🦨 Smelly RV Tanks! (RV Tank Cleaning) (Full Time RV)

45 thoughts on “🦨 Smelly RV Tanks! (RV Tank Cleaning) (Full Time RV)”

• Mom and I owned a 36 ft 5th wheeler. I had the same problem in the black water tank with the gages, so I found a company that installs a high pressure unit in the tank, that I would hook up a hose after draining the tank. Turn on the water and this unit would spray high pressure water inside the tank would wash down everything and most of the time the gauges would measure correctly. sometimes not so good!

• I heard using Zep degreaser and borax is good.:)

• 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.

• I am new to camping and have a question: Why can you smell the odor from the wastewater tanks in the trailer at all? They're closed, aren't they?

• It’s dancing …. Lol

• Did the treatment help any of the tank sensors?

• Heres a food for thought too! Before you travel you dump both tanks ok then ad your treatment oder control/cleaner product to your tanks with a 1/4 tank full of water then hit the road! driving swaying and bouncing is your washing machine i purposely move around alot and hit that slow lane on the freeway the semi's use that bounce you up and down ! It works ! So when you get to your new destination your first thing to do is drop your liquids in both tanks then ad water again with your deoderizer/cleaner , then repeat over and over again ! Each trip! It works!

• This video was probably informative but took waAaAaAay too long. Used the comments for help.

• You have a faulty air admittance valve under the sink. Had the same problem, but now it's fixed💯👍 no more bad smells.

• I know this an older video but I just found and subscribed to your channel. I'm going to be selling my house and buying a toy hauler to live in full time. Would you buy the same rv again?
  Thanks

• Great video! Yours are by far the best!

• Where can we purchase the tank cleaner?! I've looked on Amazon and googled it. It doesn't come up 🙁 we are happy camper users!

• Borax and dawn dish soap for cleaning sensors there are videos here on YouTube.

• The SIMPLE solution for eliminating gray tank odor is DON'T rinse food waste/grease etc. down your kitchen sink into the gray tank. If ONLY soapy water goes into that tank, it will smell like… yep… SOAPY WATER!

  How to accomplish this? Use paper towels and Clorox (or similar) wipes to remove all food residue from dishes, which gets thrown into the trash. Then think of washing the dishes in the sink as a "sanitizing" step. I realize most people won't take the time… because it requires a little effort. I look at this as a necessary maintenance task, just like keeping your RV clean. The bonus is you WON'T NEED any "tank treatments"… the soapy water will keep your gray tank fresh and clean smelling.

  Another fallacy is treating your BLACK tank like it's a home septic system… IT ISN'T! It's a sewage HOLDING TANK. Unless your RV sits for months at a time with a nearly full black tank, enzyme/bacteriological treatments (meant for home septic systems) are a HUGE waste of time and money! Black tanks are dumped far too frequently for the enzymes to have any meaningful effect. There's an easier, FAR CHEAPER and more effective way to manage your black tank.

  Start by flushing your black tank VERY thoroughly – use your tank flush, AND/OR fill the tank several times with water. You should not see anything but clear water when dumping. Then, pour about a cup of liquid Tide detergent, followed by a cup of Calgon down your toilet. Flush AT LEAST 3 gallons of water into the tank. Now, you're ready to use your black tank. As you drive and move about your RV, the detergents in the black tank will mix and continuously wash the tank interior – including the level sensors. When the tank is full of waste, dump and flush thoroughly, filling the tank with water at least once. Then prep with the Tide/Calgon/water mix as described above.

  Keep a jug each of Tide (any liquid laundry detergent will do) and Calgon under your bathroom sink… Your tanks will NEVER stink and your sensors will never get clogged with dried TP. Happy camping!!

• Can you use this to clean the potable water tanks? I have a nasty sulfer smell from our faucets and I know the tanks need treated.

• i was wondering where did u get that clear fitting that connects to your dump valves and have u had any issues with it thanks

• My wife and I just picked up our first trailer and one thing I’m trying to figure out is this. I know I need to use tank treatment in our black tank, but what about the gray tank?? Do I use just a deodorizer or should I use a similar tank treatment as my blank tank treatment? Thanks for your help, love all the tech videos.

• Great video. Thank you.

• 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

• You say you use Happy Camper powder for deodorizing tanks on a normal basis, and Happy camper tank cleaner for cleaning the tanks. Was interested to know what product you use to treat the sewage, break up solids and TP in your black and grey tanks on the regular basis? We started with the drop in packs and had seriously bad luck with them. Started using the “Unique” brand and system for regular usage and regular flushing and have had way, WAY better results, have seen a drastic improvement in tank sensor operation. Went on to use the Unique brand sensor cleaner and hav continued to see an improvement in our sensor operation. Not perfect, but greatly improved.

• There are vids on youtube all about it

• Forget your sensors.They will never work.Your black tank will let you know,when close.

• EXCELLENT VID. We appreciate your demonstrations and look forward to joining the full-timeRVers lifestyle next year. Our interest to go tiny has changed our perspective of home buying, so we are doing our homework before making the transisition. I always wondered how RV ppl managed sewage and now I know. Foul odors are a deal breaker for me and knowing this information is very very helpful. I can say with certainty that RVlife will be a pleasure. TYSM 🕊

• Unique is working for me and sensors work

• 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.

• Thank you

• 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

• I've had pretty good luck with the Zep Heavy Duty Cleaner/Degreaser for my greywater tank

• Borax has cleaned and freed our stuck tank sensors.

• What about ultrasound water sensors

• whhoooo, that stuff is expensive… I'm gonna have to look around for some cheaper techniques….

• Dawn and Borax. Drive. Flush. Repeat. It’s like a sensor reset.

• 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.

• Always great information and lots of fun to watch! Never knew that the slide toppers acted like sails in the wind. You both are so knowledgeable on RV living! Fantastic!

• Treat the smell but it’s critical to have lower atmospheric pressure in the tank than in the RV

• 20 mule team borax is cheap

• 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.

• Simple green works great also! I was amazed as well when we cleaned ours. I always flush all.our tanks 3 to 4 times everytime we dump our tanks. The time we use simple green while on a 400 mile trip the mess that came out was crazy. Now I do this twice a year. It's a must!

• To clean tanks and sensors use 1 cup of dawn dish detergent and one cup of 20 mule team borax on traveling day!!! Fill tanks about half full.

• 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!

• Your "p" traps should stop any odor from grey tanks if everything is in order – black tank odor may be caused by toilet seal — if it will not hold water , clean or replace toilet seals !! Pour water in toilet – if water seeps by seal, their's your problem Vern !!

• 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.

• No food in the gray tank, and it will never stink

• What are the actual ingredients of this product? I bought a jar of it, am trying it out in my RV, but nowhere on the label does it list the ingredients. Some people say it's simply high-priced trisodium phosphate (TSP). Anybody out there know exactly what it is?

• I checked the Happy Campers site and you can also use the normal Happy Camper tank treatment product on your gray tanks, not just your black tanks. That should keep the odors away as well. Not sure why I didn’t think of that a long time ago! I’ve always used it for my black tank, but never thought of it for the gray tank.

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