Replaced 3" Black Tank Gate Valve

Been having some leakage from the black tank from day 1 (Aug 2013). Not much, maybe a cup of liquid only. I always though there was a low spot in the 3" pipe where the water hung out.

Well, more recently, more than a cup was found at the end of the pipe at the cap and it wasn't just water and it wasn't getting better.

I have what I thought was a pretty decent system of tank usage, drainage and flushing. It's served me well for years. So, not knowing if I had a pipe issue, cable issue or valve issue, I had Heartland send me a 3" gate valve and a cable.

I decided I didn't want to tackle this job, so I took the RV over to an independent servicer just outside of Crossville, TN (Creston RV Service) - just a few miles from my home and he came recommended.

After they tore into it, they determined it was the valve and that the cable was too long. Long story short, they replaced the valve and shortened the original cable by 4".

The longer story is that I had debris/paper jammed pretty tight in the valve blade track. This jam allowed liquid and some non-liquid to pass. Oops. We do use a toilet paper that breaks up pretty well, though not single ply. That's never going to fly with the DW.

I might start using the Thetford blue tank stuff with formaldehyde as I need more help digesting the tank as we are generally setup for so short of a time. We shall see

We feel your pain...we just had to replace the shower drain valve. At least it wasn't the black...but boy, what a job!! Hope not to have to do that again!!

I had that on a couple of my rigs. Open the drain cap and there was maybe a few cups of liquid surprise in there.
Instead of going after the internal valve or cable that was the problem, I just took the drain cap off, knocked the pins off and glued another gate valve on the pipe end and reinstall the cap and your done.
I've done that on my BC just in case .

Jim,
We were using the cushy, thick Camco RV 2-ply tissue, until I realized it wasn't breaking up in the tank. It would come through the clear sewer elbow after a week, looking just like when it went in. This was while we were using Black Tank treatments.

We have now switched to the Scott Rapid dissolving RV tissue that is sold at Walmart. It is still fairly cushy (better than most) and breaks up well in the tank. I have not used chemicals in my tank for two years, with no known problems. (Knock on wood)

We are currently only using Dawn Dish Soap and Calgon, or Downey Fabric Softener (which is cheaper and easier to find). Trace

TandT said:

Jim,
We were using the cushy, thick Camco RV 2-ply tissue, until I realized it wasn't breaking up in the tank. It would come through the clear sewer elbow after a week, looking just like when it went in. This was while we were using Black Tank treatments.

We have now switched to the Scott Rapid dissolving RV tissue that is sold at Walmart. It is still fairly cushy (better than most) and breaks up well in the tank. I have not used chemicals in my tank for two years, with no known problems. (Knock on wood)

We are currently only using Dawn Dish Soap and Calgon, or Downey Fabric Softener (which is cheaper and easier to find). Trace

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We have used the Scott RV tissue from day one of our short RV ownership. See little sign of it passing thru the clear sewer elbow when dumping. I use commercial chemical packets plus some liquid Calgon plus I remind the DW to use lots of water. No issues so far!

I had one of my gray water valves changed out some time ago. I have not had a problem with the Black Water valve yet. I use Angle Soft TP and do not use any chemicals. An old friend that had been fulltiming for over 20 years told me to just plenty of water and TP that will dissolve in a quart jar when you shake it up. I have no sewer smell and have had no problem with the Black Water Valve yet.

FWIW
BC

Thanks for all the comments.

We use one of the Scott types. I know it dissolves as I've tested it. Don't think it's the 1-play though. But, maybe we used a few rolls from home that was the really good stuff

After I dump the tanks my DW puts a mix of laundry soap and softener in the tanks. We use regular tissue and never have had a problem. I read where White King Water softener will clean out your tanks and restore the tank readers. I am going to give it a try sometime to see if it really works.

Hey Jim:
I have had a little leaked by from the black tank valve since taking delivery of my 14 Landmark. I did not want the belly tore into so I simply added an additional knife valve in the waste pipe just below the corrugated belly material before the grey tank line joins at the elbow. Simply and easy and no trip back to dealer.

Just curious here. For those of you that use the calgone, dawn, etc, could you explain how much you use and the frequency? Previously in our other rigs over 10 years we never had a problem just using plenty of water and thorough tank flushing. Now with the current rig the "down" pipe to the black tank is actually horizontal, a very very poor idea, and it is causing problems for us.

I use "about" a tablespoon of Dawn and about 1-2 ozs of calgon, or Downey.

I am also from the school of using plenty of water, unless I am boondocking. Trace

Jim,
I've been using a product called Unique for a few years now in the black tank. We use Angel Soft TP, and when I drain the black tank, all that comes out is colored water...no solids or TP (unless it was recently deposited). I'm sold on it, & keep it on hand. I know Ron Hoover RV in Donna has it if you want to get some to try. Here is their website, I've not ordered it off the net, I've just bought it when I can find it, it isn't something that every RV dealer/supply house has in stock.

Jim:
I have heard a lot of positive, swear-by-it postings on the internet for Happy Camper tank additive. I truly do not know how well it digests paper, but I believe I had a little of the same problem you had with the cap area leakage which seems to be gone. The tank odors are definitely gone. I'm still early in my evaluation of this product, but so far it seems pretty good.
I don't know of any stores that sell it, but they have their own websites, and you can also get it through Amazon. Amazon usually has free shipping.

TXBobcat said:

TP that will dissolve in a quart jar when you shake it up.

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I tried that with Charmin and another brand, that I don't remember, and it would not dissolve. I've tried lots of chemicals/concoctions and I like Thetford's Campa Chem. Everything dissolves, good odor control in 100+ degree temperatures, and it contains a surfactant which helps lubricate the valves.

MrRvGypsy said:

Hey Jim:
I have had a little leaked by from the black tank valve since taking delivery of my 14 Landmark. I did not want the belly tore into so I simply added an additional knife valve in the waste pipe just below the corrugated belly material before the grey tank line joins at the elbow. Simply and easy and no trip back to dealer.

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Will - the guy that replaced my valve is super-adamant that cable pulls should never be used. He's ludly opinionated on a lot of things about the RV industry Pretty sharp guy actually.

He prefers and does a lot of conversions to rod-pulls. He does as you did. Where the pipes go perpendicular to the frame, he moves his valves there. Then he threads rod onto the valve assembly and out through the frame to a handle. In this case, he ends up with 3 or 4 handles along the frame - not co-located. With the rod system, you know when your valve is fully open and fully closed.

While I think he is right, that using rod pulls are a better system, I don't see the industry changing to this in any wholesale way. The convenience of having all the tank handles in one place (UDC) is really nice. But perhaps at the expense a system that may perform better longer term.

jbeletti said:

Will - the guy that replaced my valve is super-adamant that cable pulls should never be used. He's ludly opinionated on a lot of things about the RV industry Pretty sharp guy actually.

He prefers and does a lot of conversions to rod-pulls. He does as you did. Where the pipes go perpendicular to the frame, he moves his valves there. Then he threads rod onto the valve assembly and out through the frame to a handle. In this case, he ends up with 3 or 4 handles along the frame - not co-located. With the rod system, you know when your valve is fully open and fully closed.

While I think he is right, that using rod pulls are a better system, I don't see the industry changing to this in any wholesale way. The convenience of having all the tank handles in one place (UDC) is really nice. But perhaps at the expense a system that may perform better longer term.

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The problem with doing this Jim, is it leaves fluid in exposed drain pipe instead of all fluid being left in tank....in extremely cold weather the fluid in the pipe will freeze...negating the usefullness of the heated belly and tank heaters. That's why we fixed our cable...couldn't use tank heaters until we were sure fluid was remaining in tank and not all leaking out...

kakampers said:

The problem with doing this Jim, is it leaves fluid in exposed drain pipe instead of all fluid being left in tank....in extremely cold weather the fluid in the pipe will freeze...negating the usefullness of the heated belly and tank heaters. That's why we fixed our cable...couldn't use tank heaters until we were sure fluid was remaining in tank and not all leaking out...

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Kathy - I hear what you are saying.

With the valve position changed to "after" a 90 out of the tank, there could be as little as a few inches of straight pipe to fit the valve on. Agreed, tank material would be in the 90 and the small section of pipe between the 90 and the valve. However, all of this is still up in the insulated and heated underbelly, same as the tank. All the combining of pipes downline after the valves takes place below the underbelly. For sure you wouldn't want anything in there.

Old Tanker, I use calgon water softener and dawn or detergent about a cup of detergent and 2 cap fulls and 6 gallon of water. We do this when we dump . Has worked for us for the last 10 years.

Not sure about dawn I just put a good squirt in the water. I put the water in first so I don't get alot of subs.

I asked my DW about amounts of detergent & softner. About a cup each.