Black Tank emptying

[GaryG]

I finally went down to the local city sewer plant (where they have a free RV dump station) and emptied the black tank that I thought i had problems with. It emptied just fine and the indicator lights worked perfect. I did use the special fitting that allows a garden hose to be hooked up to the sewer hose connection at the connection point. That allowed me to fill up the black tank with fresh water to help clear out all the sewage. It worked like a charm. I was too worried about it I guess.

The dealership, where I purchased my TT this spring offers free winterization as long as you own the trailer. So I took it down after emptying the black tank and they did a fantastic job. It was like an assembly line of mass production with different stations where they completed it. The best part was the free coffee and donuts! Whoopie.

Now my TT is in covered storage, just a short distance from my home, where I can redily check up on it and visit my 'man cave'. I keep it covered here in Idaho because of the cold temps and snow. I just don't want snow and ice on the roof with the constant melting and freezing. I think that's probably the worse thing on a trailer's roof. Just wanted you all to know my progress with emptying the black tanks.

PS: love the new site theme! WOW

[Houston Remodeler]

The tank indicator lights are notoriously inaccurate. On everyone's RV. You're not alone.

We've use one of those 45º clear elbows (with garden hose attachment for cleanout) for 2 years and 15,000 miles. Nary a problem.

[secal48]

Hi. My 24RLS has a built in tank flusher. The connection is in the water docking station next to the city water connection. It's labeled on the swinging door. But I'm not too sure of how well it works so I also picked up a wand sprayer that I use if we stay at a full hookup site.

But, does anyone know where the drain pipe is located at the tank end. When using the wand I see little bits of brown stuff swirling in the water but the clear elbow I attach at the drain only show clear water coming out. And if I turn off the flushing the elbow will be dry but I still see water and stuff in the bottom of the tank when I shine a light down the toilet.

Any ideas anyone?

[GaryG]

I was disappointed when the first time I went to hook up the city water to flush out the black tank on my trailer and found out there wasn't a place to hook the hose to flush it out! I never even thought to ask while we were looking at the trailer before we purchased it. I just assumed there would be on.

I have now purchased the clear plastic extension that has a hose hookup and a shut off valve so you can fill up the black tank with city water which sort of flushes it out. The pull the release valve and drain the black tank. I did this a couple of times and it seemed that the black tank was empty ( I could see the bottom of it while looking down through the toilet with a flash light) but the indicator lights still say 3/4ths full. I now went and purchased at Walmart a black tank sprayer (with a rotation sprayer head) that you insert directly into the toilet which is hooked up to the city water. I am hoping this will clean the sensors and assure that the tank is really clean. I will try it in a week and see how it works. I am getting it ready for winter and will be taking it down to the local dealership for their free winterization. I will post after trying the black tank sprayer and let you know how it works.

I'd be interested in what some of you use with your RV's if you don't have a built in black tank flusher/washer? Maybe mine does and I just have not located it yet. That would be nice.