Recently, we had our first experience with a clogged toilet in an RV. One morning, Stella mentioned that the toilet was “burping” when she flushed it. Ironically, we had just watched a youtube clip about that problem a few days prior. It appears having seen that video clip was meant to be.
A burping toilet means that either the blank tank is full or the vent pipe is blocked. Our tank indicator showed that it was empty, which pointed to one obvious problem: a clogged toilet. We first started with examining the vent pipe. I climbed the ladder and removed the vent cap. There was no visible blockage. We then poured water down the vent pipe and clearly heard it enter the black tank. (It is helpful to have to people assist, with one inside the RV to listen for the water entering the black tank). Since that was not the root cause of the clog, the arrows pointed toward a different issue.
Our issue was waste had built up at the bottom of the discharge pipe into the black tank. I requested honey wagon service from the campground staff, who were unable to get anything out of the tank. To remedy the situation, we used a long stick move/push the waste away from the bottom of the discharge pipe in an effort to clear the space. It took two attempts to remove the clog, which included pouring a lot of water into the blank tank to mix with the solid waste. Problem solved.
CLOG PREVENTION TIPS:
- Use Camco RV Toilet Treatment Drop-Ins (or something similar) to aid in the breakdown of tissue and waste.
- The Micro Minnie FLX is equipped with a black tank flush. This assists with keeping the black tank clean. We had used this on our recent trip to Idaho.
- After going #2 in the toilet, flush with ample water to ensure the solid waste is pushed all the way down. Sometimes a flush in the middle of going to the bathroom can be helpful to prevent too much from being flushed all at once.
- Fill the black tank with water prior to emptying.
- Dump one or two bags of ice into the black tank prior to traveling to help agitate and clean it during travel.