I think I have my first major "opportunity" ....

Today, I pulled the black water tank valve. Nothing came out. It was a little hard to pull so it feels like its working properly. But guess something must be wrong with it. Its only a trickle coming out. I need flow!

Has anyone had this fine opportunity to replace one of these beauties? I think I will have to drop the belly pan. I'm a bit concerned about how much trouble/work this is going to be. If I replace one, I might as well replace all three...huh?

I think I have my first major "opportunity" ....

Today, I pulled the black water tank valve. Nothing came out. It was a little hard to pull so it feels like its working properly. But guess something must be wrong with it. Its only a trickle coming out. I need flow!

Has anyone had this fine opportunity to replace one of these beauties? I think I will have to drop the belly pan. I'm a bit concerned about how much trouble/work this is going to be. If I replace one, I might as well replace all three...huh?

Our RW is a 2012. Been used quite a bit. Our black tank was difficult to close completely. We have the sewer boom on ours and I had to make sure I placed a cap on the end of the hose inside the boom to keep it from leaking on the ground until dumping. I tried lubing the cable from the cable/ tee handle end. Didn't do much. I lowered the corplast underbelly plastic to look at the valve. Cable looked good at the valve itself. It wasn't attached by allen screws like I have seen before, rather the cable was bent and went through the valve plunger and back out the other side. It didn't fall off nor was it loose. Figure the rubber seals on the paddle blade are worn or have a small nick on them. I ordered a valterra/bladex 3" kit that had the seals and new nuts and bolts. In the spring I plan on rinsing and sanitizing the black tank well with bleach and plenty of water. Remove the existing nuts and bolts, separate the valve enough to install the new seals and put it back together. The seals were less than $15. If it fixes it I am done, if not I just might have to change the valve and cable. Quite a bit more work.

Chris

I've noticed the same issue about closing for some time. Today, it just would not open at all. I'm thinking that the cable end may be broken from the valve. It still pulls and has tension on it so I don't think the cable is broke. More like the cheap plastic valve that is probably on it... We'll see I guess?

Temps are dropping between now and Friday. Saturday is supposed to be back in the 70's. A lucky last break I assume.

If anyone has words of wisdom to share, now would be the time! :sick:

Mine is at the dealers as we speak getting a couple warranty items fixed.. That is one of them... it will hold all fluid for a day or 2, then it starts to seep and is annoying.. it was in once befor, they filled the tank and let it sit overnight, no leak so they told me no need to replace..

It is still doing it, so when i made my appointment, i told them they might as well contact RW for replacement approval as I would not take it home till its replaced.. Since my warranty is on till July, i am done messing with it

If I have to open the belly of the beast up, I am thinking of installing the electric valves. Has anyone else tried these and what has been your experience? It seems on other blogs sites, most LOVE it! Many have had years of trouble free service. However, of those (a few) that have trouble, they don't like the repair work. I would say that about the manuals ones as well...Poo, Hoo, Hoo...(No pun intended)...

They do seem to require about 15 1/2" of clearance. I hope there is that much room down there. I would like to considering installing on all three tanks. I will continue to have the manual valve outside. I understand that "accidents" can happen when someone inside inadvertently hits the button while you might be trying to install the hose outside. That would not be good. 👿

I installed them on a sob and the worked fine. Install the switches in the convenience Center. Pull the screws out of the metal trim near the dump hose and you should be able to see the valve for the black. Check and make sure your tank has not fallen out of its supports. I had that problem and when I went to dump only a trickle and then it quit. Thought it was the valve.

I installed them on a sob and the worked fine. Install the switches in the convenience Center. Pull the screws out of the metal trim near the dump hose and you should be able to see the valve for the black. Check and make sure your tank has not fallen out of its supports. I had that problem and when I went to dump only a trickle and then it quit. Thought it was the valve.

That would not be good but thanks for pointing that out as a possibility.

Only need to drop the corner down where the drain line comes out (WE also have the 2014 GK)
Check the sleeve and outer wrap that covers the cable, the cable was too long on mine and had slipped out of the holder. To check pull the 2 piece cover over the cable and try working the valve. Ended up after replacing the valve and seals it still would not work properly that is when I discovered the cable was the problem.
Hope this saves you a little work as it only took me about 1 hour to do the change and repair to the cable. 30 minutes to take down the cover and put it back in place.

From my experience that's usually the case, they use a standard cable length & run it at weird angles so it doesn't pull straight. I've also found that my black valve operates easier if I add a healthy squirt of dishwashing soap or 1/4 cup of cheapo laundry detergent, on my greys I add about a 1/4 cup of cheapo cooking oil after dumping occasionally, so far mine don't leak & pull snuggly but not difficult.

I had a problem with my grey tanks. Firstly they had a slow leak which required me to get a Twist on valve so as to not have a gush of water when I went to dump.

The other thing was that the handles were so hard to pull that I ended up breaking the plastic box where the valve handles are when pushing in one of the grey valves.

Had the RV in for maintenance about 2 months ago and they ended up replacing all 3 cables, valves at the tanks and installing a new box. All now open and close much easier and no more leak. I still use the valve though to balance out the 2 grey tanks when not at a full hookup site.

Funny thing was my extended warrantee covered the valves, cables and labor to install but not the box because it wasn't "mechanical". Go figure!

Thanks all for your suggestions. My fear of the unknown comes from pulling the Corplast down. If I am in the area of the drains, it appears that the Corplast screws are put in where you can't get to them. How much trouble is it going to be to stretch it back in place? Will that be a two-person project?

As for valve repair, will I have to cut the existing valve out and re-glue or will it be a series of screws and slide out the old valve and slide in a new? Or do I just fix or install a new cable to the existing valve? If its not too much work, I'm considering the electric valves.

I'll learn more about this project tomorrow when I start this. I only have 24 hours before the cold temps return. Your experiences will help me start in the right direction. I will try to photograph and document as I go...

Danny, how are you able to lube the cable all the way to the valve? Would a lubricant spray such as WD-40 work better or worse? What about a Silicon based spray? Again, I would be concerned about the fluids making it to the valve from the handle.

On a separate note...I got the first experience about running out of propane in the middle of the night. This morning it was 34 outside and inside it was 63. Both 40# tanks were empty. They lasted about 3 weeks in 50 degree weather patterns. Luckily, I had a 20# BBQ bottle for stand-by. That should last until tanks are filled this afternoon ($30 each). It sure seems like someone could invent an electric valve to switch tanks on or at least a remote fill sensor so you could see where you were from inside... BTW...I deliberately ran both tanks dry to see how long it would actually last. We only run heat and a small amount for the propane stove top. The refrigerator and water heater are on electric. We run the electric fireplace when temps are above freezing so that the propane heat keeps the underbelly warm. I had the reserve bottle just in case. I would have rather it run out during the day. No such luck though. Brrrrr...

On mine the Coroplast is held up by metal strips along the frame and across the bottom. Undo enough screws then pull the corner down to access the tank. The Coroplast goes back up easy, one person job. Valve is held in by bolts.remove them and pull out the valve from between the abs pipe. There are rubber seals that go in on both sides of the valve. Make sure they are seated properly before tightening get it back up

GipC,

Probably should start a new thread on this but actually their are propane monitor systems available now and some in the works.

The Tech-Edge iSeries monitor system I use supports water, waste, fuel and propane tanks. It's been used in the marine world for years and is fully US Coast Guard approved. It's just recently making the jump into the realm of RVs.

The challenge is that the 90ohm propane sensors are generally only built into larger more permanent propane tanks not the 30# or 40# cylinders like what we have.

According to Tech-Edge their engineers are working on an external monitor for the cylinder propane tanks but so far they haven't achieved the reliability like the other external monitors they produce. I don't think they want to blow their Coast Guard rating with a less than ideal propane solutions.

Anyway, in the mean time I might suggest the Dometic LPGC10 LP Gas Checker. Pretty reasonably priced and works well enough for me.

Stay warm!

GipC,

Probably should start a new thread on this but actually their are propane monitor systems available now and some in the works.

The Tech-Edge iSeries monitor system I use supports water, waste, fuel and propane tanks. It's been used in the marine world for years and is fully US Coast Guard approved. It's just recently making the jump into the realm of RVs.

The challenge is that the 90ohm propane sensors are generally only built into larger more permanent propane tanks not the 30# or 40# cylinders like what we have.

According to Tech-Edge their engineers are working on an external monitor for the cylinder propane tanks but so far they haven't achieved the reliability like the other external monitors they produce. I don't think they want to blow their Coast Guard rating with a less than ideal propane solutions.

Anyway, in the mean time I might suggest the Dometic LPGC10 LP Gas Checker. Pretty reasonably priced and works well enough for me.

Stay warm!

THANKS Ken!

I suppose you have used this one?

I'll be ordering right away.

BTW...I contacted Manchester Tank. For those who have this 40# propane tank:

Cylinder Size: 40 Pounds
100% Full: 11.04 Gallons
80% Full: 9.2 Gallons

Weight of Propane Per Gallon: 4.24 Pounds

100% Full: 46.806 Pounds
80% Full: 39.008 Pounds

Add the Tare Weight of the Bottle: 30.0 (on my bottles)

39.008 Pounds Liquid
30.000 Pounds Tare Weight
69.008 Pounds at 80% Full (Max Fill due to Regulation)

I say this because I went for a fill on both cylinders today (2) x $30 = $60 (They charge by the full tank. Make sure you're empty before filling or you will cut yourself short).

When I came home and weighed them, they weighed 68.2 Pounds (pretty close) and 62.8 (short). Moral to the story, AFTER they take their equipment off, weigh the bottles again. Don't let them fill while you are in paying or take the bottles off of the scale so fast that you can't read it...Lesson learned... :angry:

$30 / 9.2 Gallons Filled = $3.26 per Gallon...

Yup, works for me.