jerr529
NY
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Please let me put my 2 cents in .It seems alot people get angry as to why when people state that they cant find certain products in the same store (Walmart).Well it seems not all stores carry calgon brand even walmarts .Different areas of the country have diff needs and some products not sold .not all brands have Nation wide need, many areas have soft water some have hard water.In north many dont use water softerners.My self we dont have calgon here so i have used other brand Water softerner Liguids and they do good job.So dont get mad because your Walmarts have it in midwest or south and others dont .Thats just the business, brand names are like that,some carry a product thats in their neck of the woods.I been to stores in midwest and down south and never heard or seen some of the products you have here where we are and im sure you havent seen brands here that you use where you live.Just look in this instance for a water softener that your area has that is good brand 
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ernestfortier
Palmdale, Calif.
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I don't believe that Calgon or any other water softener "coats the sides of the tank" Water softeners will soften the water so the soap that you add can and will clean better. The water softener will also aid in breaking down the solids including paper that you put in your black tank. The soap will slosh around and create suds which should help clean the "stuff" off of the sensors. When I flush my tank after dumping it does come out cleaner after using soap and water softener.
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lanerd
Ridgecrest, CA
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hemlox wrote:By the way, any water softener will work, it does not have to be Calgon, just make sure it is water softener, not fabric softener. Good luck.
Hi... I post this same info about once a month.... here it is again and hope it helps you out...
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Maybe this will help you understand better... There are many different "brands" of water softeners; however, be careful as one is not always as good as another. Softeners fall into either one of two "groups": Precipitating and non-precipitating, and most of the time, the labels will not tell you which is which. You have to know for your self.
The first group (precipitating) is not recommended for the GEO method as it has some characteristics that while are not harmful to our black tanks, does not really work as well. This group contains the brands: Arm and Hammer Washing Soda, Raindrops, Blue Dew, Borax, Climalene, Melo, White King Water Softener, and Borateem.
The second group (non-precipitating) is the one that is best used for the GEO Method and the brands are: Calgon (a mixture of non-precipitating and precipitating chemicals), White Rain, Blue Raindrops, and Spring Rain. These softeners ties up hardness minerals in the water and holds them in solution (sequestering). No visible particles are formed. The water remains clear and usually contains phosphates. The water feels slippery (which also makes the sides of the black tanks slippery).
So, when you can't find Calgon, look for the others....just make sure you don't buy the precipitating type. Also, it's much easier on the tanks (and you) if you only use a liquid for both the water softener and the detergent. I get my Calgon from This Place in 32oz bottles. If you "have" to use a powdered form, dilute it in a gallon of "hot" water and make sure it dissolves completely prior to putting it in your tanks. I usually order it in a case (8) and the shipping is much cheaper(per bottle) than just getting one at a time. Hope this alleviates some of the confusion.
Also, texasjayco provided me with another on-line store that you can get calgon from. HERE it is and it's much cheaper than drugstore.com.
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Quote:Posted By: ernestfortier on 10/13/08 09:18am
I don't believe that Calgon or any other water softener "coats the sides of the tank" Water softeners will soften the water so the soap that you add can and will clean better.
Take a shower in really soft water and notice how slippery your skin is after you rinse. The same thing happens to the inside of the tanks.....very slippery!
Ron
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loving retirement
SF Bay Area
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loving retirement - When the toilet paper or whatever has dried and firmly attached itself to your sensors, it may take dynamite to shake it loose. Are you sure your sensors are working. Many times you can see the wires attached to the outside of your tank. Are they all connected and tight?
*deleted part of the quote.
I may be missing something here, but with both the gray and black tanks showing 3/4 to full when empty, how could the sensors be loose or not working?
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ernestfortier
Palmdale, Calif.
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Ron, I felt the same slick feeling when I put a whole house water softener on my stick house. That is the feeling you get when you completely rinse all the soap off of your body. You can also get that same feeling when you are in a steem bath. All the impurities fall off of your body leaving it feel like your clothes are going to slide right off of you. I do believe that soft water will attack the solids in your black tank disolving them to a liquid state, and that is a good thing, less solids to stick to your sensors.
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LakeN
North Carolina
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Joined: 05/02/2003
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Have used the Calgon with detergent over the past year or so. Good results/no odor. Now & then added some Aqua Chem blue deodorant. Got a new TT & during PDI, employee said not to use Calgon or detergent because it could/would gunk up the sensors. Not sure I believe this. I think he was making a case of spending $$ for RV TP and deodorants.
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Tee Jay
Port Angeles, WA
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The Kroger chains including Fred Meyer and Albertsons also carry Calgon.
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ol Bombero-JC
USA
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Joined: 06/24/2004
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The "mega" Supermarket near me used to carry Powdered Calgon, then stopped.
But - with a bit of looking found liquid Calgon in the same market.
Go back and read what "lanerd" had to say!
There *IS* a difference.
Compare the ingredients in White King vs Calgon.
~
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joanne0012
Boston, MA
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LakeN wrote:Have used the Calgon with detergent over the past year or so. Good results/no odor. ...employee said not to use Calgon or detergent because it could/would gunk up the sensors. Not sure I believe this. I think he was making a case of spending $$ for RV TP and deodorants.
Opinions??
Experience (yours and others) proves that he's wrong about the Calgon and everybody knows that special RV TP is unnecessary.
I suppose he might have been thinking of the bath-type Calgon, which contains oils and stuff that are intended to coat your skin and which could cause problems for sensors, but there's no way that detergent could do that.
Joanne
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JoeH
Apollo Beach,FL
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I'm about 70 miles north of you and our local Publix has it in the laundry section -- maybe your local Publix might have it also
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