Slight problem

wal1809 · August 06, 2012, 06:20:33 AM

I have two problems I have to get worked out before me and the bus see the open highway again.

Black tank. It is coming out of there and a new one is going in before I go onthe road again. Whoever did the conversion dropped the toilet pipe thought the fllor to a 90 elbow, the pipe then goes 3 feet to another 90 elbow and has a vertical drop to the black tank. So to make this a short explanation the black tank vents into the bus. Aghhhhhh! Not doing that again. It has never been a problem before as I would park wherever and clean it before leaving. I did a 1000 mile turn around this weekend. No place to clean it out.

I am going to buy a new poly tank and get rid of the old one. THe old one is very long and narrow. I want 30 gallon and as cubical as possible. I want a spray rig inside to clean it.

The question is what other parts do I need to buy and where? I heard Clifford talking about a flapper one time on another thread.

TomC · August 06, 2012, 12:55:37 PM

Go to www.ronco-plastics.com to view the many tanks they have. I used marine tanks since many are rectangular. I didn't tell them which one was a black tanks-if you do-they make the tank with carbon black in the plastic so you can't see inside. I wanted to see the level since I don't use tank gauges.
When you have them spin weld the fittings, on the 3" use a screw fitting-works better then a slip fitting. And don't worry about if the tank is made specifically for black or not. Just have them install the 3" drain as close to the bottom as possible. Granted it doesn't drain all the way, but rinsing a couple of times when dumping works. Good Luck, TomC

Tenor · August 06, 2012, 01:05:44 PM

Wal,
I think in another post you mentioned that you don't have a vent for the black tank. That will take care of your issues! There have been many acrimonious posts about how to vent the fumes, and they are easy to find in the search mode. I was able to route my black tank vent through the fridge cabinetry, then out a hole I made in the fridge vent roof. One less hole in the bus! My grey tank is vented into the wheel well on the curb side. I know that is not code. That is the side we live outside of, and we have never had an issue of odor. I wouldn't recommend that for a black tank I think. The risks of smell occurring after all of that work to install are too much in my book. FWIW!

Glenn

smokedetector · August 06, 2012, 02:17:12 PM

Tenor,

Do you have a propane fridge? If so, venting the black tank into the same vent sounds dangerous to me.

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robertglines1 · August 06, 2012, 03:19:41 PM

If your toilet doesn't hold water in bowl it will also leak gas into bus. outside vaccum from driving will suck odor into coach. can replace rubber on valve or valve. tank vent helps then odor has no reason to try to enter bus. short term fix on leaking toilet slide valve--put a little grease on it..or clean it. did not say it was desirable job!

rwc · August 06, 2012, 03:23:45 PM

Must Vent Black tank in some fashion. Otherwise you will deal with odor even if water seals works wheb you flush odor will enter. Rod

Tenor · August 06, 2012, 04:11:31 PM

Smoke detector,
The vent (2 in PVC iirc) runs through the cabinet all the way out of the roof. Shouldn't be any issue.

Glenn

wal1809 · August 06, 2012, 04:53:19 PM

I have decided on a rectangle poly see through as Tom mentioned. So other than venting is there any other parts I need to buy other than the pipe and fittings. I have no valve on there now, only the flapper you can see in the bottom of the bowl.

Tenor · August 06, 2012, 05:58:54 PM

You should just need your fittings and a dump valve, unless you can recycle the old one. Sounds like you are good to go! (If you know what I mean!

)

Glenn

Kwajdiver · August 06, 2012, 06:14:14 PM

My grey tank (black and grey combined) can be drain for either side of the bus. That has really come in handy a few times.

Bill

Dave5Cs · August 06, 2012, 08:50:03 PM

Tenor I am not eating salad or drinking any milk out of your refrig, Lol

Wal you might have a 3 inch screw fitting put in top where you can get a hose in to flucsh it out from outside reaching into bay. We have one on the top so after I dump the tank , to really clean it out, I unscrew the plug cap and spray out the inside with one of those snake thingys with the prop at the bottom that spins and sprays.

Dave5Cs

wal1809 · August 07, 2012, 01:50:06 PM

Dave I definately want to do the clean out access. I want to be able to clean it completely without guessing. One of the problems with the black tank in mine now is it is long and narrow. There is no way of knowing if your getting all the stuff out from the other end. I made a pvc sprinkler that hooks to the water hose and I usually leave it spray for about 20 minutes after dumping the tank. Obviously it aint good enough.

wal1809 · August 07, 2012, 02:03:58 PM

kwajdriver, how many gallons is that tank? I wouldn't mind going black and gray but before when I had them hook to one tank we could only get 1 or 2 days before we had to dump. I have a 55 gallon gray now and want to do a 35 gallon black.

Most of the places we park at are private lands and we can run a hose from the gray tank out to the ground and let her rip. We dump our black tank in the pasture at home. Before too long I am going to build a homemade septic tank outside the barn and have a permanent pipe inside the barn to hook the black too. That way I can back up to the door, hit the bus with a pressure washer and back it in. I have shore power in the barn and I will be able to just hook up the black and let her fly.

John316 · August 07, 2012, 03:32:14 PM

Bill,

You forgot to mention that your bus was for sale

Kwajdiver · August 07, 2012, 04:57:30 PM

My tanks are 120 gallons each. If you look closely in the top photo. You'll see a white PVC pipe going down through the floor. I have the option of dumping the grey water to the ground. If I dump to the ground, one or two people can go awhile before you have to dump the tank.

Bill
This bus is for sale!