I didn't read all the comments however I use the mixture of Calgon, Pine Sol and water. Someone else may have mentioned this but I use one of the 60 oz laundry containers for the mixture because it has a pouring spout and the cap is the measuring cup, so you have it all in one place.😊
Question. How do you make the mix? Everytime I mix it I end up making a mess when the Calhoun reacts with the water and fizzes up. Am I maybe using the wrong type of calgon? Idk
@@kstoutjr oh. I thought they wanted the beads. Sorry I remember hearing about it in this video and came back to try and find it. Got bad signal and I'm maxed on data right now so asking the question was faster than actually rewatching the whole video or skipping around. Thanks I will try that with the next batch
I have to say, I think this was an excellent topic. The tanks are so darn important, thanks for bringing this husband/wife team in to explain it all. It was such a good topic that I think it deserves 2 burgers at the best place in San Diego! BTW, the place I want to take you has been sold. On the positive side, it was sold to a long-time employee that swears no changes. That's a relief. I'll treat when the time comes. Happy travels you two!
So, Before you decide to leave your Gray tanks open again. Last week, when our friends were emptying they noticed something long and dark leaving the the RV sewer connection. Long story short, they had transported a Black snake, back up North, from Florida. Apparently, this critter had found its way Down a ground level sewer connection at the park, and then Up through their hose and into their gray tank. They would leave their grays open regularly, but NOT any more :)
Thanks for sharing. People never know what can get inside the Sewer. I have seen on TH-cam that snakes and small creatures will come out of your Toilets.Also the Black tank can backup onto your Floor.😮😮😮
Boy...been RV'ing for many years now, and the tips and tricks that you've given here are PRICELESS. We just got our Reflection 2023 320MKS (which has the separate holding tank for the kitchen, which I know is the source for icky smells), and I'm going to start tomorrow putting all of this together. And yes...for years, I've always thought that grey water is more stinky than black, but we've always used Thetford to keep it "blue". And, of course- like everyone who has seen your video, we're dying to find out how much this costs????!!!!
In the fire service we sometimes use a Class A foam to get water to penetrate into building materials and get to deeper seated fire and it’s got a surfactant to it and we say that it “makes the water wetter”
Wendy came out to Sterling State Park today and cleaned our tanks for us. She did an awesome job. I got an A on the Black tank, and a LOW D on the Grey Tank. Mold was the bad stuff that was in there. She said she will be seeing you guys this fall. Safe Travels
Thank you for this post. Reached out to Kleen Tank. They were quick to respond and we will be using their services when we are close to a Kleen Tank dealer in CA. We also will be using their PineSol/Calgon mixture going forward. Again, thank you.
I really wish the manufacturers would put the "poo sprinkler" in the grey tanks too. That would help us to be able to flush them out. This shows that the sprinklers do work when used correctly.
You guys are great, love watching you every week. Videos are great. The sights you show us are wonderful. You 2 are one of the main reasons my bride ( yes, after going on 35 yrs. she is and will always be my BRIDE !!!! ) we took a month long trip around the east coast. We stayed at motels, ( yes , we are retired ). Was the ABSOLUTE the best trip of our lives. With my brides old job of being regional manager of the east coast for Bang & Olufsen of America, we got to go on some great trips to Denmark. Home of Bang & Olufsen 5 times. Side trips to London, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Paris. What you showed us what we have here and the trip we took being on the road was. There are no words. Wonderful is such a small word to say for our trip. Planning on the middle part of US. next yr. for about 2 months or more. West part of US. yr. after for 3 to 4 months ( I think more ).We live in Cartersville, GA. We both worked 35 yrs. with only about a 4 day long weekend each year for a vacation or each 5 yrs. for a full week besides the free ones we got going overseas with her job. Chad, you would be jealous. While my bride was working on those overseas trips, as a spouse, I had to get on a tour bus with at least 50 women from the other men employed ( yes, I was the only male spouse ). My wife was a rock star for the company !!!! I had to take tours with all these women by myself all over Europe !!!!! 50 women on a all expenses paid trip ever year for 5 straight yrs. while my bride has to work on the same trip. Can you feel my PAIN !!!! LOL !!!!! Yes, she worked 3 of those days while I had to keep the rest of the wife's company on the bus tours around the country. The things we do for our wife's TARA. All kidding aside, what you 2 have showed us is nothing compares to traveling with my bride. Just me and her, in our car. Starting out with 1 spot in mind from our home but a general plan for the trip. Got to spot 1 and before we left had locals tell us about another spot and off we went. Our whole trip turned into a wing it as we went. We had an idea of our next spot for the day but never new where we would end up for the night. Mitzie got really great at finding places for the night. We would be in the car in the afternoon and leaving a spot and she would look up a place to stay on the fly as we went towards our next spot. At the time last yr. we were 63. Made us feel like we were 25 again. Best trip of our lives, thanks in part to you 2. Safe Travels !!!!! Looks like a BEAUTIFIL NEW RIG COMING !!!!!!!
I watched another couple that vlogs and they had a gentleman from the same chain clean their tanks. He was super informative and his one major tip was also to not use the tank additives. He said plentiful water is the key.
Since this is going on our 9th year of full time, I will share some wisdom learned and not! We use Happy Camper and have had good success with it. We also sprinkle it in the bowl and use plenty of water. We have flusher quick connects mounted inside both tanks on our coach and also use a clear 12 inch section of plastic to make sure we are getting our tanks clean. We also wipe out each and ever item we put in the sink before washing to avoid any debris from left over food, etc. from entering the grey tank. I am going to try the pinesol and calgon mixture and see what results we get from it. We are almost ready to reorder the Happy Camper product, so would be a good time to switch. Thanks for sharing this information. Always willing to learn tips and tricks on the road! Safe travels!
Hi Joe: I am interested in your flusher quick connects in each tank. Did you install them yourself? If so, do you have a list of parts? In my coach, I only have a flusher in my black tank.
I have a gate valve like you have. I use it to drain drain the black tank, close the gate and open the gray tank, backfilling the black tank with the gray water. The back flush helps break things up. I close up the black tank and finish dumping the gray tank. I do this base on my gray tank levels, If the gray tank is full, I dump black, backflush the black tank, then dump the gray tank. I always make sure I have approx 3-5 gallons of water in each tank to start off. While traveling, I will fill the black and gray tank, 1/2-3/4, and add a mixture as discussed in this video. While driving, the back and forth, stop and go motion, washes the tanks. We will get this flush done when we are in their area. Wouldn't hurt to get it done every other year or so. Plus, get a grade on how well we maintain our tanks. Thank you for sharing this great info.
This service shows that manu- fractures should add a spinner in the gray tank as the do for the black tank, perhaps even two each. I like to clean my tanks every two months or so, and conse- quently have never had a tank sensor problem in 18 years. Luck also helps too. I would like to have the spinner , hose, and 11:11 pump set up they have. Works great. I am now sold on the Cagon/Pinesol solution. Thank you!
Even in stick built houses the kitchen sink gets stinky. Gray water has garbage in it, perfect place to grow bacteria and mold. Even though he did such a great thorough job of cleaning this showed just how much is stuck to the sides of the tanks . Great demo. Thanks for sharing.
Had ours done in June By Kleen Tank at the International Cedar Creek RV Owners Club annual rally. They do an awesome job. They will be present for the Cedar Creek RV Owners Rally for the Southwest Region in October. Look forward to seeing them again. Glade you had this done. Suggest RV owners consider having this done.
OMG, that service is skipped on at the show and now wish I had not. Thank so for the graphic details it really helps to know you want to do what they say.
Neat to hear someone say not to leave the grey open most people always say leave grey open my campervan had a single grey/ black so ive never had a issue but I will use their solution on a travel day and flush good before and after and see what comes out and that should do the job and then ill do it ever so often just for maintenance
Just a thought but I've used a reverse tank flush valve on our black and grey tanks. Lets you pump water from the spigot up your drain pipe into the tank. It has a clear fitting so you can see the water coming out. It looks something like the fitting the cleaning folks used.
I had this done in June this year, my grades were Black Tank A+, Grey Tank B+, I was happy with that and have never used any commercial cleaners in my tanks.
Wendy just cleaned our tanks at the Grand Design Mid-Atlantic Rally on our 2020 303RLS. Like you, we were surprised at the mold present in the kitchen grey tank. Wendy was great and we are very happy we had Kleen Tank do this procedure.
Thanks for doing this video! I have been using Kleen Tank's formula recipe for holding tanks for a year now. I use it in both black and grey tanks. Never had an issue with smells or clogs since using it. We got a new rig last September and have never used anything else in our tanks. If you ever get a chance to go to their seminar at a rally don't hesitate. Great people and great service. Stay safe!
@@klansdestin9681 Right from their brochure: Mix 40 ounces of PINE-SOL ® with 8 ounces of Calgon Ageless Bath Pearls in a gallon jug. Top off with enough water to fill. Shake gently. Allow foam to die down. Use four to eight ounces (as directed) in each tank (more in especially hot weather or if your tanks will be filling up slowly over time). Personally I use 8 ounces. I have 40 gallon tanks so if your tanks are bigger or smaller you will have to adjust. I treat both gray and black holding tanks.
I believe this is a great information episode for us weekenders who don’t maintain our holding tanks as often or as thoroughly as we should. Thanks for this video
Only way I can get my sensors to work is with the wash wand inside toilet and tank. Then like you said, sensors only work for a while. Good info, Thanks for posting!
One of the last things I do while flushing our black tank now is to dump as much hot water down the toilet as our water heater will generate. I use about 3 gallons at a time while holding the flush valve open. The first time I did this, I was amazed at how much more "stuff" came out of the tank.
At dump stations non full hookup locations we put some water in our fresh water tank and use the water pump and fill the bowl and let it drop in the black tank about 3-4 times.
With stubborn sensor problems, try hooking up your house water heater to dump hot water to your Rv sink or toilet with a small bottle of dish soap. Let the water fill to the top of the tank for at least 2 days. Drain it all out and this should make your sensors work again.
We tried piranha super concentrated it cleared our black tank sensor, no toilet paper comes out when flushing the black tank. 5 ounces did the trick. We have always used happy camper until I found piranha. I'm going to try the pinesol and Calgon for my gray tanks. Thanks for the info. See ya on the road.
Great video guys!! Like you, I am pretty meticulous about cleaning the black tank including using the water jets several times after each pumpout providing there is not a long lineup. We don't use the grey tank as much but never really thought of flushing it. Will do it now. Will also be using the Calgon/Pinesol mixture too.
Interesting video, and now we all know what struvite is. The good thing is these folks are only 50 or 60 miles from me. Keep the good stuff coming guys.
The NRVTA training folks highly recommend "unique RV Digest-It". "unique" is the brand. It desolves all solids, unless very large, in 24 hours. Toilet paper, poo, and such. I tried it. After 24 hours I flushed and NO toilet paper or solids came out. It all dissolved into a slurry. Flushed again, same result but near clear.. Before some amount of TP always seemed endless. Put it in both grey and black tanks. AND my sensors worked again. Did see some dead grubs come out of the grey tank, which I've never, ever seen before.
@@toyhaulen I wasn't really clear. I was testing the new to me, Digest-It. Like Chad I flushed several times to get as much of the solids out as I reasonably could. It was obvious that TP and other stuff was being left behind. So I tteated with Digest-It and no solids came out. Did seem to dissolve the stuff. My plan is to use regular off the shelf treatments for odor and then use Digest-It on the last couple of stops returning home.
All the grossness & icky smells aside, there is a real health benefit in keeping your rig's tanks clean. Mold can be highly detrimental to your health, so that alone seems like a compelling reason to keep your tanks maintained properly. Poor Chad didn't make the RV tank honor roll this time, but I have a strong feeling he'll be on the Mr. Hanky's dean's list next semester! :)
Great to see you at the show. Tiffen was good, Newmar was not impressed, when we opened the doors they shook and made noise. It was weird and unexpected. Loved the Fleetwoods. We gave a Georgetown and it was cool to check out those and see ours is good and we got a good price from Camping World. Our first show and we had a great time.
I have been using the Kleen tank solution for the last 2 and a half months after seeing this video. The black tank had lots of sludge sticking to the walls of the tank I have been using mineral salts and was trying the enzymatic solutions these wasn't even touching the sludge stuck on the sides of the tank. After two tank dumps most of the sludge was gone after 2 and a half month the tank sludge free.
Ahhh, well thank you so much for this video. We really need to change up some of our tank procedures for better results. Especially since our camper is 15 years old, and we've only owned it for 5½ years. We aren't full-timers, but still .... thanks again!
Totally forgot you guys got a new truck. Been away front he tube for too long. Interesting video! My RV days have been gone for a while, but they may come again.
Love the video there you two...love your guests and all the solid information as too the proper treatment of tanks!! I am curious as how to flush the grey water tanks....as I only have a hose connect to flush the black tank...not the grey! I don't have access to the grey either...just at the gate valves... I have run some heavy hot water & dawn mixture to help gut any oil & or grease in the grey tak but that's all I can do. You all mentioned the Happy Camper product and I had trouble with the mixing of it as it behaved like a sheet rock mud when dumped. I now have a special bottle I fill with water and mix the happy camper in it 1st., then add water to the bowl to help mix it more from there....absolutely you need to mix that H.C. product well ahead of using it.....but I am happy with the almost no odor results from it!! Thanks for the sharing the video & your guests with us!!
I have tried many of the major brands on the market to get rid of the black and bathroom grey tank smell and none have worked. I am so surprised how well this pine sol and Calgon mix worked. And it worked immediately. Great video guys. 👍🏾
I have been wondering about a “grey” pyramid in the grey tank for a while. When I saw the email for this video, I ran around the other side of our rig (Coco) to close the grey tank! You guys do such a great job of taking care of your rig that it’s really surprising how much you just can’t get right. I really wish Kleen Tank had a service provider near us. Their web-site says they’re opening one in late 2022 or early 2023… I guess we’ll just have to wait.
Thank you for this video. I have been concerned about my grey and black tanks for a long time. I had found what I thought was a good approach that used a solution of Zep Degreaser and Borax. It corrected my sensors and the solution worked great at first. but after about 3 months, the sensors went back to their old way of showing 1/3 after I dumped the tanks while the higher capacity reading lights seemed to work properly. so, we'll see what happens next. We will be wintering in Florida and have a trip planned to Suncoast Design in Hudson, FL to address some issues that we have with our windows fogging. Our coach is 12 years old and I am trying to keep it looking and operating properly. I do have a couple of questions that hopefully you can answer. First: I got the impression that I should be using the Calgon/Pine-Sol solution on both my grey water tank and my Black water tank. Did I understand that properly? Second: Should I use this solution after each dump session? Or, should I use it on travel day? Or is there a different interval that you might recommend? Third: I used to use Happy Camper. But, I would sprinkle the powder into a bucket an fill the bucket with 2 gallons of water and dissolve the Happy Camper. Then, one day, I saw a video from Todd over at NRVTA. He was recommending the use of Unique Digest-It www.amazon.com/Unique-413-1-Digest-Holding-Treatment/dp/B003X3PQN2?pd_rd_w=WHmkN&content-id=amzn1.sym.deffa092-2e99-4e9f-b814-0d71c40b24af&pf_rd_p=deffa092-2e99-4e9f-b814-0d71c40b24af&pf_rd_r=NWMQPRKCQ3FZGDZB1NV7&pd_rd_wg=B02aT&pd_rd_r=747fb325-5147-49f5-96bb-472f83dc6852&pd_rd_i=B003X3PQN2&psc=1&ref_=pd_bap_d_rp_1_i Would you recommend suspending the use of Unique and use the Calgon/Pine-Sol mixture exclusively? Again, Thank you for addressing this issue.
Being mostly a seasonal site camper, I do the thuorogh flushes like Chad did at the end if the season (winterizing). Look down the toilet with a bright flash light to make sure I see no 💩 mound. Haven't spent as much effort on the grey tank either, but sure will this winterizing season. Thanks for the tips. Wouldn't mind having them cross over to northern Wisconsin for a professional cleaning, but seems like I'm just outside their territory. As for the water meter, pick a couple up a couple years ago off your tips. Also track seasonal water totals so I have a clue before moving to my base camp spot if I have to tote water in until the well is drilled..
Another great episode you taught me about those meters to water meter sure helps out a lot can you use that Pine-Sol Calgon mix in the black tank thank you again safe travels
When you leave a park, empty black and gray tank, place about three gallons in each tank with a cup of laundry detergent and drive to next park and empty the washing you did in tank, clean.
We have installed the See Level sensors and are very happy with them as well. You won't be sorry. We purchased two screens so one is mounted in the wet area of the bay and the other inside the coach at the bath area. Easy check and make sure you don't have an overflow! Nobody wants that! UGH!
What is the difference between someone that drives regularly with half full tanks, vs a rig that sits in one spot for weeks, months, or even years at a time?
Any specific recommendations for a Vacuflush system. I know the duckbill valves, etc can be a problem with buildup as they prevent getting a good vacuum.
I know it sounds gross, but it would've been interesting to have one of those sewer endoscope cameras to send up the line to see what the inside of the tanks actually look like
Thanks for doing this video BC it will help all of us RV's out here to be able to keep our tanks much more clean in between professional cleanings. Love the Pine Sol and Calgon beads & water info to help keep things much cleaner. Thanks Love you guys.❤😊
Thank you thank you!!! We will defiantly try the calgon and pinesol mixture from now on! Have to ask, should we still use the Happy Camper in the toilet as well? Love your channel!! From Laurie and Rick
Great video! We’ve actually seen some mold coming out when emptying the grey tank and want to do a deep clean. For travel days would we need to have the tanks completely empty before we put in the cleaning solution and water?
Great video. We take care of the black tank with extra flushes, never thought about that with the grey tank. Have to see how to clean the grey tank and start doing it. Can’t wait to see the new trailer! Keep up the great content. Thanks! Say hi to Daisy.
Thank you for this video. I too use a sink screen and can’t imagine the mess if I didn’t! My mothers RV stunk awful and after she left it behind, I spent days cleaning the sludge of solids from her kitchen tank. It was so nasty !! What I don’t understand is why the industry doesn’t provide us with a way to “FLUSH” our galley tanks. ????? I have 2 jugs of Calgon under the sink. Just never figured out how to apply it’s use. It was mentioned in The Geo Method of cleaning . But like yourselves, we don’t travel with liquids in our holding tanks and how would we slosh it around sitting in a spot. Honestly, I , too would have used my jacks, thinking it would work ! Love you guys
Chad and Tara, sorry i missed you in Hersey. We stopped by early cause we saw Renee but lost track of time and didn't make it back. Your videos have been great for us new RV owners. Things you find and the fixes have been very helpful. We have been getting smells from our grey and are going to try some of the methods suggested in this video.
I’m assuming when mixing up this cocktail it’s two ounces (by weight?) of Calgon, 10 ounces of Pine-Sol? That would mean 1/3 of a cup of the Calgon from what I weighed out. Does that sound about right?
I didn’t wanna have to read all your messages and I’m sure it was said but how often do you put the cup of the treatment in each tank is it just when you empty it and then you add it in or do you do it a couple times ?
Good afternoon sir I know you took a class on RVing I have a 2017 grand design reflection and I’m having a problem where I can’t figure it out every time I get to Ed Campground and I open my dump to hook up the hose I keep getting a bunch of black tank stuff coming out every time every time I leave a campground I power wash the tank really good and flush it out And when it’s all done leaking out I open the cap to see if there’s anything else in there but what I’ve noticed is that it keeps having stuff when I open the cap when I get to the next campground I had the black and gray valves replaced I put water in them to see if it holds and it does do you think it’s something to do when I’m traveling stuff gets loose and falls in there I’m not really sure if it’s the vent what do you think I should look into now thank you and I hope the message not huge congratulations on your log house you guys have amazing videos you and your wife may God bless both of you be safe
The PineSol/Calgon mix is to help keep any solids from sticking to the inside of your tanks (and the PineSol is also a disinfectant) However, we are still using Happy Camper in our black tanks. Since those tanks were in good shape, we will continue to do thorough flushes and use the HC as directed on the container (mix with several gallon of water before flushing down the toilet) We have started using their recommended mixture in our grey tanks, though! 😊
I didn't read all the comments however I use the mixture of Calgon, Pine Sol and water. Someone else may have mentioned this but I use one of the 60 oz laundry containers for the mixture because it has a pouring spout and the cap is the measuring cup, so you have it all in one place.😊
Question. How do you make the mix? Everytime I mix it I end up making a mess when the Calhoun reacts with the water and fizzes up. Am I maybe using the wrong type of calgon? Idk
@@martincalvillo3210 Make sure you use Calgon Ageless Bath Pearls.
@@kstoutjr oh. I thought they wanted the beads. Sorry I remember hearing about it in this video and came back to try and find it. Got bad signal and I'm maxed on data right now so asking the question was faster than actually rewatching the whole video or skipping around. Thanks I will try that with the next batch
@@kstoutjra
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How much of each?
Those people that helped clean your tank are soooo nice and amazing!
I have to say, I think this was an excellent topic. The tanks are so darn important, thanks for bringing this husband/wife team in to explain it all. It was such a good topic that I think it deserves 2 burgers at the best place in San Diego! BTW, the place I want to take you has been sold. On the positive side, it was sold to a long-time employee that swears no changes. That's a relief. I'll treat when the time comes. Happy travels you two!
So, Before you decide to leave your Gray tanks open again. Last week, when our friends were emptying they noticed something long and dark leaving the the RV sewer connection.
Long story short, they had transported a Black snake, back up North, from Florida. Apparently, this critter had found its way Down a ground level sewer connection at the park, and then Up through their hose and into their gray tank. They would leave their grays open regularly, but NOT any more :)
Yikes! We are now only leaving it open when we are doing several loads of laundry!
Thanks for sharing. People never know what can get inside the Sewer. I have seen on TH-cam that snakes and small creatures will come out of your Toilets.Also the Black tank can backup onto your Floor.😮😮😮
Boy...been RV'ing for many years now, and the tips and tricks that you've given here are PRICELESS. We just got our Reflection 2023 320MKS (which has the separate holding tank for the kitchen, which I know is the source for icky smells), and I'm going to start tomorrow putting all of this together. And yes...for years, I've always thought that grey water is more stinky than black, but we've always used Thetford to keep it "blue". And, of course- like everyone who has seen your video, we're dying to find out how much this costs????!!!!
In the fire service we sometimes use a Class A foam to get water to penetrate into building materials and get to deeper seated fire and it’s got a surfactant to it and we say that it “makes the water wetter”
Wendy came out to Sterling State Park today and cleaned our tanks for us. She did an awesome job. I got an A on the Black tank, and a LOW D on the Grey Tank. Mold was the bad stuff that was in there. She said she will be seeing you guys this fall. Safe Travels
How much do they charge?
@@xXxphenomenaxXx $250
We use that RV Digest-It extra strength bio-enzymatic cleaner and we put it in both the black and gray tanks. So far so good.
Thank you for this post. Reached out to Kleen Tank. They were quick to respond and we will be using their services when we are close to a Kleen Tank dealer in CA. We also will be using their PineSol/Calgon mixture going forward. Again, thank you.
I really wish the manufacturers would put the "poo sprinkler" in the grey tanks too. That would help us to be able to flush them out. This shows that the sprinklers do work when used correctly.
You guys are great, love watching you every week. Videos are great. The sights you show us are wonderful. You 2 are one of the main reasons my bride ( yes, after going on 35 yrs. she is and will always be my BRIDE !!!! ) we took a month long trip around the east coast. We stayed at motels, ( yes , we are retired ). Was the ABSOLUTE the best trip of our lives. With my brides old job of being regional manager of the east coast for Bang & Olufsen of America, we got to go on some great trips to Denmark. Home of Bang & Olufsen 5 times. Side trips to London, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Paris. What you showed us what we have here and the trip we took being on the road was. There are no words. Wonderful is such a small word to say for our trip. Planning on the middle part of US. next yr. for about 2 months or more. West part of US. yr. after for 3 to 4 months ( I think more ).We live in Cartersville, GA. We both worked 35 yrs. with only about a 4 day long weekend each year for a vacation or each 5 yrs. for a full week besides the free ones we got going overseas with her job. Chad, you would be jealous. While my bride was working on those overseas trips, as a spouse, I had to get on a tour bus with at least 50 women from the other men employed ( yes, I was the only male spouse ). My wife was a rock star for the company !!!! I had to take tours with all these women by myself all over Europe !!!!! 50 women on a all expenses paid trip ever year for 5 straight yrs. while my bride has to work on the same trip. Can you feel my PAIN !!!! LOL !!!!!
Yes, she worked 3 of those days while I had to keep the rest of the wife's company on the bus tours around the country. The things we do for our wife's TARA.
All kidding aside, what you 2 have showed us is nothing compares to traveling with my bride. Just me and her, in our car. Starting out with 1 spot in mind from our home but a general plan for the trip. Got to spot 1 and before we left had locals tell us about another spot and off we went. Our whole trip turned into a wing it as we went. We had an idea of our next spot for the day but never new where we would end up for the night. Mitzie got really great at finding places for the night. We would be in the car in the afternoon and leaving a spot and she would look up a place to stay on the fly as we went towards our next spot. At the time last yr. we were 63. Made us feel like we were 25 again. Best trip of our lives, thanks in part to you 2. Safe Travels !!!!! Looks like a BEAUTIFIL NEW RIG COMING !!!!!!!
I watched another couple that vlogs and they had a gentleman from the same chain clean their tanks. He was super informative and his one major tip was also to not use the tank additives. He said plentiful water is the key.
Since this is going on our 9th year of full time, I will share some wisdom learned and not! We use Happy Camper and have had good success with it. We also sprinkle it in the bowl and use plenty of water. We have flusher quick connects mounted inside both tanks on our coach and also use a clear 12 inch section of plastic to make sure we are getting our tanks clean. We also wipe out each and ever item we put in the sink before washing to avoid any debris from left over food, etc. from entering the grey tank. I am going to try the pinesol and calgon mixture and see what results we get from it. We are almost ready to reorder the Happy Camper product, so would be a good time to switch. Thanks for sharing this information. Always willing to learn tips and tricks on the road! Safe travels!
Hi Joe:
I am interested in your flusher quick connects in each tank. Did you install them yourself? If so, do you have a list of parts? In my coach, I only have a flusher in my black tank.
I have a gate valve like you have. I use it to drain drain the black tank, close the gate and open the gray tank, backfilling the black tank with the gray water. The back flush helps break things up. I close up the black tank and finish dumping the gray tank. I do this base on my gray tank levels, If the gray tank is full, I dump black, backflush the black tank, then dump the gray tank. I always make sure I have approx 3-5 gallons of water in each tank to start off. While traveling, I will fill the black and gray tank, 1/2-3/4, and add a mixture as discussed in this video. While driving, the back and forth, stop and go motion, washes the tanks. We will get this flush done when we are in their area. Wouldn't hurt to get it done every other year or so. Plus, get a grade on how well we maintain our tanks. Thank you for sharing this great info.
This service shows that manu-
fractures should add a spinner in the gray tank as the do for the black tank, perhaps even two each. I like to clean my tanks every two months or so, and conse-
quently have never had a tank sensor problem in 18 years. Luck also helps too. I would like to have the spinner , hose, and 11:11 pump set up they have. Works great. I am now sold on the Cagon/Pinesol solution. Thank you!
great info. Thank you Sir!
Even in stick built houses the kitchen sink gets stinky. Gray water has garbage in it, perfect place to grow bacteria and mold.
Even though he did such a great thorough job of cleaning this showed just how much is stuck to the sides of the tanks . Great demo.
Thanks for sharing.
Had ours done in June By Kleen Tank at the International Cedar Creek RV Owners Club annual rally. They do an awesome job. They will be present for the Cedar Creek RV Owners Rally for the Southwest Region in October. Look forward to seeing them again. Glade you had this done. Suggest RV owners consider having this done.
How much do they charge?
@@xXxphenomenaxXx they charged $225 for 3 tanks and clean out of water heater. This was a rally price.
OMG, that service is skipped on at the show and now wish I had not. Thank so for the graphic details it really helps to know you want to do what they say.
Neat to hear someone say not to leave the grey open most people always say leave grey open my campervan had a single grey/ black so ive never had a issue but I will use their solution on a travel day and flush good before and after and see what comes out and that should do the job and then ill do it ever so often just for maintenance
Just a thought but I've used a reverse tank flush valve on our black and grey tanks. Lets you pump water from the spigot up your drain pipe into the tank. It has a clear fitting so you can see the water coming out. It looks something like the fitting the cleaning folks used.
I had this done in June this year, my grades were Black Tank A+, Grey Tank B+, I was happy with that and have never used any commercial cleaners in my tanks.
I installed the Seelevel sensors on my tanks and love them. They always give me an accurate reading on levels in the tank.
Wendy just cleaned our tanks at the Grand Design Mid-Atlantic Rally on our 2020 303RLS. Like you, we were surprised at the mold present in the kitchen grey tank.
Wendy was great and we are very happy we had Kleen Tank do this procedure.
Thanks for doing this video! I have been using Kleen Tank's formula recipe for holding tanks for a year now. I use it in both black and grey tanks. Never had an issue with smells or clogs since using it. We got a new rig last September and have never used anything else in our tanks. If you ever get a chance to go to their seminar at a rally don't hesitate. Great people and great service. Stay safe!
whats the ratio for the formula?
@@klansdestin9681 Right from their brochure:
Mix 40 ounces of PINE-SOL ® with 8
ounces of Calgon Ageless Bath Pearls in a
gallon jug. Top off with enough water to
fill. Shake gently. Allow foam to die down.
Use four to eight ounces (as directed) in
each tank (more in especially hot
weather or if your tanks will be filling up
slowly over time).
Personally I use 8 ounces. I have 40 gallon tanks so if your tanks are bigger or smaller you will have to adjust. I treat both gray and black holding tanks.
I believe this is a great information episode for us weekenders who don’t maintain our holding tanks as often or as thoroughly as we should. Thanks for this video
Hey there! My husband and I are about five years out from full time RV life. Thank you so much for sharing this vid! I'm learning so much!
Just a heads up. I almost fell for the fake account that replied to me.
FYI… those stupid spam ‘you won’ garbage needs to be reported. If you know how tap the 3 dots on the bottom right. Then report it.
We have banned that spam account! Thanks for the heads up!
@@ChangingLanes not a problem at all! Happy to help! :)
Best tank cleaning video I've seen. Thanks
Great video will definitely try that mixture. That explains our smelly sinks.
Only way I can get my sensors to work is with the wash wand inside toilet and tank. Then like you said, sensors only work for a while. Good info, Thanks for posting!
Great video! Our rig is 3 years old, and I flush the tanks regularly, but still get that stink! This spring we are calling Kleen tank! Thanks!
I’m impressed at how much mold is in the gray tank. Ours has been smelling after sitting empty all summer
Thank you, you guys do a great job with the information us campers need!
Grabbing some pine sol and Calgon today!
One of the last things I do while flushing our black tank now is to dump as much hot water down the toilet as our water heater will generate. I use about 3 gallons at a time while holding the flush valve open. The first time I did this, I was amazed at how much more "stuff" came out of the tank.
I always learn something watching these videos. Great job folks!
I also read to put some zep degreaser in your grey tank.
At dump stations non full hookup locations we put some water in our fresh water tank and use the water pump and fill the bowl and let it drop in the black tank about 3-4 times.
Hey,,, Congratulations on being on TV. Motor trend channel!!! I just watched you guys this morning...
Rving USA
We now have Kleen Tank of Northern Georgia servicing Northern Georgia, Northwestern Carolinas, Southern TN and Northeastern AL
I was in the military and we still used pine oil cleaners. I always thought that was weird.😂😂
With stubborn sensor problems, try hooking up your house water heater to dump hot water to your Rv sink or toilet with a small bottle of dish soap. Let the water fill to the top of the tank for at least 2 days. Drain it all out and this should make your sensors work again.
Yes yes my rig sat for a year ohh boy took me a while but got it
It is crazy how many opinions there are on black tank maintenance. Great share. 👍🏻
We tried piranha super concentrated it cleared our black tank sensor, no toilet paper comes out when flushing the black tank. 5 ounces did the trick. We have always used happy camper until I found piranha. I'm going to try the pinesol and Calgon for my gray tanks. Thanks for the info.
See ya on the road.
Not a pretty job, but needs to be done. Thanks for the invite, I will pass on diner tonite.
Great video guys!! Like you, I am pretty meticulous about cleaning the black tank including using the water jets several times after each pumpout providing there is not a long lineup. We don't use the grey tank as much but never really thought of flushing it. Will do it now. Will also be using the Calgon/Pinesol mixture too.
You two are the best and I learn so much just watching. Thanks so much and God Bless you both ! ! ! !
Thanks, Jeff! 😊
Interesting video, and now we all know what struvite is. The good thing is these folks are only 50 or 60 miles from me. Keep the good stuff coming guys.
The NRVTA training folks highly recommend "unique RV Digest-It". "unique" is the brand. It desolves all solids, unless very large, in 24 hours. Toilet paper, poo, and such. I tried it. After 24 hours I flushed and NO toilet paper or solids came out. It all dissolved into a slurry. Flushed again, same result but near clear.. Before some amount of TP always seemed endless. Put it in both grey and black tanks. AND my sensors worked again. Did see some dead grubs come out of the grey tank, which I've never, ever seen before.
That's what we use, works great. I don't think you have to flush 3 times, waste of time.
We tried that also but found the odors come much sooner than with Happy Camper. Glad it's working for you.. 👍🏼
@@toyhaulen I wasn't really clear. I was testing the new to me, Digest-It. Like Chad I flushed several times to get as much of the solids out as I reasonably could. It was obvious that TP and other stuff was being left behind. So I tteated with Digest-It and no solids came out. Did seem to dissolve the stuff. My plan is to use regular off the shelf treatments for odor and then use Digest-It on the last couple of stops returning home.
All the grossness & icky smells aside, there is a real health benefit in keeping your rig's tanks clean. Mold can be highly detrimental to your health, so that alone seems like a compelling reason to keep your tanks maintained properly. Poor Chad didn't make the RV tank honor roll this time, but I have a strong feeling he'll be on the Mr. Hanky's dean's list next semester! :)
Good gña ok
Very informative video. Thank you so much for sharing. I believe that the cleaning is a very important part of the upkeep of your RV.
About to do this on my rig today sadly the way my tanks are all arranged I have to cut into part of the line to get the jet nozzle in the black tank
Great to see you at the show. Tiffen was good, Newmar was not impressed, when we opened the doors they shook and made noise. It was weird and unexpected. Loved the Fleetwoods. We gave a Georgetown and it was cool to check out those and see ours is good and we got a good price from Camping World. Our first show and we had a great time.
TANKS so very, very much!!! Always such great advice! 👍
Brendan & Lena
We use their formula and add a couple of capfuls of Suavatel fabric softener… it has an awesome scent and it keeps it fresh smelling….
I have been using the Kleen tank solution for the last 2 and a half months after seeing this video. The black tank had lots of sludge sticking to the walls of the tank I have been using mineral salts and was trying the enzymatic solutions these wasn't even touching the sludge stuck on the sides of the tank. After two tank dumps most of the sludge was gone after 2 and a half month the tank sludge free.
Ahhh, well thank you so much for this video. We really need to change up some of our tank procedures for better results. Especially since our camper is 15 years old, and we've only owned it for 5½ years. We aren't full-timers, but still .... thanks again!
Great topic! It helped me to understand how the gray tank could be our smell issue after boon docking and not the black tank.
Totally forgot you guys got a new truck. Been away front he tube for too long. Interesting video! My RV days have been gone for a while, but they may come again.
Love the video there you two...love your guests and all the solid information as too the proper treatment of tanks!! I am curious as how to flush the grey water tanks....as I only have a hose connect to flush the black tank...not the grey! I don't have access to the grey either...just at the gate valves... I have run some heavy hot water & dawn mixture to help gut any oil & or grease in the grey tak but that's all I can do. You all mentioned the Happy Camper product and I had trouble with the mixing of it as it behaved like a sheet rock mud when dumped. I now have a special bottle I fill with water and mix the happy camper in it 1st., then add water to the bowl to help mix it more from there....absolutely you need to mix that H.C. product well ahead of using it.....but I am happy with the almost no odor results from it!!
Thanks for the sharing the video & your guests with us!!
I have tried many of the major brands on the market to get rid of the black and bathroom grey tank smell and none have worked. I am so surprised how well this pine sol and Calgon mix worked. And it worked immediately. Great video guys. 👍🏾
I’d like to know if there’s anything you should do to your freshwater tank. It can also build up mold I would think.
I have been wondering about a “grey” pyramid in the grey tank for a while. When I saw the email for this video, I ran around the other side of our rig (Coco) to close the grey tank! You guys do such a great job of taking care of your rig that it’s really surprising how much you just can’t get right. I really wish Kleen Tank had a service provider near us. Their web-site says they’re opening one in late 2022 or early 2023… I guess we’ll just have to wait.
Omg...i never thought about a GREY PYRAMID!😱!!!
A monthly close, fill, and cleaner package should prevent problems. Ive never had any problems yet and ive left my grey opened except for winter.
Getting ready to eat dinner, this one will have to go on my watch later list 🙂
This was fantastic!! Very important topic that few addressed. Thank you so much!
Thank you for this video. I have been concerned about my grey and black tanks for a long time. I had found what I thought was a good approach that used a solution of Zep Degreaser and Borax. It corrected my sensors and the solution worked great at first. but after about 3 months, the sensors went back to their old way of showing 1/3 after I dumped the tanks while the higher capacity reading lights seemed to work properly. so, we'll see what happens next. We will be wintering in Florida and have a trip planned to Suncoast Design in Hudson, FL to address some issues that we have with our windows fogging. Our coach is 12 years old and I am trying to keep it looking and operating properly.
I do have a couple of questions that hopefully you can answer.
First: I got the impression that I should be using the Calgon/Pine-Sol solution on both my grey water tank and my Black water tank. Did I understand that properly?
Second: Should I use this solution after each dump session? Or, should I use it on travel day? Or is there a different interval that you might recommend?
Third: I used to use Happy Camper. But, I would sprinkle the powder into a bucket an fill the bucket with 2 gallons of water and dissolve the Happy Camper. Then, one day, I saw a video from Todd over at NRVTA. He was recommending the use of Unique Digest-It www.amazon.com/Unique-413-1-Digest-Holding-Treatment/dp/B003X3PQN2?pd_rd_w=WHmkN&content-id=amzn1.sym.deffa092-2e99-4e9f-b814-0d71c40b24af&pf_rd_p=deffa092-2e99-4e9f-b814-0d71c40b24af&pf_rd_r=NWMQPRKCQ3FZGDZB1NV7&pd_rd_wg=B02aT&pd_rd_r=747fb325-5147-49f5-96bb-472f83dc6852&pd_rd_i=B003X3PQN2&psc=1&ref_=pd_bap_d_rp_1_i
Would you recommend suspending the use of Unique and use the Calgon/Pine-Sol mixture exclusively?
Again, Thank you for addressing this issue.
Damn she’s rough with her grading scales. This is great information. Thank you.
If you have an electric power washer what would you need to make your own hose? Seems a DYI if you have the high pressure hose and the correct nozzle.
Being mostly a seasonal site camper, I do the thuorogh flushes like Chad did at the end if the season (winterizing). Look down the toilet with a bright flash light to make sure I see no 💩 mound. Haven't spent as much effort on the grey tank either, but sure will this winterizing season. Thanks for the tips. Wouldn't mind having them cross over to northern Wisconsin for a professional cleaning, but seems like I'm just outside their territory.
As for the water meter, pick a couple up a couple years ago off your tips. Also track seasonal water totals so I have a clue before moving to my base camp spot if I have to tote water in until the well is drilled..
I will be doing this for my camper
This was a great video, to the point that I just booked mine when the come to Myrtle Beach. 👍
I have tried everything to keep my black and Grey tank in my bathroom from smelling, so far this pine sol recipe is the only thing that works great.
Very interesting! Thanks for bringing us along!
Another great episode you taught me about those meters to water meter sure helps out a lot can you use that Pine-Sol Calgon mix in the black tank thank you again safe travels
curious what a replacement for the bath beads is ? we can't really get calgon in canada. :) great video :)
When you leave a park, empty black and gray tank, place about three gallons in each tank with a cup of laundry detergent and drive to next park and empty the washing you did in tank, clean.
We have installed the See Level sensors and are very happy with them as well. You won't be sorry. We purchased two screens so one is mounted in the wet area of the bay and the other inside the coach at the bath area. Easy check and make sure you don't have an overflow! Nobody wants that! UGH!
What is the difference between someone that drives regularly with half full tanks, vs a rig that sits in one spot for weeks, months, or even years at a time?
Great video. I learned a lot on it. Thanks guys. Can anyone tell me the kind pressure washer they are using? Thanks 😊
Please, Did I misunderstand?? I used the pinsole/calgon in black tanks. it didn't work 😕. So was I only to use that in grey tank only?
That was great. I to work hard flushing my black tank. Not so much on the gray. I didn't catch the pine sol mix.
Here is a link to their pines mix - kleentank.com/downloads/Kleen_Tank_Waste_Tank_Solution_recipe.pdf
Any specific recommendations for a Vacuflush system. I know the duckbill valves, etc can be a problem with buildup as they prevent getting a good vacuum.
I know it sounds gross, but it would've been interesting to have one of those sewer endoscope cameras to send up the line to see what the inside of the tanks actually look like
Thanks for doing this video BC it will help all of us RV's out here to be able to keep our tanks much more clean in between professional cleanings. Love the Pine Sol and Calgon beads & water info to help keep things much cleaner. Thanks Love you guys.❤😊
Great video on an excellent topic.
the Calgon product is no longer available. What would be a good substitute?
Thank you thank you!!! We will defiantly try the calgon and pinesol mixture from now on! Have to ask, should we still use the Happy Camper in the toilet as well? Love your channel!! From Laurie and Rick
Great video! We’ve actually seen some mold coming out when emptying the grey tank and want to do a deep clean. For travel days would we need to have the tanks completely empty before we put in the cleaning solution and water?
Great video. We take care of the black tank with extra flushes, never thought about that with the grey tank. Have to see how to clean the grey tank and start doing it. Can’t wait to see the new trailer! Keep up the great content. Thanks! Say hi to Daisy.
Thank you for this video. I too use a sink screen and can’t imagine the mess if I didn’t! My mothers RV stunk awful and after she left it behind, I spent days cleaning the sludge of solids from her kitchen tank. It was so nasty !!
What I don’t understand is why the industry doesn’t provide us with a way to “FLUSH” our galley tanks. ?????
I have 2 jugs of Calgon under the sink. Just never figured out how to apply it’s use. It was mentioned in The Geo Method of cleaning .
But like yourselves, we don’t travel with liquids in our holding tanks and how would we slosh it around sitting in a spot. Honestly, I , too would have used my jacks, thinking it would work ! Love you guys
So with the pine-Sol and calgon are they saying just use those two for all your tanks nothing else and then flush really well when they are full?
Thank you for all the information, I never miss a video
Chad and Tara, sorry i missed you in Hersey. We stopped by early cause we saw Renee but lost track of time and didn't make it back. Your videos have been great for us new RV owners. Things you find and the fixes have been very helpful. We have been getting smells from our grey and are going to try some of the methods suggested in this video.
I heard ice cubes are a good maintenance tip for adding to full or partially full tanks before driving to a dump station.
I’m assuming when mixing up this cocktail it’s two ounces (by weight?) of Calgon, 10 ounces of Pine-Sol? That would mean 1/3 of a cup of the Calgon from what I weighed out. Does that sound about right?
I didn’t wanna have to read all your messages and I’m sure it was said but how often do you put the cup of the treatment in each tank is it just when you empty it and then you add it in or do you do it a couple times ?
Do you septic tank 1-ply toilet paper or regular ‘home’ toilet paper?
Good afternoon sir I know you took a class on RVing I have a 2017 grand design reflection and I’m having a problem where I can’t figure it out every time I get to Ed Campground and I open my dump to hook up the hose I keep getting a bunch of black tank stuff coming out every time every time I leave a campground I power wash the tank really good and flush it out And when it’s all done leaking out I open the cap to see if there’s anything else in there but what I’ve noticed is that it keeps having stuff when I open the cap when I get to the next campground I had the black and gray valves replaced I put water in them to see if it holds and it does do you think it’s something to do when I’m traveling stuff gets loose and falls in there I’m not really sure if it’s the vent what do you think I should look into now thank you and I hope the message not huge congratulations on your log house you guys have amazing videos you and your wife may God bless both of you be safe
Install Toronadoes in each tank, easy to do, self-serve.
I thought the happy campers was for breaking down the solids? So is the Pine-sol and Calgon supposed to do the same?
The PineSol/Calgon mix is to help keep any solids from sticking to the inside of your tanks (and the PineSol is also a disinfectant) However, we are still using Happy Camper in our black tanks. Since those tanks were in good shape, we will continue to do thorough flushes and use the HC as directed on the container (mix with several gallon of water before flushing down the toilet) We have started using their recommended mixture in our grey tanks, though! 😊
@@ChangingLanes awesome, thanks!
Yoooooo!!!! CVMA Brother!!! Awesome Vid
♠️ 💀 🇺🇸 👊🏼
Is the green wand used to flush available for sale?