Kleen Tank treatment - Very impressed so far - soon will test in Texas summer heat

[bpaikman]

at the Newmar rally, we were introduced to the Kleen Tank folks. Went to their workshop, and Bob was sold on the idea.
So, we had them they clean our tanks with some pretty strong spray and a hose system. There is often an accumulation of something called struvite in black tanks (look it up on youtube).
They said that our average for the age of the coach, but the gray tank was unusually clean. They asked do you wipe your dishes off before washing them and we said yes, we do. They said it makes a huge difference, and actually, they’ve cleaned gray tanks that were worse than the black - so bad, their hose would be clogged with debris.
Anyhow, they then instructed us to use a recipe of Calgon Pearls and Pine Sol for tank treatments from now on and they gave us two starter bottles of the solution. Calgon pearls can be difficult fine, but they are available on Amazon with a several days shipment.
They said the idea is not to treat your tanks. Those are holding tanks, not treatment tanks. They encourage the use of lots of water. The idea of the Calgon is to make tank walls as slippery as possible so that everything sluices out. The Pine-Sol is …well… a disinfectant and cleaner. Interesting.
Since then we have had no bad odor whatsoever.
Bob dumped the tanks today (after 5 days), and there’s usually some odor in the coach while he’s dumping, but there was no odor. When I poured the Calgon/Pine-Sol treatment into the tanks it did make the whole coach smell lovely - Bob commented when he came in how nice it smelled.
Also, when he’s dumping, I usually catch a faint unpleasant whiff inside the coach…but not today.
So far, we are impressed. We will be heading to warmer climate in the next few days …traveling north Texas in 100°+ temps - we’ll see - they did say to use twice as much solution in extreme heat.

 

[redbaron]

what was the ratio of calgon pearls to pine sol & how often do you dump in the tank?

 

[Texas Clodhopper]

I think Neal first mentioned a very simple treatment - dishwasher detergent. I tried it so
me time ago and was amazed at the gunk that came out of my tanks. I now do this after every 10 - 12 dumps.
Since 2007 I've only used water and never added any deodorizer chemicals. The key is lots of water.

 

[Neal]

When I sanitized fresh this last trip I put in the required amount for the fresh tank and then I put half of the remainder of bleach from the jug in black and the other half in gray. Added water so both were near full, drove, then rinsed a time or two, can't remember. I think the bleach was very effective in the cleaning as I've been battling the yellow (2/3rd) light for a while off and on and didn't have that issue a single time since using bleach.

 

[bpaikman]

what was the ratio of calgon pearls to pine sol & how often do you dump in the tank?

40 oz Pine Sol. 8 oz pearls. make up to one gal with water. or follow the instrctions for 32-oz bottles they sell. (same ratio)

 

[bpaikman]

what was the ratio of calgon pearls to pine sol & how often do you dump in the tank?

we dump the tank when it gets to 2/3. They gave us 2 of these bottles of a premixed solution .
these are the instructions written on the bottles that we received. I edited them slightly for clarity.

“KLEEN TANKS HOLDING TANKS SOLUTION:
Dispense solution into both black and gray holding tanks. Add solution to tanks after every dump. Follow solution with 3 to 5 gallons of fresh clean water. For tanks that are less than 45 gallons in capacity, dispense 4 ounces in each tank. For tanks that are more than 45 gallons in capacity, dispense 8 ounces into each tank.

SOLUTION RECIPE FOR THIS 32 OZ BOTTLE: , mix 10 ounces of Pine-Sol with 2 ounces of Calgon ageless bath pearls in this bottle. Top off with enough water to fill. Shake gently. Allow foam to die down. Use 4 to 8 ounces as directed in each tank, more in especially hot weather, or when your tanks will be filling up slowly. Replace cap and gently shake before each use.”

When they handed us these 2 bottles, they said use twice as much initially because it was so hot in Pueblo.

 

[bpaikman]

what was the ratio of calgon pearls to pine sol & how often do you dump in the tank?

When I sanitized fresh this last trip I put in the required amount for the fresh tank and then I put half of the remainder of bleach from the jug in black and the other half in gray. Added water so both were near full, drove, then rinsed a time or two, can't remember. I think the bleach was very effective in the cleaning as I've been battling the yellow (2/3rd) light for a while off and on and didn't have that issue a single time since using bleach.

I think whatever works is what would work. . now, what do we do with all this tank treatment stuff we have that didn’t quite worK? I guess we’ll keep it because you never know.

 

[bpaikman]

They also cautioned us is to never mix this solution with happy camper, etc. because bad stuff happens. And that caution probably applies to using other techniques. We’re gonna try it for a while.

 

[AbdRahim]

I have used 1/2 to 1 cup Dawn dishwasher liquid, put 10 gal 5-10 gal of water in tank. Then drive to next place. Tanks squeaky clean. Difficult to keep them clean while sitting for extended periods. Those of you who poop into your tank may need more.