A lot depends on how you use them. We have been in this Landmark for over three years full time and don't have any problem. When we are stationary, I leave our gray water valves open except when I dump the Black water tank and then I close them. I use Calgon in the black tank each time, after I dump which definitely helps keeping it clean. When we travel, I put about 10 gals of water in each tank with a 1/4 cup of Original Dawn dish washing detergent and 1 cap full of Calgon. It helps keep the tanks clean and the valves operating smoothly.
John
I'm not sure where your valves are but mine are installed near the low point of the system and accessable (where they should be). I always flush the valves with clean water, after the intitial dumping open and close the valves several times with clean water. Leave the Black Tank flush ON and sinks faucets on while operating the valves.
jpmorgan may have something here, which we have yet to try. We have now had 3 units, including our BH, with cable actuated valves, and all have been a PITA. I dumped today and flushed for about 15 minutes before closing the valves. That was in Memphis. Got to New Orleans this afternoon and something over a cup of fluid escaped before I could get the hose in place. We have had no luck using the commercial valve lubrication chemicals. The dealer has lubed the cables on a number of times on our prior units with anything but satisfactory results. In fact, I believe lubing the cables attracts even more road grime leading to further problems. A thread either here or on RV.Net addressed the issue by using a gate valve at the end of the system. A solution posed was to replace the cable system with an electric valve system.. Not a clue what it would cost to replace and install but an intrigueing idea.
JJ[/quote
Now Knowing your system has cables makes me think the valves are not closing with enough force. Cables tend to stretch from useage, is there any adjustment points on either end? Maybe you can install a shim on the exposed cable to take up some slack (like a lead pinch type fishing weight). So you did open and close the valves several times while flushing the system with clean water?
Thanks for the suggestions and I am going to try the Calgon and Dawn first before replacing the valves with electric valves.
Marina5
Is there any way to keep the dump valves free, other than with Drain Valve Lube with Co-Co Oil, of which does not seem to work.
A lot depends on how you use them. We have been in this Landmark for over three years full time and don't have any problem. When we are stationary, I leave our gray water valves open except when I dump the Black water tank and then I close them. I use Calgon in the black tank each time, after I dump which definitely helps keeping it clean. When we travel, I put about 10 gals of water in each tank with a 1/4 cup of Original Dawn dish washing detergent and 1 cap full of Calgon. It helps keep the tanks clean and the valves operating smoothly.
John
John,
I hope this is not to dumb of a question? Does the Calgon and Dawn libricate the water to keep the valves moving freely And when you say Calgon, is that the stuff ones DW would use in the tub? Like "Calgon Take Me Away"
John,
I hope this is not to dumb of a question? Does the Calgon and Dawn libricate the water to keep the valves moving freely And when you say Calgon, is that the stuff ones DW would use in the tub? Like "Calgon Take Me Away"
Hello all....thank you for this information. We just got back from our camping trip and I took on the dumping task. No problem there. Thanks for asking for clarification on the Calgon product as I thought it was the bath stuff too. Where to find Calgon water softner? And...does the Original Dawn Dish Detergent suds up alot?I'm not sure what your DW uses in her tub but the Calgon that I refer to is a water softener. And the Dawn is the "Original" Dawn, not the pink or green or orange with all the foo foo in it. The Original seems to have a better grease cutting formula. I believe that the clean valves have much less tendency to stick than ones that are coated with various "attachments"
John