Holding Tank Cleaning

J

Jfrano

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 12, 2018
Messages
473
Fluid Motion Model
C-30 CB
Vessel Name
June Sea
Can I push a water hose into my RT29 holding tank , from the pump out port? Worried about getting it stuck. Lots smell, so likely caked stuff

Thanks
 
I do this every time I pump out. I don't force the hose in there, as that's kinda gross and don't want my hose end covered in my own you know what... I just hold the hose over the opening and fill it till the indicator turns orange or red, then pump out again. I do this twice with every pump out and it keeps my tank really clean. Takes a few extra minutes but it's worth it...
 
I stick the hose in my tank, but I don't use my own hose. There is normally a facuet that is labelled "not for potable use" near the pump out, not because the water is bad, but because they expect you to stick that hose down into your tank.

If you want to get fancy you could probably assemble a few PVC pieces that adapter a regular hose thread size to holding tank size
 
If you want to flush your tank, add water and repeat the pump out as others have said. If you want to clean your tank, add some Calgon Water Softener (not fabric softener) plus some borax detergen and add water to the tank and agitate the contents. In other words, get under way. The water softener loosens the solids from the sides of the tank and the borax help to clean. Then do the pump out and flush.
 
We were on our boat 50 nights this season. The vast majority of those nights were spent away from marina restrooms. At times there were four folks on board overnight. The head got a lot of use!
A few days before the end of the season we added water softeners and other chemicals to the tank to break any sediment at the bottom.
Using a hose at a distance, we added approximately 10 gallons of fresh water to the tank and lots of flushing the head and then we did a pumpout. This season we ended up having to fill and pumpout EIGHT cycles before the fluids coming out of the black water tank were reasonably clear. You just need to keep doing the fill and pumpout cycle until you get everything possible out of the tank!
 
Not sure what others have but on our C28 there is a large screw top on top of the holding tank. It’s accessed by opening the floor hatch just inside the door to the Salon. Almost every time we pump out its simpler and faster to open the hatch, remove the cap and fill the tank at least half full and pump out again. A few times a year I might do it a third time.
 
Lucky to have that large screw top on the holding tank of the C28. I had one on the RT27 (classic). But don’t have it on the. RT31. Wish it were there for when needed (happily, I haven’t needed it).

There are lots of solutions to holding tank issues. I subscribe to: Pump out early and often. Use good quality chemicals (Zaal Noflex Digester, available through Amazon, among other places, is a proven one among my boating pals). Follow all advice from Peggy Hall, the guru who (literally) wrote the book on boat sanitation systems (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1892399784/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1. Among other things that Peggy recommends is to dump a lot (10 lbs? Not sure) of cubed ice into the holding tank after first pumping and cleaning it thoroughly. Then go cruising. The ice will agitate and “scrub” the sides of the holding tank, then melt. Add water, then pump out. We’ve never had to resort to that — we have only light use of our holding tank. But I hold the option in reserve if ever needed, while we do everything else Peggy recommends. A creative solution that should work well.

Gini
 
On a lot of RV's, the dump pipe in on the bottom of the tank. With an in-tank sprayer, it is easy to thoroughly clean out the holding tank. On our boat, the exit opening is about two inches in diameter on the side of the tank at the bottom of the wall. Once the water level gets down to the top of the opening, the pumpout hose starts sucking air and you cannot get the level much lower. So if you pump out several time with water fill between, you are just diluting the last two inches of sewage. So the more water added, the more dilution. But you never get the tank empty.

If you really want to get the tank walls cleaner, take off the top cap and use a pressure washer with an elbow before the sprayer. Be sure to block off the opening around the pressure washer pipe or you will have sewage splattered all over the inside of the compartment. If you want to clean off the bottom two inches of wall and the bottom, there will be an enormous amount of sewage splattering inside the tank trying to escape. Because the water is spraying at about 90 degrees to the axis of the wand, the wand tip is pushing very hard to the side and is hard to control.

Barry Thompson
TOUCAN, R-27 Classic
 
Our use for the macerator is solely to pump out in an RV park or into my septic tank at home. On ours the output hose is at the bottom and all the way forward in the tank. Because of its location I lower the tongue on the trailer and turn it on. It pretty much empties the tank completely getting at those last few inches.
 
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