🦨 Smelly RV Tanks! (RV Tank Cleaning) (Full Time RV)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 ต.ค. 2024
- That horrible black tank smell 🦨 might just be your GREY tank! And, the fix is super easy!
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That is the longest Low Rider I have ever watched!
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! 👍🏼
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!
😂😂😂
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 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.
A stinkin good episode!
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.
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
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! 😊
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.
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
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.
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. :)
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 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 had a similar situation for over a year. Discovered a minor grey tank leak, which was filling the underbelly with grey water. The silver thermal blanket was holding the water in until it filled up and began leaking on the ground. It was a strong sulfur smell. I just fixed the leak this week. Next up is cleaning the grey tank
My husband and I have been living in our RV for 18 months. We do not travel currently due to some health issues. However, we have started noticing that the kitchen sink smells horrible. We leave the grey tank open to always drain. Do you believe that using the Happy Camper Extreme and leaving the grey tank closed for 24 hours would work as well? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
@@leighannswank3992 Close the grey tank dump valve!!! Only open it when the tank is full, and then close it! You have sewer gas from the sewage dump travelling up your sewer hose, into the (always empty) grey tank, and into your trailer.
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.
Great video!! We appreciate your advice and experience in these matters. We are not full time but maintaining our tanks is a priority. Thank!
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
When you asked about fixing the sensors, using the bio-Geo method, (putting 2 cups borax and 2 cups dawn ultra ***NON-ANTIBACTERIAL*** every time we dumped for two months brought the sensors back to life in our old 2016 Momentum. Highly recommend it and still do it now in our Riverstone!! It has also worked for three of our friends that tried it. Hope it works well for you!
#Livinglifesjourney
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.
Pine sol does a nice job cleaning things out. Went on a 4 HR drive to campground the tanks where good and cleaned.
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!
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!
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.
When I clean the sensors in my tanks I use dishwasher soap. I dump 1 cup down sink and toilet and then fill the tanks to just above where the sensors are saying level is. I let it splash around in the tanks for at least a good hour or two just depends on how long of a drive to the campground. ( Don't use regular dish soap it will Sud up more then you will like)
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.
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.
Borax has cleaned and freed our stuck tank sensors.
If you time how long it takes to fill the bucket the first time then you can just let the faucet run.
Great tip! :)
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.
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
We shower with Irish Spring and it smells good!
Walex Commando. Follow package instructions. Cleans sensors every time
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.
We love the HC tank treatment and will keep their cleaner in mind if we ever have a problem. That last shot of the dump hose after the outtakes...I kept waiting for something unexpected to go through. 😂
😂🤣
Awesome!!! Travel day redo experiment please. Great video as always!!!!
Easy solution on smell. Putting your drain stop in your sinks while traveling and no gas can escape. Kitchen sink bathroom sink and also shower. Another solution is borax soap and Dawn dish cleaner will do the same as a product you're talking about. Good luck.
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.
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 😂.
Dawn dishwashing liquid. About half bottle and let sit for a few days with water. When I dumped them all three tanks actually read empty. What a concept
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.
Great video! I wouldn’t have been able to stay in the camper while you were manually agitating!
We were just in a place with 30+ mph sustained with gust over 45. Was a noisy night.
Happy Camper and Happy Camper Extreme for us.
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.
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!
The sensors on our unit didnt work when we drove it off the lot for the first time,,,thanks for sharing ,,,,,,😳,,,,,,safe travels,,
I've only had my RV less than a year, but have cleaned my tanks twice.
Not a pretty subject, but as usual, you did it well! Safe travels.
FYI If you also use ice cubes you will have an added agitator as you drive around
Use borax soap it’s a powder at Walmart it’s six bucks one cup of Borax half a cup of pure Rex half a cup of Dawn soap on travel day your sensors will come back to life. Oh yeah and a bunch of black looking mold will come out also!
Y'all know the old saying..."if the trailer's rockin', don't come a'knockin' "!!!! Sorry, couldn't resist!!!
Y’all are so stinkin’ cute! I (Ginger) would get sick if I was in there during leveling. It made me think of the ride that shakes you around while you watch a movie. 🤢
I put bag of ice in black tank and Dawn soap
You guys are great! Loving your videos!
Great video thank you I learned a lot for our RV. 😁✌🏽❣️
Another great video! You guys are very informative, and presented in such a fun way too!
13:13 don’t come a knocking when the RV is a rocking 😉
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.
Amazing what YT people will do to generate content! What a HUGE waste of $$, time and effort using fancy chemicals and special treatments. For decades I have been using a cap full (no more) of powdered Rid-X in each holding tank, black or gray. Yep the same septic treatment that rural homes use, just on a much smaller scale. One box does 2,000 gal so it costs almost nothing to use in an RV.
That’s a really cool product! I’m glad you found it I’ll add it to my list thanks !👍
Great ideal I would not have thought of that. One thumbs up
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.
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.
Did any of your neighbors say anything when you were messing with the leveling system? That was so funny to watch!
Papa's s bus is gonna get a stinking good cleanse next weekend.
Thank you
We had an issue in our 5th wheel and it was wasps built a nest in the drain vent. took it out smell went away.
There are vids on youtube all about it
I use a mixture of Calgon, Borax, and Dawn dishwashing soap in my black tanks. I would always have an odor until I started using this combination. It seems to work well.
Great video…
Very cool video! Glad for the disclaimers. Damn fine job! 🖖🏻🙏🏻😘👍🏻
If this trailer is rocking…it’s not what you think! You CAN knock!
Great stuff, as always! Thanks.
We clean hours out with dishwasher detergent about 2 months ago. I wonder how the two would compare in their cleaning abilities. Lynn and Danny
Great video! I had brown water coming out of mine too!!! Marie♥️
Hey could you guys do an update video on your Simply Safe/ring and how you like it as RVers? Trying to find information on RV security is, well, not much out there.
we have several vlogs on this topic on our website
changinglanesrv.com/?s=ring+security
I put 2 cups of Dawn Dish Soap with 10-20 gallons of water in my tanks on travel day and I for the kitchen tank I will use 2 cups of Dawn and 2 cups of Zep Citrus Cleaner/Degreaser and 20 gallons of water for cleaning the sensors
Check out seelevel II tank monitoring systems
I'm going to stop at 1 minute..2 issues we suffer from..1st use a tried and true wind vein style vent cap on the roof vent..2nd cheater vent,auto vent whatever you want to call the vents under your sinks..remove them and put a threaded cap in their place..they are there to vent your drain when you dump large quantities of water and have no function when just running water..trust me you won't even know they are gone..it's a "plumbing code thing" and won't hardly affect your drains..
If you don't like that..try what we do in the plumbing world when the nature of the plumbing in the house creates a back pressure and blows back through the auto vent..
1: all modern RV grey drains are 1 1/2 inch..get a male adapter..1 foot of abs pipe and a cap
2: glue cap to one end of pipe
3: remove auto vent
4: tread in male adapter into where the auto vent was
5: cut the pipe for any clearance issues then glue into male adapter
Doing this creates a "air gap" above the drain pipe and vents it while keeping sewer gas from escaping..now pressure can still push past the water in the p-trap so don't forget the wind vein style vent cap..I am a retired master plumber 3 years now a full time gypsy rock'in a 2005 Itasca
Suncruiser Series M-37B-Workhorse
Edit: After watching the video let me put this question to you..Do you think using this product sealed the path the odors took into your rig ?
Now don't get me wrong..I use septic treatment to consume solids in my black tank..it's just that you folks have a mechanical issue like most of us..not a biological one
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.
If you add two tables spoons of the cleaner in a cup of coffee,,,would it give your intestines a good cleaning? Asking for a friend!
If your tank stinks before next travel day put about a cup of Dawn dish soap in tank and 5 gallons of water then when set up at other local put tank treat in and use as regular then flush to dump and always add Dawn and water every travel day. Problem solved and cheap. Dawn breaks down human grease.
Thanks for the heads up 👍🏻
If you need to re grease the toilet seal after putting this in the toilet, don't you think the same would need to be done to your gate valves on the holding tanks? need longer fingers for that.
Thanks for the info, we're definitely going to get some of that for our tanks.👍🙂
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... 😀
Your galley tank (kitchen tank) get grease residue from the dishes where the bathroom tank does not. When you drain the kitchen tank the grease clings to the walls as the water drains. That's why you get the smell. Ever smell a grease trap? YUCK!!!
Chief
4Everland RV
Oh yea! We recently cleaned it again and the outcome looked worse than black tank.
@@ChangingLanes 🤣🤣
Great info!
(Loved the jet fuel line.. GO NAVY)
Has anyone added an in-tank flush to their gray tanks like the ones in the black tanks?
Watching right now...😝 Shake it up..!!! Just Shake it up !!!
Use the same procedure with a cup of borax and 1/4 cup of dawn dish soap and you will get the same results at a fraction of the cost. And my sensors work for a little while after.
I bought a used camper with the sensors not working at all and used the borax and quarter cup of Dawn dish soap in the black tank on travel days and then used a degreaser and borax in the gray tanks and now all my sensors work and the smells are gone . When I bought the camper the sensors read completely full and after four trips I do not RV full-time but for weekend trips filling the tanks halfway and using those products now my sensors work perfect
@@joegremminger1084 what kind of a degreaser do you use?
@@OverKill6969 zep
THANK YOU VERY MUCH LEARNED ALOT GREAT VIDEO THANKS AGAIN
I’ve searched and searched and this product isn’t available anywhere! I’m crushed!
Contact them here and ask them when it will be back on Amazon.. www.happycampersworld.com/contact-us/
I did not read everyone's comments, maybe this was stated. I have used this for grud covered black tank level indicators. It worked well, Tank 1/2 full with a drive and slosh. RV Level Gauge Cleaner, 19 oz - Thetford 24545
I am curious if this does anything better then just Borax and dawn to clean your tanks.
Great information....thanks again 👏
I was hoping the Happy Camper would clean the sensors. We bought our camper last year from a friend that let it sit for a very long time. Still working out some of the kinks but with us using it things are getting done. The black tank sensor is stuck on 3/4 full. I have tried cleaner and filling it then driving around. Thought it worked but I don't think it did. We are going boondocking this weekend which should put the back and grey tanks to full use. I am going to try what the dealer said (along with others) to but Ice in the black tank on travel day. With the cleaner and the agitation from ice i hope to clean the sensor. If it works i will update my comment. Thank you very much for this video...
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 🤭