Novel approach for unclogging grey water drain

[Joel Weiss]

I'll start by saying mea culpa about the fact that if you leave your grey water dump valve open all the time you run a risk of getting the line clogged because the flow volume isn't high enough to flush away food debris, washer/dryer lint, etc.  It happened to us last night when we discovered at about 10pm that water wasn't exiting the grey tank which was so full it was bulging.

This morning a local on-site service guy came by to help.  He knew enough about Beavers to know that removing the plumbing panel was not going to be fun.  So he suggested a novel approach--use a wet-vac to "suck" the grease clot out.  I'm sure someone here will explain why this was dangerous, but the bottom line is that it did work.  He was able to get the drain to flow and once we emptied the tank we then proceeded to repeatedly flush it out with hot water.  

So the issue now is how often does the grey tank need to be thoroughly flushed in order to avoid this in the future?  We use the Splendide too often to risk leaving the dump valve closed on a regular basis.  That would be a disaster waiting to happen particularly with the unvented model which uses a undetermined amount of water during the dry cycle.  Our new state-of-the-art unit no longer has a lint filter so it is putting even more "stuff" down the drain than we had previously.  

I'm interested in hearing how other people deal with this issue.  I can't believe I am the only person who has had a gray tank clog.

[Dick Simonis]

I have a Flush King left over from the TT that does a great job of back flushing tanks.  It's not practical to use all the time as the Beaver outlet is a bit low to the ground when aired down.  However attaching once in a while for maintenance seems to work well.

[Tom and Pam Brown]

In the black tank I empty my cooler with ice before I travel and it cleans the probes.

In the gray I use a small amount of rid x.

[Phil N Barb Rodriguez]

I've been fortunate not to have grey tank issues. (where's the wood to knock on). When we were living in our coach 5 days a week in SoCal I would leave the grey tank dump valve closed and watch the monitor fairly close. And of course, dump the tank when needed. When the black tank needed dumping I always managed to have a good supply of grey water to dump after the black tank dump to flush the line, and then back wash the black tank. On rare occasion when using the washer (we washed clothes at "home" on weekends) we would leave the dump valve open, then close it after the wash was done.

It's always good to use a good "bug" treatment in the grey tank just as you do (should) in the black tank. The grey tank can sometimes smell worse than the black tank if not treated.

Joel, I'll show you the product we use (bugs) when you arrive here next month.

[Gerald Farris]

Joel,
There is a good chance that your washing machine does not drain into your gray water tank. A lot of the coaches around the 2000 model year did not drain the washer into the gray tank, however it drained directly into the outlet junction. On these coaches, you have to be hooked up to sewer to wash clothes.

The way to determine if your washer drains into your gray tank is to close the gray tank drain when you are hooked-up to sewer and wash a load of clothes. Then watch the gray tank monitor as the washer empties. If the tank does not fill as the washer empties, your washer drains directly into the drain pipe and not into the tank.

My 2000 Marquis does not drain the washer into the gray tank, and I normally leave both drain valves closed when hooked-up and my wife usually washes daily, or at least every other day. I then drain both tanks when departing or when the gray tank approaches full.  .

Gerald

[Jeremy Parrett]

Gerald,
   If the Splendide drain is hooked to the sewer outlet after the electric shut off valve,would this account for those aweful sewery odors that seem to emit from the Splendide area??  
          Jeremy

[Gerald Farris]

Jeremy,
That would account for the odors if you do not use the washer enough to keep some water in the "J" trap in the drain line.

Gerald

[Joel Weiss]

Joel,
There is a good chance that your washing machine does not drain into your gray water tank. A lot of the coaches around the 2000 model year did not drain the washer into the gray tank, however it drained directly into the outlet junction. On these coaches, you have to be hooked up to sewer to wash clothes.

The way to determine if your washer drains into your gray tank is to close the gray tank drain when you are hooked-up to sewer and wash a load of clothes. Then watch the gray tank monitor as the washer empties. If the tank does not fill as the washer empties, your washer drains directly into the drain pipe and not into the tank.

My 2000 Marquis does not drain the washer into the gray tank, and I normally leave both drain valves closed when hooked-up and my wife usually washes daily, or at least every other day. I then drain both tanks when departing or when the gray tank approaches full.  .

Gerald

Hi Gerald--

Unfortunately, I can remove the "hatch cover" on the side of the tank area and see the drain line coming from the washer that goes into the grey tank.  A couple of months ago when our old Spendide was going bad I had lots of opportunity to verify that this is indeed the drain line and it goes directly into the top of the tank.

Joel

[Joel Ashley]

You should be in the habit of watching the tank meters daily.  Most Rvers I know camp with closed valves so the eventual emptying has a flush-out effect.

When we travel, we don't use our Splendide as much as some people, but when we do, I am in the habit of draining the tanks first, then watching the meter like a hawk;  even if I didn't, the fluid accumulating on my shower floor would wake me up.

Tom, your ice trick sounds cool  :X.
But seems like it would take a lot of ice, and wouldn't it only affect the sensors at the top of the fluid?  Ice floats.  If the level was low, splashing around might clean the bottom one, but the rest?  And a high level wouldn't scrub down low.  Regardless of operational principles, I assume it has worked for you.  

Joel