DIY RV Toilet Clog Remedy – If your RV toilet keeps clogging, I can almost bet what you’re doing wrong. (Hint: it has to do with the black water holding tank, not the toilet itself!)
I’ve worked in the RV industry AND I’ve been a full-time RVer (off and on) over the past 50+ years.
I’m going to show you how to fix a clogged RV toilet and eliminate the possibility of future RV toilet clogs once and for all!
How to fix a clogged RV toilet.
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TRANSCRIPT:
Hi, I’m Curtis with The Fun Times Guide. And today we are going to talk about how to handle a clogged up toilet in an RV.
There are quite a few differences between an RV toilet and a regular household toilet. Mostly, they are completely different animals and have different problems.
This is your standard RV toilet. It may look somewhat similar to a household toilet. But if you notice… there is no tank on the back of the toilet. That is because it does not use water to flush the waste material through the plumbing.
When you open the lid, you’ll see that there is a little bit of water in the bottom. And the purpose of that water is to moisten the rubber seal and block odors from coming up the toilet when there is waste material in the tank.
Now I have the water pressure turned OFF. And if you look… it is just a black hole down there. It is actually a piece of 3-inch pipe that goes down about 2 feet. Straight down into the black water holding tank. There is no P-trap. There is nothing to keep water in the bowl. It is simply an open and shut “gate valve”.
I’ll turn the water pump back ON. And then I will replace the water that was in the bowl — so I don’t have an odor problem.
Because of this design, it is impossible to clog an RV toilet. If you are having problems draining your black water tank, it really has nothing to do with the toilet. It is all in the tank!
This is your waste water connection — which you would use to drain your waste tank. On the left hand side is the valve for the large diameter pipe. This is for your black water. On the right hand side is the smaller gray water tank which drains the water from your shower and your kitchen and bathroom sinks.
If there’s a clog… then when you attempt to drain the black tank, very little fluid will come out. And you have a serious problem! Never try to clean a clog through the toilet — because that valve that you saw is very light-duty material and can be easily damaged. Always approach a black tank clog through the sewer connection on the outside of the RV.
Many of today’s RVs come standard with a black tank flush connection — which is basically a sprayer mounted inside of the black tank which allows you to hook up city water pressure, and it will blast away material that is inside the tank. But the bigger problem… Generally if you have a noticeable black tank blockage, it is because you have not let water build up in the tank. The one thing about a black tank… for it to function properly… is you cannot skimp on the amount of water you send through the toilet! If you have your black valve shut and a decent amount of water in the tank, you will never experience a blockage!
Where people run into problems is they fail to realize that you must always keep your black tank valve (drain valve) CLOSED. If you are hooked up to sewer connections in an RV park, it is okay to leave the smaller gray water valve open. But your black valve must remain CLOSED all the time!
Once the tank is full, then you can open the valve to drain the tank. But be sure to CLOSE the valve when it is done draining. If you do not, then all of the liquid will run out of the tank, and the solids will build up in the bottom of the tank. And if left to go long enough, it will actually fill the tank with solids… and you will have a mass that will be a real chore to deal with!
In the event that you DO plug up the tank with solid matter, your only real approach to fixing the problem is to take a garden hose and shove it up through the black tank drain valve (with the valve OPEN), and try to force as much water in there as possible.
Chemicals like Drano or anything designed to be used in your kitchen sink or toilet to unclog a drain will have NO EFFECT on this type of problem! There is a possibility that septic system chemicals (such as Ridex) if left in the tank for an extended period of time with as much water as possible… that MAY help. But I really can’t guarantee it.
In 50 years of owning RVs, I have never had a toilet clog problem. I guess I learned right from the get-go that if you keep your black tank valve CLOSED all the time, you can avoid all the problems that come from inexperience more than anything.
