Flush water tank with bleach?

gkillmaster
gkillmaster Member Posts: 89
in Heating/Plumbing & Winterizing
Hi, and thanks for your help. We are getting ready to crank up the trailer after being dormant for a couple years. The manual says to flush the water system with 1/2 cup bleach per gallon of water, when flush with 2 tanks of fresh water. So my questions are:

1) Is this the fresh water tank they are talking about (doesn't say in my manual)
2) Seems like a lot of bleach. Is there another way you clean your system?
3) The manual is not very clear about the exact step. If someone could outline the process or know of a video that does, that would be most helpful.

We have a 2016 T@B Q Maxx

Thank you!

Greg K.
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Comments

  • ColoradoJon
    ColoradoJon Member Posts: 415
    edited April 2019
    Yes - bleaching the system disinfects the water tank and the water lines.
    That is too much bleach!  I use 1/4 cup of bleach for the entire fresh water tank.  Mix it in one gallon of fresh water, add to the tank, then top off the tank.

    This is what I do:
    Close the Alde hot water bypass valve so bleach water does not get into the hot water tank.
    Mix 1/4 cup bleach to one gallon of water, pour into the fresh water inlet.
    Top off the tank with fresh water.
    Pump fresh water through the system - sink faucet and shower faucet.  Pump enough water to pressurize the lines.
    Allow the tank and bleach water to sit in the tank/lines for a minimum of 4 hours.  I usually leave it over night.
    Drain the system completely, then re-fill and flush several times.  Run fresh water through the faucets.  It may take several rinses to get the bleach smell out.
    Open the Alde bypass valve.

    Jon & Angela | Florissant Colorado | 2017 Outback S
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  • gkillmaster
    gkillmaster Member Posts: 89
    ColoradoJon said:
    Yes - bleaching the system disinfects the water tank and the water lines.
    That is too much bleach!  I use 1/4 cup of bleach for the entire fresh water tank.  Mix it in one gallon of fresh water, add to the tank, then top off the tank.

    This is what I do:
    Close the Alde hot water bypass valve so bleach water does not get into the hot water tank.
    Mix 1/4 cup bleach to one gallon of water, pour into the fresh water inlet.
    Top off the tank with fresh water.
    Pump fresh water through the system - sink faucet and shower faucet.  Pump enough water to pressurize the lines.
    Allow the tank and bleach water to sit in the tank/lines for a minimum of 4 hours.  I usually leave it over night.
    Drain the system completely, then re-fill and flush several times.  Run fresh water through the faucets.  It may take several rinses to get the bleach smell out.
    Open the Alde bypass valve.

    This is super helpful. Thanks. Going to go do this now!
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  • gkillmaster
    gkillmaster Member Posts: 89
    @ColoradoJon, There is nowhere in the manual or documentation that I have that tells me how large the fresh water tank is on out 2016 T@B Q Maxx. Do you happen to know?
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  • ScottG
    ScottG Administrator Posts: 5,655
    edited April 2019
    I think the FW tanks in that time frame were all the same at 11 gallons.
    When I first sanitized my water system, I interpreted the bleach amount the same way you did. Let's just say it took most of that summer to get the bleach smell out of the T@B, but I had zero concerns of any cooties in my plumbing!  :-)
    2015 T@B Max S (320)
    2015 Nissan Frontier SV V6 4x4
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  • gkillmaster
    gkillmaster Member Posts: 89
    ScottG said:
    I think the FW tanks in that time frame were all the same at 11 gallons.
    When I first sanitized my water system, I interpreted the bleach amount the same way you did. Let's just say it took most of that summer to get the bleach smell out of the T@B, but I had zero concerns of any cooties in my plumbing!  :-)
    haha, yeh. So glad I wrote out to clarify! Thanks for info on tank size!
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  • gkillmaster
    gkillmaster Member Posts: 89
    edited April 2019
    So, along these lines, how do you all clean and sanitize your grey water holding tanks (we don't have black water in our TAB)? Do you need to use bleach there also?
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  • Sharon_is_SAM
    Sharon_is_SAM Member Posts: 10,061
    Once you have the very, dilute bleach solution in the fresh tank, you can open your faucets and let it run into your drains/gray tank.  Just drain your gray tank.  No reason to sanitize.  Keep your p trap filled with water to prevent any foul odors from coming up through the drain.
    Sharon / 2017 T@B CSS / 2015 Toyota Sienna Minivan / Westlake, Ohio
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  • gkillmaster
    gkillmaster Member Posts: 89
    Sharon_is_SAM said:
    Once you have the very, dilute bleach solution in the fresh tank, you can open your faucets and let it run into your drains/gray tank.  Just drain your gray tank.  No reason to sanitize.  Keep your p trap filled with water to prevent any foul odors from coming up through the drain.
    Thank you!
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  • gkillmaster
    gkillmaster Member Posts: 89
    gkillmaster said:
    ColoradoJon said:
    Yes - bleaching the system disinfects the water tank and the water lines.
    That is too much bleach!  I use 1/4 cup of bleach for the entire fresh water tank.  Mix it in one gallon of fresh water, add to the tank, then top off the tank.

    This is what I do:
    Close the Alde hot water bypass valve so bleach water does not get into the hot water tank.
    Mix 1/4 cup bleach to one gallon of water, pour into the fresh water inlet.
    Top off the tank with fresh water.
    Pump fresh water through the system - sink faucet and shower faucet.  Pump enough water to pressurize the lines.
    Allow the tank and bleach water to sit in the tank/lines for a minimum of 4 hours.  I usually leave it over night.
    Drain the system completely, then re-fill and flush several times.  Run fresh water through the faucets.  It may take several rinses to get the bleach smell out.
    Open the Alde bypass valve.

    This is super helpful. Thanks. Going to go do this now!
    @ColoradoJon, I realized that there are 2 valves to close to bypass the Alde heater. I only closed one, the red hot water line. Till that mess anything up? Also, after I did that, there seems to be an airlock and our kitchen sink faucet doesn't work. The pumps just keeps pumping but no water passes from the fresh water tank to the sink.
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  • Sharon_is_SAM
    Sharon_is_SAM Member Posts: 10,061
    @gkillmaster, now I think I understand your troubles with the pump.  To bypass the Alde, not only do you need to turn the bypass valve to open, but you must close the cold and hot water valves leading to and from the Alde.  If you go to the User Manuals under the Categories, find TaB User Manual 2017, page 49 in the upper right hand corner is the picture of the valves following winterizing.  That is the position of the valves to prevent any bleach water or antifreeze from getting in the Alde water tank.

    What has happened, you closed the Alde water exit (hot water valve), so, when you open a tap, water can not move forward.  That is why the pump keeps running and no water runs!


    Sharon / 2017 T@B CSS / 2015 Toyota Sienna Minivan / Westlake, Ohio
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  • Cbusguy
    Cbusguy Member Posts: 771
    Make sure it is Bleach without any of the extra chemicals used for clothing protection.....Just buy the cheap stuff.
    2009 GMC Canyon,   3.7 liter 
    2020 320s Boondock lite, With Lots of mods
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  • ColoradoJon
    ColoradoJon Member Posts: 415
    @gkillmaster - this diagram is from the 2016 T@B winterizing manual.  It shows the valves in Alde bypass position.  Essentially you open the bypass valve, close the hot water valve, and close the cold water valve.  This will bypass the Alde hot water tank.


    Jon & Angela | Florissant Colorado | 2017 Outback S
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