janwtedh Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 What is the best way of cleaning a waste tank. we recently bought a 2014 Autotrail Comanche and it registers half full when its empty. :'( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sshortcircuit Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 Put a couple of large bottles of cheap Coke in and go for a short run with plenty of corners to swish about. Never seen my waste gauge operate and it's possibly not connected. I just use a pail and empty frequently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arthur49 Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 sshortcircuit - 2016-03-25 5:00 PM Put a couple of large bottles of cheap Coke in and go for a short run with plenty of corners to swish about. Never seen my waste gauge operate and it's possibly not connected. I just use a pail and empty frequently. ......agree .... or the cheapest fizzy orange drink you can find also seems to work. Nice smell too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Collings Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 I never do. It starts to get mucky next time its used. The pipework has low sections that give water traps so no smells inside. Have no gauge but fortunately drainage slows when near full. Blow the bucket its why I have a motorcaravan that I can drive to a drain and we rarely stay put more than the three days it takes to fill the waste tank. Over the hill and round the bend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brock Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 I presume your van is still under warranty so the dealer should be able to check or explain why it is registering half full when empty. Mine [not an Autotrail] registers empty when it still has 25l left. We empty the waste tank whenever we add fresh water or when we are leaving a site permanently. Sometimes I will use the waste water to rinse out the cassette and then dispose of the used waste water at the black water point for toilette cassettes. Our tank drains well through a wide bore pipe, and is drained frequently so cleaning is a case of every other year flushing the fresh water rinse through it from when we clean out the fresh water tanks. For the second year, or more often if we think there is a need, we use a preparatory tank cleaner - currently Thetfords - and this works well. It also goes down the sink. Whatever you use, a drive in the van to agitate the cleaner in the tank is a good idea. Oh, and be sensible about what you pour down the sink when washing up e.g. drain off any fat and dispose of separately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliffy Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 The gauge on our AT Tracker waste tank can be just pulled out of the side of the tank to clean it. I have done it many times but don't bother now as it only tells us when it is full, about a boal full before the water stops draining ouf of the sink. As otbers have said we know by experience when it is due to be emptied and take every opportunity to empty when we can when we are moving around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulletguy Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 arthur49 - 2016-03-25 5:07 PM sshortcircuit - 2016-03-25 5:00 PM Put a couple of large bottles of cheap Coke in and go for a short run with plenty of corners to swish about. Never seen my waste gauge operate and it's possibly not connected. I just use a pail and empty frequently. ......agree .... or the cheapest fizzy orange drink you can find also seems to work. Nice smell too! Who sniffs at their waste tank?!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sshortcircuit Posted March 26, 2016 Share Posted March 26, 2016 Only time I detect any odour is when emptying it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted March 26, 2016 Share Posted March 26, 2016 This link may be of interest regarding waste-water tank cleaning http://zappysblog.co.uk/coca-cola-as-a-tank-cleaner/ If a gauge registers half-full when the tank is genuinely empty, it’s likely that cleaning the tank won’t cure this. Worth a try though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RogerThat Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 Derek Uzzell - 2016-03-26 9:16 AM If a gauge registers half-full when the tank is genuinely empty, it’s likely that cleaning the tank won’t cure this. Worth a try though... Agreed - more likely to be a faulty float, can you remove the gauge? Ours is the same as Cliffy's whereby it doesn't register a thing until it's completely full! How daft is that? Thanks Swift! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted March 29, 2016 Share Posted March 29, 2016 Motorhomes can have various types of indicator providing information about the contents-level of a waste-water tank, and probably the most common system just warns when the tank is approaching full (say 80% full). My three motorhomes have all had this arrangement and I’ve never considered it inadequate. The Auto-Trail handbook appropriate for a 2014 Comanche describes the waste-water tank contents-level gauge as follows: "The waste water tank level gauge shows the level of the water in the tank with the precise reading shown at the top of the bar. The actual bar will change colour according to the water level in the tank. • With the tank 25% full the display will show green. • With the tank 50% full the display will show yellow • If the tank is over 75% full the display will show red.” The handbook goes on to say: "Waste Water Tank All waste water (excluding the toilet) is piped into an onboard waste water tank located underneath your vehicle. The volume of the waste water tank will vary depending on which model you have chosen. When the waste tank becomes full (which will be indicated by a visible and audible signal on control panel), the tank should be emptied via the drain valve on the outside of the vehicle over a suitable drainage point. When the ‘tank full’ indicator sounds there will still be some capacity in the waste tank, but we would advise that it is emptied as soon as possible.” The system fitted to a 2014 Comanche is clearly more complex than a float-based one that just warns when the tank approaches full. The Comanche system may be ‘probe-based’ or have multiple sensor-points in the tank’s side-wall and both types have the potential to produce false reading if the tank’s interior becomes very mucky. It might be worth establishing whether the gauge in janwtedh’s Comanche will provide a ’tank full’ warning and an over 75% full reading on the display, as this would suggest that the gauge itself isn’t the culprit. If the gauge just indicates 50% full irrespective of the waste-water tank’s acual contents, the gauge may be faulty. Because the tank is external, accessing the probes or sensor-points may be tricky. Me, I’d (carefully) put a couple of litres of strong bleach into the waste-water tank (say via the shower-tray outlet), fill the tank well up with water and leave it for a couple of days before draining out the bleach/water solution and flushing the tank with clean water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pyrie Posted April 14, 2016 Share Posted April 14, 2016 I tried 4 x 2 litre bottles of supermarket label cola down the waste tank yesterday on my way to a van service, as I wanted to see if it would ungunk the waste tank full sensor Driving home from the service along the motorway, the van smoke alarm sensor went off... I pulled over on to the hard shoulder, no fire nor smoke. Very odd. The smoke alarm is directly above the "lounge" seating area, which is currently absent of cushions as they're in the house to avoid damp. The empty bottles of coke and full bottles of tap water (for rinsing) were under slats. I continued home without no problems... Emptied out the waste (only cola), and rinsed with clean tap water from water bottles I had on board. Today I cleaned the van, picked up the box containing empty bottles of cola and water... the alarm went off. What now? Nothing. No smoke... I decided to perform a test with the smoke alarm, in the garage with an empty bottle of cola. The smoke alarm went off a short while after removing the cap. Is this normal? Has anyone else experienced this? or would like to test their smoke alarm with supermarket brand cola? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laimeduck Posted April 14, 2016 Share Posted April 14, 2016 Carbon dioxide from the fizz? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pyrie Posted April 14, 2016 Share Posted April 14, 2016 Can CO from an empty bottle (only dreggs left as there always is) set off an alarm? I'm so glad I've never touched the stuff for the last 20+ years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laimeduck Posted April 14, 2016 Share Posted April 14, 2016 Apparently CO2 will not set off a smoke alarm? So that was not the answer - I agree wholeheartedly about Coke - filthy stuff unless you want to clean a saucepan! http://cryojets.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/do-co2-cryo-jets-set-off-smoke-alarms.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayjsj Posted April 14, 2016 Share Posted April 14, 2016 Bulletguy - 2016-03-25 11:33 PM arthur49 - 2016-03-25 5:07 PM sshortcircuit - 2016-03-25 5:00 PM Put a couple of large bottles of cheap Coke in and go for a short run with plenty of corners to swish about. Never seen my waste gauge operate and it's possibly not connected. I just use a pail and empty frequently. ......agree .... or the cheapest fizzy orange drink you can find also seems to work. Nice smell too! Who sniffs at their waste tank?!! Quite a lot of people who never bother to clean them out, and they 'Sniff them' from inside the van, usually when doing other things. Best to keep them clean, and Cheap Fizz is as good as anything, goodness knows what it does to our insides !!!!!. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliffy Posted April 14, 2016 Share Posted April 14, 2016 pyrie - 2016-04-14 1:26 PM I tried 4 x 2 litre bottles of supermarket label cola down the waste tank yesterday on my way to a van service, as I wanted to see if it would ungunk the waste tank full sensor Driving home from the service along the motorway, the van smoke alarm sensor went off... I pulled over on to the hard shoulder, no fire nor smoke. Very odd. The smoke alarm is directly above the "lounge" seating area, which is currently absent of cushions as they're in the house to avoid damp. The empty bottles of coke and full bottles of tap water (for rinsing) were under slats. I continued home without no problems... Emptied out the waste (only cola), and rinsed with clean tap water from water bottles I had on board. Today I cleaned the van, picked up the box containing empty bottles of cola and water... the alarm went off. What now? Nothing. No smoke... I decided to perform a test with the smoke alarm, in the garage with an empty bottle of cola. The smoke alarm went off a short while after removing the cap. Is this normal? Has anyone else experienced this? or would like to test their smoke alarm with supermarket brand cola? Just a thought, could it be a coincidence with the coke. Our leisure batteries are under bed slats, without the cushions in place is it possible the battery fumes could set the alarm off, I know this can happen with a carbon monoxide alarm if the batteries are not vented properly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Len Salisbury Posted April 15, 2016 Share Posted April 15, 2016 sshortcircuit - 2016-03-25 5:00 PM Put a couple of large bottles of cheap Coke in and go for a short run with plenty of corners to swish about. Never seen my waste gauge operate and it's possibly not connected. I just use a pail and empty frequently.I haven't used a pail for years I always use a bucket and would pale at the thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pyrie Posted April 15, 2016 Share Posted April 15, 2016 every time I see your avatar, it puts me in mind of a teenage Tony Blair... I hope I didn't cause you any distress by saying that! (lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebishbus Posted April 15, 2016 Share Posted April 15, 2016 I just pour some diluted Jeyes Fluid down our sink, keeps our waste tank fresh enough. Brian B. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJay Posted April 15, 2016 Share Posted April 15, 2016 thebishbus - 2016-04-15 8:52 AM I just pour some diluted Jeyes Fluid down our sink, keeps our waste tank fresh enough. Brian B. Also my prefered choice. I like the smell of Jeyes!! Good old fashioned solution PJay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rambo63 Posted April 16, 2016 Share Posted April 16, 2016 I found dish washer tablets work the best, fill the sink with hot water put two tablets in , let them dissolve then empty sink.but leave water in waste tank .take van for a long run then leave for a day before draining. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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