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This post was originally written in 2017, but as of 2021, this is still our favorite RV tank treatment!
Let’s face it, no one wants to deal with smelly fumes while dumping the RV tanks. And to be honest, for a while I actually thought that was normal.
Yes, it’s embarrassing to admit but I can’t tell you how many times Eric went to dump our tanks during our first couple of months RVing and I’d be covering my face and saying “This can’t be normal! There’s gotta be a way to keep these fumes from coming inside the RV while you dump. Eeeeeew!”
Not to mention, if our grey tank became full as we attempted to squeeze in some clean dishes before dumping, you could smell it. Gross.
The RV Tank Treatment that will Make you a Happy Camper
We began our travels using the little tank treatment packets, which we purchased more out of convenience than anything else. We heard good things about them but hadn’t really dived into the world of tank treatment just yet.
We later learned about “the Geo Method” and used that for several months, which seemed to help our tank gauges read a little more accurately. While this was a natural way to keep our tanks clean, it wasn’t necessarily the most cost-effective. And although it helped cut down the smell, it didn’t eliminate it. On top of that, we sometimes found ourselves low on water softener and unable to find it nearby.
Over the past year, I heard good things about Happy Camper tank treatment. Only I couldn’t find it locally and we were moving quite a bit and didn’t have an address to send it to. To be honest, I had no idea just how big of a difference it would actually make, otherwise I would have made it a priority.
Let me say that I’m surprised more people don’t know about or use it. I think once you give this stuff a go, you won’t look back. Seriously.
Once we got to the RV repair shop I decided it was time to give it a try. I found an Amazon Locker nearby, so I added Happy Camper to my cart and went to check out. Only, I received an error message that it couldn’t be shipped to an Amazon Locker, booooo.
I thought about asking the repair shop if we could have it sent to their office, but before doing that I decided to add a different size to my cart to see if that would do the trick, and it did! Apparently, the 64-gallon treatment couldn’t be shipped to an Amazon Locker, but the 40-gallon treatment could.
Happy Camper RV Tank Treatment
It’s amazing when one product changes your life or makes something like dumping your tanks, a little less dreadful. Who knew I could get so excited about RV tank treatment? Haha. I honestly just want everyone to know how amazing it is, and that fumes coming into your RV while you dump is not normal. I’m not affiliated with them in any way, aside from adding the affiliate links to Amazon in this post. We just love their product because it works! It’s also environmentally friendly, super cost-effective, and easy to use.
It’s important to read the directions and make sure you stir it up, otherwise, it will get all hard.
We generally add 2 gallons of water to our black tank after dumping, then fill our toilet with some water, add 1 scoop of Happy Campers, then stir it around with the toilet brush, add hot water (NOT boiling), and flush. You can skip the hot water and just add more water from the toilet if you want. We’ll typically add another gallon of water to the toilet afterward and then flush it again.
We also add a gallon or two of hot water to our bathroom sink, then dump in the 1 scoop mixed with hot water, stir it up, and drain it immediately. Since our grey tank is larger than 40 gallons and the treatment is 1 scoop per 40 gallons, we will repeat the process only this time using half a scoop of Happy Campers.
Side Note: You don’t want it to sit for too long or it will solidify, although hot water will help is dissolve again.
Watch the Video
You can watch the video below showing how we add Happy Campers to our tanks, but you should know we way overcomplicated it in the beginning. We now just use our toilet wand to stir it up in the toilet and have a dedicated stirring stick we use when adding it to our bathroom sink for the gray tank. If we want to add hot water to the toilet we just add some hot water to a container or jar from our bathroom sink and dump that into the toilet.
Update: We’ve been doing this for over 4 years now and it’s been a game-changer! As in NO SMELL whatsoever when Eric goes to dump the tanks. It’s like magic. Even our tank gauges read more accurately.
This is one product we recommend every RV’er have on hand. I hope you found this post helpful and would love to hear your results if you use, or decide to switch to Happy Camper tank treatment. Our only regret is that we didn’t use it sooner.
Do you have any RV tank treatment tips or products you recommend? We’d love to hear about them in the comments below!
We are going to try this!! I’m so excited! We also have had success with using this wan do thing attached to a hose, and you insert into the toilet from the inside. It empties quicker and more completely. 👍
We keep talking about getting one of those toilet wands and I’ve probably picked one up a few times at Walmart and then put it back and thought I’d just order it from Amazon later, haha. I still think it would be handy to have one just in case, although I hope we won’t need it. Let me know how it goes once you give Happy Campers a try!
Katie
We have a pump system for our two TOILETs. We can only go 2 days max without dumping. Is this good for our System?
I definitely don’t see how it could be bad for your system, and it’s like any other black tank treatment where you generally want to use it after you dump your tanks. The only downfall would probably be going through quite a bit pretty fast but that would be the case with any treatment you use, and to be honest, we’ve been able to skip a few treatments in between dumping our tanks. I’d recommend buying a smaller container and seeing how it goes 🙂