I've been reading blogs, mostly RV blogs, for over two years. Even though the dream of buying a rig was "Written in Smoke" whenever I read something I thought might be useful I copied it and put it into my "RV Tips" folder.
Now I have reason to go back and reread some of those! It is because I have learned from others that I write about the things I learn as a new RV owner.
One not so fun, but necessary topics that has come up from time to time is the care of the black tank. As far as I'm concerned it's Craig job to take care of outside connections, but when we noticed the monitors for the holding tanks were not reading empty after dumping, I recalled what several other people had done to clear up any possible blockage.
We know that the Alfa was unused from at least June to September from some intake service records, but who know how long it was dry parked before that. So there is a good possibility that our use has dislodged something in the black tank.
In my tips file I had two recommendations. Adding a solution of water, Calgon, and Pinesol, or water, Calgon and Liquid Detergent. I choose the second because I had the detergent. I poured that in and have been taking gallons of water from the house to get the tank at least half full before our next drive.
But over the weekend when checking the dumping compartment for another reason, I notice a big yellow sign that said "San-T-Flush" I went to my owners manual and YES, it is a built in "power wash" for the black tank. It has a short length of black hose attached to connect to the city water, but I bought an additional 15' garden hose. I think between The San-T-Flush and the Calgon we should be well on the way to an "empty" readout on the monitor. If not I will do another treatment to slosh around on the way to San Diego.
But at least I won't have to carry gallons of water up the hill again. I know I could have used the onboard fresh water, but I wanted to know how many gallons I was putting in.
Ah, the little things! Understanding and caring for your plumbing is important.
We are also feeling lucky about the dry sunny weather predicted for this upcoming weekend when we drive up to Auburn for our RV Driving lessons.
I'm excited!
