Finally fixed that leaking Black Water valve!!

[kakampers]

Several months back we discovered that the black tank valve was not seating properly, which was allowing all the fluids to drain from the tank...NOT GOOD!! Luckily we have an additional Valtrex blade valve at the very end of the sewer connection...we kept that closed along will all the waste valves and this kept water backed up into the black tank until we could get it repaired. Finally tackled that puppy in the last two days....

DH did not want to risk "pinching" or tearing the rubber seals on either side of the valve, as it is a very tight fit, and trying to just remove the old valve and pull cable and replace would be very difficult. To solve this problem, he basically cut the valve systems completely out, which are all in close proximity to each other (we actually replaced all three...if we were gonna drop the belly, why not after five years of fulltime use) and used two in-line 1-1/2" to 1-1'2" rubber boots with metal sleeves to put it all back. This made replacing the valves very easy, with lots of room to work, and then he only had a "tight" fit on the last of the two rubber boots. Although it was time consuming, the actual project only took about 2-3 hours...and NOT ONE LEAK!! Nothing pinched, nothing torn...and the pulls work better than new!! YEAH!!!

Oh, and the problem was toilet tissue had been lodged in where the edge of the valve "seated" when closed...there was no rinsing it out...it was packed in there tight from repeated opening and closing of the valve. Now if the valve ever has an issue, we just need to undo the rubber boots, pull the valve out, clean it and replace...well, DH gets to do that "lovely" job....LOL!!!

 

[jbeletti]

Nice work Ken! Thanks for sharing, Kathy. Jim

 

[TXBobcat]

Hay Kathy... We did the same thing when we replaced the 1 1/2" Gray Water valve but not quite as nice as your repair. We didn't replace all three but so far they are all working well. I wish they would put in a boot in all three originally. I also wish they would use 3" for all three so they would drain faster...




BC

 

[FordMan1966]

Everything that I have read and the guy that is doing the PDI where I am picking our 2013 Landmark Grand Canyon up at this afternoon, has said that almost every water connection is always loose when the rvs come in from the factory. One of the first things that he does on his PDI list is tighten these connections.

 

[kakampers]

Everything that I have read and the guy that is doing the PDI where I am picking our 2013 Landmark Grand Canyon up at this afternoon, has said that almost every water connection is always loose when the rvs come in from the factory. One of the first things that he does on his PDI list is tighten these connections.

One thing I can say about our '08 Bighorn...it's never had a leak, not from the day we got it. The only plumbing issue we had, except for the above drain issue, was the plastic back-flow valve on the water heater cracked after three years of use. Replaced that with brass and no more issue. Oh, yeah, and the back-flow for the blackwater flush went last year...we have the old installation in the wall in the closet next to the door, which was fixed starting in '09, when they moved it to behind the access panel in the shower. Other than those two...absolutely NO leaks!! Our PEX connections have been flawless...guess it was built on a good day!! LOL

Even when we pulled the belly pan for this repair...perfectly dry!! Love our Bighorn...

 

[danemayer]

Everything that I have read

Would you mind sharing where you've read all this information about frequent loose water connections on Heartland products? I haven't seen that on this forum and if there's another good information source about Heartland RVs, I'd like to know so I can keep up.