After 90% of every holding tank cleaning we do, we’re asked how often an RVer should have the service performed. We’re hoping that the customer is impressed with how clean we’ve gotten their tanks; if you don’t know what we do, we wrote a great article on the process.

Our recommendations.

Our recommendation is that full-time RVers have their holding tanks professionally cleaned twice per year. While we’re happy to do that for them, we realize that full-timers tend to move around quite a bit. We operate under the All Pro Water Flow banner and there’s a list of our sister companies at their website.

All All Pro Water Flow companies have the same equipment, similar experience, the same capabilities, and relatively similar pricing structures. All are willing to answer your questions and travel to you (assuming you’re close by them) to perform our service.

For everyone else (and that means even if you use your RV only a few times per year), we normally recommend that they schedule professional holding tank cleanings once a year. A big part of our service is to listen to what you are doing now, discuss some options and improvements, and teach you better practices that will eliminate the need for more frequent professional tank cleanings.

Schedule a cleaning today.

If you’re in an area where we’re located currently, Kleen Tank is happy to travel to you to perform a professional tank cleaning. You can get a FREE quote for service by providing us just a few details about your RV. We also go to quite a few rallies throughout the year, so check out our Rally Schedule to see if we’ll be at an event you’ll be at.

And remember, if we’re not near you now and you need a cleaning, you can always check out the All Pro Water Flow website and their Dealer Locator to see which authorized dealer is near you now.

The post Why annual, professional holding tank cleanings are critical appeared first on Kleen Tank.

We’re asked all the time: Aren’t my tank sprayers enough? The simple answer is, no.

All modern RVs have an onboard tank spraying system in their black tanks. It consists of a standard garden hose connection, bringing city or RV park water to your RV, a PEX line from there what travels to your hold tank (typically, the top, but sometimes the side) and ends with a nozzle protruding into the holding tank.

In most RV’s the spray system sprays in a fan-shaped pattern, though some systems have a spinning head. The nozzle head is typically metal, meaning that corrosion can become a problem long-term.

But there’s no substitute for the power of hydrojetting that comes from a professional holding tank cleaning.

Does the spray system get my tank clean?
No. It simply acts as a rinsing mechanism. The relative PSI from the nozzle head is between 100 PSI and 150 PSI, mainly from the reduction in the PEX tube and further through the nozzle head. Especially large RVs, like 5th wheels, where a tank (or second tank, like at a rear bathroom) is farther from the water inlet may experience even greater loss of pressure as the water travels to the black tank.

What about my gray tanks?
You’re out of luck there, unless an after-market spray system has been installed. There are some on the market, namely the Camco Tornado Rotary Tank Rinser and Camco Quickie Flush. You would need to have access to the tanks, something that can be difficult depending on the layout and architecture of your RV. It may require removing the belly pan on some RVs.

What is hydrojetting?
Using a heavy-duty, electric commercial water pump, we send a special, flexible wand up your RV’s sewer pipes, past gate valves, and into your tanks. There, water is pumped in at 1,500 PSI through proprietary nozzles. Water at this pressure scrubs the tank surfaces clean and breaking up built-up gunk, residue from enzymes and other tank additives.

Any clogs or mounds of waste (like in hard-to-rinse tank corners or along the front tank bulkhead) that can’t be removed by your tank rinser are easily broken up and ready to be pulled out during the rinsing step of our cleaning process.

It’s what we call hydrojetting and only authorized All Pro Water Flow dealers like Kleen Tank have it.

Do we use heated water or chemicals?
No, just plain water. We could heat the water, but it travels through the system at such a fantastic flow rate that it would have little effect on anything in your tanks. Likewise, chemicals aren’t needed as nothing is in your tank long enough to be dissolved or affected.

What happens next?
After the cleaning step, we remove the wand and cleaning head, and install a backlash valve between your RV’s sewer pipe fitting and the flexible sewer hose. There are two main types of backflush valves — both accomplish the same task — but we prefer the Valterra Flush King Back Flush Valve as it seems more durable and effective, compared to the Camco version.

What should I do ongoing?
Once you’ve had your tanks professionally cleaned (once a year is recommended — full-timers may need it twice a year), we recommend some simple steps:

• Empty your holding tanks when they are 90% to 100% full. If they aren’t that full and you need to empty them, add water either through your flush system (for your black tanks) or inside the RV, by opening the water taps in your shower or galley.
• Turn on your black tank spraying system when emptying your black tanks. That extra turbulence and volume of water will help keep things moving along.
• Use a backflush valve like the Valterra Flush King once every second or third tank emptying. It will help to keep your tanks clean between professional services. Use it on both black and gray tanks.

If you have questions about your holding tanks, RV waste system, or would like to schedule a hydrojetting cleaning service for your RV’s holding tanks, either locally or at a rally, let us know!

The post How does hydrojetting work? appeared first on Kleen Tank.

With 2018 winding down, we thought we’d take a few moments to count up the numbers, draw some conclusions about 2018, and think ahead to 2019. Ready? Here we go!

Sixteen RV rallies
In 2018, Kleen Tank attended 16 RV manufacturer or owners club rallies, in four states (California, Indiana, Iowa, and Oklahoma). This was an all-time high for us and we enjoyed every single rally we attended (except for Jayco, which we had to leave as one of our Collies, Trey, was not doing well — we ended up putting him down a few days later when we learned he had late-stage cancer).

191 RVs serviced
Another record for us. From luxury motor coaches to gigantic fifth wheels (one with two black tanks and three gray tanks!) to travel trailers and more, we serviced more RVs in 2018 than in any year previously. We’ve got plenty of stories to tell — some really interesting, some really gross, and some, well, it was an adventure!

586 tanks cleaned
That includes black tanks, gray tanks, and hot water heater tanks. That’s a lot of tanks, folks, and we are well on our way to 2,000 tanks cleaned during the six years our company has been in existence. Needless to say, we’ve seen it all!

426 seminar attendees
Every rally we attended had at least one seminar. We typically put on two — one on holding tank maintenance and the other on water heaters — but we also have a “combo” one that covers both topics pretty evenly. If you haven’t taken a look at the questions (and answers!) from our 2018 rally seminars, we have them here: Part One, Part Two, and Part Three.

633 Facebook fans
Yep, we took a giant leap forward in fans of our Facebook Page (Facebook.com/KleenTank). If you’re not a fan, go ahead and become one. We publish new posts there every day — and they’re not just about poop!

What’s coming in 2019?
Well, we currently have 13 RV rallies scheduled, so we’re being a bit more selective on where we’ll be. We thought we’d be closer to our home base this year, but it looks like Grand Design is calling our name in Georgia, Indiana, Michigan, and Missouri, and we’re doing two new rallies (in a row) down in Louisiana. Wonder if we’ll be at one of your rallies? Check out our Rally Calendar web page. Be sure to sign-up for service ahead of time and SAVE $25 off our rally pricing!

At some of our rallies, we are hosting social events like Pajama Party Breakfasts and Tiki Bar Happy Hours. It’s our way to try to make friends of fellow RVers too! Come join us.

At our seminars, we’ll be featuring a brand new, see-through, plastic holding tank that will show they work, explain where and how sensors are at, and be a better hands-on tool for answering your questions. We’ve got more “show and tell” items to pass around and some special surprises. Don’t forget that every seminar has a drawing for a free VISA gift card.

Our vendor hall booth will still have a lot of great items for sale, including Water Heater Flush Wands, the Valterra Flush King backflush valve, 9.5″ and 4.5″ water heater anodes, Sewer Saddle Bags, and our very popular Save-a-Drop water meters (we sold out of everyone we had at our rallies!).

We’re looking forward to 2019. Traveling, servicing RVers, and meeting new (and old) friends. See you out there and safe travels.

The post 2018 Was a Very Good Year appeared first on Kleen Tank.

The other day, we were going over some recent changes Facebook has made to company profile Pages. Wow, were there some things that were different! So, we got busy re-completing our profile and adding in more information about Kleen Tank onto our Facebook page (Facebook.com/KleenTank — pay us a visit and Like our daily posts on all kinds of interesting RV-related topics). One new section was a whole page titled, About Us. So it got us thinking about our start in the industry and what we actually do. We thought you might like to know more about us:

The post Who is Kleen Tank? appeared first on Kleen Tank.