The night of the log jam

Or Flush twice its a long way to the kitchen

(May 27, 2017) 

I  am trying to keep these in order, the first post was actually dated May 20th, 2017, the day we took delivery of our new coach. The date on this and future posts will be listed below the title.

So a little back story; We picked up the coach May 20th, and spent the night. (See previous post). We then picked up the coach from the dealer, and parked it in storage the following week. The Memorial day weekend we stayed at the Lazydays Campground in Tampa again, and we had a great weekend. Friends came over, and we lounged in the pool and ate very well. I ate a little too well!

Saturday the 27th I had all you can eat sushi, and I am fairly certain, I had too much Wasabi with my sushi. We had a good evening with friends, and went to bed. Sometime during the night, the Wasabi caught up with me and sent me to the restroom many times. A toilet on an RV is a peculiar device. Meaning that its not like a regular toilet. There is no water tank, instead you need to fill the bowl up with the flush mechanism. This requires pressing the mechanism halfway and the water will flow., Then when the bowl is full, then you press the mechanism the rest of the way, and the toilet will flush. This allows the waste and water to flush past the S-curve bend in the pluming. This was not explained to us upon delivery! As I ventured back and forth from bed to throne, I was simply using enough water, to flush the waste out of the bowl. Little to my knowledge it was not being flushed past the S-curve, and the result was a Log Jam of sorts. Come morning, I again had to relive myself when I noticed that the water level was not going down and continued flushing made the water level rise, and my anxiety level to increase. A quick check of Google maps, located a Walmart a few miles down the road. SO I hopped in the care, and went and purchased a plastic plunger for a few bucks.

Back at the coach, I began my feeble attempt to clear the obstruction. Also unknown to me, that try as I  may, forcing water and air into the pipes does absolutely nothing to clear a clogged RV septic system. Apparently there are exhaust ports to allow gasses to escape the system so as not to explode the septic tank. Thus forced air/water doesn't work. So I got online and googled how to clear an RV septic system. And the most common method was a plumbing snake. A trip back to the Walmart and a few dollars more and I was in possession of a 6' plumbers snake.

Back at the coach, and the wife is awake, laughing at me, I once again tried to clear the obstruction from the S-curve and return the WCS (Waste Collection System) back to its normal mode of operation. After a few tries, the blockage was cleared and the system was back in business. It was then theorized that the system needed more water during the removal process to properly evacuate the waste and flush the pipes. 

Since this revelation, we have operated and successfully maintained the septic system in good working order. Note to self and others, "Chili Night" may require the use of a normal throne with a significantly sized water tank! And the use of an RV Toilet only in dire circumstances! LOL

Happy Camping

J & G