom layers are dried and hard. It may require both chemical softening and a high-pressure spray to break it loose.

You can use most non-caustic drain or septic products but should avoid products with alcohol or formaldehyde, which can be harmful when flushed out. I like the Roebic brand bacterial products (K47 & K57 do well in RV tanks), but others are effective & safe too. They need to sit in the tank for 2-3 days to soften and eat into the pile and it may take multiple treatments.

Get a flexible wand sprayer that you can feed down the toilet or up the waste exit to help break up the pile with high pressure water.

https://www.amazon.com/Camco-Flexible-Powerful-Dislodges-40074/dp/B0006IX7YC

 

[Krazeehorse33]

Taco Bell works on me.

 

[House Husband]

We add 10% (5 gallons for us) fresh water to our black tank after every dump.
Never use chemicals and never had any buildup in 28 years of RVing.

Richard

 

[Ray-IN]

Hi, what is the fastest way chemically to desolve everything inside the black tank so i can flush it clean? I might have a build up pile.

Update: i ordered some product called unique, a video says it should work within a few hours. We will see... I will come back and update this after i receive it.tThat is the only product sold that has a satisfaction guarantee or money back statement on their website.

To the best of my knowledge that is the only product that comes with a satisfaction guaranteed statement.
I've never used it though.

 

[Kirk]

satisfaction guaranteed statement.

But it doesn't guarantee that solid deposits will be liquified. And there are others.
Bio-Kleen Products, Inc. guarantees your satisfaction with every product that we carry when used as directed.

There are several others with pretty much the same or similar wording.

 

[JudyJB]

One tip for the long term: Make sure you never store your rig without adding several gallons of water to the black tank. I see that you live in East Texas, and that area is even drier than most places, so if you plan to leave it unused, add enough water that it will not evaporate. You want to keep any solids that did not get adequately dumped to stay liquid, not dry into a hard lump.

Adding a few gallons of water and driving around with it in your tank is also important to keeping black water stuff liquid. It will also help to soften anything up that is hardened in there. All of this is much more important than adding chemicals to an already dried-up lump!!

Also, educate your family and visitors to use a minimum amount of toilet paper and a maximum amount of water. (Watch small kids like a hawk because they are notorious for thinking more is better.)

Water is your best and cheapest chemical!!

 

[Rene T]

One tip for the long term: Make sure you never store your rig without adding several gallons of water to the black tank. I see that you live in East Texas, and that area is even drier than most places, so if you plan to leave it unused, add enough water that it will not evaporate. You want to keep any solids that did not get adequately dumped to stay liquid, not dry into a hard lump.

Adding a few gallons of water and driving around with it in your tank is also important to keeping black water stuff liquid. It will also help to soften anything up that is hardened in there. All of this is much more important than adding chemicals to an already dried-up lump!!

Also, educate your family and visitors to use a minimum amount of toilet paper and a maximum amount of water. (Watch small kids like a hawk because they are notorious for thinking more is better.)

Water is your best and cheapest chemical!!

If it’s going to be that hot, you’d be better off just filling the tank all the way full. Drive it around a bit, park it, then drive it around after storing then dump.

 

[Larry N.]

I see that you live in East Texas, and that area is even drier than most places,

Hmmm... actually, it's west Texas that is drier. East Texas is closer to Arkansas and Louisiana, and has similar climate and terrain, with humidity.

 

[SpencerPJ]

I'm pretty sure the OP is fairly fixed, long term living, and hook-up and drive would be a task to say the least. A friend of mine was successful using an attachment to his cleanout that let him add a garden hose and spray back into the tank. Like this.

 

[Rene T]

I'm pretty sure the OP is fairly fixed, long term living, and hook-up and drive would be a task to say the least. A friend of mine was successful using an attachment to his cleanout that let him add a garden hose and spray back into the tank. Like this.

I’m not a fan of one of those. When you turn on the water hose, most of the water would immediately double back and run down the stinky slinky.

Also in my case, there are three 90 degree elbows the water would have to go through before it would reach the inside of the tank. There wouldn’t be any forcefull pressure.

All it would do is add water to the tank. You can save your money and just stick a hose down the toilet with a pressure wand on the end of the hose.

 

[Kirk]

I’m not a fan of one of those.

This tool is a much better approach to removing any solids left behind.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

This tool is a much better approach to removing any solids left behind.

Yes indeed, a better choice IF the problem is a poop pyramid. The drain Hydroflush works on clogs in the tank outlet or valve area, but has little effect on anything back inside the tank. The spray wand gets closer to the pyramid and the fine spray may cut into the pile somewhat.

 

[SpencerPJ]

I’m not a fan of one of those. When you turn on the water hose, most of the water would immediately double back and run down the stinky slinky.

Also in my case, there are three 90 degree elbows the water would have to go through before it would reach the inside of the tank. There wouldn’t be any forcefull pressure.

All it would do is add water to the tank. You can save your money and just stick a hose down the toilet with a pressure wand on the end of the hose.

Ah yes indeed, but if you do have a solid lincoln log blocking the entrance to the waste exit, it is exactly a nice clean way to backflush. I have a wand as above, my issue is my toilet does not drop straight to the tank, it goes through a short pipe, then 90 deg to tank. So as concluded, having a variety of options is best. I also like the short extension as I have linked for a nice additional backflush when all is working well.

 

[djw2112]

Hi, to answer some questions and set the scene a bit. Yes i am permanent (goin on 5 years), full time and the only way this RV moves is side to side lol.... so driving around is not an option as spencerPJ noted.

The reason i think i have a build up is all this time it has been pretty much a 1 to 1 ratio (setting aside the short showers during the month). What i mean is that all this time when my fresh water tank is empty, my black tank is full, 1 to 1 trade off. I dont use water for anything else.

This last month i noticed all of a sudden that i still had about 30 gals (both tanks 79 gal) left in my fresh water tank but the black tank water line was showing in the toilet pipe. So that tells me there is some kind of displacement of water, a mound most likely.

I dump every 7 days like clockwork, use dropins because they have time to work in 7 days time, and always rinse my tank with 1 gal of pressured water at the end of a dump to get the bottom feeders out. I also use tons of water every flush and add extra flushes if needed. So i feel i take good care of my tanks.

I have a high pressure washer and i have a length of old hose. I was going to connect the hose to the end of the sprayer and go down the toilet or down the vent pipe to help break things up. But i wanted to try a non messy way first.

This stuff has no formaldehyde or any of those bad chemicals. I must say so far i am impressed by this stuff. I have been trying to get the black dried stuff off of the toilet collar under the flap for years now, and brush scrubbing didnt work.

Yesterday i turned off the water and opened the flap and put this stuff on that collar and then closed the flap and put some water in the toilet and waited 2 hours. When i rinsed it all that stuff was 98 percent gone and that collar was white again, alittle brushing and it was all gone.

So this bottle has 16 treatments, i way overdid it and added half the bottle into the toilet as a first treatment. By the time i dump i will be surprised if that mound is still there.. I will know soon enough. I do shake the RV several times a day to bounce the water around in there.

My sewer on my land is one of those sub grinder pumps. It grinds up the stuff and then pumps it directly into the sewer for the community. The sewer pipe is only 1 inch pipe. Even though it grinds it up i still want to help it so thats why i use the dropins and other stuff.

Thanks to everyone for the replies, i love the taco bell reply as well, too funny...