Kitchen gray tank valve is stuck

[cdbMidland]

Went to dump all of the holding tanks yesterday, only to find out that the kitchen sink valve was already open and stuck. Any ideas on how to get this valve working again without dropping the belly?

At least it is in the open position, and since we don't use the kitchen much, it's not a major problem. What if it were the black or shower tank and it was stuck in either the open or closed position?

 

[cookie]

Gee Chuck I think the easiest solution is to dine out 100% of the time instead of only 95%. Problem solved. On the serious side you most likely will have to look underneath. I am not familliar with your 3655, but I think you should be able to drop just a portion of the underbelly on the OD side and see the dump gates. You didn't state if your dump handle was in the in or out position. I assume out. As a method of PM, I spray some penetrating lubricant everywhere I can on the cable to hopefully avoid that happening. Time will tell. You might try spraying some on in hopes of freeing it up. Good luck.
Peace
Dave

 

[sailorand]

Chuck
Had a similar problem. Had to take the valve apart and found a plastic tank cutout stuck in the valve. The room to work is cramped and not any room to move the valve or drain line. It can be done. There has been posts on this before

 

[jmgratz]

You didn't say where you are. If you are in an area where the temp is below freezing, it is possible the valve is frozen in the open position. If so, it might free up when the temps get above 32 degrees.

 

[cdbMidland]

Thanks, guys. Cookie, we do dine out 95% of the time, so the kitchen dump is not critical. In fact, if my wife could have had it, there would have been a kitchen delete option and we would have gone with just a refer and a microwave. Dump handle is stuck in the open position.

jmgratz, freezing is not the problem at this time as it is close to 80 in Lakeland FL the past few days (all right, now, let''s shed a tear for poor ol' Chuck).

BH is four years old, so I think if it were a case of blockage caused by a plastic part, it would have happened before now. Still, it's not impossible.

The only part of the cable I can see is the inch or so that is exposed when the handle is in the open position. I did squirt WD40 on the cables last year each time I dumped, and I'll try it again, but it's a long run from the handle to the valve.

 

[dreamer]

You do not say weather there is any movement in the cable.If it will move slightly i would think there is something stuck in the slide valve located on the tank. I would try sending a sewer snake through the pipe hoping that might dislodge the blockage. If it does the question is when is that blockage going to block the hole again or will it slide through the nexttime. removing the underbelly on my Sundance was not a lot of fun!

 

[cdbMidland]

You do not say weather there is any movement in the cable.If it will move slightly i would think there is something stuck in the slide valve located on the tank. I would try sending a sewer snake through the pipe hoping that might dislodge the blockage. If it does the question is when is that blockage going to block the hole again or will it slide through the nexttime. removing the underbelly on my Sundance was not a lot of fun!

There seems to be no movement. Your idea of the sewer snake is something worth considering. Thanks.

 

[DennisZ]

I had my kitchen dump valve stick in the open position, the failure was caused by a bad crimp on the valve handle allowing the outer cable to move instead of the inner cable. There are several fixes to the problem. I ended up using a 2 part putty type of epoxy fix the problem, but forming the epoxy around the handle shaft housing and the end of the cable that had come loose. The epoxy will completely harden in about 1 hour.

Dennis

 

[SmokeyBare]

Great Tip Dennis !!

Thanks for the idea.

 

[cdbMidland]

Dumped again yesterday morning and used WD40 on all cables, including the stuck one. Now all work - guess I was pretty lucky this time.