Hi Folks! I'm a relative newcomer to the Barth world. I bought this coach last year and I'm working my way through the issues one at a time. We used it really for the first time this august and a few more things came up the big one being the black water plumbing. In my Info the toilet was replaced in 2003 but in my assessment I find the flange in the black water tank has been repaired / modified. This coach as most I've seen has the black water drain on the drivers side, the bathroom is on the passenger side, the blackwater tank is very deep (approx 20 ish inches) on the drain side but only 6 inches on the washroom side, coupled with the toilet being further back I have a drain pipe thet drops from the toilet then runs to the shallow part of the tank then drops in some 3 feet from the deep part of the tank and has a shallow angle. So if I've done a reasonable job describing this you see it isn't ideal for moving solids through the system. I ended up cutting a hole by hand in the end of the tank while we were camping and fashioning a "pusher" out of a coat hanger to clear the bottom of the inlet to the tank. Once I had an "inspection port" I got my flashlight and could see that in the repair / mod process they fitted a flange or tube that drops almost halfway into the tank further reducing the amount or room for the solids to clear the inlet and move to the deep part of the tank.
So my question is: Does anyone have a 31 with a similar unmolested system I could correspond with to see what was the original setup? Thanks for your patience! great site! Hope I can be of some help over time.

I have a 1995 Regal, and first generally and my experience is that you have a grey water tank for kitchen sink shower and bathroom basin (40 gals +-) The toilet has a separate tank (15gals+-) it is referred to as "black water tank".The two only combine in the discharge pipe just before the hook-up hose. I will try to take pics for you and also some printed material if I have it. I've not had issue with dumping either tank. It is my practice to not use the toilet for solids, going to the campground facilities instead, but it happens so I discharge the black water first and then flush the piping with the grey water. I then fill the bowl a few times today today flush the black water tank.

Hi Mitch! Thanks for your reply. It sounds like we have very different systems as I have a black and grey sid by side and they are identical size, approx 40 gal (guessing) I haven't been able to find a size beyond the fresh water tank (mine is under the couch behind the drivers seat).

My Monarch has the ideal setup with toilet directly above the tank. Straight drop.

My Regal has a more indirect downhill path. Short drop, 90 degrees to the rear, 90 again to drop into tank. We learned early always to flood the bowl before flushing, then generous bowl rinse to rinse the pipes.

I always try to wait until the tank is nearly full before draining. The flow is better and more moves out of the tank. If we have been dry camping and were using less flush water I often rinse/fill the tank first before draining.

I also try to drain the tank after driving around for a while to slosh the tank well. This helps a lot. Unfortunately not convenient for long stays.

Once the "stalagmites" form in the tank they can be tough to break up. Fill the tank, drive around, drain, repeat.

Your black pipes sound like a mess. If possible go with large, straight pipes. good luck

Hi Steve! I have to ask..... Why does one man need two Barths or is it a contest, He who dies with the most Barths wins?

It sounds like our regals have a similar setup only mine goes towards the front instead of the rear. good tips for me though on filling the bowl first. Have you ever looked at the tanks and seen what the pitch to the drain is?
Kelly

Pease keep in mind we have Mary Ray who owns three Barthmobiles. Several of our members have two Barthmobiles.

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Being in the sanitary sewer business, I can tell you that Steve VW is correct. In modern Residential and Commercial sewer applications there is not enough water with modern low flush toilets. Solids need to be carried by enough water at a 1 to 2% slope. In motor homes if there is horizontal pipe carrying solids to the black water tank, the grade will change depending how the rig is parked. Motor homes are designed to save even more water than a standard low flush toilet. Filling the bowl if you do not have a direct drop to your black tank is the important key here. Extra water, will overcome the short falls, that incorrect slope will cause. Extra water will also overcome the crud and build up of the interior of old pipes. So the next time you are hooked up to fresh unlimited water and sanitary sewer with your Barth flush the system with generous amounts of water. Flushing extra water to clean pipes, also should be done at home, especially if you have made the mistake of buying a new "water conserving toilet" for your home.

quote:

Originally posted by McMuck:
Hi Steve! I have to ask..... Why does one man need two Barths or is it a contest, He who dies with the most Barths wins?

It sounds like our regals have a similar setup only mine goes towards the front instead of the rear. good tips for me though on filling the bowl first. Have you ever looked at the tanks and seen what the pitch to the drain is?
Kelly

I got my first Barth (also my first RV) from my sister in law. I didn't know what I was getting into and it turns out we really like the RV life in the south in winter. As for "Barth" we stumbled onto it as did she. After numerous projects to get it about done and up to my standards, we wanted a slightly bigger one. Also having put 45000 miles on the gasser I decided a diesel was more tuned to long haul needs.

Having experience with the Barth quality and this cool site full of exceptional owners, we were hooked on Barths. We knew if we didn't buy the Monarch we might never see another one come up for sale.

As for the Regal, it is paid for, costs me nothing to keep stored in my airplane hangar. I will never get back what I have into it, no hurry to sell and we may want to downsize in a few years. It still needs some body work in the wheel wells which I can now do at my leisure instead of between road trips.

I paid 10k for it, have at least 20k more into it now. (I don't really keep track) Be lucky to get 15k when I sell it, even with new engine, trans, AC, heater, brakes, fuel injection, lines, hoses, LED lights, tires, radiator, sway bar, air bags, the list goes on. (Just check my project threads)

Worth every penny for the great times we've had.

Yes, my name is Steve, I am a Barth junkie...

My black tank is flat on the bottom and usually drains fairly well through a short drain pipe and slide valve.

Have Barths, will travel

Hi Folks! So this isn't really a forum, It's Barths anonymous : )
One of the things I'm finding with Barth is there are so many different configurations on so many different chassis it makes it a bit difficult to find another coach with the same setup for comparison. Mine's been fiddled with over the years and I'd like to get it back to what Barth designed as I'm reasonably confident they knew what they were doing with regard to washroom and holding tank configuration. One of the things I've need considering is a maceration toilet but the area is very small so my options are limited and I'm struggling to find good feedback on the units that can work size wise. Does anyone have any experience with the Dometic 7100 series, I believe the RV version is a 7120.
Kelly

You have the variation thing right. Never saw two identical. Between factory options and later owner mods they are all over the place.

Diesels had MCC, Spartan or Gillig chassis. Detroit diesels, Caterpillars, Cummins.

Gassers were GM 350s, 400s, 454s, and Ford 460s, early class C had Dodge chassis. The Ford gassers seem to have less info here. Not as much for Dodge, either. Lots of stuff for GM.

Macerator toilets work really well and almost never have solid flow issues. They are really popular in marine applications, they can pump uphill to remote tanks if needed. I think they would work great in an RV.

Keep us posted. Hopefully we can help.

Have Barths, will travel

Kinda off topic, but I have carried a macerator pump for years. Don't use it often but when we do it is great. An example is when we are parked in our daughters drive way it is about 70 feet to the clean out. Standard sewer hose from tank to pump and than I have a roll up Toro hose for the next 50' and then a 10' to the clean out. Has worked great. I have also a number of times shoved the hose down a toilet to dump.

Anyway the stool and bathroom sink both dump in the black tank (this is the norm of almost all MHs) and kitchen and shower in the gray.

Hi Folks!
So just as general information I measured up my black and grey tanks tonight and after some geometry they appear to be 55 gals. The toilet and lav sink empty in in black and the rest in the grey.
my plan currently is to correct the flange where the black water dumps in as it protrudes approx 2 inched into the 4 inch section of the tank and reposition the lav sink entry point to be up hill of that to help flush the solids away. once I begin to drill and blast we'll see how thats going to work out : )
Kelly

Tyvek suits and face shields work well!

Nothing says entertainment like Black water repairs : )
Kelly

With my sewer camera I can create G-Rated Dirty Movies that the whole family can watch together. All kidding aside. My movies are filthy.