🦨 Smelly RV Tanks! (RV Tank Cleaning) (Full Time RV)
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- Опубликовано: 22 май 2021
- That horrible black tank smell 🦨 might just be your GREY tank! And, the fix is super easy!
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In the yacht world we add white vinegar to tanks. A mild form of acetic acid, cheap and seems to do the trick when a good clean is needed. Fill tank with clean water add a good dose of acid and let it sit for a while. Not sure how this could affect in tank sensors though but we have had zero issues for many years.
In high winds I put blow up beach ball in the middle of each slide topper. You can control the pressure by how full you inflate the ball. Keeps it from flapping, light weight, stores anywhere, lengthens the life of the topper, it works. Try it.
I use ZEP brand heavy duty degreaser to clean my grey tank. It will clean out food debris and grease. Add to your empty grey tank and use as normal. The degreaser will eat away at the debris and grease and you just dump next time the tank is full. I use ZEP acidic toilet cleaner for the black tank. Add to an empty black tank and use as normal. Dump and flush when it's full. Works every time.
That is the longest Low Rider I have ever watched!
Great video. Just a tip from my own RV experience and grey tanks. The spatula - silicone is the one item I use most daily when RVing. Every plate/bowl is scraped clean as I can get it and disposed of in the trash prior to being washed up at the kitchen sink. I even so far as creating several small strips from a paper towel to use individually to wipe spoons/forks/knives or utensils of food debris prior to washing in the sink.
I live in my motorhome full time and it’s been stationary for about 9 months. When I first got it I was watching about every rv tip video I could, one said to use a heavy dose of dawn or similar dish soap to clean tanks. I’ve done that several times now and the sensors do start working better for a time. This time I used some off brand soap from sams, it was around $6.50 for a gallon. I put about 1/3 of the bottle in each of my 2 tanks mixed into a gallon of really hot water. After a few days the sensors became semi accurate again.
We are full time RV'ers and we have a simple solution to holding tank smells.
Don't use unknown chemicals. They simply benefit the manufacturers.
Don't radically flush tanks. This benefits the company's that do the flush and it may make you happy for a short time.
Do use straight Borax, yep, the 20 mule team stuff. Dump in either tank every time you empty the tanks. Approximately 1 cup treats most tanks and costs very little. American people discovered this all natural mineral way before you were on this earth and it works to improve the cleaning power of clothes detergents AND control odors in our holding tanks. Just give it a try!
Bad sensors fixed. We had sensors that were giving false readings all the time. What we did was the method that uses borax and dawn dish soap. It was mainly or grey tank but our black tank started giving false levels sometimes no matter how much flushing I did to either tank. Desperate for a fix, I was considering a professional crew to do the task and at the time, I had an estimate of $135. I held off for one more experimental try with borax and dawn dish soap on a travel day. Well, we were extremely surprised. After we got to the next site, I almost forgot to flush the two tanks. I filled both tanks to the top (we drove with ~15 gallons) and didn't notice much more or darker water coming out. The black tank did have some TP come out that shouldn't been there. When we were done, I treated both tanks with Happy Camper, as usual and went to the meter to check the levels and it was fixed. I now load up the black and grey with borax and dawn dish soap about every 3rd time we travel but I don't bother with the flush when I get set up. I just fill the tanks normally and no more sensor problems.
We've been RVing and boating for 30+ years and have no smells for the past 5 years and our sensors work also! We use Tank Teck and add 1/4 Borax soap on travel days. Simple but very effective!
@@thomashubbert4753 1/8 to 1/4. If the tank has an odor and it's a travel day we use a heaping 1/4-1/3 and fill the tank to 1/3 full and let it clean away.
For both grey and black tanks ?
@@wcitro1 Nope just the black tanks. But borax works great on the grey tank.
Borax is GOD & KING!!! It cleans better than any product on the market hands-down. NO INSECTS (including any species of roaches) for the past 10 years. My husband turned off our power, opened every outlet, and sprinkled borax inside left and right, then restored power. To date, we have experienced an insect free home. BORAX changed our lives.
I use Calgon water softener cap full and dawn 1/4 cup in both gray and black tanks when I move the camper, works great, keeps the tanks clean.
Great job that little flow meter is cool I usually stand at my black tank flush with my cellphone with the timer on and guess 😮
Oh yes! Always set a timer! 👍🏼
Happy Camper user myself. If you can only empty the gray about 2/3's full will help keep a lot of the scum from getting on the walls and bottom. Usually do Calgon water softner along with Cascade dishwasher gel (avoid phosphates) and 5-10 gallons on a travel day to help with odor and cleaning. Safe travels
I always dump the kitchen dish water down the toilet.. problem is.. I accidently didn't see a knife and.. Down it went. I don't think Happy Camper makes a product for utensil retrieval.. I think our gray tank P trap is the major offender too. We just use Boraxo and a few drops of Dawn and it's helped a lot.
I buy the large Dawn dishwashing jug, after camping for a week, and tanks all drained, I will pour 1 cup of dawn down the sink and down the toilet. I'll pour 5 gallons of hot water down into the tanks, and drive home. I'll leave that in my grey and black tank until next camping trip. It helps clean, bubbling action when sloshed around from driving. Also in the black tank, I'll put a capful of fabric softener into the black tank. My tanks always smell good when doing that procedure lol.
I had the same problem last year. I filled the galley tank half full of white vinegar and the rest of the tank with water and let it sit for 24 hours. When I drained the tank I thought I had opened the black tank by mistake, because of the odor. There was solidified grease balls from washing the dishes. Now the galley tank is clean with no odors and white vinegar is pretty inexpensive and I don't have to worry about any chemical dust making me sneeze. I also did this to the other gray and black tank. Just another idea that worked for me. Thanks
To clean my sink traps I put 2 tablespoons of baking soda into the trap pour 1 cup of white vinegar. It will fizz like alka selzer. After sitting about 15 minutes flush with hot water. Trap will be clean and no smell.
and if you do this, you take care of the tank in process. thats thinking right there.
Another great video! You guys are very informative, and presented in such a fun way too!
Tara seemed so happy with the jacks moving around to mix the tank! Stay safe guys.
People walking by while you were doing the agitation with the level system must have thought you guys were on you honeymoon.😳❤️🤣
If the trailers rockin’ don’t come knockin’ 🤭
Happy Campers!
😂😂😂
When this RV is rockin... Don"t come knockin...It"s only Chad scaring Tara and Daisy cleaning the waste tanks.
🤣
We bought a used rv. We don't have a black tank rinse. We bought one of the wands to go down it. We used the dawn and borax treatment. Then really agitated it. Then let it sit overnight. Then agitated it again (yes safety cautions were used so there wasn't any splash up). Then dumped and rinsed again. It's been about a year, so far so good our sensors work. We don't rinse that much because it's a pain so when the sensors stop working do a deep clean and they start working again. We're part time and have a drain at home so we often just do the deep clean at home because it's easy.
So Chad, it irritates the eyes, nose, throat, wife, dog, neighbors, but it works!? Glad there’s something out there that does. Tara, you probably didn’t think that particular day editing you’d have to take a Dramamine and strap in, did ya? No telling what the neighbors thought. But this is another great example of why your vids are so valuable. You do helpful tips and pass along your experiences, something much different for full timers to do. You see situations faster than part timers and can help prevent tons of probs. So, as usual, thanks for another great vid. And, Tara, you ALWAYS make me laugh. 😉 Troy
Great video!! We appreciate your advice and experience in these matters. We are not full time but maintaining our tanks is a priority. Thank!
Great video on the tanks. Glad you figured out stinky smell. Glad you fixed it too! That’s a lot of work clean those tanks. Chad you are great at cleaning the tanks too! Tara I know is glad to have you around. I wouldn’t like the smell either Tara. Glad it’s all good. Have a great rest of the week and see you both soon!
Funny! Wish we'd seen this video when you posted it. We just had this happen the other day and couldn't figure out where the smell was coming from. We ended up doing the same thing with Happy Camper in all of our grey tanks and it solved the problem. Thank you for sharing this :)
Thanks again for the invite. Quite the ride while shaking up things. Glad to see it all worked out fine. Cleaning up your act is not always easy.
Great video! Yours are by far the best!
When I had my Teton fifth wheel I used a product for my black tank that helped to basically disintegrate/break down the contents of the holding tank. Didn't really have a problem with smells. Have to say the manual agitation part of the video was great, I got a great chuckle out of that just imagining what must your neighbors be wondering what was going on over there. Great video as usual. Safe travels guys.
Amazing episode guys.... Love all the maintenance videos... Keep up the great work....
We actually had good results on the sensors using 1 cup dishwasher soap, 1/2 - 3/4 full tank (clean water) and a travel day. Dump at destination and rinse. Dishwasher soap is designed to cut grease and grime on your dishes, so will clean the tanks the same way. Also cheaper to use multiple times (dollar store brands work as well as any)...😉
We use calgon liquid dishwasher soap works decent
I do this but also add a cup of borax. Works awesome!
@@chertweck Also use the exact same recipe and it works extremely well!
@@chertweck I'm seeing borax is the way to go with a cup of dawn,
@@georgematos1086 I personally wouldn’t use dawn. Suds too much, but if the dawn is working for you go for it! I use a cheap dishwasher liquid, doesnt get sudsy and does a good job on still cleaning
Y'all are hilarious and I absolutely love your realness! Thank you for being so willing to be transparent with all your experiences! I am a newbie and your videos are very helpful!
Thanks! 😊
Good video. Well explained and the shots were great. Happy Camper has good and reliable products. Smile and be HAPPY.
I like these videos because it gives me a heads up on potential issues. Nice job.
I cant say that this is manufacturer approved, but a little rv tech birdy once told me: "you can dump a bag or 2 of ice cubes down into the black tank just before travelliing to get those stubborn toilet paper peices off of the level sensors, also make sure the tanks are 3/4 full of water". I suspect you could also use this methode with your tank flush chemical, and if you can find a way, in your grey tanks as well. The ice works as a light abrasive while your on the road until it melts (make sure you let it melt) until you flush it away.
The comments on this video have been just as helpful as the actual video. Love the Changing Lanes community!
So glad I subscribe to your channel; my wife complained of the exact same thing 2 weeks ago, I checked the black tank and it was empty, I always drain and flush it anyway. Now I feel that my kitchen grey is the problem as it is the same exact place she and I experienced the sewer smell. And great follow up with the toilet seal grease, didn't know it existed, so glad to have you folks as RUclips friends. We're not full-time yet but soon. Thanks again from Vegas....
I no longer use rv tank products since I started using 1/2 cup Borax water treatment and 3 gallons of water after I dump. I travel and then use my tanks as normal. I have 45 gallon tanks. Thats right the 20 mule team product from the past. RV parks have terrible water. By using Borax you will soften the water so it's more soluble. Then about every third dump I add about 2 ounces of Dawn dish soap. All of my sensors came back to life after a few dumps. Borax is the real fix.
Great video! Robert from Citi told me about your page! I just recently ran into the stinky tank issue myself, and after watching this I am going to try out the extreme cleaner! Thanks and happy camping!
Thanks again for some good info, will be cleaning tanks more often. Take care and safe travels.
Thank you so much! My wife and I are new to RVing and we are about to start our adventures! Bought the RV in November in Pennsylvania! It has been and continues to be the LONGEST 5 months!!! I have been researching for months (two+ years) and your videos have really helped me to feel confident moving forward! Safe and happy travels to you two!
EXCELLENT VID. We appreciate your demonstrations and look forward to joining the full-timeRVers lifestyle next year. Our interest to go tiny has changed our perspective of home buying, so we are doing our homework before making the transisition. I always wondered how RV ppl managed sewage and now I know. Foul odors are a deal breaker for me and knowing this information is very very helpful. I can say with certainty that RVlife will be a pleasure. TYSM 🕊
Boy! Talking about tanks can bring to mind some pretty twisted thoughts 💭
Anyhow, great video. I’ve used the toilet product in the sinks and shower drains but not the tank. I must run out and get only 2 containers. The plumbers grease is something that I never thought of.
Again awesome and thanks for some perverse chuckles 🤭
Hey, Y’all… After you chemically cleaned the tanks, I would flush them once with fresh water and then use an enzyme digester to clean your sensors.
I used a product called UNIQUE, which is an RV and Marine holding tank treatment that liquifies all the waste around the sensors, including toilet paper (one of the side benefits is that you don’t need RV TP). It says it maintains working sensors, but it got my non-working sensors working. I use it in black & gray tanks… Good Luck and keep up the Great Videos… OBTW, You won’t need any Happy Camper if you use UNIQUE…👍
I have been putting Happy Camper in the grey tanks for years, never had smell problem.
We love Happy Camper! We have gave it to friends and family when they got their new rigs. Ordering now the cleaner.
It seems many sources are out of stock... You might try contacting them to see when it will be in stock (www.happycampersworld.com/contact-us/). We've also tried with no response, but maybe if we all contact them... 😀
Thank you so much for this info! I tried to order from multiple sites but it’s back ordered everywhere. You started a rush on the product 😂.
Watched this, got back from a trip, cleaned out the trailer, next day I walk in and WHAM... not a good smell. Pumped water in to fill sink p-traps, smell gone. Great timing on this video! Our trailer is only a few months old, so good tip for any RV.
Great info!
(Loved the jet fuel line.. GO NAVY)
We used three large scoops of water softener pellets along with a cup of dish soap and about 20 gallons of water, in both black tanks, on our travel day. We drained and flushed our tanks after about six hours of driving. Both of our sensors now work properly. We have added this process to our yearly list of things to do.
The Great Carnak sees a leveler repair video in the near future. I hope you didn't break anything. Keep the good stuff coming guys.
That’s a really cool product! I’m glad you found it I’ll add it to my list thanks !👍
A stinkin good episode!
I really appreciate your thoroughness & approach in info sharing. Thanks so much
You have a faulty air admittance valve under the sink. Had the same problem, but now it's fixed💯👍 no more bad smells.
Great video I have to get some of that product, we did have a big stinky smell coming out of the tanks. Family was blaming it on me lol
Pine sol does a nice job cleaning things out. Went on a 4 HR drive to campground the tanks where good and cleaned.
Awesome video!
You guys are the best I enjoy all your videos. Thank you so much I can't wait to try this on my system.
Mom and I owned a 36 ft 5th wheeler. I had the same problem in the black water tank with the gages, so I found a company that installs a high pressure unit in the tank, that I would hook up a hose after draining the tank. Turn on the water and this unit would spray high pressure water inside the tank would wash down everything and most of the time the gauges would measure correctly. sometimes not so good!
I've only had my camper for a year and i only have used rv digest it since new and my tank sensors still work fine for now.
Ha!
I just started using Happy Camper this morning.
I had to use up my orange Camco stuff first, since that is what I bought before I watched your other video about black tank maintenance a while back.
I installed SeeLevel gages on my tanks and they work great. They are on the outside of the tank.
Great info, thank you.
Great video guys as always.
One of the best ways I found to clean the sensors was after dumping and leaving a campground, was to dump a couple of bags of ice in the tank and it going down the road took care of it. More than one application depending on may be needed. Stay safe!
You guys are great! Loving your videos!
Heres a food for thought too! Before you travel you dump both tanks ok then ad your treatment oder control/cleaner product to your tanks with a 1/4 tank full of water then hit the road! driving swaying and bouncing is your washing machine i purposely move around alot and hit that slow lane on the freeway the semi's use that bounce you up and down ! It works ! So when you get to your new destination your first thing to do is drop your liquids in both tanks then ad water again with your deoderizer/cleaner , then repeat over and over again ! Each trip! It works!
TR Bowlin on RUclips suggests using 1/2 cup Boraxo and 1/2 cup Dawn into the black tank (2/3 full) and drive for one travel day. I followed his directions and my tank sensors began working right away. Give his video a look.
Good video-Thank You! I used a black tank rinsing wand which shoots a strong narrow stream of water. It cleaned our sensors. These wands are made by Cambro. :)
To agitate why not simply hook up the camper and drive forward 10 ft stop back up 10 ft stop drive forward 10 ft stop etc a few times. This will give you much more agitation as the tanks / back and forth then raising and lowering with jacks.
Just a thought. Cheers.
Great stuff, as always! Thanks.
Replace your P traps with Hepvo valves, remove the air admittance valves and you won't have to worry about the smell backing up thru the pipes.
We’ll be buying some of that for our rig! Great video and thanks for the info. 👍👍
You are right, lots of people don't know the grey tank can smell as bad as the black tank.
Thanks for your content, i like it. Greets from Germany.
Looks like you guys are in New Mexico with those winds. Great video, thank you for sharing this!!!
Good video. Liquid dishwasher detergent applied on travel days has made a lot of difference for us, with a good amount of water added for agitation. It helped our sensors as well. I get black “gunk” water from the grey tank - so I know it helps remove grease and grime!!
Our Durango Gold 356RLT is 5 months old, first two months were at the same campground,. We use RV Digest It in all of our tanks. We would flush our black tank every third dump. We always flush day before a travel day. Our sensors work perfectly.
I'm glad to see that while adding the powder you are off to the side and not directly over the toilet plus you sprinkle it in.. From recent experience I will be following your technique or wearing Safety glasses as when I was adding treatment to the toilet the water went Plop and shot a bullet into my eye. Direct hit! Trip to the local ER was needed. I'll have to try the Extreme cleaner when it's back in Stock.
Safe travels
Great Video, I would like to let you all know, the tank sensors are a ground based diode system.. No voltage is in the tanks.
What an awesome video. Shaking trailer was hilarious. Thanks for the tip on the toilet seal never knew that.
I had the same problem with my gray tank. Drove me crazy. I always cleaned my black tank really well, so I was like what the heck... lol. I’ll have to check out happy camper products. Thank you!
Hahahahaha "I don't like it" we replayed it 3x...so, so, soooo funny.
We agree the grey tanks are always more stinky.
Lou & Angie
Great tip with the plumbers grease on the flap! I clean our tanks with Borax and Dawn soap after Memorial weekend trip, and noticed the bathroom stinking!
2005 Holiday Rambler DP and with a good dose brand name tank chemical along with 4 to 6 oz of high quality dish liquid then adding several gallons of water before travel, we've been able to clean the black tank sensors to the point that they give us reliable readings. Same process with gray tank and although it wasn't horrible to begin with it seems to be much more reliable now.
Great video thank you I learned a lot for our RV. 😁✌🏽❣️
I've used Calgon water softener and laundry detergent mix in both black and gray tanks. Capful of each into each tank (40g capacity). That has helped a lot. Water softener IMO is a key ingredient as it helps the water and soap do their jobs.
Looks like Chad's arms are starting to get a bit short, as he was holding the happy camper way out to read the instructions :)
Very cool video! Glad for the disclaimers. Damn fine job! 🖖🏻🙏🏻😘👍🏻
I'm about to buy a Class A motor home for full time rv'ing. I've watched many of your videos and appreciate your knowledge and information. Thank you. Maybe I'll see you on the road one day. Take care.
You two have the best videos that are always pertinent, comprehensive, thoughtful, and useful! Like you, I used Happy Campers and I was very happy not to have any odors from either the Black or Gray tanks. But I noticed over time that I was dumping more frequently and so I dropped a camera into the tanks to see what was going on. A thick layer of sludge had built up on the bottom of the tanks. I tried something new to me... Unique RV Digest-It. Initially I was not too happy because some odors returned but the frequency of dumping began to get longer. After 6 weeks the odors are gone and I've gone from dumping every 6 days to 12 days and my sensors are perfectly accurate. I've tried everything over the years and settled on Happy Campers until using this RV Digest-It. Give it a try, stick with it for 90 days and see if it works for you.
Had similar build up problems with Happy Camper
Happy Camper is for odor. Must use a cleaner regiment as well.
Great video. Thank you.
great info guys thanks so so much!
👍
The ONLY thing I've been using for the last 8 years. 1 cup of 20 Mule Team Borax in the toilet bowl, with a 1/4 cup of Dawn dish soap. Mix in the toilet bowl filled with water until the Borax is dissolved. Some people put Calgon in it too, apparently it helps to keep the yucky stuff from sticking to the sides of the tank. I don't do that but whateverrrrr. After mixing, flush and add another bowl of fresh water. I get ZERO odors. NONE. No perfumy flowery, chemical, fruity anything smell. NONE. Obviously in hotter weather, you'll have to add more Borax and Dawn more often, but this works! Best thing is, it's VERY cheap! Just try it! Borax is very cheap and you probably already have the Dawn dish soap!
Lol, I guess this is going to be a revisit to this video!!! I love how your videos are hilarious and very informative. If kinda funny you two are the devil and the angel! Chad, let’s do it and see what happens and Tera is do you think it’s a good idea!!!
My goodness, too funny. The view of the outside of the trailer during manual agitation with the levelers cracked me up! If the trailer's rockin', don't come knockin'....lol
Hey guys good video 👍
AGREED, that manual agitation using the jacks..bad idea but glad you pointed that out. We also use Happy Campers on a regular basis after every black tank dump.
I know doing YT videos many people chime in with their own way of doing things. And that’s cool.
On our gray tank this is what I do:
About every 2 or 3 months, when the gray tank is about a quarter full or so, I take 1 1/2 cups of bleach, mix it with water in my 2qt, plastic pitcher and then pour that solution down the shower drain, because that drain is the closest to the gray tank. I’ll let that bleach water sit in the gray tank for the next few days until the gray tank needs to be dumped. This is great, fast way to sanitize the gray tank to keep it clean and eliminate the stink.
Couldn't have been Daisy!!! She's Perfect!!🌼
Looks like a great product.
Aqua Kem in black tank after each dump with 4 gallons of water works for me on our sensors. Helps with smell and keeps it cleans and it splashes around while traveling.
Thank you!
Funny not so funny story: when you were demonstrating the shaking process and Tara said it felt like the floor was dropping- well we just arrived back home from TN because the wall of our class A separated from the chassis of our coach! You could look down from the passenger seat and see the tire rolling along. So, if we decide to get another RV we will be trying this stuff. By the way coach only had 16k miles was purchased new in 2018 and is a 2019.