Last year, we attended a record-breaking 16 RV rallies. From state-level club rallies to manufacturer-sponsored events to owner’s club rallies, we’ve seen and services just about every type of RV in existence. Better yet, we’ve met lots of great people and helped them to get (and keep!) their RVs clean and working again.

So why are RV rallies such great places to have service done on your RV, especially your holding tanks and waste disposal system?

It’s a learning experience

We don’t mean this from the point of being able to ask us a lot of questions as we’re cleaning your RV’s holding tanks (that always happens!), but at most RV rallies, we are able to put on an educational seminar for attendees. In these seminars, we cover all types of topics related to your RV — not just holding tanks (though that’s most of them).

Our seminars are interactive. We used to rely on a projected, computer-based presentation, but now we find a more informal, walk-around style seems to work better for everyone.

There are lots of questions. Yes, we have a sort of agenda or outline that we try to follow, but we always love questions. In most cases, we have to cut our seminar short because we’ve got too many questions from RVers! We’ve even compiled the Top Questions we get asked the often!

We try to find humor in the situation. Hey, we know you have better things than to listen to some guy talk about poop for an hour. So we use jokes, hands-on demonstrations, and pass around all kinds of things for you to look at (please don’t open any jars!).

We do a lot of cleanings

At most weeklong rallies, we’ll do between 20 and 30 tank cleanings. Depending on how much sun there is during the day (really, that’s a big deciding factor), we can do anywhere from four to seven cleanings a day.

When you sign-up for service at a rally, we’re often on a tight schedule. But we are also intimately familiar with your rig and problems you may be experiencing because we’re cleaning so many of them. We hear other owner’s problems and are able to adjust our advice “on the fly” to the situations you are all having.

Also, since we’re moving quickly from one rig to another, we’re able to work faster and more efficiently. We may try to cluster you and your neighbors together to clean you all in a row. We may also show up earlier than your scheduled time to get a jump start on the day.

You can save money

We have a couple of different pricing structures. For “full cleanings” (one black, up to two gray tanks, and, if you have one, a complimentary water heater tank cleaning), our price is $250 to $300 depending on the RV type and situation. This also assumes we are driving to your RV park and cleaning only your RV’s tanks.

We also offer a special “rally price” during rallies. This is usually $225 to $250, depending on the type of RVs and if the rally is out of our normal service area. If you come up to us at the rally, stop by our vendor hall booth, or stop me when I’m cleaning another RV to arrange service, this is the price you will be quoted.

Finally, there’s the “special, pre-rally” pricing. We offer further discounts if you sign up for service (either online or via the phone) before the rally starts. This helps us schedule services throughout the rally and ensures that attending makes good business sense. You can see if we’ll be at your rally by checking out our Online Rally Schedule. There, you can sign-up for a service appointment and get the reduced rate.

Rallies are just a great experience

Really, we love what we do. That sounds funny when you realize we deal with other people’s waste. But we like to be helpful and teach people the right things to do — something we weren’t taught either by our RV dealership, haven’t read online anywhere, and, we found, few RVers really knew also.

So, see if we’re coming to your rally this year and be sure to make an appointment to get your RV’s holding tanks cleaned. Even if you don’t want the service, be sure to attend our seminar or stop by our vendor hall booth to ask a question, buy a Valterra Flush King Back Flush Valve, or just say “hi!”

The post Why RV rallies are great times to get your tanks cleaned 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.

Miss Part One in our series of rally seminar question and answer articles? You may want to take a look at that blog entry too! Here are five more questions we commonly get asked.

Q. How do I clean my gray water tank sensors?
A. It seems gray tank sensors work about as well as black tank sensors! The reasons they don’t work are pretty similar: There’s a build-up for waste or other matter on the sensors in the tank, preventing accurate readings. Our special tank solution — a simple mixture of Calgon, Pine-Sol, and water — will work in your gray tanks too, helping to keep them clean and, in most cases, keeping working sensors reading accurately.

Q. How do you keep a black tank from smelling?
A. Black (and gray, for that matter) tanks smell because they contain human and other type of waste in them. The most you can do is mask the smell. Even adding enzymes, bacteria, or harsh chemicals that break down waste only make that same smelly mess just a tank-load of sticky, smelly waste. Our special tank solution contains Pine-Sol, a good disinfectant AND a great odor masking ingredient. Give it a try.

Q. How do I unclog my RV’s toilet?
A. That’s a messy situation, to say the least. Many RV owners will use an RV toilet cleaning wand, a long (24″ to 30″) tube of plastic that connect to a garden hose and has holes in the end to spray water down the toilet and into the holding tank. While this may work in some cases, many RV toilets have a bend in the waste pipe or longer drop into the tank. Plus, using these flush wands could introduce human waste into the interior of your RV. Yuck!

Kleen Tank has special equipment to clear mounds, clogs, and other obstructions. You may want to contact us for this special situation — a complete tank cleaning is also part of our process to clear the problem.

Q. What can I use to clean my RV toilet?
A. We presume the question is about the surfaces of the toilet, specifically the bowl. While you should never introduce bleach or other harsh cleaning chemicals into your waste system (they can break down soft rubber seals over time), there is a good way to keep your toilet clean.

First, be sure you are using enough water in the bowl. Follow each bowlful of waste with a bowlful of water. And we like to add another half bowl of water to the toilet to act as a seal against smells coming up from the holding tank.

Second, our special hold tank solution has Calgon in it which will keep all the surfaces of your RV’s waste system slippery. Yep, even the toilet bowl.

Finally, you can use a cleaning wipe to quickly clean the toilet bowl. Use gloves, of course, and never flush down the wipe into the holding tank — just throw it away.

Q. Can I dump my gray water directly onto the ground?
A. We know people who have done this in extreme circumstances (like book docking or when their gray water tank filled up before a honey wagon could come or they could visit a dump station). In general, it’s not a good idea and may even be prevented by state or local laws. Plan ahead to eliminate the need to have to do this. Use the RV park’s facilities and shower, wash dishes in a bucket and dump it down a dump station drain, or try to use bathroom facilities when you are in town.

We’ve got more questions from rally seminars to share with you in the coming weeks. Come back to read more and be a smart RVer!

The post More rally seminar questions appeared first on Kleen Tank.

We’ve been invited by the South Central S.M.A.R.T. Chapter to attend their upcoming muster (think: rally) at James E Ward Agri-Center in Lebanon, Tennesee this upcoming April 2018. We hope to meet plenty of great RVers and help them learn how to care for their RV’s holding tanks, give them some tips and a bit of education, and even provide them some cleaning services on their tanks.

By special arrangement with the Chapter’s event coordinators, we have a unique set up at this rally: Rather than traveling to each RV, the RVs will need to come to a specially-set up Dump Station, where we will be doing our service. Service time is just about an hour and while we can only do one RV at a time, the RV “on deck” will get a COMPLEMENTARY water heater flush and clean while they are waiting on the rig ahead of them to be finished.

Since we’re streamlining our process, our normal Rally Price of $250 is being reduced to just $200. And you can SAVE an extra $25 by pre-registering for your cleaning by clicking here and signing up ahead of time (deadline is April 9th, 2018 for each sign up). That makes our full service (one black tank, one gray tank, plus water heater tank) JUST$175. We can clean additional tanks (time allotting) for $50 for a black tank and $25 for each additional gray tank).

Click here to Pre-Register now for your tank cleaning at the upcoming JSouth Central S.M.A.R.T. Chapter April 2018 muster! See you there.

The post Kleen Tank is getting S.M.A.R.T. in 2018 appeared first on Kleen Tank.

Almost 800 RVs were present with about 300 or so on full hook-ups and another 500 on water and electric only. In total, we did 12 jobs at the rally — not bad but a bit less than we expected. Our booth was well-attended: We gave out over 200 Kleen Tank flyswatters in the first two hours of the first day the vendor building was open, we had over 100 people stop by and enter our $25 VISA gift card giveaway, and we had a chance to talk to RVers about their waste holding tank problems. The seminar we gave on RV waste tanks was pretty well attended — we like doing them earlier in the week — and overall we had a great time meeting new people.

Next up was the Open Range Homecoming Rally at Shipshewana South RV Park, right in Shipshewana (of all-things Amish fame). What a great bunch of RVers! The rally was small — about 140 RVs of all types (motorhomes, travel trailers and smaller fifth wheels) and there was no vendor area (we had a makeshift table out in front of our Airstream). The seminar was very well attended, the best we’ve ever had, with over 50 people there. We booked nine cleanings right on the spot, giving us sixteen for that rally.

The best thing about all 28 jobs? We got the RV’s sensors working properly in every case! Yep, you read that right!

The post 28 RV Cleanings, the Magic Number appeared first on Kleen Tank.