Holding Tank Cleaner

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StockHR

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Sep 5, 2008
Posts
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Location
New Jersey
The other night as I watched my wife load the dish washer I noticed she used a cascade "Action Pac" containing soap and a rinse. They have a lavender scent and I was wondering if I could drop one of these in my black water holding tank every so often. I know there are holding tank products out there but this might work as it would certainly suds up and clean the tank while moving around. Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Mike
 
There is no problem putting most any product like that into the holding tank. The GEO method uses Calgon water softener and Dawn dishwashing liquid. I use Dawn in my tank just because I like the smell of Dawn.
 
Hi Mike:

There probably isn't any problem dropping the dish washer thing in the black water tank.  The big thing is don't put anything in there that might kill the bacteria.  The bacteria needs to be there to digest the waste.  Generally it takes care of it's self.  A good rinse each time you dump it goes a long ways.

Another trick used by some is to dump a bag or two of ice into an empty tank and drive for a while.  The ice will knok things off the walls of the tank.
 
Another trick used by some is to dump a bag or two of ice into an empty tank and drive for a while.  The ice will knok things off the walls of the tank.

A couple of comments from the local curmudgeon.

  Challenging the ice theory a bit.  bags of ice into an empty tank ain't gonna do a thing. Ok, let's add some water...how much ?  It must be remembered that ice cubes float near the surface of the water. The sensors have a vertical span of 6-8 inches ~~ . Depending on the water level which ones get cleaned ?

Point 2: Ice melts rather quickly..  after you drive sloshing around for 5 minutes I would think they would be mostly gone, at least the sharp edges.

  I have tried it several times and the results were unmeasurable. 

I wonder where this idea started,  it sure is a mystery to me.

Pros and cons ?



 
 
carson said:
Challenging the ice theory a bit.  bags of ice into an empty tank ain't gonna do a thing. Ok, let's add some water...how much ?  It must be remembered that ice cubes float near the surface of the water. The sensors have a vertical span of 6-8 inches ~~ . Depending on the water level which ones get cleaned ?

Point 2: Ice melts rather quickly..  after you drive sloshing around for 5 minutes I would think they would be mostly gone, at least the sharp edges.

I agree 100%. Not logical to me, for the exact reasons that you list.

R
 
I dumped 2 10 pound bags of ice in mine with water and it eliminated the dreaded poop pyramid. I drove about 100 miles to my next campground and dumped and have not had a problem since....hot water and then overnight, dawn dishwashing liquid then in the morning 20 pounds of ice, 100 mile drive and she dumped clean as a whistle. Previous owner had not used enough water....haven't had a problem since.

Good Luck, but I think ice works!!

Jim

 
I'm for the Calgon and Dawn!  There could be bleach in those packs, not sure.  We were out this winter and our grey tank was draining slow.  We closed the tank, put some Dawn and Calgon in and left it closed off for a couple of days.  it did help.  Then we left to go someplace else.  We made sure there was water in the grey tank with the Dawn and Calgon.  By the time we arrived and hooked up, it drained beautifully.  We did this in the black tank too and it seemed to make the gauges show more accurately. 
 
The Cascade Action Pac is just another packaging variation of a low-sudsing detergent plus a perfume, designed for dishwasher use. When used in a waste tank, no better or no worse than any other low-suds detergent, would be my guess.  Any kind of degreaser should help a little, especially in the gray tank where food wastes can build up a greasy residue. You want a low-duds type, so that the tank doesn't froth up when traveling - it can be amazing how much suds you get from even a tint bit of soap in a tank that is sloshed around for 100 miles!

Personally I don't use any of that stuff, but our waste tanks are in constant use, filled and dumped, so they tend to stay "clean".  Once a year I may fill the tanks with water and add a healthy dose of a enzyme type septic tank cleaner and let it sit for 3-4 days. That gives the enzymes (yeast bacteria) time to eat their way through any organic accumulations anywhere in the tank.

The old ice cube trick may have some benefit if the tank is filled to about 1/4 with water along with 15-25 lbs of ice. That should let it slosh all around sides and bottom real well. Probably more effective on solids or perhaps strips of poorly-dissolved paper than on greasy sludge, but that's just a guess on my part.  The ice trick is one of those mythological campfire remedies that everybody loves but there is only scant anecdotal evidence that it works as a general method for tank maintenance. I don't doubt that it has cured a few and probably can't hurt to try if you have a problem, but it's not something I would recommend as a routine tank cleaning strategy. Just my $0.02!
 

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