Electric dump valves

Does anyone use the electric dump valves If so what problems have you had and would you use them again

Waste of money. You still have to go outside to dump your black tank and flush. Plus just adding to the future problems

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I use them on my Elkridge Xtreme Lite. . They work great. No need to reach under to pull valve handles.

I changed out my cable operated valves for the Barkley electric valves about 10 years ago. Works great, I will never have another cable operated dump valve. Works flawlessly.

Have been using the electric valves for a little over a year. They work great. Don't have to worry about the cable breaking.

carl.swoyer said:

Waste of money. You still have to go outside to dump your black tank and flush. Plus just adding to the future problems

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(Sorry for the long post ahead of time)

I beg to differ regarding the "waste of money" comment.

After dealing with cable operated valves on 4 RV's through the years. We opted for electric, namely the Drainmaster brand after we purchased our new Heartland Bighorn in 2019. The valves proved a bit of a challenge to install ourselves, but after 4 years of service...it was well worth the cost and effort. The manufacturer offers both internal and external switch sets. We purchased and installed both. The external set is located inside the water control locker where the cable pull handles were. The internal set is located inside the coach on the wall below the LCI One Control panel.

We travel extensively and pretty much live in this rig full-time. I tend to exhibit OCD tendencies relative to holding tank maintenance and control. Every six months we typically return to base to perform needed maintenance. We power wash all three holding tanks at this time. I have cut-in 1 1/2" clean out tees above each tank venting to facilitate easier and to more efficiently access each tank.

When on the road, ALL tanks are kept closed until ready to dump. Between the washer, shower and galley use, both gray tanks run close to 100% in the short span of 1 to 2 days. The black tank begs to be dumped anywhere from the 4 to 7 day mark. We run a mixture of 40 oz of Pine Sol, 8 oz of Calgon liquid and the remaining with water to help fill up a gallon jug. Everytime each tank is dumped, a 1/2 cup of this mixture is sent down the drain with a gallon or two of running water. This procedure also helps the sensors tremendously, providing more consistent and accurate levels.

Our gray tank dump interval demands regular (accurate) monitoring. To simplify the whole process...enter the coach installed valve switches while walking past them. No need to go outside. Check the levels on the One Control, hit the required valve switch(s) to dump, walk away and let it do it's thing for 5 to 10 mins. Walk by once again, close the valves. Done. We can do the black tank the same way in inclement weather from inside the coach, but we try to run the factory tank flush in conjunction with the dump which yes, requires bodily presence at the water locker.

In the four plus years we have been running this setup, we have experienced ZERO issues electrically or mechanically. At the three year mark during one of our power wash timings, I did remove all three valves, thoroughly cleaned them up and reapplied moly lube to the gates for preemptive maintenance. I have never been able to go beyond 2 years with cable operated valves. They've either gotten extremely difficult to function or came close to getting either stuck in the open or closed position.

Your mileage may vary.

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