**Do RV Black Tank Flush Port Rinsers REALLY Work? We Used a REAL RV Black Tank to Find Out — Transcript & Summary | SozAI**
Source: https://sozai.app/transcript/rv-black-tank-flush-port-rinsers-review/

We test how well RV black tank flush port rinsers work using a real black tank with Plexiglas top to see inside and realistic synthetic waste.

## Key Takeaways

- RV black tank flush port rinsers effectively clean tank walls and liquids but are less effective on solids.
- Using a pressure regulator is recommended to protect the rinser and plumbing.
- Rinsing is best done when the tank is mostly empty to maximize spray coverage and cleaning.
- Synthetic waste can realistically simulate tank conditions for testing purposes.
- Longer rinsing times improve results but have diminishing returns after about 10 minutes.

## What the video covers

- The video investigates the effectiveness of RV black tank flush port rinsers using a real polyethylene resin black tank with a Plexiglas top for visibility.
- The tank setup mimics average RV black tank dimensions and includes working sensors, valves, venting, and plumbing to replicate real conditions.
- A Valterra rinser, common in OEM RVs, is tested at regulated water pressure (50 PSI) to observe spray coverage and rinsing capabilities.
- Synthetic waste modeled after NASA formulations is used to simulate realistic tank contents without violating YouTube guidelines.
- The tank is gradually filled throughout the day to mimic typical family usage before rinsing at about 75% capacity.
- Observations show rinsers effectively clean liquids and residues on tank walls but struggle to move or remove solids, especially dried solids.
- Rinsing with the flush port is more effective when the tank is empty or nearly empty; backfilling reduces rinsing efficiency.
- Longer rinse times (up to 10 minutes) improve cleaning results but with diminishing returns beyond that point.
- The video emphasizes the importance of proper hose connections and pressure regulation during rinsing.
- Additional tank test videos are planned to further explore black tank maintenance and cleaning.

## Chapters

1. 00:00 Introduction and Setup of Black Tank Flush Port Rinsers
2. 01:03 Water Pressure and Rinser Jet Demonstration
3. 02:11 Tank Setup Explanation and Dimensions Research
4. 03:24 Tank Features and Installation Details
5. 04:29 Synthetic Waste Recipe and Testing Methodology
6. 05:53 Filling Tank and Preparing for Rinse Test
7. 06:51 Draining Tank and Observing Residue
8. 07:57 Rinser Cleaning Performance and Limitations
9. 09:02 Summary of Rinse Times and Effectiveness
10. 16:26 Final Thoughts and Future Tank Test Videos

Answers

## Questions about this video

Do RV black tank flush port rinsers effectively clean the tank?

Flush port rinsers effectively clean liquids and residues from the tank walls but are less effective at removing solids, especially dried solids.

Is it necessary to use a water pressure regulator with black tank rinsers?

While the rinse line is not pressurized, using a water pressure regulator is recommended to protect the rinser and plumbing from high pressure damage.

Can you use black tank flush ports to backfill the tank?

Yes, but once the water level rises above the rinser nozzle, the rinsing effect is reduced since the jets no longer spray the tank walls.

## Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown

00:00

Speaker A

Today, we're going to answer an age-old RV black tank question. How well do these black tank flush ports actually work? I bought a real black tank and outfitted it just as it would be in an RV, and I [music] replaced the top of

00:12

Speaker A

the tank with Plexiglas so we can see what's actually happening inside the tank. [music] We'll talk more about this tank a little later in the video.

00:20

Speaker A

An in-tank rinser is simply a multi-directional [music] spray nozzle on one side that's fed by a water hose on the other. It's common for modern RVs to come from the factory with black tank flush ports, but you can still install

00:32

Speaker A

these aftermarket if you don't have one. They should always be mounted on the wall opposite of the drain, and you'll see why later in the video. With the tank drained and the drain valve open, you simply connect a hose and turn on

00:43

Speaker A

the water. What happens next has been argued for years. Some people swear they do a great job of rinsing the inside of the tank, and some people think they're useless.

00:50

Speaker A

[music] So, for our first demo, I'm going to leave the top of the tank off [music] just so I can show you the profile of the rinser jets. Now, in theory, you don't have to regulate the water pressure coming into the black tank

01:03

Speaker A

flush port because you're technically never pressurizing that line. There are some arguments, however, to running the black tank flush port without a pressure regulator, and we're going to cover that a little bit later. I regulate mine when we're out in the RV, so I'm running my

01:16

Speaker A

RV water pressure regulator for this test at 50 PSI. So, let's turn this on and see how this actually works. We have some jets on the back of the rinser shooting straight out against the walls.

01:26

Speaker A

There's a couple jets shooting down to the left and right of the nozzle, as well as up to the left and right of the nozzle, which with no top you can see is hitting my garage. We also have a jet

01:36

Speaker A

shooting straight at the opposite wall. Now, black tanks come in all different shapes and sizes. In travel trailers, they are usually long in length and short in height. In some fifth wheels and motorhomes, they can be narrow and

01:47

Speaker A

tall. So, the spread on your rinser will depend on not only your tank size, but also its shape. Like black tank sizes and shapes, there are different brands of rinsers. I chose this rinser from Valterra because they are owned by

01:59

Speaker A

Dometic and Dometic is a very common company used by the OEMs. But, worth noting, results may slightly vary. So, let's put the top on and see what this will actually look like inside an enclosed tank. Nothing's really changed,

02:11

Speaker A

but it is easier to see now with the top on how much coverage you actually get on the top of the tank. Okay, before the next demo, I want to explain this black tank setup. Knowing that black tanks

02:21

Speaker A

come in different shapes and sizes, I searched, found, and entered 92 different black tanks that OEMs are using into a spreadsheet. The spreadsheet contains the tank capacity and all three dimensions. I included RVs of all sizes, travel trailers, fifth

02:35

Speaker A

wheels, toy haulers, class A, B, and C motor homes. Of all those tanks, I got an average capacity of 40 gallons, but I went a step further. Using the spreadsheet, I came up with an average length of 34 in, an average width of 21

02:49

Speaker A

in, and an average height of 13 in. After a little more math, the average black tank width is about 64% of its length. The average height of a black tank is about 38% of its length. That may be a little confusing, but if you

03:02

Speaker A

took all the RV black tanks on the road and sort of morphed them into one tank, you would get something that looks extremely close to the shape and size of this specific tank. I think it's a good average for what we're seeing on the

03:13

Speaker A

road. In addition [music] to that, I've installed working tank sensors, a gate valve on the output port, a couple bends [music] in the termination pipe just as there would be in an RV. There is a vent on the top so the tank doesn't

03:24

Speaker A

pressurize, a flange and pipe to represent our toilet, and when we're not using the toilet, I'll have a removable cap on the pipe to represent the watertight seal of the ball valve. The tank is level [music] and it's mounted

03:35

Speaker A

at the same height off the ground as it would be mounted in an RV. And finally, most important, it's [music] a real polyethylene resin tank. And because this tank is finally built, there's going to be a lot of tank test videos

03:46

Speaker A

coming on the channel. Now, etrailer is not sponsoring this video, but I want to thank them for sending me some of these supplies to build this tank. I'll put a link to their site down below. For our demo, the black tank will be drained

03:57

Speaker A

because we obviously want the water to spray against the tank. You can absolutely use a black tank flush port to backfill the tank, but once the water level rises over the nozzle, it's not going to rinse anything. The black tank

04:09

Speaker A

drain will also stay open while the rinser is running, so the tank remains empty.

04:15

Speaker A

[music] I am not using real human waste. Imagery of bodily fluids and waste is a YouTube community guideline violation. This video would probably be deleted within a day even if I used real waste. This test would not be 100% accurate either.

04:29

Speaker A

Everyone has different diets, medications, gut health, and overall general health. A black tank is emptied less often when two people are using it versus five people. And because water breaks down waste over time, the consistencies would be different. I'm

04:43

Speaker A

using a recipe that NASA uses to create synthetic waste for systems testing. It involves cellulose, yeast, peanut oil, and a couple other ingredients. I also added some corn for good measure. NASA will also use things as simple as peanut

04:57

Speaker A

butter and pumpkin pie filling as a stimulant to test different viscosities. How things move and interact with water can be demonstrated using what's called mechanical entrainment and fluid dynamics test methods. In both of these tests, using substitutes similar in

05:12

Speaker A

size, shape, weight, buoyancy, and texture are far more important than the actual chemical composition. All that said, this recipe is actually similar in chemical composition. Per the folks at NASA, the formulations are designed to be representative of water holding

05:27

Speaker A

capacity, chemical composition, and consistency of the real stuff. It may not be a 100% perfect test, but I feel the substitutes we're using will provide very realistic results to show us what a black tank rinser is capable of doing.

05:43

Speaker A

To accurately show you how well a black tank flush port is going to work, we need the inside of the tank to look as if it were just dumped. So, I'm going to start adding water, toilet paper, and

05:53

Speaker A

stuff to the tank. In the interest of accuracy, I'll add throughout the day just as a family of three would use and flush the toilet throughout the day.

06:00

Speaker A

Remember, water breaks things down over time, so it won't be accurate to just immediately fill and then dump the tank.

06:06

Speaker A

Once the tank reaches around 75% capacity, we'll dump the tank and run the rinser. The tank will be covered from UV exposure just as it would be under an RV. Okay, our test tank is filled to roughly 75%, which is around

06:19

Speaker A

where you would normally dump it in real life. We can let her rip and I'll pull the top off after it's drained so we can take a closer look inside the tank.

06:28

Speaker A

The tank is done draining. Let's remove the cover and take a look inside. What we're seeing here is actually normal. I think what we picture in our head on how a tank drains is very different from what happens in real

06:39

Speaker A

life, and there's a couple different reasons for this. Forty gallons of water weighs about 330 lb. On top of that, these tanks are fairly flexible. That weight over time flexes and creates low spots in the tank. So, I'm currently

06:51

Speaker A

doing some plumbing mods on our trailer. This is the fresh water tank. The drain is open and it's obviously done draining. So, I'm willing to bet if I push on the middle of my fresh water tank, you're going to see water come out

07:02

Speaker A

of the drain. Torricelli's

07:21

Speaker A

is enough to leave stuff in the tank, but when the water level lowers, you also have friction against the bottom of the tank increasing what's left behind.

07:28

Speaker A

Now, it's worth noting we use a lot of water. We flush for 10 seconds immediately after using the toilet. Some of you may use more water and have less stuff in the tank. Some of you may use less water to flush and have a higher

07:40

Speaker A

ratio of waste left in the tank. There's a lot of different variables, but I think this is very realistic to what you would see after you dump the black tank.

07:48

Speaker A

So, I'm going to put the top back on and run the rinser for 1 minute. The most obvious difference is how it pushes the liquids out of the tank. This is why I mentioned earlier that the rinser should

07:57

Speaker A

be on the opposite side of the drain. The rinser also did a great job of cleaning the residue off the three walls it shoots against. Now, it did not move the solids that were left in the tank.

08:07

Speaker A

It did not clean the toilet paper off the tank sensor. I think it does a decent job for only 1 minute of rinsing.

08:13

Speaker A

A lot of stuff heading for the exit, but just didn't make it there yet for the reasons we mentioned earlier in the video. Let's put the top back on and this time run the rinser for an additional 4 minutes, which will give us

08:24

Speaker A

a total of 5 minutes of rinsing. Continued improvement here compared to our before photos, there's even more dirty water gone. This middle area with corn and solids has been cleaned up, so that's definitely an improvement. We still have toilet paper on the sensor

08:38

Speaker A

and two large wads of toilet paper and stuff in the middle of the tank, but no doubt a cleaner tank. The lighter solids, aka the corn, has been moved closer towards the exit. Next, we're going to run the rinser for an

08:50

Speaker A

additional 5 minutes to see what the tank looks like after a total of 10 minutes of rinsing. We're still seeing improvement, although I think we're starting to finally see what the jets will and won't move. Almost all the

09:02

Speaker A

liquids have been replaced by clean water at this point, leaving mostly solids. This area here is cleaning up, while slow, I think a couple more minutes would get that out. Still some trouble with the heavy solids. These were probably the last to go into the

09:15

Speaker A

tank during the filling, since it doesn't seem the water has broken them up yet. And we're seeing slow progress, but progress nonetheless in the area directly below the rinser. We could probably run this for 30 minutes and clear most of this out, but I think

09:28

Speaker A

we're at the point now where a full refill and redrain would probably be a better use for that amount of water.

09:35

Speaker A

Now, we're not done yet. I got two more tests I want to run. [music] Because NASA is telling us their analog is very similar in chemical composition to the real stuff, I'm comfortable rerunning this test this time with a

09:47

Speaker A

tank treatment. I'll be adding one application of liquefied toilet treatment. They are not sponsoring this video. This is just what I've used for the last few years. I'm filling everything as I did before using the same amount of stuff, toilet paper, and

09:59

Speaker A

water over the same amount of time. I refuse to charge a membership fee on this channel. All of our videos are free for everyone to watch. So, I'd like to thank RV Snap Pads for making this content possible. RV Snap Pads are a

10:10

Speaker A

one-time installation permanent [music] solution for fifth wheel and motor home leveling systems, as well as travel trailer stabilizers and tongue jack feet. [music] Made of recycled tire rubber, they not only help prevent corrosion, they also protect your parking pad or driveway from damage.

10:24

Speaker A

More surface area means more stability and less slipping and [music] sinking on soft surfaces like dirt or hot asphalt.

10:30

Speaker A

No coupon code needed, just click our link down [music] below and you'll automatically receive 10% off your order. From everything I've noticed over the last decade of dumping black tanks with tank treatments, I think this is also a realistic scenario of how a

10:43

Speaker A

treated black tank will look after being dumped. Just like an untreated tank, we have some residue on the walls, and we can see corn is putting up a good fight against our treatment, but we have very little solids. I'm guessing what we do

10:56

Speaker A

see is the last stuff to go into the tank, and the treatment just didn't have much time to break it down. We also got lucky this time, no toilet paper on the sensors. Okay, let's test on a treated

11:06

Speaker A

black tank. Same thing here, we'll run it for 1 minute and again for 4 and 5 additional minutes. Pretty consistent performance with the rinser. It's still moving liquids out, still having trouble with the solids, and still cleaning the

11:20

Speaker A

walls except for this one spot right here. This is what you're going to see after running the rinser for a total of 5 minutes. Almost all liquids have been replaced with water. The corn and solids aren't budging though, but we were able

11:32

Speaker A

to get the toilet paper off the wall this time. And this is what you're going to see after running the rinser for a total of 10 minutes. Look, I realize this is not a treatment versus no treatment video, but we are seeing two

11:44

Speaker A

things. Liquids are easier to get out of a tank than solids, and a black tank rinser is definitely more effective on liquids. Okay, let's compare everything.

11:52

Speaker A

I think in a treated tank, we're also seeing diminished returns at the 10-minute mark. Again, maybe a 30-minute rinse will continue to move things out, but 30 minutes of water would probably serve you better by refilling and redumping the tank. Something we're

12:05

Speaker A

definitely going to test in future videos. Okay, one more test. We know the black tank flush port works pretty well when the tank is wet or has just been dumped. For this test, I'm cleaning, drying out the tank, and putting the

12:18

Speaker A

remainder of our substitutes in the tank. A little peanut butter on the floor and the opposite wall of the rinser. More of the runny NASA analog.

12:26

Speaker A

Terra wants the fake poop out of the fridge, so we need to get rid of this.

12:29

Speaker A

The rest of the corn, our pumpkin pie filling. You know, I always wanted to be on Double Dare when I was a kid. I'm going to let this dry out and bake into the tank for a couple days. For those of

12:38

Speaker A

you who haven't rinsed your tank either with a black tank flush port or by backfilling and redumping the tank, there's a good chance you might have some dried stuff in your tank. Maybe you bought your RV used. You just don't know

12:49

Speaker A

how well the previous owners maintained your tanks. Whatever the scenario, this test is for you. All right, it's been 3 days of this stuff sitting in the tank drying out with no water. Let's take the top off.

13:01

Speaker A

Yeah, it's definitely dried out and it stinks pretty bad even with little or no moisture.

13:07

Speaker A

So, I'm going to run the rinser for three intervals of 5 minutes and we'll take a look at the results when that's done.

13:13

Speaker A

Okay, we already knew the rinser is less effective on solids, but dried solids, to be honest, the rinser is no match.

13:20

Speaker A

The only considerable progress we saw is right here where the jet directly hit the wall, and this is only 3 days.

13:26

Speaker A

Imagine how ineffective this would be on a tank that's been dried up for a month or even a year or longer. This is why it's so important to rinse immediately after dumping and to keep water in your tank. And if you suspect the inside of

13:39

Speaker A

your tank may look like this, personally, I'd fill it up and let it soak as long as you can. Hopefully, that will soften and break things up enough to move out of the tank with subsequent draining and rinsing. A lot of factors

13:50

Speaker A

will affect how well your tank rinser works, but they do work. We saw very clear proof of that in our tests. So, based on what we saw today, knowing what a black tank rinser is and isn't capable of doing, let's take all of that

14:02

Speaker A

information and put it into a rinsing routine. Step number one, dump the black tank and leave the drain valve open.

14:08

Speaker A

Self-explanatory. Step number two, connect a dedicated black water hose and start rinsing immediately. Even with backflow prevention, it's still important to use separate hoses for black water and fresh water connections.

14:20

Speaker A

We rinse immediately so nothing dries up in the tank. The test clearly shows the rinser works better on liquids. Earlier, I mentioned the argument for running a pressure regulator on the black tank flush port, even though it's not a

14:32

Speaker A

pressurized line. There's a vacuum breaker on this line to prevent black water from backflowing into the fresh water system. Most OEMs use a plastic vacuum breaker. I wouldn't say it's a part that's failing in everyone's RV, but it's also not uncommon for some of

14:46

Speaker A

these to leak. Plus, they're usually not located in areas that are easy to access. There's a couple reasons vacuum breakers can leak, not something we're going to get into today, but I've always regulated the pressure on this line.

14:57

Speaker A

I've never had any of my vacuum breakers leak, so I'm going to continue running a regulator on this line. And by the way, I run another vacuum breaker on my splitter for additional backflow protection, and when I'm rinsing, I'll

15:09

Speaker A

isolate the black water hose from everything else using the valves on my splitter. Okay, back to the process. Step number three, rinse for at least 5 minutes.

15:18

Speaker A

From our test, we saw that 5 minutes produces a much more noticeable difference over 1 minute and a 10-minute rinse is where we were seeing diminished returns. But remember, there's a lot of different variables. You may still see

15:29

Speaker A

dirty water coming out of the tank after a 15-minute rinse. So, the effective time length of the rinse may be different for all of us. Step number four, turn off the water, close your black tank drain, and backfill the tank

15:41

Speaker A

to about 10% of its capacity. You always want to buffer a water on the tank floor to prevent the poop pyramid. You can backfill by turning the rinser back on after closing the tank drain, by holding the flush pedal on the toilet, or

15:53

Speaker A

dumping water into the tank using a bucket. It doesn't matter how you do it, just get water back in your tank. Step number five, and this is important, disconnect your hose from the black tank flush inlet when you're not rinsing.

16:05

Speaker A

There's a chance the vacuum breaker will purge if you don't allow the input side of the breaker to breathe. It's a little complicated to explain. I will link to a video down below that demonstrates this.

16:14

Speaker A

But, the rule is simple. If you're not using the rinser, do not leave a water hose connected to the rinser inlet, even if the hose's water supply is turned off. I got two more important things I want to explain about the black tank

16:26

Speaker A

flush port, but first, a lot of research and time went into making this video, and there's going to be a lot more tank test videos coming. If you want to support the work we do to help other RVers, please share this video with your

16:37

Speaker A

friends, give us a like, and I hope you consider subscribing. Okay, two final tips. First, regarding the black tank flush port, based on all the different tests we did today, we know they work better on liquids than solids. That

16:48

Speaker A

means your black tank is going to be cleaner 2 years from now if you start rinsing today, whether you bought your RV new or used, even if your tank isn't currently in perfect condition. I'd argue the black tank flush port is less

17:00

Speaker A

effective as an occasional cleaning tool, and more effective as a frequent preventative cleaning tool. And last, if you're dumping your black tanks at a shared dump station with a line of RVs behind you, that's obviously not a good

17:12

Speaker A

time to spend rinsing the tanks. When leaving a site without a sewer connection, I'll just dump the tank, put a little bit of water back in, and then rinse the tanks when I get home. Even if you don't have enough sewer hose to

17:23

Speaker A

reach your septic system, you can pick up a macerator pump that will grind everything up into a liquid and pump it through a garden hose that you can simply run into a house toilet. They're nice because you can take your time

17:33

Speaker A

rinsing and cleaning your tanks at home. For your convenience, I'll put the five rinsing steps on the screen right now, so you can make a copy or modify them to fit your lifestyle. Links to everything in the video are down in the [music]

17:44

Speaker A

video description. I hope this video helped you out, and we'll see you in the next one.

17:54

Speaker A

[music]

Topics: RV black tank black tank flush port RV tank rinsers RV maintenance Valterra rinser RV plumbing synthetic waste test RV tips black tank cleaning RV water pressure regulator


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