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My review is for Happy Camper holding tank treatment. We are in Lake Havasu Arizona where it gets very hot in the summer. I have tried different products to curb the odor in the black water tanks in the heat. Happy Camper is by far the best product I have found. We have stayed up to a week in Las Vegas in the summer without dumping the black water. No odor in the camper and no odor after dumping. All my sensors are still working on a 2007 TC. Their website says you can use 2 ply TP and gives you a test to see if it is compatible. I highly recommend it. I get it from Amazon and use it as directed.



Last edited by Eric Dye
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Good day From Mesa.

         Thanks for the info, have been looking at Happy Camper and will give it try in our 2465 when we get it. One question, do you premix it before adding it to to the tank? And do you use some in the gray tank? Were coming from a Whitewater Retro that has small tanks and looking for info on keeping the 45 gal tanks fresh on our unit.

I premix one scoop with a gallon of water and dump in toilet. I then add two more gallons of water. I have never used any in my grey water tank, but you can if it gets an odor. If you go to the link in my top post there is a tab on the top of the page that is labelled  "tank tips" it has the best advise I have seen for holding tanks. I have a 40 gallon each black and grey tanks and have never had a problem with happy camper. It doesn't try to mask the smell like other chemicals, it eliminates them. 

Congratulations on your new trailer. 

Happy Camper is amazing stuff.  We don't do any premix, but just put a scoop in the bowl and flush it.  The enzymes feast on the organic material in the tank vs. deodorants that just mask the smell.

Probably not a bad idea to use it in the grey tank as well, from time to time.  There's no detriment in using Happy Camper.

Curious why Amazon won't deliver this to our CA address.  Recently, even an identical to what we have shower head replacement for our home couldn't be sent.

From what I understand, California changed their laws, banning certain chemicals or such.  Gary’s CO alarm fell victim to the changes and why he had it shipped to me in Arizona.  Happy Camper might have to change their formula to meet the current California standards.  It’s easier to just not ship to California.

I noticed that the camping stores in Oregon were well stocked with it.

I switched to Happy Camper 1-1/2 years ago after finding the Tech Tank treatment I had been using did nothing to squelch odors. I found the HC is extremely effective at removing odor buildup and I assume it does an adequate job at breaking up the poo though I think most do well.

The past 9 months I have started to notice an increase in what appears to be Uric Acid Struvite (see photos in LINK and LINK) on the bottom of the black tank. I never witnessed these for 4-1/2 years but only about 9 months after I started using HC. So I have now switched back to a treatment I was using before the Tech Tank stuff, Pure Power. It never left any deposits on the bottom of the black tank on either the 2020 or 2014 Lance trailers and it too was effective in removing the odors. It is an enzyme type of treatment and I had good luck with it before.

Last edited by R&V Spiker

We have used Happy Camper since the early 80’s and have had no problems with until about four years ago when I did some solo winter camping for three months. Three months with no ability to empty the tank or move the trailer. It was harder the get the tank emptied and flushed than usual.

Then a new Grandbaby came along and we started doing some moochdocking at my daughter’s house for one or two months at a time. The trailer was stationary and I emptied weekly with a macerator. I rigged up the macerator discharge with a clear plastic tube to observe what went through.

I have come to the conclusion that HC likes trailer movement as in driving down the road and sloshing things around. I went to Unique RV Digest-it and found it does a better job than HC when the trailer is stationary. I can recommend it highly.

I have always treated my gray ranks with HC and had no problems with odors or anything. When I went to Unique I started using it in my gray tanks too; and again no problems. Since I have a lot of HC on hand I think I will continue to use it up in the gray tanks.

Nothing against "Happy Campers", just offering an alternative.

Have used this tank treatment in our RV's since we started RVing. Np chemical or perfume odor. Actually, no odor whatsoever. It just works, from freezing up to 118°+ in the shade (like this past week ). Wish we'd known about it back in our sailboat days.

Available at Walmart, Home Depot and on Amazon. (Links below)

Oxy-Kem Walmart     Oxy-Kem Home Depot    Oxy-Kem Amazon

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We’ve used Happy Camper in our C glass and our lance trailer!!! It’s the best by far… As a resident of California I have to send it to sons house in Nevada and get it from him… Crazy regulations, nothing we California folks can do…. Besides moving out of state…

That is what I did 19 years ago. It was a great decision. It seems that scores are following me. I have several friends who are just putting their last few years in to get their retirement. Some have already bought property out of state and are waiting for the magic day.

My family moved to CA in the mid 50's, I graduated HS in 1969 and it truly was the Golden State; I could not conceive of living anywhere else. But alas, things changed......

I ordered the unique, I sit for several months, every summer and use macerator.  I normally move every two weeks, but with temps in 90s and above, I've been noticing it.

They have several choices, extra strength, classic and liquid/pods, along with cleaners and such.

Walmart had decent price on both, extra strength was almost double of classic, but classic is available for pick up.  I ordered extra strength liquid, for summer, but will probably go with classic on the road.  I've tried "pods" before, in other products and they didn't travel well in heat and humidity.

@RobertMT posted:

I ordered the unique, I sit for several months, every summer and use macerator.  I normally move every two weeks, but with temps in 90s and above, I've been noticing it.

They have several choices, extra strength, classic and liquid/pods, along with cleaners and such.

Walmart had decent price on both, extra strength was almost double of classic, but classic is available for pick up.  I ordered extra strength liquid, for summer, but will probably go with classic on the road.  I've tried "pods" before, in other products and they didn't travel well in heat and humidity.

I have found, both with HC and Unique, that after a few weeks it is good to add some additional treatment to the partially filled tank.

@RobertMT posted:

I have to report, after week of adding Unique, tank still doesn't smell like roses, in 90°+ temps.  I'm hopeful those stinky little bugs are happy at least.

During our last trip our blank tank was super funky on the first night after driving 200 miles in 100+ temps. I added a bunch of the Unique toilet cleaner, which was all I had on hand but has the same microbes as the tank treatment, along with several gallons of fresh water before our 250 mile drive to the next stop. The smell was much better when we arrived. I went to Ace the next day and found the Unique tank treatment. I added a few ounces and the tank had zero smell for the rest of the trip, but the ambient temps were a lot lower there.

You may need to dump, add your treatment with ~5 gallons of water, then drive a few miles to really agitate things. The bacteria needs to bloom.

Last edited by MrFancypants

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