When is black tank full?

[LittleBill]

Originally Posted by Bayoutalker

I usually use the cap from the Calgon. One each of the liquids and 2 of the Borax. That has worked well for over 2 years now.

I assume you do this after dumping your black. Do you add a specific amount of water at the same time or just flush the toilet to run a minute or two.

[Bill29456]

Two ways to check the tank level is 1: look at the monitor panel and it will give your the level in 1/4 increments. The 2nd way I use is by the smell. When I flush the toilet and smell it right away, it’s getting up there. Normally I don’t smell much of anything unless it filling up.
My 355 has two bathrooms so I just use the second one if need be.

[LittleBill]

Originally Posted by Forelyndogs

Great idea but my gauges have shown 2/3 or full for several years. I probably screwed something up and ruined the sensors, but from what I’ve read, messed up sensors is very very common. My fresh and grey work fine, but the black water doesn’t and despite trying several solutions nothing has worked to fix the problem.

My 40 gallon black tank would show 1/2 full when empty and after adding 10 gallons would show 3/4 full and after adding another 10 gallons it would show that it was completely full when in reality it was only 1/2 full.
It was in for warranty work and the service tech says he has corrected the situation by adding a clean out chemical (don't remember the specific name of product) and senors are working fine now as it apparently had paper or other matter on some of the sensors. Time will tell as haven't pick up unit yet.

[LittleBill]

Originally Posted by rkymntsno

As far as the gray tanks go, our Open Range TT could only last 3 days before the overflow started. First time it happened I didn't know what it was but figured it out. Do all gray tanks have overflows? I've come to distrust all sensors now.

Originally Posted by Camper_bob

+1 Gray will usually back up in the shower (lowest drain).

Originally Posted by GAD36H

I know when it's time to dump the gray tank when the wife hollers from the shower :-)

On my 5er, I have (2) Grey tanks. Being the bath is up and the kitchen is down, would find the the kitchen sink would start filling when one of the tanks was full. Determined that Grey 1 handles the Kitchen sink and the shower, which with so much water being used in both is why the tank would fill up within a couple of days. While Grey 2 handles the bathroom sinks and the washer drain (don't have washer/dryer so low usage of water goes into this tank).
So after finding that out, now when camped I leave the Grey 1 drain valve open and Grey 2 closed while in camp until the night before leaving. That way should have more than enough water to rinse sewer lines after dumping the black tank.
Also I have added a valve to the end of the discharge opening so in case we am somewhere that does't have a sewer hook up, then I can open both Grey 1 & 2 valve and let them balance out if needed. When I get to a place to dump I would need to close the Grey valves, dump the black tank then go back and dump the Grey tanks. Haven't needed to do this yet, but like they always say it is good to be prepared.

[Bayoutalker]

Originally Posted by LittleBill

I assume you do this after dumping your black. Do you add a specific amount of water at the same time or just flush the toilet to run a minute or two.

Yes, after. I let my tank flush run a minute or so after I close the valve to let a gallon or two in. I fill the toilet bowl with water, dump in the stuff and use the brush to stir it up and clean the bowl. Then just flush. Two jobs done.

[daveobieone]

Our Eagle HT is only about 2 years old, and the black gauge is useless! The grey gauges seem to still work ok most of the time.

We can leave the camper in the morning, and the black gauge is only reading 1/3. When we come back later in the day, it's reading full. That's after we had just dumped the day before.

Our toilet connects to the black tank via a couple of 45's, so we can't see into the tank.

A couple weeks ago, we were at no-hook-ups sites in Wyoming for a week and a half. BEAUTIFUL sites (and very inexpensive), but no dump stations for miles...like 35 miles each way. Knowing how to anticipate the state of the black tank really becomes critical in that case. We haven't mastered it yet.

Our Eagle has the "360 Siphon" vent on the black tank, and I can say, I've never had a bad smell from the tank. Those things really do seem to work.

Can someone tell me where to get this "Calgon" and "Borax" stuff everyone is referring to? Perhaps it would help with the messed-up gauge situation we have...which is really causing us problems since we really like to boondock / Off-grid camp a lot. With no hook-ups, and a long drive to dump, this is really causing us problems.

Dave O.

[daveobieone]

I should also add, it's just my wife and I, and we have a 32 gallon black tank in the Eagle.

Thanks,
Dave O.

[NewBlackDak]

Originally Posted by daveobieone

Our Eagle HT is only about 2 years old, and the black gauge is useless! The grey gauges seem to still work ok most of the time.



We can leave the camper in the morning, and the black gauge is only reading 1/3. When we come back later in the day, it's reading full. That's after we had just dumped the day before.



Our toilet connects to the black tank via a couple of 45's, so we can't see into the tank.



A couple weeks ago, we were at no-hook-ups sites in Wyoming for a week and a half. BEAUTIFUL sites (and very inexpensive), but no dump stations for miles...like 35 miles each way. Knowing how to anticipate the state of the black tank really becomes critical in that case. We haven't mastered it yet.



Our Eagle has the "360 Siphon" vent on the black tank, and I can say, I've never had a bad smell from the tank. Those things really do seem to work.



Can someone tell me where to get this "Calgon" and "Borax" stuff everyone is referring to? Perhaps it would help with the messed-up gauge situation we have...which is really causing us problems since we really like to boondock / Off-grid camp a lot. With no hook-ups, and a long drive to dump, this is really causing us problems.



Dave O.

Calgon is a water softener found in the bath and beauty section. You don’t remember the “Calgon take me away” commercials?

Borax is a powdered laundry detergent.

[Bayoutalker]

Originally Posted by NewBlackDak

Calgon is a water softener found in the bath and beauty section. You don’t remember the “Calgon take me away” commercials?

Borax is a powdered laundry detergent.

I find all the products in the cleaning product section at the grocery store. The Calgon and Borax are usually very close to each other in the laundry soap area.

[tec]

We have a Eagle 5th wheel with a 50 gallon black tank, and we went 10 days recently, the sensors reading 2/3 by time we moved and dumped. I did have to dump the grey tank about half way in, used a couple 5 gallon buckets and took to a vault toilet nearby. Didn’t mention we have a second half bath with an additional 35 gallon black tank.

[Magnolia Tom]

Originally Posted by NewBlackDak

Calgon is a water softener found in the bath and beauty section. You don’t remember the “Calgon take me away” commercials?

Borax is a powdered laundry detergent.

Think that’s a different product you’re thinking about. That Calgon is a bath soap.

The one you want is the water softener. Remember the “ancient Chinese secret” commercial?

[Bayoutalker]

Here you go.

[NewBlackDak]

Originally Posted by Magnolia Tom

Think that’s a different product you’re thinking about. That Calgon is a bath soap.

The one you want is the water softener. Remember the “ancient Chinese secret” commercial?

You’re right. Got my commercials wrong.

[Magnolia Tom]

Originally Posted by NewBlackDak

You’re right. Got my commercials wrong.

Lol. The sad thing is I remember both commercials [emoji23]

[daveobieone]

Thanks Cliff...That's very helpful. I had no idea what to look for.
Dave O.

[Bayoutalker]

Originally Posted by daveobieone

Thanks Cliff...That's very helpful. I had no idea what to look for.
Dave O.

I hope it works for you, it has for us for a long time now. We use the blue Dawn dish soap. I don't know if the other colors work the same.

[spoon059]

Originally Posted by Bayoutalker

I wouldn't use bleach. It would kill any good bacteria you might have in the tank.

Your black tank is a storage tank, not a septic system. Any "bacteria" you have shouldn't have sufficient time to do anything to break down material anyways. I wouldn't use bleach either, but not because it may kill bacteria...

[Bayoutalker]

Originally Posted by spoon059

Your black tank is a storage tank, not a septic system. Any "bacteria" you have shouldn't have sufficient time to do anything to break down material anyways. I wouldn't use bleach either, but not because it may kill bacteria...

That would be the lesser reason for sure but any bacteria in the tank would have some effect over a period of time in storage between uses. It could help with odors.

[JFlightRisk]

You know when your black tank is full when:

You flush with great expectations...and are sorely disappointed!

[daveobieone]

Last night I was able to obtain...
Blue Dawn, Calgon Water Softener, and Borax at the big-box store.

I'll follow the recipe, and add about 10 gallons of water to the 32 gallon tank. That should allow for a good bit of "sloshing around" when we leave with the Eagle next week for a camping trip.

Hopefully this will clear the sensors a bit so we can get some useful info from them again. You would think they would at least last 2 years.

It's also been suggested to me to add 10 pounds of ice to the tank just before we pull out. The explanation being that the ice will help to clear the sensors. Has anyone else tried that?

BTW, we do use RV rated Scott single-ply TP...and as little of it as possible. The package says it's "Septic Safe" and "Clog Free", and "Breaks up 8x faster than Charmin".

Dave O.