Road hazard got me

davidmurphy02 · 11-21-2021, 05:59 PM

Last day of a two month trip. Stopped for gas just outside the RV park and saw dripping from the dump valve. The handle was out a little, pushed it back in and found that something had hit the foam, took a chunk off, and evidently struck the black valve handle. The black valve body is still attached but flopping back and forth, guess I am lucky it didn't break off completely.

Of course this happened to be one of those rare days traveling with a full black tank, we had been boondocking and no dump station available so planned to dump tomorrow morning at the RV park before we head home.

Sure hope the black valve opens...otherwise I'll be wishing it had just broken completely off on the highway. At least this is the last day of our trip...assuming I can get the black tank emptied tomorrow it shouldn't be too bad to replace the broken valve...I hope!

Shearwater · 11-21-2021, 06:16 PM

Well that stinks.

davidmurphy02 · 11-21-2021, 06:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shearwater

Well that stinks.

But would have stunk worse if it had happened in the middle of our trip, in the middle of nowhere, so I am trying to look at the bright side.

davidmurphy02 · 11-21-2021, 10:30 PM

Sigh...trying to go to sleep and just realized that if the black valve handle is flopping side to side that must mean that the flanges on the fittings on both sides of the valve are broken. This may be a lot more major than just replacing the black valve...

davidmurphy02 · 11-22-2021, 08:12 AM

Well, upon closer inspection in the light of day it looks like the flanges are OK on the pipes, the blade valve body that sticks out took the impact and bent over but fortunately did not break off. So looks like all I will have to do is replace the blade valve.

Anyone who has replaced a blade valve have any tips to share? I did one 15 years ago, seems like the tricky part was getting the new valve in place without dislodging the rubber O ring seals on each side.

Iowa Dave · 11-22-2021, 08:30 AM

Use a suitable lubricant on the O Ring? That would be my only guess. I’ve never done one of those but I know I would go slow, and have a couple pairs of good rubber gloves where I could access them. (Couldn’t bear to say on hand).
Iowa Dave

MVA · 11-22-2021, 08:31 AM

We had to replace the black and gray valves due to "sticking". Since you also spray foam on the trailer, you will need to remove the foam from the black tank to the gray tank around the drain lines so they can flex. You will need to slightly flex the lines to slip out the black valve.

Edit - be careful (don't ask why!) of the black tank sensor wires when you remove the foam.

Centex · 11-22-2021, 09:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MVA

Edit - be careful (don't ask why!) of the black tank sensor wires when you remove the foam.

Thankfully on David's 5.0 the black tank and its sensor wires are above the floor; but the grey tank sensor wires are adjacent / near the drain pipe fitting.

Hopefully the foam prevented any disturbance at the respective tank fittings!

David - I hope the repair goes easy with minimal stink

sleepy · 11-22-2021, 09:56 AM

E-hhhh, I am trying to avoid all the easy lines about the job you have ahead of you.

But sharing some photos of the access and repair would be interesting though.

ATHiker · 11-22-2021, 09:57 AM

Full black tank, broken valve.....seems like a job for a professional at their site.

Vermilye · 11-22-2021, 10:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iowa Dave

Use a suitable lubricant on the O Ring? That would be my only guess. I’ve never done one of those but I know I would go slow, and have a couple pairs of good rubber gloves where I could access them. (Couldn’t bear to say on hand).
Iowa Dave

I use plumber's silicone grease. It will help hold the "O" rings in the groves while sliding the valve in place. I did have a problem with my 2017 21 - the metal plumber's tape Escape uses to support the piping makes it difficult to get the two sides of the drain apart enough to slide in the new valve. The screws that hold the tape to the trailer body were buried under the pipe. I suggest a Valterra metal handled valve - the reason I had to replace mine is the plastic handle snapped.

Ron in BC · 11-22-2021, 11:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iowa Dave

have a couple pairs of good rubber gloves where I could access them. (Couldn’t bear to say on hand).
Iowa Dave

Yes, rubber gloves would be quite handy for this type of work.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sleepy

E-hhhh, I am trying to avoid all the easy lines about the job you have ahead of you.

Oh trust me, many of us probably thought of a response along the lines of "Well that's a pretty ..........situation."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vermilye

I use plumber's silicone grease. It will help hold the "O" rings in the groves while sliding the valve in place.

I agree, I'm a big fan of using silicone grease for things like this. Definitely makes things slide easier and holds things like "O" rings in place. Every tool box should have some.

Ron

AZCowboy · 12-01-2021, 12:41 PM

I picked up a rock on the road that wrecked my gray water valve so I made a fender to prevent future disasters. See photo.

Fred

The vertical tube shows how full the gray water tank is because the red light display for tank contents, black or gray water, is unreliable.

davidmurphy02 · 12-01-2021, 01:13 PM

Well, I got my black valve replaced this morning but, like so many things, it turned out to be more difficult than I had expected. I first cut away just enough of the spray foam to access the nuts on the back of the flange at the valve. Got the nuts and bolts out, but the pipes/fittings on each side of the valve have to pull apart a good bit to remove the old valve and insert the new one. There's a lip on each pipe, about 1/4" or so, that sticks into the opening in the valve and seats on the gasket so the pipes need to come apart almost 3/4" to clear everything. Thanks to the spray foam, they did not move at all.

So next I cut away all the spray foam from the black pipe. That big, stiff pipe doesn't have hardly any flex in it even with the spray foam gone because it only goes a very short distance before elbowing up into the trailer. So next I cut away almost all the spray foam around the gray pipe, not quite all the way back to the tank because I didn't want to disturb that fitting at the tank that others have had trouble with. That made it possible to pry the two ends of the pipe away from the blade valve a little further. I was able to finally work the old valve out, but it was really dragging as I pulled it out and dislodged the rubber seals. Working alone, pushing on the pipe with one hand to pull it apart and trying to insert the new valve with the other, I just couldn't get the opening far enough apart to not hit the new valve and dislodge the rubber seals when inserting it.

This seemed like a two person job - I thought if I could pull the pipes apart with both hands I could get that extra bit of opening between them while another person who could see what they were doing could carefully work the new valve in without scraping the rubber gaskets and dislodging them. Alan E. ("Centex") graciously offered to come over this morning and help me with that, and after only a minimal bit of grunting and groaning we managed to get the new valve in place. Testing with a couple of gallons of water indicated that it is water-tight, although to be extra sure I added some more water and will check it again in a day or two to make sure it's not allowing a small amount to trickle through.

On a trailer with a different plumbing arrangement and longer exposed black/gray pipes it would no doubt be a lot easier to pull them apart the 3/4" needed, and replacing a valve would be no big deal. I was kind of at my wits' end several days ago after repeated failed attempts, and am really grateful to Alan for lending both physical and moral support this morning to get this done. If we had needed another 1/8" of separation I don't think we'd have been able to get it....really glad to have this behind me!

Centex · 12-01-2021, 02:19 PM

Glad it all worked out David, it was great to visit, be able to lend a hand, and have a chance to view the innards of the black valve/gaskets firsthand (though I hope neither of us needs to see that again

).

FYI two things I checked on mine upon returning home:

That 'cap lanyard button' is on the bottom of mine
The angle of the 3" outlet can be rotated as it could on my Casita - upward for clearance or downward for more free-flowing drain.

FYI of others, at some point ETI started installing a rubber coupling in the gray pipe run between the tank and the valve on the 5.0 (my August 2021 build, for example). That slightly flexible coupling allows some 'wiggle-room' making the process of R&R either the black- or gray-valve much easier than on David's 'all rigid' assembly. Hopefully none of us ever needs that wiggle-room, but it's nice to know it's there.

Ron in BC · 12-01-2021, 04:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidmurphy02

and after only a minimal bit of grunting and groaning we managed to get the new valve in place.

For some jobs I think that's the best you can hope for.

I do like the clamped rubber sleeves for these situations.

Anyway, done, good work.

Ron

davidmurphy02 · 12-01-2021, 04:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ron in BC

For some jobs I think that's the best you can hope for.

I do like the clamped rubber sleeves for these situations.

Anyway, done, good work.

Ron

Those clamped rubber sleeves are looking even more attractive now. I guess if we had just not been able to move the pipes enough to get the new valve in, Plan B would have been to cut out a section of the gray pipe, replace the valve, and then put the gray pipe back together with a rubber sleeve.

I had intended to take and post a few photos of the whole process but it turned out to be more hassle than I thought and I got wrapped up in it and just didn't mess with photos. I did rinse out the black tank really, really well before starting this - highly recommend doing that.