Waste water tank additive
Our dealer recommended a Thetford product to add to the waste tank which seems quite effective; at least, it has a nice smell! It s going to be costly and inconvenient to use this every time so I wondered what people do? maybe it's just an end-of-trip treatment?
Comments
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Just before leaving site we fill the sink with hot water and dissolve a bio pod in it, then drain into waste tank and empty when home or on next site. Never had any bad smells using this method...
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We occasionally put something like half a bottle of cheap disinfectant (about 40p per bottle) and a couple of gallons of water in an otherwise empty tank and drive with it in there to give it a good slosh about. Seems to work.
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Never put an additive into our waste tank until we got a free Elsan grey water one. Smelt nice and we occasionally use it. Same motorhome 10 years no problems. I'd say regular use will be expensive but your choice. Disinfectant occasionally would be my choice
if I felt I needed to freshen the waste tank. Pop so e in a d some eaysr and drive a windy road so it gets moved around ?0 -
Like Briantimber we also use washing gel pods every 3 to 4 emptyings . Keeps tank clean and smells fresh,just buy cheap ones from lidl or aldi.
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We also use gel pods in toilet waste tank instead of bloo. It cleans ,breaks down waste and smells better than bloo
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the change to bio pods has made the toilet cassette ultra dlean compared to before, with blue....
so, im sure dropping one in the waste tank ever 'n'th cycle would keep it clean.
another popular tip for keeping the cassette/wastemaster etc clean is cheap cola......perhaps a bottle emptied into the waste tank would do the job, too.
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We clean the waste water tank every 6m maxium with a Thetford product. Follow the instructions and it works. Being careful what you wash down the sink makes a big difference.
We use Dometic tabs in the toilet waste but find them too effective. Thetford green liquid allows us to put in a small amount for just a day or two out. We mix the pink aqua rinse with water and use that as a spray in the toilet bowl to keep a fresh smell.
It all depend on how much you use the facilities. You find a way that suits you in time. For us, the cost is incidental in the great scheme of things so we focus on what what works for us and stick with it.
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A crushed dish washer tablet flushed into the waste tank with a good bit of clean water between sites is a really effective way of cleaning it. The sloshing around gets the full tank clean and bannishes any smells. I had also heard of the cheap cola method
but not tried it. Regards, Roy0 -
Bit of concentrated Zoflora into waste barrel
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I use the Thetford tank cleaner now and again. Having said that I don't recall any nasty smells from our waste tank as it always smells of shower gel!!!
David
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I take it to put the additive in the waste tank ,you pour it down the sink ??
not necessarily, HD...
on our Boleros the answer would have been yes....although there was access from outside via a large underneath drain 'cap'.....sometimes i used to stick a hose up inside to wash it out.....
the Carthago has large opening 'caps' for both waste and fresh tanks, so dropping in a tab or adding fluid to the waste tank is pretty easy.
just depends on how easy the manufacturer wants (or doesnt want) to make access.
have a look, you may find a 'flap/hatch' in the floor above your tank....
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I take it to put the additive in the waste tank ,you pour it down the sink ??
not necessarily, HD...
on our Boleros the answer would have been yes....although there was access from outside via a large underneath drain 'cap'.....sometimes i used to stick a hose up inside to wash it out.....
the Carthago has large opening 'caps' for both waste and fresh tanks, so dropping in a tab or adding fluid to the waste tank is pretty easy.
just depends on how easy the manufacturer wants (or doesnt want) to make access.
have a look, you may find a 'flap/hatch' in the floor above your tank....
Thanks , that is what this weekend at our local site is about , to get familiar with everything and how it all works , just been to get some diesel ,oh ,a few rattles to sort out
,but
all part of the learning curve
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The advantage of pouring it down the sink and shower drains is that it sanitises the pipes which are as likely to smell as the main tank depending on what you put down them in the first place, especially washing up water.
David
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David's right but it can vary....as in the different way converters fit their tanks (and access) they also dont use the same way of getting water from sink/shower to the waste tank....
some have traps (quite sophisticated in some vans) some have none....some have fairly large bore pipe, allowing water to drain quickly, some have the slimmest pipe possible and following the most convoluted routes to the tank.
as we have our kitchen opposite the washroom in the middle of the van, the waste tank is sited directly underneath, so the actual pipe work is very short and quite a wide bore.
our second Bolero had a centre kitchen but a rear mounted underslung waste tank.....fine for the rear shower, but a long (slow) run for the kitchen sink....
so, in that case, no need to put anything down the shower, but useful in the kitchen area.
also, be very careful with any of the 'powerful' cleaners like Mr Muscle....they EAT 'chrome' plug fittings if left......if using this sort of thing, dont wait more than a few mins for it to work and quickly wipe up any left near the plughole...
good luck with the shakedown, Husky
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We used the cheap cola in our last motorhome when the waste water level gauge decided to stick at full (Annoying alarm) even when empty.
A few bottles of cola mixed with water and a drive to allow sloshing and this always fixed the problem.
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