White Hawk 28dsbh black tank problem

[rjd1965]

Hi,
I bought a White Hawk 28DSBH last month and have had it out twice now. The first time I dumped the black water tank it didn't seem to empty all the way. The second time confirmed that it's not emptying as I can see waste when I step on the toilet flush peddle. Not sure what to do. I read about boiling water and clean out mechanisms, but why would it clog (if it is) on so quickly?

[Jmooney]

It depends on the type of items that are in the tank

Important to use the right TP ( made to disenigrate quickly )

Need to use a chem in tank that accelerates breakdown

Could just be a clog - try dumping a bag of ice in the tank and take the TT for a drive and allow to Break up hard materials that may be in the tank. Ice will melt, then drain the tank.

They also make connectors that go inline with the drain hose, that a garden hose connected too, to power flush up that main drain pipe.

[ALJO]

Before you use the black tank have at leas a couple of gallons water in it. With each major job flush with enough water. Use the recommended for RV Toilet paper.
If you get a fairly dry paper plug before your black tank dump valve it might not empty.
When it is empty you might want to take of the dump valve and see if any construction material blocks the outlet from the black tank. Or if you have one of those camera's on a flex hose you can use that to look inside.

[oldmanAZ]

Welcome to the forum.

There are a number of black tank problems such as this on this site. You can use the 'search' function to look at those.

When I read through them, it seemed that not having enough water in the black tank after emptying it was a common cause of problems. It seems that several gallons (5?) of water in the bottom of the tank will help prevent material building up. If you just started using the trailer, the black tank may have been totally dry. This could have caused a 'tower of poo' at the bottom of the tank right over the toilet. You may need to buy and use a power sprayer on the end of a hose to break it up.

There are a number of different ways of dealing with this. If you use the search function, you'll probably learn more than you ever wanted to know about this problem.

[Eaglechief_13]

Your White Hawk is equipped with a power flush. Give it a good flushing. Leave the valve closed for a minute, seriously, no longer than a minute so it doesn't overflow in the bathroom but so that it can get some liquid in there and then open the valve.

I have found that having a clear or near clear elbow on your sewer hose or at the black tank outlet helps you view that the water is turning clear when you are flushing. The ice thing works too.

Make sure you have water and treatment in the black tank before you go #2 and flush solids with a good amount of water. Don't leave the black tank valve open at the campsite, you need water and black tank treatment to breakdown the solids.

Also, I have learned you cannot really trust the tank level gauge, if a piece of toilet paper or something gets on a sensor you can get a false reading.

We love our 28DSBH. Happy Camping!

[Murff]

To newbies and others, in my 32 years of RVing, this is one of the best write-ups I have seen for dumping your poo (black water) holding tank:

Sanidumps: Instructions on How to Empty Your RV Holding Tanks

Murff

[Taurus2415]

+1 on everything that Eaglechief said above. I had to learn over time to use the power flush just a bit longer than I expected. Longer seemed to clean out better and also keeps the sensors reading more accurately. The clear elbow helps to know when you're done too.

T

[Brownie]

+ another one for eaglechief.

I go through 4 cycles of filling for 1 or 2 minutes (but I have a 36 gal. black tank), then drain, leaving the flush water running. Generally, I'm still getting small bits of paper (and other stuff) on the third flush. The fourth flush cycle is almost always clear.

The benefit of using the black tank flush every time I dump: My tank sensors still work great!

[DMRGMC]

The quickest, easyest way to clear it is with a large volume of water. Using a 5 gal pail, open the toilet flush valve and pour the water down with the black water valve open. If you search the forum you will see threads on the inefficiencies of the black tank flush and zero effect the ice cubes have on the solid waste.
It may take a few pails to have it run clean from the black water valve.

[1wayhighway]

Was this a new or used trailer? Maybe the previous owner left you a suprise.

[rjd1965]

Thanks all for the tips. It is a new trailer and I'm thinking we just didn't have enough water in the system when we started using it. Also noticed that the TP was the standard household 2-ply.

I tried several power flushes to no avail. I ended up borrowing a sort of snake and pushing through the clog in the bottom of the bowl. Everything emptied out of the bowl with enough finagling.

I've replaced the tp with the RV kind and also put water and a chemical tablet into the black tank. Hope I don't get into this mess again!

[dmward]

Good to hear that you were able to fix it!