Black water valve slow leak

[scottknight1]

every day now, I have a pint or so of brown water in my valterra clear pipe.
any tips on how to check and or repair the seals on I assume my black water tank?

Thx

 

[scottknight1]

I have a 2017 big horn 3160

 

[cookie]

Put your Valtara valve on the drain pipe and your clear valve on to the Valtara.
Never remove the Valtara valve.
Mine has been on for about ten years now.

Posse
Dave

 

[scottknight1]

thx for the tip....
mine valterra is not able to come apart, so I bought a stand-alone valterra to put in front of clear tube..
my fear is I live in WA and I'm afraid the 3" pipe behind the new valterra valve may crack if the temps get in the 20s like they have with the 3" black pipe completely full..

 

[JohnDar]

You may have either a defective tank valve or some debris trapped in the slot that the valve blade seats in when closed. For the former, it may be the cable is not traveling far enough to fully close the valve, or the valve body screws have loosened. To deal with that will require dropping part of the coroplast or making an opening to access the valve. For the latter, getting TP or other organic materials out of the slot might be possible by adding tank treatment chemical to the tank and then backflowing water up the sewer connection to open tank valve and letting it sit for a period of time, possibly dissolving or loosening it. Do not fill the tank, add just water enough to try to cover the lower portion of the valve opening and let the concentrated chemical try to do its job.

 

[scottknight1]

John,
thx for the tips.... do you recommend a certain tank treatment that might dissolve the debris? is Unique Di-gest It an example? thx

 

[RoadJunkie]

I also have a '17 model and the valve became difficult to fully close; there was not a positive feedback to the closure. I ended up installing an electric Valtera valve and it really works well. I did not find it to be a difficult install and all plumbing and flanges remained in place while just replacing one valve with the other.

 

[scottknight1]

Wow! sounds like quite a job.... so I need to drop the belly pan and then get up to the side of the black tank to do so?

 

[RoadJunkie]

Wow! sounds like quite a job.... so I need to drop the belly pan and then get up to the side of the black tank to do so?

No, I just cut a flap near the drain line. It happens that on my model it was quite accessible. I cleaned the tank out extremely well and then used the level system to tilt the rig away from the drain line to eliminate flow. Just unbolt the four bolts holding in the valve and replace with the new valve. Run a 12Vdc power line and install the switch in the docking station. Some users use the same abandoned hole from the cable handle mount. This is a simplification, but not by much.

 

[scottknight1]

Ok. Thx!!! Appreciate the quick response !!

 

[scottknight1]

No, I just cut a flap near the drain line. It happens that on my model it was quite accessible. I cleaned the tank out extremely well and then used the level system to tilt the rig away from the drain line to eliminate flow. Just unbolt the four bolts holding in the valve and replace with the new valve. Run a 12Vdc power line and install the switch in the docking station. Some users use the same abandoned hole from the cable handle mount. This is a simplification, but not by much.

could you do me a favor? can you take photos of where you put your switch? where your cut out is located? do you have 2017 big horn 3160? can you describe where you cut into a 12v line? I assume it is not accessible to take a photo? I think I am going to buy a Valterra EZ Valve 3" Electric Waste Valve System. Is that the one you have? thx for all your help!!!!! greatly appreciated.....