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  1. #1
    Fireside Member PDXDale's Avatar
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    Imagine XLS 23bhe - Black tank flush nozzle blocked, how to access?

    Hi everyone,

    on our last trip with our Imagine XLS 23bhe, we had to travel ~2hrs with a nearly full black tank (the "full" light on the control panel just came on before we left). After arriving at our next campsite, I dumped black, and then went on to flush it, as I do every (or latest every 2nd) dumping usually. Except this time, nothing happened... no water flow into the black tank, just a little bit of water spraying out of the hose connection on the campsite's outlet. "Damn kink in the hose" I told myself, checked it - nothing. Hose is fine. I remembered reading about a vacuum breaker in the flush line. Located it under the bathroom sink, took it of the mounting point and and unscrewed the hoses - seems fine, allows water flow. Ok, since this was the last stop on a 3-week-trip, I just postponed further troubleshooting until we were home.

    When home, I opened the underbelly cover on the passenger side behind the wheels and was able to follow the flush line. It comes down from the vacuum breaker under the sink (driver side), then crosses over to the passenger side and goes to the spray nozzle. From feeling the water line directly at the spray nozzle while my wife was turning on and off the water, I'd say it gets pressurized right up to the spray nozzle. Seems like the nozzle is the culprit.

    Now here's the problem: That nozzle is really hard to reach. It's in that super tight are between the frame rail and the tank. It's hard to see in the photo, but on the bottom, next to the cables is the passenger side frame rail. Right side of the photo is towards rear of the trailer.

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	20210814_081658.jpg 
Views:	33 
Size:	86.7 KB 
ID:	36270

    I'm still a bit unsure about what exactly could completely block it. When driving, the tank only contained liquid waste, lots of water (we try to flush more than necessary), a portion of Porta-Pak, and some RV-grade toilet paper. Driving around with a full tank could certainly have some toilet paper end up on the nozzle, but could it really dry and completely block the nozzle while the tank is full and in motion...? I tried to flush within 30min or so of arriving at the next campground.

    As a first try, I flushed the black tank through the toilet, and then filled it with a double portion of Porta-Pak to ~2/3 according to the control panel. I then let it sit in our storage for a week. When dumping on Saturday, the black tank flush still didn't work... But now I'm thinking that the water level maybe didn't even reach the nozzle, as the tank is sloping down towards the passenger side (away from where the nozzle is). No idea where the sensor actual reads...

    I'm a bit afraid of taking the nozzle out with that packaging situation. I certainly don't wanna end up in a situation where I can't get it back in and sealed anymore... Does anyone know if I can just loosen the hose and unscrew the white elbow part, while leaving the black plate in place (mounted and sealed to the tank)? That might be much easier and less risky to re-assemble than removing the whole blank from the tank.

    Any other ideas or past experiences that would help in the situation?

    Thanks
    Matt
    2020 Imagine XLS 23bhe with a cold bedroom
    2018 F150 STX 5.0

  2. #2
    Site Sponsor JCR GD's Avatar
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    Maybe try to blow some air through with a compressor.
    Jim (& Sharon)
    2015 GD Momentum 385TH - SOLD
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  3. #3
    Site Team Ynot4me2's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JCR GD View Post
    Maybe try to blow some air through with a compressor.
    My thoughts exactly. Get the adaptor for when you are winterising and want to blow your lines. Start with compressor pressure at 40 and go up from there.
    Steph & Lise
    2019 F150 Lariat 2.7 EB
    2020 Imagine XLS 22MLE

  4. #4
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    Curious, how did you resolve your issue?
    Quote Originally Posted by PDXDale View Post
    Hi everyone,

    on our last trip with our Imagine XLS 23bhe, we had to travel ~2hrs with a nearly full black tank (the "full" light on the control panel just came on before we left). After arriving at our next campsite, I dumped black, and then went on to flush it, as I do every (or latest every 2nd) dumping usually. Except this time, nothing happened... no water flow into the black tank, just a little bit of water spraying out of the hose connection on the campsite's outlet. "Damn kink in the hose" I told myself, checked it - nothing. Hose is fine. I remembered reading about a vacuum breaker in the flush line. Located it under the bathroom sink, took it of the mounting point and and unscrewed the hoses - seems fine, allows water flow. Ok, since this was the last stop on a 3-week-trip, I just postponed further troubleshooting until we were home.

    When home, I opened the underbelly cover on the passenger side behind the wheels and was able to follow the flush line. It comes down from the vacuum breaker under the sink (driver side), then crosses over to the passenger side and goes to the spray nozzle. From feeling the water line directly at the spray nozzle while my wife was turning on and off the water, I'd say it gets pressurized right up to the spray nozzle. Seems like the nozzle is the culprit.

    Now here's the problem: That nozzle is really hard to reach. It's in that super tight are between the frame rail and the tank. It's hard to see in the photo, but on the bottom, next to the cables is the passenger side frame rail. Right side of the photo is towards rear of the trailer.

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	20210814_081658.jpg 
Views:	33 
Size:	86.7 KB 
ID:	36270

    I'm still a bit unsure about what exactly could completely block it. When driving, the tank only contained liquid waste, lots of water (we try to flush more than necessary), a portion of Porta-Pak, and some RV-grade toilet paper. Driving around with a full tank could certainly have some toilet paper end up on the nozzle, but could it really dry and completely block the nozzle while the tank is full and in motion...? I tried to flush within 30min or so of arriving at the next campground.

    As a first try, I flushed the black tank through the toilet, and then filled it with a double portion of Porta-Pak to ~2/3 according to the control panel. I then let it sit in our storage for a week. When dumping on Saturday, the black tank flush still didn't work... But now I'm thinking that the water level maybe didn't even reach the nozzle, as the tank is sloping down towards the passenger side (away from where the nozzle is). No idea where the sensor actual reads...

    I'm a bit afraid of taking the nozzle out with that packaging situation. I certainly don't wanna end up in a situation where I can't get it back in and sealed anymore... Does anyone know if I can just loosen the hose and unscrew the white elbow part, while leaving the black plate in place (mounted and sealed to the tank)? That might be much easier and less risky to re-assemble than removing the whole blank from the tank.

    Any other ideas or past experiences that would help in the situation?

    Thanks
    Matt
    Russ & Bonnie Schurig
    Land O Lakes, FL
    2021 Grand Design S-Class 3540GK-R

  5. #5
    Left The Driveway NC Bob's Avatar
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    Just now reading this thread. I had the same problem with the blank tank flush line the first time I tried using it. I’d there is a “one-way” valve on the water line. I located mine behind the master vanity, upper right-hand side. The valve was installed in reverse preventing the incoming water from passing into the black tank. I reversed it and all is good now.
    2019 Solitude 380FL-R
    2018 Ford F-350 DRW
    Companion 26k hitch
    and a skateboard…

  6. #6
    Fireside Member PDXDale's Avatar
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    Sorry I've never followed up on this. Kind of lost focus after trailer was in storage for the winter and haven't done anything yet.
    I'm getting a compressor from a buddy this week and will try to blow the line through on the weekend. Let's see if it works...
    It's defintely not the opne-way valve, as it worked great for over 2 years (I still checked this valve, which is under the bathroom sink in the 23bhe), and it seems to be fine. I actually followed the hose all the way to the black tank flush nozzle, and it feels like the line pressurizes up to the nozzle. So right now, I expect the nozzle itself being the problem. I'll update this once I gave it a try with the compressor...
    2020 Imagine XLS 23bhe with a cold bedroom
    2018 F150 STX 5.0

  7. #7
    Site Team traveldawg's Avatar
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    This happened to me once. I eventually got to a campground that had high water pressure so I connected without a water pressure valve and - tada - it blew out the obstruction.

    Blowing air through the hose should work too; I'd start with about 40psi and work my way up until clear.
    Larry KE4DMG
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  8. #8
    Fireside Member PDXDale's Avatar
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    Hi all,

    to provide a quick update: I finally got a compressor from a buddy and tried blowing it free. Unfortunately, that didn't help, so I bit the bullet and went to work. If you look at the photo in my first post, the spray nozzle (black) is screwed to the tank, and it would be hard to take out due to the proximity to the frame rail. However, the white elbow is relatively easy to unscrew and at least gives you access to the opening of the nozzle (still super tight and you can't directly look into it). When taking out the elbow, there was already a big clog of toilet paper sticking out. i used miscellaneous tools to dig in (painful as you have to work in a 90 degree angle with less than 2" to the frame rail) and got out quite of lot of paper fibre clumps... in the end blowed it out with the compressor and I think I got everything out. There's no way compressed air or higher pressure water would have helped, the whole nozzle was filled with dense fibre.
    In the beginning we only used RV toilet paper, but beginning of last season I heard/read several times that Scott 1000 is basically the same as Scott's RV paper, so I gave it a try... maybe that's what caused it. Back to RV paper for now, and I'll do some testing with shaking it in water glasses just out of curiosity....

    Matt
    2020 Imagine XLS 23bhe with a cold bedroom
    2018 F150 STX 5.0

  9. #9
    Site Team Ynot4me2's Avatar
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    Glad you got this resolved. We did the shake test and the RV rated tp was one of the lest results. Costco Kirkland was the best performer and broke down the quickest. Maybe also try using more water and the Geo Metho. Here's a good little article with a recipe. https://kleentank.com/the-geo-method...0onto%20debris. It's what we use.

    Sent from my SM-G781W using Tapatalk
    Steph & Lise
    2019 F150 Lariat 2.7 EB
    2020 Imagine XLS 22MLE

  10. #10
    Rolling Along
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    How far from the top of the black tank is the flush nozzle/elbow?

    I have a 37 gallon tank and I use a flow meter to tell me how much water I have injected into the tank. At 25 gallons you can begin to hear the tone change as the water level rises to that inlet. I stop at 30 gallons and open the dump valve. At that 30 gallons looking down the toilet chute I still have several inches to spare from the water level rising to the chute tube.
    Randy and Kris

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