HELP! Clogged toilet!

[JudyJB]

My toilet has been acting funny--gurgling, etc.

Tonight, I noticed that I could see water in the toilet drain, and a piece of stuck toilet tissue. (I put only "Big Potty" tissue in the toilet.) I have full hookups and went outside to turn off the water supply so I could look down better without water flushing down. Then I used a screwdriver to push the toilet paper down and it slowly drained a bit. Then I went outside, pulled open the handle for the black water tank, but not much happened. I even tried to use my spray flush function by hooking up the hose to the flush mechanism, but not much came draining out.

I have some water in my fresh water tank, so I unhooked the shore water supply so I could control the flushing. Then I dumped in a bunch of the blue liquid stuff.

I THINK what I have done is been emptying the tank too often, not giving it enough time to dissolve the toilet tissue. DOes that make sense??? I did drain it day before yesterday and yesterday when I emptied the grey tank after my shower.

Am I doing the right stuff??? What should I do now? I will NOT put anymore TP in it no matter what, at least for a while.

HELP!!!!

[JudyJB]

There is a Camping World a couple of miles away. Is there something I could buy there tomorrow morning to put down the toilet?

Guess I have the dreaded pile of poop? Or pile of TP, at least?

I think I can use it tonight as long as I don't use water to flush with.

[OregonLuvr]

I have never had a clogged toilet but I never dump mine unless it is at least 2/3 full. Toilet paper does not dissolve very fast and needs lots of liquids to help it along. If you do want to dump more frequently you need to run lots of water in it first and I mean lots...fill er up LOL. I am sure Camping World has something they could recommend to assist you with this problem.

You might try putting more water or a bag or two of ice in the toilet and drive around a bit, unless the clog is at the outlet then you need more help than that will give you.

karen

[JudyJB]

I never thought about the clog being at the outlet. I cannot add any more water right now, so that may be a possibility. That would explain why the flushing spray did not work.

The strange thing is that the monitor says the tank is "low" or "empty."

I will be leaving tomorrow morning, so I will not try to drain it any more. I will stop at Camping World and ask what they have. The blue stuff says it helps dissolve toilet paper, but I admit I have not used it much lately.

[Birdie]

Okay, my very own humble opinion, is that you are dumping too frequently. Probably not enough liquid in the black water tank, too. As Karen said, you need lots (LOTS) of water/liquid. I dump when my unit is up to 2/3's. There have been times when I dump if I haven't dumped in 7-10 days. That is about the time frame I feel comfortable with as I tend to have lots of black waste - I pour my dish water into the black tank if i can't throw it out the door.

Be careful of putting chems in the tank. If it has to be worked on, they don't like putting themselves in front of a tank full of chems and 'waste'. Don't head out with the problem as you don't need to get on the road and not have service around to work on it. Not much on the road for repair between AZ and central TX. Think about it, first, then rethink it.

[JudyJB]

Good advice. I'll definitely stop at Camping World first thing in the morning, after I get a propane refill.

Cottonwood is not that far away--maybe 55 miles, so I can always return to Camping World here in Flagstaff if I need to. There are also a couple of RV dealers in town.

After Cottonwood, I head to Phoenix for a week, and I know there are dealers and Camping World there.

I will not dump so often. Learned that lesson, I guess.

[JudyJB]

OK, after doing some more thinking and online research, I think I have it solved. I could see the toilet paper, and I remembered that I had a long wooden dowell (sp?). So I stuck it down the toilet and poked around as best as I could in the confined space. Then I added some water and waited for it to go down. Then I did it again and again. I finally got the clump pushed down and out of the way, so the water was running in freely. I also added some dish soap to help loosen stuff up. (Is that right?)

I kept adding water from my tanks until the monitor showed 1/4 tank.

Then I went outside and hooked up the shore water again, and added more and more water. I am going to keep adding water until I have at least a half a tank showing. I want to leave enough space so I can add some ice tomorrow morning before I get moving. I will not empty the black tank until I get to my destination, so the drive should help slosh stuff around. I'll use my flushers after I dump then.

I promise to keep the tank at least 1/4 full all of the time, and not dump so often. Whew. At least I can use the toilet tonight but no more toilet paper until I get that mess cleaned up.

Don't know what I'd do without this group!

[Sandersmr]

I don't think you want half a tank if you are going to dump ice - it'll melt too fast before it has a chance to scrub. Also think about this - water weighs over 8 pounds per gallon. I don't know how big your black tank is, but that may be a lot of weight you will be sloshing around.

[OregonLuvr]

Good going Judy. Sounds like you have the problem solved, and learned something....thats always a good thing.
I often travel with half a tank full,(IF I am not going really far) really breaks stuff down and the sloshing keeps the sensors clean. Dont rely too heavily on your sensors tho. They have a history of not being reliable. (TP clings to the sensors like magnets it seems). Once you get to know your rig you will have a pretty good idea of how full you are. I know pretty much how many days I can go just by my useage and history. Right before I dump I try to use lots of water with my flushes. I dont Saniflush my tank each time I dump but try to do it every 3 or 4 times and so far no problems for me. You did good Gal.

karen

[rvgrammy1953]

Our routine with the black tank: when tank is empty, pour in 1 bottle of blue stuff, fill bowl almost to the top 2 times, use 1 ply TP, don't pay too much attention to sensors, but dump every 7-8 days (2 people usage). When using ice for scrubbing while traveling, dump ice into empty tank with no chems. dump ice water when you land, then use the blue stuff (chems.) repeating step 1. When traveling also, empty grey tanks and black tank, except if you need to do the ice thing. If you do potty stops and use the camper to do so, only have 1/3 of a tank of fresh water....as has been said before, water weighs ALOT......I agree you are dumping too often...this has worked for the 2 of us for 8 years of full-timing without issues...

[retiredhappy]

I agree with everyone else. You're dumping too often. When you dump put some water back into the black tank so you don't have "dry" toilet paper sitting in tank. Always use some chemical to help break down TP and use water when you flush. The worst thing is a "dry" tank - stuff hardens! You don't have to buy special RV toilet paper - I use Scott one-ply and it worked for me for years. When you buy TP put a section in a glass of water and see how quickly it dissolves.

Everybody has a different routine. I dumped my black tank; closed handle; went inside and filled it back up. Went outside and dumped again THEN opened the grey water to clear the hose. I also use those screen like drain thingies that keep stuff from going into the grey tank. Amazing what a difference they make. Before I started using them my grey water smelled AWFUL; after using them so much better.

[Pooker]

Good post, girls. I think most RV techs will tell you most of us don't put enough water in our black tanks after dumping. Takes a lot of time to stand there filling the bowl a few times, but it's a necessary evil.

Pooker

[Birdie]

Judy, consider putting your used TP in a plastic bag and throwing it out every evening or when you throw out the kitchen trash. I do that and it is amazing how much TP gets used in a two day time frame. At least by me, tiny tubes you know. I don't put the TP down the toilet! If I have guests I tell them that's what the trash can with the plastic bag is for and then we get rid of it but it doesn't end up giving me more in the tank.

You drive with what ever is the comfortable amount of water in your fresh water tank. You can take it in the pocketbook for gas for the extra weight as opposed to stopping and having no water for the toilet. That's my opinion. I drove with my water tank between half and full this summer. I never knew when I would find usable water. Lots of water doesn't taste good drinking it. Lots of places this summer, required you to boil the water 15 minutes prior to using it. I just never put that in my tank! So I paid a little more for the privilege, but I'll bet that my mileage didn't change more than .2 to .4 on the gas tank for each fill up. If you aren't 'overloaded' you won't see a difference in 150 - 250 pounds - that's another adult.

This is all my opinion and you folks know how I am about my opinions! Yep, I am sticking to it!

[JudyJB]

Thanks, Birdie. I have been bagging at least 80% of my toilet paper, but for now I will make that 100%. Breaking up the clog and adding a lot of water last night seems to have helped. The black tank is now 50% full but I will wait until it is 3/4 full, maybe tomorrow, since I am continuing to add a lot of water.

I've been driving with 1/3 to 1/2 of fresh water tank. I figure, like you, that it is another person, and I really don't think I am overloaded. I need that water during the day when I drive around because I don't have another vehicle and I do have irritable bowel syndrome, which is mostly controlled, but I just never know when it will act up, even with controlling my eating habits with small meals more often. I have also been driving with a mostly empty black tank, and I think that caused my problem partly. Got to keep more water in it.

I drove 75 miles today, so that should have sloshed things around and maybe dissolved the TP that was there. At least I can't see any when I look with a flashlight down the pipes.

I've been periodically putting some bleach in my fresh water tank, also. I don't drink it unless I know that I have filled up at least twice in a row from a reliable source. Water at Grand Canyon was absolutely the best!

[Bethers]

I always drive with my fresh tank 1/2 to full. When I don't I don't feel the rig handles as well. And since I boondock so much, and not every place has fresh water - I need to make sure mine comes with me. I flush tp when I've got full hookups - well sometimes I don't, lol - habit from boondocking. When I'm traveling and boondocking, I don't flush the tp. But, if using tp, use lots of water. And tp isn't the only thing that sticks lol - so when pooping whether you flush the paper or not - you need to use water.

What a lovely subject. And I think we were talking stuff like this over dinner the other night at the OR gtg. What we ladies can discuss while we eat