Storing stuff in a Black Tank......

[Vladimir]

The stuff stored is the obvious stuff.

I have converted my Casita trailer to a fly fishing cabin. Once a week at a minimum I take it out for fishing and usually stay overnight or a couple of nights.

I really do not want to dump the black tank after every trip. I can easily go a month or two before the  black tank needs dumping. I do have lots of water in the tank.

So can I wait a month....or should I dump much more frequently even though it is not full.

Thoughts??

 

 

[Chad Heiser]

As long as you keep enough water in the tank to allow the solids to break down and to prevent any build up, the only real issue you will be dealing with is potential smell.  The longer the stuff is in there, the more likely it will begin to smell. It is better to dump the tank when it is closer to full than empty to make sure everything gets sucked/pulled out.  A good tank treatment chemical can help curb smells.  I would at least go a couple of weeks with the usage you describe.

[2gypsies]

I agree with Chad. No problem letting it sit with enough liquid.

[bruce t]

Oh yeah? That stuff will set like concrete if not flushed or stirred up often. It will settle and you will be just thrilled with the job of getting it out.

regards

 

[sandsys]

Many of us go two weeks or more between dumping; why would that be a problem in this case?

Linda Sand

[sandsys]

1 minute ago, bruce t said:

Oh yeah? That stuff will set like concrete if not flushed or stirred up often. It will settle and you will be just thrilled with the job of getting it out.

regards

 

So, you stir your black tank? Never heard of anyone doing that before. Yes it sort of gets stirred when moving from one site to another but not everyone does that often. As long as you keep enough water in there I see no problem. If you let it dry out, however, you get the challenge of re-liquifying everything. Which can be done but takes time so you want to check on the tank regularly when it is parked.

Linda Sand

[bruce t]

Sorry folks. 'Stir' as in move around up and down the road. Not with a spoon!!!!!!!

Take my word for it. In the hot weather it will soon solidify.

regards

 

[Barbaraok]

If you are losing so much water due to evaporation from your black tank in hot weather, you've got a problem that needs to be corrected.  For normal situations, keeping water in it will keep thing liquified.  

[bruce t]

OK folks. I concede to your combined wisdom. However I've seen with my own eyes what can happen.

regards

[mptjelgin]

We have had occasions to "move out" of our RV for up to a couple of months without dumping the black water first. We haven't had a problem with dumping after that period of time. 

[Ray,IN]

Well,  I have a cousin who retired his business of septic tank pumping and clean-out. He said he never did pump a tank without having to "stir" the bottom contents with what appeared to be a floor squeege on a 10' handle, so the pumper would vacuum it out properly. That said, there is a huge difference between a septic tank going 10 years between clean-outs and an RV tank going a month-provided the RV tank contains enough water to completely cover all solids, like a septic tank operates.

I've read on this forum many times where full-timers recommended driving to the next destination or stop before dumping the tank so things get sloshed around and mixed up, facilitating a more thorough dump. 

[Kirk W]

The waste tanks do have vent lines which could allow evaporation to become a problem if no water is added each visit but I know from experience that if it is warm where you are the tank will develop odors that are memorable in a month. If it were mine, I'd dump at least biweekly. 

[richfaa]

Obvious answer  do it and see what happens. We never thought about keeping the black tank with waste in it for that long but who knows.

[Mr. Camper]

Perhaps I'm missing something in this conversation.  Is your time so valuable that you don't have enough of it to dump after each trip?  Is it worth the possibility of a problem happening?  What happens if you are forced to cancel the upcoming trip, or two, and a problem develops.  It seems to me to be a no-brainer that by dumping each time you eliminate the potential problem from ever developing.

[mptjelgin]

If (as stated) he takes the trailer out "once a week at a minimum" there is simply no reason to dump every time. In fact, he'd need to add a bunch of water to the tank to get a decent dump after only a night or two. Why waste the time and the water??

[Yarome]

4 hours ago, Mr. Camper said:

Perhaps I'm missing something in this conversation.  

A black tank won't dump as it should without a sufficient amount of "fill".. or water added to complete a "flush".

He's perfectly fine to wait.. and "should" as long as water levels are maintained.

 

[Mr. Camper]

Sorry but those replies still don't make any sense.  If he has to add water to the black tank to prevent from solidifying he may as well add enough water to make the dump and not worry about what may happen.

[Yarome]

13 minutes ago, Mr. Camper said:

 If he has to add water to the black tank to prevent from solidifying he may as well add enough water to make the dump and not worry about what may happen.

That's the kicker. He doesn't necessarily HAVE to add water. I believe what everyone was saying was to just be assured there is an adequate amount and he doesn't have the inconvenience of having to dump a partially filled tank after each trip. It's perfectly fine to let it percolate.  

[mptjelgin]

47 minutes ago, Mr. Camper said:

Sorry but those replies still don't make any sense.  If he has to add water to the black tank to prevent from solidifying he may as well add enough water to make the dump and not worry about what may happen.

There is a big difference between assuring enough water per flush vs. assuring the tank is full enough to dump. There is simply no reason to sweat this. 

[bruce t]

So. So if you have to put 'enough' water in to ensure a flush then wont you be filling the tank up earlier and thus ensuring you have to dump? Besides whats 'enough' water?

I would never risk more than a few weeks. I've tried to flush a tank full of solidified $%%#@ and I'm telling you now a quick trip to the dump point is worth every minute spent there. Those bits and pieces never break down. They are suspended in the water. And sooner or later they will sell on the bottom of the tank.

regards

[ALLOY]

I just dropped the 60gal black tank out of our Cameo.

Each trlp we make sure it is 3/4 full before dumping and we flush it 2-3 times then add 5 gal so it is never dry.

Before dropping the tank I flushed it until the water ran clear. Even ran the hose down the toilet.

Being a plastic tank the bottom had sagged 1 1/2" lower than the outlet. As a last measure to make sure these wasn't any surprises I put a jack under the tank to push the bottom up above the outlet....glad I did.....I spend the next 1/2hr hitting the bottom of the tank with a 10lb plastic hammer to shake things up.  

The tank flush is on the side of the tank. I may add one at the end opposite the valve or upgrade the pluming for the flush to 3/4"

Edit:  It would seem that the solids are similar to sand in a bucket. When there is constant motion the sand is loose but once the motion stops the sand packs down and takes allot more motion to get it to move again.
 

 

[steved44]

We use an additive called happy camper.  It is a good product to keep everything liquid and also keep the smell at bay.  The only time we have trouble with solids is in the hot summertime when we are in one place for a couple of months.  We did full-time for 9 years before we had a problem with the "brown mountain" and used Happy camper to remedy it.  They make a last ditch stand additive, and a everyday use additive.  Both seem to work really good and my DW has a really sensitive nose so if it works for her it must be good.  

https://www.amazon.com/EXTREME-CLEANER-Happy-Campers-Extreme/dp/B00DKDFVVC  I just use it every other tank fill and it works fine.    Steve

[Barbaraok]

5 hours ago, Mr. Camper said:

Sorry but those replies still don't make any sense.  If he has to add water to the black tank to prevent from solidifying he may as well add enough water to make the dump and not worry about what may happen.

Maybe he has a large black tank and it would require and to get it to 2/3 full would require a lot of wasting of water each time.  We have an 80 gallon black tank, if we were to dump every 2-3 days, we would waste a lot of water that isn't necessary in order to flush out the solids.  By waiting 10-14 days (or more, it is usually the grey tank that determines when we dump) there is sufficient volume of liquid (mostly from us) in order to 'flush' out any particulates in the tank (ie, solid deposits of the last day or so).

There is no need to add additional chemicals - just water will do the trick.  Of course, people do, but then people spend money on a lot of unnecessary things.  If you want to add something, first pour some vinegar into the toilet bowl and let it sit - this will help bring any calcium on the seal into solution.  Then scrub the toilet, flush a bowl full of water, and then add some baking soda - - this will help balance the pH in the holding tank and 'sweeten' the mix.   If you smell odor in your rig, it is a sign that the toilet seal isn't performing as designed and needs a good cleaning.

[Vladimir]

Well, thanks for all the replies. I am going with three weeks!! Then dump. I did learn a lot in the comments. 

For all those wondering why not dump everytime??

The whole point is to leave the truck and trailer hooked up with all the fishing stuff inside both rigs. That way I can just pull out and go fishing and come back the next day. Running to the state park to dump everytime defeats the purpose of using the trailer for fishing. I might as well load and remove the fishing stuff and just do day fishing trips rather than overnight.

I also keep all my food and fishing clothes in the trailer. So.....the milk...how long can I leave that in the fridge???

[sandsys]

1 hour ago, Vladimir said:

I also keep all my food and fishing clothes in the trailer. So.....the milk...how long can I leave that in the fridge???

When we were part-timing in a VW Vanagon we kept camping clothes and canned/boxed food in the camper all the time but we emptied the fridge after each trip. For that rig we had no solar power and did not plug in between trips so leaving any perishable food in the fridge was just asking for trouble. But we also parked that rig in our garage so loading and unloading was very easy to do. In your situation I would probably use a cooler for at least the transfer and probably would just ignore the fridge.

Linda Sand