# Tired of trying to clean the tank!!



## camping479 (Aug 27, 2003)

Made a couple of discoveries over our long weekend outing.

I decided the flush king takes too long and uses too much water to clean out the black tank. I spent about 45 minutes trying to flush it out clean because we won't be using it for a few weeks. Even in conjuction with a wand, I couldn't get it cleaned out completely. I figured there has to be an easier way.

This led to my first discovery, the black tank outlet is actually towards the center of the trailer. When I got home, I pulled down the black underbelly to check things out. The drain pipe goes up under the trailer to approximately the center where the black tank and grey tank drains tie into it. So tilting the trailer to the outside drain side (which mine was slightly) actually decreases the slope of the tank to its drain point. The trailer should actually be level or tilted to the door side to get the tank to drain the best.

My second discovery was, there is enough room between the side of the tank and the frame to mount a quickie flush, which I ordered yesterday. By mounting it in the side, it will spray across the tank, flushing it completely. Now I'll be able to turn on the quickie flush for a few minutes and blast the tank clean while I continue packing up.

Mike


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## Y-Guy (Jan 30, 2004)

Wow 45 minutes! Let me know how the install for the Quickie Flush goes, the Flush King has worked great but the QF looks like its an ideal setup too. I don't even own a wand, that looks like to much of a PITA.


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## camping479 (Aug 27, 2003)

The wand is a bit of a pain. I bought an attachment a while back to hook it to the vanity sink. The problem with it is, with the toilet open and running water along with the wand lowers the pressure too much and it doesn't spray well.

With three women, a lot of tp goes down there and doesn't come out easily.









Yeah, 45 minutes was a pain, I did this and that while I was filling and draining. I had full hookups, would never have taken that much time at the dump station.

Mike


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## hatcityhosehauler (Feb 13, 2004)

Don't think I've ever seen a quickie flush. Did you order it from camping world? I'd like to see it, as it definately sounds interesting.

Tim


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## camping479 (Aug 27, 2003)

Tim,

I got it at camping world. If you type in quickie flush in the search bar at their site it comes right up.

It mounts in the side of the tank and has a head that sprays in all directions to clean the inside. I've read good reviews about it.

Mike


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## hurricaneplumber (Apr 12, 2004)

I have been considering something like this also. But how do you guys plan on using it? When I go to the dump out station, there usually is a line so it would be rude to clean your tank then, and most places don't have a hose connection for the rinse water hose, just a metal end. Do you plan on using it mostly at full hook-up sites? In our area there are very few full hook-ups.

Just curious on how others will utilize the tank cleaner device.

This is #200 already, where does the time go....

Kevin


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## California Jim (Dec 11, 2003)

Yeah, I know what ya mean. I'm using the FK and it does work well. My black sensor actually works now! But yes, I used alot of water to make this happen. The first time I used the FK was at home and I had to fill/dump the tank about 5 times before the sensor started showing empty







That's close to 200 gallons of water. I only have to flush 1-2 times now that it's being used though.

I'm also looking really hard at that quickie flush as well. Seems like I could clean the tank just as good with alot less water and time.


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## hatcityhosehauler (Feb 13, 2004)

Mike, Thanks. I answered my own question earlier. had to check CW for an order status, and did a search on the QF while I was there. Looks interesting. Let us know how the install goes.

Tim


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## Phil (Mar 15, 2004)

A friend of mine installed the quickie flush on his trailer. He said he absolutely loves it and it took about 20-30 minutes to install.


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## NDJollyMon (Aug 22, 2003)

Quicky Flush huh? Sure would be dumping portable tanks of water down the stool!


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## JMH712 (Oct 26, 2003)

Mike, I think we spent last weekend doing the same thing. Used the Flush King for the first time on Sat. after 4 full flushes I gave up, (I herd the cooler calling my name). On Tues. I flushed & wanded 3 times and still not clean as I expected so that afternoon at home I took a look same as you. Same conclusion, must be level, dead nut level for the black tank to drain completly. Its clean now and will stay that way now that I can dump at home. I also looked into the Quikie Flush but was told I had to have the service dept. install it or it would void my warrenty, they wanted 2 hours labor so I decided to wait on it. Will be watching for your installation and review of the QF. Thanks Mitch


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## Lostboyinva (Jan 22, 2004)

Don't mean to derail this thread, but those of you who are dumping at home, how are you doing this?


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## j1mfrog (Jun 6, 2004)

I have not dumped at home, however, I do have a sewer cleanout outside which I could dump into. I did a lot of the work on our house and the outside cleanout was required by code here. I didn't really see the need for it then, but I'm glad I have it now.

It's always a pleasure talking about raw sewage.


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## California Jim (Dec 11, 2003)

I have full hook-ups at home







Got lucky in that I had a main sewer cleanout on the side of the house where the Outback is parked. It was an easy thing to dig it up and extend it across the driveway before pouring the concrete. As far as the city is concerned, I have "relocated" my cleanout


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## hurricaneplumber (Apr 12, 2004)

I would keep home hook-ups a pretty low key item to discuss in your local area. Some municipalities frown on such things. Some even hand out stiff fines as they term it "illegal dumping of sewage" or "unauthorized dumping" into their system. If I could do one at my house, I would keep it disguised and not draw attention to it. Our inspection officials get their gollies by looking for anything that you do wrong. 
We still have goofballs that dump motor oil down the storm drains, which go to the river, which is where the drinking water comes from. Go figure.
I just wouldn't announce it to the neighborhood unless it is okay to do in your area.

Happy dumping.


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## JMH712 (Oct 26, 2003)

My cleanout for sewer is just inside the garage door level with the floor. 10 feet of hose with the slide in, 20' if the slide is out ( I only have 2 10' ers). Will be installing 30 amp outside box to run AC this weekend since I cant go camping. Mitch


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## California Jim (Dec 11, 2003)

You will absolutlely love having a cleanout for home use, and electrical to run the A/C is really nice. Especially when packing


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## hurricaneplumber (Apr 12, 2004)

I am about 135 feet away from any way of hooking to my system. I have been considering a sump pit and macerator pump it to the house with a line on top of the ground, or possibly a micro septic system. Water is even more of a challenge.

I wish mine was as easy as what you guys have, lucky dogs.

Might be easier to move....


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## fixjet (Jan 19, 2004)

I use the Sewer Solution at home and the Flush King on the road. I also Wand the tank at home if I am not using it for a couple of weeks. I find both use a lot of water but that is a small price to pay to avoid a plugged up tank.


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## Thor (Apr 7, 2004)

Hi

I like the Flush King idea. After having a blocked Tank (My 5 year old used almost the entire roll of paper for one flush!!!







Used lots of water and a 3hrs drive through the mountains and bingo ..things started moving again.

Does anyone have pics? How easy is it to install? What about leaks?

Thor


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## JMH712 (Oct 26, 2003)

Thor, This will explain the flushking, www,flushking.com. They have a video clip too.
Fixjet, how does the sewer solution work, how long does it take to empty a full tank? Brother in-law has a "homemade" outfit he found on the internet, it takes a long time to empyt a full tank and a ton of water. Just curious its the only one I have seen work. Mitch


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## fixjet (Jan 19, 2004)

JMH712, The Sewer Solution works good at home but does take a long time. It is dependant on water pressure, the more you have the quicker it will work. It takes about 12 min. to dump the tank. I turn it on and go do other thinks and when it's done it starts to cavitate and you can here it's done. Then you switch over to flush and it fills the tank, then dump again. The whole process take about a half hour to dump, fill rinse, dump. Your water is running the during this time but it sure is nice to be able to clean out the tank at home and not be in a rush. I wouldn't use the Sewer Solution on the road because of the time involved and I don't carry it with me. It is strictly for my home use, althought some do use it on the road if they have full hookups.


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## hatcityhosehauler (Feb 13, 2004)

I have been thinking about the sewer solution for home use also, as my cleanout is located 20' into my garage. Does the water pressure applied help move the effluent through the discharge hose? My cleanout is located about 6-8" above the floor?

Tim


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## Thor (Apr 7, 2004)

Mitch

Thanks for the link.

Thor


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## DANJOGAVINMO (Apr 17, 2004)

Camping479,

If possible, make sure to take some pics of your install! If it goes easy I am going to be all over it.

Thx
Danny


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## camping479 (Aug 27, 2003)

I just got it in the mail the other day. I am going to try and install this weekend. I'll give a full report for all those interested









Mike


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## hurricaneplumber (Apr 12, 2004)

Mike,

Let me know, I am curious to see how it goes.

Good luck, hopefully you won't get all 'dirty'.....









KS


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## fixjet (Jan 19, 2004)

Tim, I use my Sewer Solution on a 45 ft. run going about 12-15 inches uphill and it works fine. It comes with 10 ft of hose and they sell 10 ft for $20-30 so I bought a 3/4" commerical garden hose for my extension and it works fine. I do like the ability to use it a home, like this last weekend we camped at a family get together on 10 acres with no facilities. This let me use the toilet and dump when we got home.








Dan


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## hatcityhosehauler (Feb 13, 2004)

fixjet,
Great, I think the sewer solution just made the short list.

Tim


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## Firefighter2104 (Apr 25, 2004)

How do you know when your tank is clean. Do you stick your head down that small hole?







How do know what you are using isn't working?

I have never used anything yet to clean my out. I just bought a wand, but haven't used it yet.

Bill


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## NDJollyMon (Aug 22, 2003)

BILL! Your silly!

Everyone knows you make your wife peer down the little hole!


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## camping479 (Aug 27, 2003)

Bill, you don't stick your head down there!!!!! You reach in with your hand and feel around to see if it's clean!!!!!









Mike


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## fixjet (Jan 19, 2004)

Mike, don't laugh







that's how we get diapers, bottles, keys, wallets, rolls of toliet paper, beer cans, and all kinds of personal items out of the jets I work on. Big rubber gloves up to your shoulder work good. Passengers can be pigs.








Dan


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## camping479 (Aug 27, 2003)

Dan,

Whoooo, that's a nasty part of the job!!!

Mike


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## Firefighter2104 (Apr 25, 2004)

NDJollyMon and Mike

My wife had a cow when she read your posting. That's ok we got a good laugh.


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## mskyoutback (Jul 27, 2004)

We picked up our 23rs 2 weeks ago, but wanted to have the dealer install the quickie flush. Our first trip out last weekend, we just happened to be going in the same direction as the dealership, so we made an appointment to stop by and have it installed. I don't think anyone would want to drill a hole in the black tank after it had been used, so my husband insisted on having it done before it was used! It took the dealer an hour and a half, although I'm not sure how much of that time was actually spent working on ours. Made our trip take a bit longer, but the kids enjoyed going through the other campers (they really liked the 31' Adirondack!).
The quickie flush does work very well. You can hear the high pressure water spraying around. We hooked up our flush king as well just to make sure it worked. Just a clear elbow may be all we need. Our friends that we were with have never flushed out their black tank and it really started to smell. We loaned them the flush king and got it all cleaned out for them. I think now they want one too. I think we'll really be happy we had the quickie flush installed. Not quite sure what we'll do at a dump station. Probably go ahead and use it a little if there is no one waiting and if there is a place to hook up our hose, which there usually is. We've rarely had anyone behind us at a dump station, but if we did there's no way we would take that much extra time. Not really sure how well it would work if we dumped the black, started the quickie flush, dumped the gray, then the black again. That would probably be a pretty good cleanout without using a lot of time.


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## Camperjack (Mar 24, 2004)

Have you tried this elementary solution to get the "bulk" out? Drain the black water tank first - hold the sewer hose up about 10 " in front of the trailer drain pipe, open the gray water - it back flushes into the black water tank. Close the gray valve and lower the hose - WHOOSH - the grey water comes flying out with the debris... Do this a few times. I met a full timer who said he has been using this technique for years and has never had a problem. For those with home drains - if you do this at the dump station, you can do the wand thing at home and have a sparkling tank again.... Camperjack


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## jallen58 (Oct 27, 2003)

I am also installing the qf this weekend had a fk before works ok but takes to long.
Another way to help clean tour tank is to put a gallon or two of water in the tank before you go on a trip, as you drive the water will loosen the poo. also put in your chenicals at this time they work better when well agitated.(JMHO)

jim


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## Ymryl (Mar 2, 2004)

As I said in another thread:

You could always try "The Geo Method". Basically, he suggest using Calgon water softener in your holding tanks. Quite a bit of discussion available about his ideas, check out the various threads.


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## Y-Guy (Jan 30, 2004)

I too read about the Geo method, interesting concept too.

Instead I went by my dealer and picked up a No-Fuss Flush (aka quickie flush) to install this weekend. I like the Flush King but seems to take forever to fill a couple of times and I hate to waste that much water just trying to get my tanks clean. Need to clean the tank good and then drop the membrane and do an install. Need to pick up some hose and silicone sealer first though.


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## jallen58 (Oct 27, 2003)

No more cleaning problems just finished installing the Quickie Flush.

jim


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## Y-Guy (Jan 30, 2004)

Well I just finished installing the No-Fuss Flush kit. Thanks to camping479 for answering some questions before I opened up the underside of the camper. I picked up the No-Fuss flush kit at my dealer, also needed is silicone and some hose I used about 6'. Install took about 1.5 hours if you have all the items you need at hand. Drilling into the tank is the hardest since you have less than 5" space between the tank and the frame. I suggest taping the edge of the underbelly or keeping towels handy as the coreagated plastic is rough on your arms. Once everything was installed I ran the hose under the underbelly and then out between the tank valve handles, then up to the skirt. I cut a hole in the aluminum skirt for the outside connection







I then used two hose clamps and wrapped them around the hose and used existing bolts on the frame to keep everything in place. I then sprayed some foam sealer where I ran the house out of the underbelly. Once the silicone drys I'll test it and reinstall the underbelly.










No-Fuss Flush mounted on tank
No-Fuss Flush mounted on the skirt of the Outback


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## camping479 (Aug 27, 2003)

Looks good Steve, I used plenty of silicone too







.

Little bit of a pain working in those tight quarters.

I like the mounting plate installation on the skirt. The quickie flush came with a hose fitting with an "L" bracket. I wound up mounting it on the frame underneath.

I'll be giving ours a try next Saturday when we leave for upstate NY. Hopefully it will be faster and use less water than the flushking.

Mike


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## Y-Guy (Jan 30, 2004)

OMG I just did a run to test the new setup. I was shocked and amazed how dirty my take was even after using the Flush King. I ran it a good 5 minutes and kept running light brown for that whole time, unfortunately with the flush king installed I could still see solids floating by







after the 5 minutes though the tank ran clear. I had to tighten one of my connectors where it attached to the skirt to stop a small trip but everything else ran fine.

I expected it to work good, but had no idea how bad it really was. Needless to say I am *very* happy with this mod it was well worth ripping my arms to shreds and rolling around on concrete for a couple of hours.

If you are thinking about this mod I would highly suggest going out and doing it.

Signed,

A converted Flush King Loyalist!


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## hatcityhosehauler (Feb 13, 2004)

Looks like another mod to add to the list. Sounds good Y-Guy, and camping479 pictures are great. How far up the side of the tank did you mount the tank inlet fitting? Does the inlet have a nozzle on the discharge side to spray water in all directions, or is it a spinning head like on a wand?
How difficult was it to get the bottom cover off and back on again?

I'm gonna have to plan this one out, as I used the flush king for the first time on our last trip, and dispite back filling the tank several times, I couldn't get the water to run clear. Just when I thought I had it clear of solids, I would see some more flowing downstream. This quickie flush sounds like the way to go.

Tim


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## Y-Guy (Jan 30, 2004)

> How far up the side of the tank did you mount the tank inlet fitting?


Instructions with my set was to install it about 2" from the top of the tank, which was a natural fit since there was a lip about 1.5" from the top on mine.



> Does the inlet have a nozzle on the discharge side to spray water in all directions, or is it a spinning head like on a wand?


yes it sprays forward, sides and down. Based on what I saw coming from mine it seemed to work just like they said it would. It doesn't spin. Some suggest trying to aim it at the sensors which is a nice idea but based on where everything is and how tight things are its just a nice thought.



> How difficult was it to get the bottom cover off and back on again?


Not bad, besides the screws there is some foam sealer too, tugging firmly got it off easily, getting it around the frame and the propane line took a bit of work but its very doable. I also loosened the dump lines as they were against the propane line too, gave me just enough space to drop things.

Hope it goes well for you too, I am satisfied with the setup now. Not sure if I'll use the Flush King again or not, probably safe it for back flushing the grey water tank from time to time.


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## hatcityhosehauler (Feb 13, 2004)

Thanks for the info Steve. It is definately on my "short list" of mods.

Tim


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## B-RAD (Jan 26, 2005)

Sorry i'm pulling out a old post from the archives, BUT why dont they install Quickie Flushes, Flush Kings, etc. at the factory, so it would be easier for the buyer? Just a thought, heck they may!


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## chetlenox (Feb 3, 2004)

B-RAD,

On some of the higher-end units they do. But I'm sure a dealer would install a Quickie Flush for pretty cheap on a new unit off the lot. They supposedly aren't too tough to install.

Chet.


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## hatcityhosehauler (Feb 13, 2004)

The hardest part about the install on the Outback is they have to remove the bottom cover, which adds time to the labor charge. My dealer told me, about 20 minutes to install, then realized I had a bottom cover, and added an hour to it. I am going to do that one myself I think. I can't see spending 1.5 hrs (at $90+ an hour) in labor to install a $20 part.

Tim


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## Castle Rock Outbackers (Jan 18, 2004)

B-RAD,

I had a chance to look at the Keystone Everest 5th Wheel at the RV show in Denver. Show price was $45k. One feature: "No-fuss Flush System for Waste Tanks."

I agree...lets get these added stock!

Randy


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

Where are the holding tanks senors? I would think you'd want to install this "jet" as close a possible to the senor, so it gets a good cleaning too.

Jim


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