Black Tank Filled?
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Category: R-pod Discussion Forums
Forum Name: Podmods, Maintenance, Tips and Tricks
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URL: http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=12912
Printed Date: 16 Jul 2025 at 7:29pm
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Topic: Black Tank Filled?
Posted By: 4Papa
Subject: Black Tank Filled?
Date Posted: 06 Jun 2019 at 11:11pm
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Got a 2017 R180 and I have the seemingly standard unreliable black tank sensor as it always reads full. My question is, is the pipe from the toilet to the tank, straight? It would appear so. Visually checking the level as to how close the waste is to the lower filler neck (with a flashlight and the water pump off) may be the only way to tell if I’m close to better-dump-soon time. ------------- 2017 180 2010 GMC 1500 Hybrid |
Replies:
Posted By: mcarter
Date Posted: 07 Jun 2019 at 8:00am
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Mine is. ------------- Mike Carter 2015 178 " I had the right to remain silent, I just didn't have the ability." |
Posted By: 4Papa
Date Posted: 07 Jun 2019 at 8:48am
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Would you say the top of the black tank is at the very bottom of the 3-4" pipe extending from the toilet? ------------- 2017 180 2010 GMC 1500 Hybrid |
Posted By: StephenH
Date Posted: 07 Jun 2019 at 8:58am
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That is better than in our 179 where the pipe has a bend that makes it easier for stuff to clog. I use a good biological agent so when I do empty the tank and use the black water tank flush, I can get a reading of empty. However, it does not last. As soon as we use it and go down the road, the sensors get coated again and the reading is off. I'm not ready to spend the money on a SeeLeveL II setup which would be much more accurate since it reads through the tank wall instead of relying on an immersed sensor.
------------- StephenH Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=7712 - ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |
Posted By: offgrid
Date Posted: 07 Jun 2019 at 9:31am
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The gray tank and black tanks are the same capacity. The gray tank is getting all the shower water as well as the dish washing water. So, my gray tank always fills way sooner than the black tank does. If I dump when the gray tank is full the black tank is never a problem. Its hard to see a use case where you could get a full black tank before the gray tank fills up. Maybe if you're using the campground showers and/or washing dishes outside? The sensors in the gray tank are much more reliable, and worst case scenario you have some gray water in the bottom of the shower telling you the gray tank is overfilled. Let a little gray water out so it doesn't slosh and head for the nearest dump station....  ------------- 1994 Chinook Concourse 1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold |
Posted By: mcarter
Date Posted: 08 Jun 2019 at 6:48pm
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4 Papa,
Yes I would say that. Not sure what other posts mean. I can see directly into my black tank from toilet interior. ------------- Mike Carter 2015 178 " I had the right to remain silent, I just didn't have the ability." |
Posted By: podwerkz
Date Posted: 08 Jun 2019 at 8:14pm
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Seems like a sight-glass (or a clear tube installed vertically) on the tank itself would be a cheap backup indicator. Yeah, you'd have to look under the trailer, but it sure would be handy in some scenarios.
https://www.mcmaster.com/sight-glass - https://www.mcmaster.com/sight-glass
------------- r･pod 171 gone but not forgotten! |
Posted By: Tars Tarkas
Date Posted: 08 Jun 2019 at 9:11pm
Yeah, I dunno. My guess is that the nature of a black tank would likely obscure a sight glass sooner or, less likely, later. Some things may be better left unseen.... TT ------------- 2010 176 FJ Cruiser |
Posted By: StephenH
Date Posted: 08 Jun 2019 at 9:24pm
I would not want to have to clean the sight glass because it got dirty from the black water.  ------------- StephenH Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=7712 - ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |
Posted By: podwerkz
Date Posted: 08 Jun 2019 at 9:45pm
Better to be seen, than have the tank full to the brim and sloshing around and into the trailer interior when the monitor says empty.... ------------- r･pod 171 gone but not forgotten! |
Posted By: Tars Tarkas
Date Posted: 08 Jun 2019 at 10:06pm
It might work. So might the existing monitors though. Looking down the toilet is pretty much a sure thing. And no more likely to result in sloshing in the trailer than any other method. At least arguably, less likely. For boondocking, there is no way to fill the black tank anyway, if you ever wash your hands or dishes. All tanks are 30 gallons. If you have hookups (except for sewer) the gray tank will almost certainly fill first, so that's your cue to empty the gray and black tank. TT
------------- 2010 176 FJ Cruiser |
Posted By: podwerkz
Date Posted: 08 Jun 2019 at 10:19pm
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The entire suggestion was a bit tongue-in-cheek. I think it has merit, but I don't plan to install one either. My comment about sloshing is in reference to movement of the trailer and full black tank contents during travel, not peering into the tank from above while stationary. Just FYI, it is entirely possible to fill the black tank first when boondocking. Making fresh water runs with jugs to refill the fresh tank, and taking showers remotely or outside, and/or draining the grey water in buckets or blueboys and/or freely on the ground (not acceptable but I've seen it done anyway) so yeah, the black tank can end up full before the grey tank. Thirty gallons is a LOT of waste but with 2 or more people and a few weeks in the boonies, yep. It can happen.
------------- r･pod 171 gone but not forgotten! |
Posted By: Tars Tarkas
Date Posted: 09 Jun 2019 at 12:41am
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I concede that it is possible to fill the black tank first but as you outlined, one would really have to work at it, replenishing the potable tank. No amount of outside showers or dumping gray water on the ground is going to cause the black tank to fill first, or at all, unless the potable tank is replenished, in which case one would hope the camper would be aware of the potential black and gray tank issues. And yes, it's possible to fill the black tank so full it will overflow when moving. That can be done with any monitoring system if no one monitors the system or it doesn't work. Any method of monitoring that works and is used can prevent that though. Of the three monitoring systems being discussed, sensors, sight glass, looking down the toilet, I maintain that the one that will work most reliably is looking down the toilet. TT ------------- 2010 176 FJ Cruiser |
Posted By: offgrid
Date Posted: 09 Jun 2019 at 5:32am
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The problem with refilling the fresh tank without dumping is that with the larger rPods that is almost certainly going to put the trailer over the max axle weight. If you fill both the fresh and gray tanks that's 500 lbs. In fact, I'm now wondering if that is one reason some folks are having axle problems. It will also in most floor plans put your weight too far aft, creating sway risk. Bottom line, when you run out of fresh water, find a dump station, drain both gray and fresh, then refill the fresh tank. Everything will be safe from the stinkies and the swayies and your axle will thank you. ------------- 1994 Chinook Concourse 1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold |
Posted By: podwerkz
Date Posted: 09 Jun 2019 at 10:31am
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Most of the boondocking I have done, and other campers I have boondocked with, involved the use of a blueboy to cart off the waste to an appropriate dump receptacle. Most often, the blueboys will not hold the full amount of both holding tanks of whatever size is on a particular trailer. In fact, my blueboy is only 11 gallons capacity. So yeah, if I did it wrong, (as if!) I could end up with a full black tank and an empty or nearly empty grey tank. As Tar says, I'd have to really work at it. Other campers with no blueboy might dispose of grey water by local draining, OR, produce very little grey water, but the black tank is not being emptied. Some boondockers with a failed fresh water pump (or leaky plumbing) have used portable jugs to pour water into the commode during use. You know...'stuff' happens. But in the general RVing public, things have been known to be done incorrectly...all one has to do is watch youtube to see people doing dumb things and then monetizing the video....so maybe it's not THAT dumb if they cry all the way to the bank... ------------- r･pod 171 gone but not forgotten! |