sewer flusher

[swaggerstick]

How do I use the sewer flusher? It is a stand alone hose fitting on the passenger side of the trailer. Nowhere near the city water hook up? also to winterize that sewer flusher line, I am guessing that you just blow air through it to clear the line. I assume it has a check valve in it.

[CAG]

I am confused as to what you are trying to do. If you are trying to flush the black tank, hook a water line up to the flush connection and turn on the water. Close the black tank valve for a few minutes and then open to allow the contents to drain. Do this until the water is clear.



If you are trying to winterize that is a completely different animal and someone in cold country will have to help you. We don't winterize in Phoenix.

[Ramman]

I have never done anything special to winterize the fill to the black tank flush. Maybe I have just been lucky but I imagine gravity takes care of it. It wouldn't hurt to blow compressed air into it I guess.

[WeRJuliian]

It's worth pointing out that you should keep a separate hose just for flushing.
The flush water at the dump station is usually "non-potable", so you don't want to contaminate your regular fill hose.
Ours is bright orange, to avoid confusion.

[wiscampsin]

I blow out the black tank flush with compressed air using this https://www.amazon.com/Camco-36104-P...%2C170&sr=8-37

[cekkk]

Never winterized black tank flush valve. And our Winters were below zero several days in a row when we were still spending the winters in Colorado. Never had a problem

[clutch]

It is all down hill for the tank flush. It will drain itself. You want to be careful if you use the flusher with your tank valve closed. I saw one in our park that forgot to open the valve and blew the seam on the tank.

[FashaPa]

I had an unusual situation this past weekend. I was flushing the black tank with valve open. Initially I had a flow of water out of drain, then suddenly I had water coming from slide out. After shutting water off I found water coming from cubby in bathroom. Right near the pump trap door. When I noticed the water coming out of slide area there was no flow out of drain. I haven't torn anything apart yet but I am thinking that the hose came off from either the black tank of the flush port. Has anyone seen this before?

[Camper_bob]

Originally Posted by FashaPa

I had an unusual situation this past weekend. I was flushing the black tank with valve open. Initially I had a flow of water out of drain, then suddenly I had water coming from slide out. After shutting water off I found water coming from cubby in bathroom. Right near the pump trap door. When I noticed the water coming out of slide area there was no flow out of drain. I haven't torn anything apart yet but I am thinking that the hose came off from either the black tank of the flush port. Has anyone seen this before?

Best guess is backflow preventer valve failure. They are notoriously bad. Lots of folks completely remove them, lots of folks replace them with something better.

[harryjr]

Never though about the black tank flush. It takes a bit over 1.5 gal. antifreeze to do our system lines and traps. I pour the remainder into the black tank and leave a cup or so in the toilet bowl.

[dbahn]

Originally Posted by wiscampsin

I blow out the black tank flush with compressed air using this https://www.amazon.com/Camco-36104-P...%2C170&sr=8-37

According to the RV dealer I spoke with today it's important to blow a little air (maybe a minute or so at low pressure) through the fill port to clear water that collects near the valve. I bought a similar fixture to do just that. He suggested I could also just pump a little antifreeze into it instead but apparently the pumps are hard to come by right now.

[fsimms]

I'm unclear as to what the OP is calling a "sewer flusher" located away from the wet bay. Is it possible he is referring to a "Sanicon" electric macerator pump with 20' hose which is located in a separate locking compartment on my Pinnacle. Just a thought.

[Wm.Ince]

Those sewer flusher fittings at the exit are a waste of time. Phony . . . they do not work as advertised.

[ballardpf]

I'm a 69 year old gal who's husband went blind last year and had never been allowed to even touch the 5th wheel, let alone drive it. That changed real quick. So this year I learned to drive (but not back up very well) and I had to winterize our 2016 Eagle Bunkhouse. I watched no less than 20 YouTubes and decided to use compressed air. The last valve I did was the black tank flush hose. What a mess. I kept hearing gurgling sounds, then the foulest-stinky water we have ever smelled started spraying out from roof vents on each corner of the unit. OH MY GOD! WHAT A MESS. Thought I had emptied all the tanks, well our model has 1 Black valve + 3 grey valves. I had missed the gray water that is from the kitchen sink. I ended up washing the trailer, filling all the water tanks, emptying all the water tanks, dumping all the tanks again and winterizing with the pink stuff. I think everything that could go wrong did.... But I learn from my mistakes. All the valves are now labeled with bright yellow stickers and I have a reminder on the dump spout with all the systems to dump (next year). I'm new to the forum so I didn't know how to post to the feed.

[swaggerstick]

I think you have done well for a 69 year old. :-)

[Colorado]

Originally Posted by ballardpf

I'm a 69 year old gal who's husband went blind last year and had never been allowed to even touch the 5th wheel, let alone drive it. That changed real quick. So this year I learned to drive (but not back up very well) and I had to winterize our 2016 Eagle Bunkhouse. I watched no less than 20 YouTubes and decided to use compressed air. The last valve I did was the black tank flush hose. What a mess. I kept hearing gurgling sounds, then the foulest-stinky water we have ever smelled started spraying out from roof vents on each corner of the unit. OH MY GOD! WHAT A MESS. Thought I had emptied all the tanks, well our model has 1 Black valve + 3 grey valves. I had missed the gray water that is from the kitchen sink. I ended up washing the trailer, filling all the water tanks, emptying all the water tanks, dumping all the tanks again and winterizing with the pink stuff. I think everything that could go wrong did.... But I learn from my mistakes. All the valves are now labeled with bright yellow stickers and I have a reminder on the dump spout with all the systems to dump (next year). I'm new to the forum so I didn't know how to post to the feed.

Very nicely done! You don’t have to take all the blame for that mistake, if hubby had included you in the learning process the whole thing probably would have been avoided!

Husbands let this be a good lesson to y’all...include your significant other in the process! You never know when you will NEED her/him to help and it’s a hell of a lot easier learning in bits and pieces rather than cramming everything in an emergency situation.

And to the significant others, I know there’s some of you that think you’re above this process and all this information, you know who you are, you sit in the truck or RV on your phone while your significant other does all the work. Equal rights means equal responsibility! Sharing the work load allows everyone to enjoy the whole experience even more!

[kayakterp]

well said Colorado, there are many things that the DW wants nothing to do with...emptying the tanks are at the top of the list, winterizing isn't too far behind that.
If I ever get to the point where I can't do maintenance, drive, etc we will probably have to sell the TT :-(

[muckinfuss]

Because 'issues' with RV's are among the most frustrating of all of life's interruptions, I suggest a suspenders and belt approach to maintenance and winterizing. Open all faucets and showers and open low point valves, of course. Next: Blow the lines out with low pressure, of course. Pink antifreeze, of course.
Now the check valve in the black tank clean-out is sometimes not easily accessible in the event you need to replace it. Some RV builds have it in a wall, which means removing a panel to replace it if it cracks from freezing, and you won't know the crack is there until you are out and about and need to empty and clean and I don't really think that's the best time to find out you have a $400.00 problem. So, a little air, of course, consider that the suspenders, but put some pink down there as well and consider that the suspenders. Remove the screen, fill the line with a funnel and then a quick blip of air will push a wee bit past the check valve. And if you're a gambler, there are anecdotes all over the various forums from people who found out too late that valve can freeze and crack.

[dbahn]

I inadvertently blew a lot of air (just water pump pressured) through the system by having a vacuum leak from a homemade siphon hose into the antifreeze, so some antifreeze would start to pump, followed by a bolus of air, followed by more antifreeze, etc. so that every faucet seemed more like an atomizer than hose fixture. After repeating that several times then making a smaller diameter siphon hose with no leak, all of the lines filled up quickly with just liquid.

I did the air into the black tank port thing as well, then ran low pressure air into it for a few minutes. I could hear gurgling with the first push of air, then that stopped.

[swaggerstick]

The sewer flusher is nothing more than a water line dedicated to the black water tank that allows you to flush the black water tank after dumping it.