Geysers, Groundhogs & Paper Maché: Black & Gray Tank Care With Tim the Tank Man

SPEAKER_03 0:04

Okay, so today we're going somewhere that every RVer hates to go. But sooner or later they have to go there. We're gonna talk about tanks today. Black tanks, gray tanks, how to clean them, how to do all the things. Do I need a sanitizer? There are things that can go very, very wrong. How to flush your tank. So we brought in Prime Tank Pros today. So we've got Tim on the other end of the screen with us or the other end of the audio call, whichever you're doing. But they literally do this for a living. And they get out there and they deal with it. And so Tasha and I were so grateful that you know they were willing to come on today. So welcome, Tim, to Learn to RV, the podcast.

SPEAKER_00 0:40

Well, thank you, Tasha and Jennifer, for having us on.

SPEAKER_03 0:43

Yeah, of course. All right. So everybody wants to know who's Prime Tank Pros?

SPEAKER_00 0:47

Prime Tank Pros is a um obviously an RV holding tank company. We've been cleaning tanks for about three and a half years now. Uh we were with a company prior to this, and my wife, Brenda, and I started Prime Tank Pros back in August. We've uh we're independently owned now and doing our own thing out there.

SPEAKER_01 1:02

I love that.

SPEAKER_00 1:02

But we've cleaned a we've cleaned thousands of tanks over the last three and a half years. We've been busy.

SPEAKER_03 1:07

So I mean, like when you grew up, did you think this is what you'd do for a living?

SPEAKER_00 1:10

Absolutely not. I have a law enforcement background. I was an HR director. No, no, not at all. We uh both retired young and we're we're full-time RVers now, and basically I got bored in retirement, believe it or not. Yeah, that's how we started out. Yeah, I needed something to do, and here we are.

SPEAKER_03 1:24

All right, so was there a specific moment that said, like, this is what I'm doing? Like, you know, how did the opportunity come to you?

SPEAKER_00 1:31

Um, you know, YouTube. So it on a YouTube channel, and um, that's how we got into it, you know, about four years ago now. And um, yeah, it was it was strange, but I thought, you know, that fits what our lifestyle is now. Let's let's go try this.

SPEAKER_03 1:42

So, Tasha, I guess the real question is, have you ever had a black tank or a gray tank story that you could tell the audience?

SPEAKER_02 1:50

Story that I well, you know, it there's the stories that I could tell the audience, and then the stories that if I told the audience, I would like wake up with peanut butter all over my face because somebody would have put it on my hands while I was sleeping, you know, and like tickled my face with a feather. Yeah, you know, we have had our we have had our lessons learned with the black tank, but we also at a very early rally we got our tanks cleaned and so we learned some things. And so we've gone, I think we've only had one pyramid fiasco in the three years we've been on the road. So we've been very, very lucky in that way. But yeah, those tanks, I think the biggest thing for us is the smell. I'm I'm just gonna get that out there. Like no matter what we do. I say that um when I know something needs really good and sanitized, is when my gray tanks start smelling like canned corn. I don't, I don't know why it does that, but that's what I think it smells like. I think it smells like canned vegetables. And it, you know, I will never eat canned corn ever again because that's all I can smell from the gray tank. Um that is fascinating. I have asked many of the tank people why does my tank smell like corn?

SPEAKER_03 3:18

Yeah, I I I I don't think I want to go smell your tank. I'm just gonna say that out loud. I I did meet up with somebody who we're gonna talk about a little bit later who's not here today. So actually, you know, I I'm friends with Ricky from Unique, and he says he can tell what people's tanks are clean or what they use to sanitize their tanks based on what they smell like because he knows them all. And I'm like, that's just weird. Okay, true. So Tim, we're gonna center this for just a second. Walk us through a tank system. Like someone just bought their first RV and they have no idea what they have, what do they do?

SPEAKER_00 3:50

Really, I'd gotta adjust the corn thing first. I would appreciate that smell. On the gray table.

SPEAKER_02 3:57

You've had worse.

SPEAKER_00 3:58

Well, yeah. And usually, you know, the odors you get in your RV are gray tank related. So that's a good point to bring up because a high percentage of the odors you get aren't black tank related, they are gray tank related.

SPEAKER_03 4:10

That's fascinating. So really that's really interesting.

SPEAKER_00 4:13

And like uh Ricky, I can tell there's definitely when people use some type of agent or something to break down things, there's definitely a reaction with that product and the waste that puts off a distinct odor on cleaning them. I can tell a lot of them just what they use by that, unfortunately. Wow, yeah. Um so sorry, back to your question, Jennifer.

SPEAKER_03 4:33

A new person So walk us through a tank system. Somebody just bought their RV, they have no idea what to do. What do they have? How do they operate them? Let's just talk basic operation for them. Like they don't know how to use it. You know, what's their first step? You know, their tank is full for the first time.

SPEAKER_00 4:49

You know, I I really like to keep things simple. And really, I think we complicate the whole system most of the time as RVers. It really is a very simple system. If you think, first of all, use a lot of water. When you flush your tanks, use a lot of water. So we like the one-two method. If you go number one, use at least one bowl full. If you do number two, at least two full bowl fulls flush. Um, and then after you dump your tanks, put five to seven or ten gallons back into each tank so whatever hits the tank doesn't go directly to the floor. It's got a buffer there of the water and it'll float. Take your time. Don't get in a big rush, especially your first time if it's your brand new RVing. You know, make sure everything's hooked up correctly. Make sure the uh dump hose is tight into the ground, make sure it's connected to the bayonet valve on the outside of your RV, nice and tight, there's nothing loose. And we always pull the uh the gray valve first, just let some gray water come out to make sure everything is connected and there's no leaks in the hose. That way, if something happens and something comes unconnected, it's gray water, not black water. So just a little bit. That's important. Very important. And then close the gray valve and then open your black valve and let that dump all the way out. And uh, once that black uh tank is dumped, close the black valve and then go to your gray valves and completely uh dump those tanks. And then if you're using the black flush or black tank flush system, you know, put water back into the black tank from there. Having a water meter helps. That way you're accurate about it, you're not guessing. So the water meter will tell you how many gallons are putting back in the black tank. And again, five to ten gallons in that tank will help you tremendously down the road.

SPEAKER_02 6:17

Okay, I'm gonna interrupt for just a second because I think sometimes whenever we get to talking about this stuff, we just assume that everybody who has tuned in knows exactly what we're talking about. Like they've already got their RV, they're already on the road. But I'm thinking about the first time that somebody said to me there are black tanks and gray tanks on an RV three years ago. And I was like, what the heck are you talking about? So can we go even more basic?

SPEAKER_03 6:44

And can you expect to be talking like sinker float either, did you?

SPEAKER_02 6:50

No. I mean, these are these are not conversations I thought I would have when I was like, let's go RVing. But for people who are like, maybe I want to RV someday, can you tell them the difference between a black tank and a gray tank and how those systems are separate on their RV? Maybe like, maybe just even getting basic like that might be helpful for some people.

SPEAKER_00 7:13

So most RVs are gonna have a fresh tank, so you can put water in that tank and pump it into your system, in your faucets, your shower, your toilets to use that water out of the fresh tank.

SPEAKER_03 7:23

Well, I didn't even think about that one when we're talking about tanks. I'm just thinking gray and black tanks, but fresh water, yeah, that's a whole nother level.

SPEAKER_00 7:30

Yeah, yeah. It's there, right? And all RVs have them. And then depending on what type of RV you have, a travel trailer, a fifth wheel, a coach, all depends on if you have one black tank or two black tanks, or one gray tank, or two gray tanks. So it's all dependent on the coach. So anywhere from three or four total tanks to maybe five total tanks, that's included a freshwater tank. So let's just go with a fifth wheel. My I'll take my fifth wheel. I have one black tank and two gray tanks. The black tank is specifically for bodily waste. Won't get into detail, everybody should know that. Then I have a gray tank for my shower and the sink in my bathroom where the shower is. And then I have another gray tank dedicated to my kitchen sink. So there's the three tanks for the waste, for the dirty water and the wastewater. And then again, the fresh tank is separate. So those are all separate tanks. Now, if you look at a coach or a class A, you're looking at three tanks. They have a freshwater tank, and then just simply one gray tank and one black tank most of the time.

SPEAKER_03 8:31

Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_00 8:32

Black tank is a few.

SPEAKER_03 8:33

So do you think it matters if you're a full timer or more of a weekend warrior? Do you think, you know, your tank care matter is done differently?

SPEAKER_00 8:40

Um, yes, so good question. Full timers definitely need to take, I would say, better care of their system. Sanitizing the fresh water system at least uh, you know, twice a year, if not three times a year. Uh definitely using the black tank flush system more often. I'm getting it professionally cleaned more often. Uh I'll clean ours every six months. We're full timers. I'd probably go nine months. I wouldn't go past nine months, so I mean if you're if you push it, you're you could cause yourself some issues. Whereas your weekenders, obviously it's not gonna be needed to be professionally cleaned that often. Maybe every year, 15, 18 months. I would still use the black tank flush system to do what you can do with that. But a lot of times, you know, they're the dump. You know, they're quickly dumping at a at a state park or something. They don't have time to sit there for, you know, 20, 30, 40 minutes to to use a black tank flush. Here's a tool that I think every RVer out there should have. And it's called a Veltera flush king. And uh you can buy them at Amazon for 37 to 44 bucks a shot with a water meter. This is a thing that it it's better than the black tank flush, in my opinion, that's on the on the coach. And it's not as good as a professional, so it's right in the middle point of that. But as a full timer, I use that about every third time I dump my tanks. I put that on and just flush out the black tank and flush out my gray tanks. That keeps my the waste out of my black tank and keeps the mold out of my shower and the gray tank, along with any of the food and grease out of my galley tank or the kitchen tank. So that's a good maintenance product. It's not going to clean the tanks, but it'll do a great job after you have them cleaned to maintain them until you get them professionally cleaned again.

SPEAKER_03 10:24

That's really smart. And I'm sure that in the field you've seen things like, you know, as have you ever seen somebody like we actually had a client for RV Riffing Solutions a couple years back that had, he was like asking all sorts of questions about tanks. He had gone on a weekend trip and they forgot to dump the tanks and it sat there for a while, and he's like, It'll be fine, right? And I'm thinking, no, water evaporates, but you know, I'm not a tank specialist. So what happens in those situations? Yes, or now situations.

unknown 10:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:54

I like it. Good enunciation. So that happened, especially the heat of Florida, Arizona, your hot weather areas, that water is going to evaporate out there if you store it for a long time with the water in it. What I see a lot of times is leaky valves. So people, if they take the cap off their system and they have water run out and their valves are shut, which you should keep all your valves closed. But if you have water running out, specifically that uh black tank, now you're leaching all the water out of that black tank, leaving the waste behind. There's your pyramid, right? It's just gonna cause you a clog at some point. And uh you really need to get that valve fixed and uh taken care of right away because that's not a good situation. And I see a lot of that in the field. And so the same thing would happen happen with the evaporation. The water evaporates off, the waste stays behind. So keeping all the valves closed is key. I know a lot of people I come across keeps the gray open for whatever reason. We just think keeping the valves closed and keeping those tanks wet is the best way to do business maintaining those tanks. Otherwise, anything that goes in the tank sticks at the bottom and eventually just accumulates.

SPEAKER_02 11:58

Can I ask a question? You you were talking about rinsing out the grease, being able to get the grease and stuff, the food waste that gets down into your gray tanks. And that made me wonder, you know, our tanks on our RVs are very different than the systems that we had in sticks and bricks homes. So can you talk a little bit about are there things that we should be avoiding, letting go down our drain, like in our kitchen or when we're showering? Is this safe to use like bath coils or is there anything that we should be staying away that way that's not safe for the plastic or the the type of material that creates the tanks?

SPEAKER_03 12:40

I am so glad you were going there and not somewhere else, because I was so worried you're gonna let some of people be in the shower. I'm sure they'd be in the dirt.

SPEAKER_02 12:48

I just don't need to know what people do in their showers. I I do need to know. You know, and then like even like, you know, like the pooperie, right? Like, is that safe in a black tank? I don't know. Am I using it?

SPEAKER_00 13:06

Yes, should I be? You know, I don't know. Here's really our take is we'll just start the black tank. The only thing that should be going down your black tank is human waste and water.

SPEAKER_03 13:17

That's actually my next section is water, water, water. So we're going in the right direction.

SPEAKER_00 13:22

And toilet paper, by the way. I mean, please. And you can use the toilet paper myth. I mean, you can see all kinds of stuff on YouTube. Toilet paper as a whole, we just do big rallies and do the toilet paper thing in jars of water, just sink water. It breaks down all the same. So we full time, we use two ply sharmin. We just make sure that we flush a lot of water behind the paper. So when I said two bowl fulls of water, we're almost at the three bowlful level. Now people say, well, I have to dump more often. Correct. You will have to dump more often, but your tanks are be your tanks will be in very good shape just by doing.

SPEAKER_02 13:55

And your rear will be much happier about the softer toilet paper.

SPEAKER_00 14:00

Yes, it will. I had a guy tell me that one time, he said, Thank goodness you split my wife that in a rally. My cheeks nerve, I'm so happy.

SPEAKER_03 14:07

Well, you know, I mean, we're not, you know, we're not sponsored by Charmin, but if you are like the bears and need the shaman, it's all there. So, you know, and it's funny because water, water, water was kind of the conversation that I had with Ricky a couple months ago when we were at a rally. You know, he explained that, you know, if you have poop that comes up and how many people don't cover it with water. And so if it sneaks out the top, so this is my Marine Corps story that my husband's gonna kill me for later. So when I first got married to him, we're driving down the road and he goes, Crownhog, and I'm like, groundhog, what does that mean? So um, yeah. So it means what maybe you think it means. So, but now it's a different meaning in a black tank. If you have a groundhog in your black tank, it's above the water line. Right.

SPEAKER_02 14:53

You have to put both of our lives at risk because if I leave this sin and don't edit it out, he's not just coming for you, he's coming for me too. Oh my goodness. We have fun.

SPEAKER_01 15:05

Anyway, so you didn't know what that was before I got I need a second. This is anyway break. I had nothing to do with this. I did not know that was coming at all.

SPEAKER_03 15:20

It's actually in my notes because when I first married him, I had no idea. But but the thing is, is I think a lot of people don't realize that if you don't cover, it's like okay, so a porta potty, we'll go to a porta potty. You know, if if the liquid is over the top of that in the porta-potty, you're pretty okay. You're like, oh, I can do this. But you know, if it's sticking out, you're like, yeah, you're like, no, I'm not gonna participate. So, you know, how much water is actually enough per flush? Like, I mean, I know we talked a little about it a little bit, but you know, I mean, you need a lot of water in your tanks, and most people I think that so many people don't use enough water, especially if they're boondockers.

SPEAKER_00 15:56

I boondockers are tough because you have to conserve, and that be that becomes a problem. That's where the uh flush king, the Valtera flush king I talked about, comes into play really, really big time for them. Because the first thing I would do as a boondocker, as soon as I got to someplace where I could dump and have some time, I would use that flush king to flush the tanks out as long as it took to get them clean, which they won't come clean because once you have sludge building up, the only way to get that sludge broken up and out is a professional cleaning, unfortunately. But at least you can get the new stuff out and it'll it'll it'll it'll scrape the bottom for you a little bit. But if it's built up and baked on, if you will, there's just nothing you can do really. You have to call us.

SPEAKER_03 16:37

Yep, there's no spatula system that works, got it.

SPEAKER_00 16:40

No, no. Um you know, I I had a guy call me in Florida a couple years ago and he bought a used rig, which we say, hey, if you buy a used RV, call us. Let us get you back to you know zero. He called and said, Man, I'm clogged up. I'm clogged up from the toilet to the tank. I said, How do you know uh when I flush it comes back to the toilet and nothing's draining? I said, What do you know about the what do you know about the previous user? He said he left his uh tank valves open for two years. Guys, so now he's got his black tank open. He doesn't have enough water pressure, water weight to pull the waste out. All the water's going out, waste is staying behind. Long story short, I get there, he tried to use a household plunger in the RV toilet. That's a no-no. Because once you force it down, everything comes back up, and his little bathroom was a mess. So in my eye, in my in my mind, I thought.

SPEAKER_03 17:37

It's the type of geyser you don't want in your house.

SPEAKER_00 17:39

Yeah, and I thought I can't do this. So I gave Tim my plunger, taught him how to use my plunger. So he worked from the top, I worked from the bottom. About seven hours to get him unclogged. Because it was the toilet paper just turns a paper machine, and the waste is is literally like cement. I mean, it was a uh it was a mess. So here's here's the worst part. When I uh when I get done, we get we I get him unclogged, he's draining the toilet flush and all that. I said, Well, I'll let you get to work now. I got some cleanup to do, and he goes, Now my wife will take care of it. I thought, uh oh, I'm out of here before she gets over. Right? Um that was off that was off base out of your question here. But so back to the question.

SPEAKER_03 18:24

That could be anybody listening. I mean, this could happen to just about anybody. So, Tasha, when you got the new rig, so Tasha got a new rig this past spring. Did you get your tanks cleaned?

SPEAKER_02 18:32

Yes, yes, we did. Sorry. Listen, the name of this whole episode is going to be like Geysers, Groundhogs, and Paper Mache, I think is what we're gonna call this one.

SPEAKER_01 18:44

Hey, that'll work for SEO in all sorts of ways.

SPEAKER_00 18:48

I can tell you, if you see the groundhog in the toilet, it's too late. You better you better call me.

SPEAKER_02 18:52

That could also be a slogan for your next ad. I I give that to you for free.

SPEAKER_01 18:58

Um's guy because there's a paper mache by Tim and Prenda, Frown Tank Rose.

SPEAKER_00 19:08

We get TikTok.

SPEAKER_02 19:09

Yes, we we did we did get our we did get our tanks cleaned. We uh that is something that we did, that is something that uh we're pretty uh we're like religious about in that like you know, we're the people that are like, oh, you're buying a rig, did you get it inspected? You bought a rig, did you get your tanks cleaned? Like, you know, you just don't know what you're getting before you. And I do know that the individuals who own the rig before us, they used the ice cube method um to kind of clean. And I have heard so many mixed up.

SPEAKER_03 19:48

So we did the ice cube method for several years. So yeah, back in 2013 when we hit the road full time, like there wasn't cleaning companies out there, or there might have been, we just didn't know about them. But, you know, so they told you to take two bags of ice, put down your toilet, and let it, you know, agitate while you're driving down the road. And so it's supposed to do the swirly thing, but it doesn't do the swirly thing. It doesn't actually work. And they tell you to put Dawn dish soap in there. And I have a friend, and she's a very sweet lady that says Dawn's great for baby birds, but it might not be so great for the inside of your tank because it can dry out your seals. And so Tim knows exactly who I'm talking about. And so, you know, I heard that and I thought, we tell people that about roofs. You know, that could be very true because it never occurred to me that it was the same thing. So the ice cube method, if you're out there using it, Tim, is that like what would you say, truth or myth?

SPEAKER_00 20:39

It's a myth uh in my eyes. The benefit of the ice is the water you get when it melts in five seconds. That's the benefit, the water.

SPEAKER_03 20:48

Yeah, because the air conditioning's not working in your tank. It's in fact, it's probably 10 degrees warmer in there at every every given moment.

SPEAKER_00 20:53

And if it'll put it, if it peels ice cube in your hand, it melts pretty quick.

SPEAKER_02 20:56

Yeah, for sure. Yeah, but that's how we manage it for the first two years. Yeah, and for us, because I didn't know is that a valid, you know, I don't know. So we were like, tanks need clean. We need a level set, like we need to start from zero. We would like to know that only our poo is in our tank. You know, like let's just start where let's let's start at zero, please, is where where we would like to start. So that's where we started. That's a good idea.

SPEAKER_03 21:28

So if you've ever been the recipient of a poop pyramid, because that's what we lovingly call it, right, in this industry, what are they doing or not doing without even realizing it?

SPEAKER_00 21:37

Not enough water. Not enough water or a leaky valve. So they don't even know what's happening because they just see when they take the cap off, they see water constantly running down their tube, they have no idea what the cause of that is or w what's happening, or too much toilet paper sometimes.

SPEAKER_03 21:52

So in my industry, a lot of times people will take it onto themselves and do a DIY fix to their roof, and it sometimes doesn't make it better. Have you ever had that happen where somebody DIY'd their fix and then all of a sudden, hey, this is way over my head. Um, Tim and Brenda to the rescue. What does that look like for you?

SPEAKER_00 22:11

You know, sometimes people think um when they're flushing their toilet, let's fill the tank all the way full. Well, tank needs somewhere to vent. So it can be a problem if it's not venting correctly or or whatever, and that could cause you a huge problem. And it could crack the tank, it could the tank could fall out. So many bad things can happen. I think for the most part, people really don't want to do uh do it yourself on your tank, specifically the black tank. So they're gonna call it RV tech to come come take care of that for them, thank goodness.

SPEAKER_03 22:39

So my husband is the guy that will do a DIY on a black tank because he can and he knows enough to be dangerous, so it's exciting. So last spring he was um getting he ordered a new tank. We were in Colorado, so it was cool enough. It wasn't gonna smell that bad. The campground we were at knew we were doing it, and so they were fine, and he came out covered in chocolate, but he smelled lovely, and so he's like, This tank doesn't fit. And so this is why to call a professional, you know.

SPEAKER_02 23:10

So you got an electrical. You got one of those chocolate guys that they put in like Easter baskets for wives. You got one of those, but not at Easter.

SPEAKER_03 23:25

All right, so Tim, you're up because what about the people that want to do it right? What does you know getting that right look like in real life?

SPEAKER_00 23:34

Again, you know, the Valtera flush king using the black tank flush. I heard the black tank flush, most of those are at the back of the tank or on the end. So they really don't touch the mid to the front of the tank, unfortunately, on most models. And I heard an RV tech put it pretty good the other day. He said it's really not a black tank flush, it's a black tank fill system because it really doesn't flush much. That's why we we always tell every customer I have, get a get a Veltera flush king, and that's the way to maintain the tank.

SPEAKER_03 24:02

So I guess the real question then is what makes a professional cleaning so different?

SPEAKER_00 24:07

We hydrojet the tank, so we're going in with a lot of pressure directed in the tank to scrape, to break up any sludge in there, anything that's baked on, clean the walls, get those sensors cleaned off so your sensors may work. And nothing's 100% guaranteed on those, but it's just a high pressure solution, but high pressure hydrojet, if you will, and that's what you need to break stuff up. Now, there's some companies that use a lot of pressure, there's some companies that don't use a lot of pressure. You know, I think we're in the sweet spot there of what it needs to be at. That's worked well for us um, you know, for three and a half years. And I've actually taken a camera down a toilet after I've done a black tank. This is quite a story. It was a clog, cleaned the guy's tank, and he says, Hey, mind if I stick my camera down and uh check the tank out? Oh, feel free. Tank was clean, but I saw something in the corner of the tank, and I went, hey, get your get your uh camera over there in the corner of the tank. Well, in the corner of a tank was a marijuana pipe. And he says, Well, how do you know? Well, I've been in law enforcement, I know what a marijuana pipe is, but all I could picture was this 15-year-old kid, you know, with this marijuana pipe, and here comes mom and dad or grandma and grandpa, and he throws it down the black tank, and it sat there in the tank. So we worked on getting that out for him, and you know, but the cla the tank was clean.

SPEAKER_03 25:15

Well, that's exciting. I think we just lost Tasha. So if you're tuning in from somewhere and Tasha just blipped and disappeared, I don't know if she'll be back. So Tim and I'll keep going because we don't want to lose the episode because we've got some good stuff here.

SPEAKER_00 25:27

You know, your question treatment. Or Tasha's tr uh question before we went off on a tangent here was what not to put in your tanks. Um again, black take, waste, water, toilet paper. That's really all you need. Your kitchen sink. You want to make sure you clean those plates off as best you can with a paper towel before you wash them. The tanks just aren't made to hold a lot of grease and food and things like that. So you can get a small screen from Walmart or those box stores, you can put that in there to collect a lot of stuff. That'll help you out a ton. But really, there's no way to get all the grease out of the tank. Even when we go in, we do a good job of breaking the grease up and getting it out of there. But uh there's just no way as a consumer we can do everything possible to stop grease from going out of the tank. It just happens.

SPEAKER_03 26:12

But well, that makes sense to me. I mean, like, because you know, you can't you can't avoid it completely. You know, I mean, I think one of the things that we do personally is like if we cook something that's got chicken grease, we would put it in the toilet versus the, but I guess it doesn't matter in real life.

SPEAKER_00 26:26

You know, I keep a couple pickle jars under the sink, and that's what I use for dumping grease down or things like that, and then just making sure we're really good about wiping things down before we wash them. And then the shower tank, obviously, you're gonna get soaps and hairs and skin and things down there. There's just nothing you can do. You can you can get a little screen for that too. There's one on the market called the shroom. I think that works pretty good for for hair collection specifically. But if like anything else, you're gonna have to get one of those plastic barbed tools to get down to that drain to pull the hair out every so often to maintain it. You know, I've seen some bad hair balls coming out of showers or uh gray tanks, the shower tank specifically, but that just happens. I mean, that that just happens. But if you have if you start with water in the tank, that'll help things from sticking to the bottom.

SPEAKER_03 27:11

That's fair. And Tasha just texted me she can't get back in. So she says, but make sure I know what happened with the marijuana pipe.

SPEAKER_00 27:18

Was it retrieved? It was. I couldn't get it out. Couldn't get it out. It's floating around in there. Hopefully it's popped out by now. You know, just like people drop spoons and forks down their toilet. You know, they want us to get them out.

SPEAKER_03 27:29

And uh our our first year on the road, we actually had one of the kids thought it was fun because it was a hole to put matchbox cars down it, and we didn't know until it raced down the tube. And then he heard the kids heard it, and my husband, you know, now we have the clear end because of that whole incident. He went and got a clear piece so we could see when large, chunkier things came out of the black tank.

SPEAKER_00 27:52

It's something else you don't want to do in the black tank, no wipes.

SPEAKER_03 27:55

Who's actually gonna ask that?

SPEAKER_00 27:56

No wipes. They don't, excuse me, they don't break down, they're gonna cause a clog, and they're tough to get out of the tank. Frankly, you're not even supposed to use them at home. Even though they're marketed as flushable, they're really not. I've talked to many waste management people, wastewater treatment plant people, and they don't like them either. Awesome.

SPEAKER_03 28:11

All right, so let's go into tank treatments. I know this isn't your forte, but you know, you've seen a million products used in the tank. What should people actually be looking for and maybe what should they avoid? So we personally use Unique because they do have the bacteria as well as the other to break down the poop. And they have and Ricky has big tanks that are clear that he studies all this. And you know, because I'm a vendor in these spaces, I have conversations with people all the time. I don't know that there's a bad option, but I just think that there's better options, if that makes sense. So for us, I don't want just a fragrance in there. I want something that's gonna actually do a job. But what does that look like out there? Would you say there's like, you know, what should people be looking for if they're using some kind of tank drop-in?

SPEAKER_00 28:52

We kind of go off the premise of we really don't want to break anything down to create a sludge in our tank. So we may use Kelgon every now and then in a tank just to make sure everything's slick in there and the sensors stay, you know, slick so nothing sticks to the sensors, but really, just a lot of water. Even if you use a tank treatment, I would still use a lot of water. So nothing specific.

SPEAKER_03 29:13

Okay, that's awesome. Did we talk about gray tanks yet? No, we did not. So gray tanks, we kind of touched on them. Oh, we did all of this actually. All right, sensors.

SPEAKER_00 29:22

We usually I use water and calgon in our gray tanks also, just to keep just to keep them slicked up and uh, you know, things sliding out of the tank like they should uh um and that's why we use it that way stuff doesn't stick to the money.

SPEAKER_03 29:36

So I was at a rally for Freightliner this past spring, and I was with an another tank cleaning company, and one guy came in and he says, I need my tanks cleaned, but my gray tank, is there a way to clean those? And it's different, isn't it, to clean that? Because the guy went on to explain that there's like a whole sanitation overnight method. So, what do you do that to?

SPEAKER_00 29:55

That's for the fresh tank. Freshwater tank.

SPEAKER_03 29:57

Yeah. Oh, for the fresh tank. Okay, so talk to me about that.

SPEAKER_00 29:59

When we clean tanks, we're cleaning the black and grays with the hydrojet. Freshwater sanitation. To do it right, it's a it's a day and a half project. And most of the time, if you just look in your manual, I'll tell you how you do it. But basically gonna mix, you know, a half cup of bleach with every 15 gallons of water your fresh tank holds, or a quarter cup of bleach with every 15 gallons of uh water your fresh tank holds, get that system filled up, and then run that through all your faucets and let it sit overnight. And then, you know, after it sits, rinse everything out, get the fresh water tank cleaned out, put fresh water back in, and then run fresh water through the system to get the bleach smell and the bleach out of the system. Now, there's a no bleach system out there. The company does have a uh system with no bleach, takes about 20 minutes to do. Very effective system. You know, as prime tank pros, we can sanitize that way too.

SPEAKER_03 30:50

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_00 30:51

That's my wife and I don't use bleach products. Again, bleach is caustic, so it has a tough time, it'll it'll dry those seals out over time. So we we stay away from that.

SPEAKER_03 31:01

So I mean, I know a lot of people also use vinegar.

unknown 31:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 31:04

It's uh commercial as an alternative, especially if you have kids in the house or anyone that's sensitive to bleach.

SPEAKER_00 31:10

Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_03 31:10

I think that's super important too. You know, I I feel personally victimized by my sensors because I don't think I've had a rig that the sensors actually worked, you know. But why do they lie? I mean, like that's really the question. Um, and is there anything that we can do that actually fixes them? You know, you said sometimes that they work after you clean a tank. And so is it just buildup on them that makes them stop working?

SPEAKER_00 31:32

Yeah, most of the time we get them cleaned up and cleared. They might work for a day, a month, who knows? Yeah, they're so sensitive. I mean, little nubs, you know, in the RV, excuse me, in the fifth wheels and travel trailers, they're little nubs inside the tank. So anything that hangs up on them is gonna throw the system out of whack. On the uh coaches, a lot of them have uh sticky patches on the outside of the tank, depending on what brand it is. And um anything that builds up on the wall where that patch is supposed to read will throw it out of whack. Or if the little sticky pad comes undone, that'll throw it out. I mean, there's they're just so sensitive sometimes. Unfortunately, I always tell customers I say, hey, you know, don't get hung up on looking at your sensors because they just may not be telling you what you really want to see. And I always tell them if you have a regular dump toilet and you go to flush a toilet and it bubbles up or burps back at you, it's time to dump your black tank.

SPEAKER_03 32:24

Or run, depending on your perspective. I actually have a friend years ago, he he's not on the road anymore, but he put a house toilet in his camper. And so, you know, that was a whole thing because the bowl always needs water, and so if you're not maintaining it that way and he couldn't figure out why it wasn't working like it should, because yeah, it was a whole thing.

SPEAKER_00 32:45

You know, we we run into that a lot of down down south in the wintertime that people are hard-plumbed in and they put residential toilets in or hard plumb their cells in, but they didn't take the tanks out of the system. So now they keep all their valves open and they still have stuff going to the tank. Well, that causes a problem. So just for viewers, if if you're thinking you want to you're a spot seasonally or whatever, you want to hard plumb your tank, your system into the ground, take the tanks out of the system, take it out of the process, bypass the tanks, and then you should be okay.

SPEAKER_03 33:16

And that's only good if you're in a campground year-round at that location or you're parked seasonally. Correct. So that's something to keep in mind because if you're traveling and you do that, that waste is not going into a tank anymore.

SPEAKER_00 33:28

Right.

SPEAKER_03 33:29

Yep. All right, so one more question, and then I've got a bunch of rapid fire questions that are going to be a lot of fun for me, and maybe not so fun for you. So the first one is so gray tanks, you know, a lot of people think it's safe to trickle them. And I pretty much disagree with that statement. I don't think a little bit is okay. I think that our environment's worth more. I know that lots of people have gotten fined over the years. The kids were in an upside-down volcano one year. Um, out in quartzite, we were out at a rally and all these kids were playing in it. And I'm like, no, don't do that. Because out in quartzite, that means that's where a lot of people will go dump their gray tanks. And you should not dump your gray tanks into the environment because there's a lot of reasons, cuz. But, you know, I'd love to know your take on that too.

SPEAKER_00 34:12

Yeah, no, we are very, very careful that when we clean tanks, we get nothing on the ground. We catch everything that might spill. Um, EPA is very, very, you know, particular about waste handling. Um, and your gray tank is waste. I mean, you have bacteria in there, you have mold coming out of that. I mean, there's a lot of stuff going on in that tank that people can't control. So, yes, I'd say, yeah, we're not trickling anything on the ground. That'd be bad. That's that's bad mojo.

SPEAKER_03 34:39

Yeah, don't drive down the road and have your gray or black tank trickling the whole way out. If it's leaking, make sure you get it fixed.

SPEAKER_00 34:46

Yeah, all right. So we're at State Park one time, and we drive by the dump, and a guy has a uh gas-powered power washer washer out there, and he's got the wand stuck up in his dump hole, and black tank is going on the ground. There's no way to dump it because he's got the wand up and black waste is going all over. I'm just in my mind thinking, what are we doing?

SPEAKER_03 35:07

I've seen that too, you know, and it's crazy how many people don't travel with a hose, and they just think that you open it wide open and all of a sudden you're at a dump station, and that means that dump station's gonna catch it. That's not how that works. You still need a hose, you still need to function. And don't ever take the wand at the dump station that says non-potable water and stick that in your fresh tank. Like that's just not a good idea.

SPEAKER_00 35:27

Good point. Good point.

SPEAKER_03 35:30

All right, you ready for these? Worst smell you've ever encountered on a job. Describe it without describing it.

SPEAKER_00 35:35

Oof. You know, a hot humid days, the smell is there. It's just hanging there.

SPEAKER_03 35:40

One product every RVer should have in their toolkit. I think the wand is where you're going with that.

SPEAKER_00 35:45

The Volterra flush king and a water meter.

SPEAKER_03 35:47

A tank issue that you see most often that makes you want to cry a little.

SPEAKER_00 35:50

Wipes, flushable wipes.

SPEAKER_03 35:52

Interesting.

SPEAKER_00 35:52

People using flushable wipes.

SPEAKER_03 35:54

I can't imagine putting flushable wipes in my tank. No, I'm okay. All right, true or false. You can tell us how someone takes care of their whole RV just by looking at their tanks.

SPEAKER_00 36:02

Actually, probably by the wet bay, you know, where the valves are. You know, if you have to open a door and get to the wet bay, you can tell a lot about that.

SPEAKER_03 36:08

Okay. Um, and the best advice for someone who just bought their first RV and is terrified of this entire episode.

SPEAKER_00 36:15

Don't be afraid. It's part of the process. Keep all your valves closed until you're about three-quarters of the way full on all your tanks, and then go dump them one at a time. Use a lot of water when you flush.

SPEAKER_03 36:27

Well, thanks, Tim. I appreciate you. You have made me feel so much better about every questionable tank decision we've ever made. Where can people find you guys if they have additional questions?

SPEAKER_00 36:37

Primetapepros.com. Um, or you can call actually my personal cell phone at 308-227-9506. They are also forming a um RV tank cleaning professional network. So there's gonna be, you know, a whole network of us that are individually owned throughout the United States. And uh each company specializes in plumbing, holding tank cleaning, and uh some are RV techs. So if you have a problem, they're there. If you have that leaky valve, they can fix that valve while we're while they're right there on the spot for you and take care of your issue there, along with cleaning the tanks. So that network's in in um in the works right now. We'll have our expertise in cleaning tanks. We've all done it for a long time, clean a lot of tanks, and uh, we all uh practice best practices on tank cleaning. And uh for us, it's about putting the customer first, taking care of their needs, making sure they're happy and providing good customer service while we're there and follow-up.

SPEAKER_03 37:30

And we appreciate that about you. If you're listening right now and you're thinking my tanks couldn't get any worse, that's okay. You know, reach out to Prime Tank Pros. But also, they're one of the official sponsors for Learn to RV, the summer scavenger hunt. And so that's coming in July. So keep an eye on learn to RV.com. Don't forget to like, follow, and subscribe to all the Learn to RV ecosystem so you don't miss that drop. We have some prizes and we have some great sponsors coming on this year. We're the theme, of course, this year, America's 250, is the great American scavenger hunt. So the first week is all 4th of July themed because it has to be. And so each week the points reset. What's really neat about that is it's anybody's game. And so you can come in in week two or three or four, and everybody can play. And so we're lucky to have Primetank Pros be a part of that, and we're just so thankful for them. So you'll see their links coming up in that too. If you're a vendor out there looking for a sponsorship opportunity, this is a once in a year opportunity and it keeps growing every year. So thanks for joining us on Learn to RV the podcast. We'll see you next time around a campfire with maybe no gray tanks or black tanks. We'll see.