Mystery in the black tank

[paulk]

First off, sorry for the topic.

Today I was dumping our black tank and I happened to look down with a flashlight. There was a blob of yellowish-white stuff directly under the toilet bowl drain at the bottom of the black tank. This was surprising to me since both my wife and I know that NOTHING other than poo, pee, water, and RV toilet paper go into the black tank.

I poked a stick into it and it has the consistency of hard chewing gum, and it's stuck down on the bottom like old chewing gum. There’s way too much of it to be actual chewing gum though. I'm not sure, but it looks to me like some sort of caulking or Dicor sealant like material.

After we took our trailer home I looked down into our tank and I'm pretty sure that it wasn't there at time of purchase, but I'm not 100% sure.

My best guess is that it's some sort sealant that somehow came loose. If that’s the case then presumably some sealant is missing somewhere else inside the tank, which doesn’t give me comfort. We've let maybe 4-5 other people use our toilet, but only once or twice each, so it's not 100% impossible that someone left something down there, but it doesn’t look like anything someone would normally put into a toilet. We were able to take a small part of it out.

Any other theories? Does anyone else have this kind of stuff at the bottom of their black tank? Is it supposed to be there? Here are some photos.

[Jim Bennett]

I have no good guess other than someone put something strange in the toilet or it was there from the start. I really can't see how it could be sealant of any kind as nothing like that, let alone that amount, is used to mount the toilet. The system really is simple the toilet mounted with (I believe) a gasket directly to the tank, with outlet plumbing using cement to glue to the one piece tank.

I would bet if you can clear it out, all is just fine and no need to worry.

[padlin]

Looks a lot like plumbers putty but I've never had a use for it in a toilet install and my trailers sink drain is sealed with silicone.

I might try and clear the bulk of it out if it'll free up with a flat stick, would not want it to jam the valve from closing one day. Better to clear it when you have clean tanks to mess around with.

[escape artist]

Hi: paulk... Could be some excess putty that finally squeezed out of where ever it was applied. Could be some DNA material from the afore mentioned Monster but I doubt it!!! Either way its not something you want to get stuck in the gate valve. Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

[jrb1947]

I have similar gunk in my new 21. One instance may be an anomaly. Two makes me suspect a build process problem.

[paulk]

Originally Posted by jrb1947

I have similar gunk in my new 21. One instance may be an anomaly. Two makes me suspect a build process problem.

Was it there when you picked it up, or did it appear later?

[cpaharley2008]

This is what I see down my toilet.....

[cpaharley2008]

in case you want more https://smile.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb...let+seat+cover

[rjbny]

Originally Posted by paulk

Any other theories? Does anyone else have this kind of stuff at the bottom of their black tank? Is it supposed to be there? Here are some photos.

I was just looking at some photos I took of the water system and saw similar looking goop around the propane supply line to the hot water tank.

[StarvingHyena]

Paulk,
As a recently retired research scientist, I must ask you when was the last time you were abducted?

[thoer]

Paulk, if you ever saw the movie "The Alien", I wouldn't lean in too close to that thing...

[skiman]

i knew that looked familiar!

[gocamp]

https://youtu.be/JAVLIT_1b4E

Doug Swarts of Drainmaster.com, who tells a story about a rat in a holding tank

[paulk]

Originally Posted by StarvingHyena

Paulk,
As a recently retired research scientist, I must ask you when was the last time you were abducted?

They come for me every Wednesday afternoon, except on holidays.

[paulk]

Originally Posted by rjbny

I was just looking at some photos I took of the water system and saw similar looking goop around the propane supply line to the hot water tank.

Attachment 27287

Yes, it does kind of looks like that.

[J Mac]

Looks like construction adhesive to me. "Liquid Nails" or some form of "mastic".

[reace]

I received an email from another owner with this issue. Unfortunately this was the first I have heard of this.

We use Proflex to seal the toilet flange to the tank, so I will presume this is some excess that has dropped into the tank. As we use clear Proflex, it has gone unnoticed during production and it will turn creamy in color after being submerged in water. I will not bond to the tank, so simply taking a 1x2 or similar and dislodging it from the tank, it should flush through the system.

Sorry for this oversight, I have brought this issue to the production floor to resolve this.

Reace

[advenas]

Originally Posted by reace

I received an email from another owner with this issue. Unfortunately this was the first I have heard of this.

We use Proflex to seal the toilet flange to the tank, so I will presume this is some excess that has dropped into the tank. As we use clear Proflex, it has gone unnoticed during production and it will turn creamy in color after being submerged in water. I will not bond to the tank, so simply taking a 1x2 or similar and dislodging it from the tank, it should flush through the system.

Sorry for this oversight, I have brought this issue to the production floor to resolve this.

Reace

And this is why I bought and continue to like my Escape trailer.

[GregandTeresa]

Originally Posted by advenas

And this is why I bought and continue to like my Escape trailer.

What he said

[Steve Clark]

Originally Posted by GregandTeresa

What he said

What they said