Black water tank valve

jkaspar20 · 05-05-2017, 11:55 AM

I have a Cardinal 3450 5th wheel. The dump valve appears to be rather stiff. I am assuming it I the valve because I have checked the end where pull handle is. Trying to figure out if it can be accessed from top or if the underbelly has to be removed. I dread the thought of replacing by way of under belly,
PS I have used the tank /valve lubricant and so far no help.
thanks

bigdaddy1 · 05-05-2017, 06:52 PM

I have a habit this spring of spraying a small amount of silicone on the stems before pushing them back in...seems to help. Not my idea but saw it here I think.

valandsheri · 05-05-2017, 10:10 PM

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but you will need to replace the valve via the underbelly. My husband cut a hole in the coroplast, that he was able to reseal. Kind of like a porthole. Before I give you the whole story, are you going to do the fix yourself? If you are you might want to talk to him first. The old valve was bound up because of the way the gray waterlines were hooked in so he used some hubless couplings to take out the bind on both gray water lines. It is an extremely tight fit to get the old valve out and the new one back in. See, got me going on that long story......

He found that the old valve had been "mickey- moused" at the factory - because it was faulty from the beginning. Instead of replacing the valve and cable they worked a screw into it with epoxy..... can't believe someone went to all that trouble rather than just using a new valve. There I go again.....

We chose to do the fix ourselves (he is the mastermind, I am his faithful grunt) even though we are still under warranty because we have always had a nightmare with any rv repair place.

It is doable, but with a lot of rolling around on the ground, cursing and head-banging. If you would like to talk to him let me know.

Also, we switched to a Valterra valve - the old valve was a Bristol. We are so happy with the new valve that he's probably going to change out the gray water valve from the bathroom because the Valterra is so much smoother than the Bristol.

Val and Sheri

CHICKDOE · 05-06-2017, 08:25 AM

I thought it would have to be from underneath. I also had some work done by the rv dealer that required cutting the underbelly and I was appalled at how they did the cutting. just slashed didn't even seal the cuts when they were through. I had a modile rv technician doing some work and he saw the slashes in the underbelly and told me how he would have cut it. mark out the area where you are going to cut into a nice piece with square corners. then cut it out. do whatever repair work required. to put it back they take a piece of sheet metal roof flashing and cut it to the length of the sides with some overlap. then fasten the flashing to the upper side of the underbelly that is still on the trailer leaving an overlap into the hole. use sheet metal screws through the underbelly into the flashing. then put the cut out piece of underbelly up and use sheet metal screws to fasten it to the flashing. then take some tape and put it over the joints. nice and clean and you can take it apart in the future.

NMWildcat · 05-06-2017, 08:49 AM

On my unit, it was a long cable that had a sharp bend in it that caused it to be hard to operate. Straightened it out and it worked great. Of course the cable/valve next to it broke later where the cable attaches to the valve. And of course it was all one piece so had to replace the whole shooting match.

I'm pretty good at dropping the coroplast bottom and sealing it back up now

CHICKDOE · 05-06-2017, 08:54 AM

one mine there were some gaps between the coroplast and the ibeam. the factory had put some expanding foam in them but there were still some gaps, especially after the service tech had cut into it. I bought a couple of boxes of paper binder clips and used them to hold the coroplast tight to the ibeam. sounds funny but they have been there for several trips and they have not fallen off and they take out the gaps.

NMWildcat · 05-06-2017, 08:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CHICKDOE

one mine there were some gaps between the coroplast and the ibeam. the factory had put some expanding foam in them but there were still some gaps, especially after the service tech had cut into it. I bought a couple of boxes of paper binder clips and used them to hold the coroplast tight to the ibeam. sounds funny but they have been there for several trips and they have not fallen off and they take out the gaps.

That's an interesting and easy fix!! I just used a few more screws with washers and a little bit of foam.

djousma · 05-06-2017, 10:44 AM

I just had mine repaired too. Cables froze up. Unit is only 1 year old still under warranty. Next time I'll replace with Barker electric valves.

CHICKDOE · 05-06-2017, 03:03 PM

to nmwildcat. did you drill holes into the ibeam in order to use more screws and washers? i'd like to do that but..

how hard is it do drill the holes? that I beam is has some heft to it.
will the extra holes compromise the ibeam strength?
did you use the same type of self tapping screws that the factory used?

I've got a couple of the self tapping screws that have had the head broken off so they are no longer holding up the underbelly. I guess I should get under there and drill those out and replace the screws. if I were to put in more screws I think it would be best to use all the same size, or did you mix them?

i'm assuming the foam is to seal the underbelly to keep the heat in to prevent the plumbing from freezing during cold weather. also, keep critters out.

NMWildcat · 05-06-2017, 04:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CHICKDOE

to nmwildcat. did you drill holes into the ibeam in order to use more screws and washers? i'd like to do that but..

how hard is it do drill the holes? that I beam is has some heft to it.
will the extra holes compromise the ibeam strength?
did you use the same type of self tapping screws that the factory used?

I've got a couple of the self tapping screws that have had the head broken off so they are no longer holding up the underbelly. I guess I should get under there and drill those out and replace the screws. if I were to put in more screws I think it would be best to use all the same size, or did you mix them?

i'm assuming the foam is to seal the underbelly to keep the heat in to prevent the plumbing from freezing during cold weather. also, keep critters out.

Yep, used the same size of self tappers and found some over size washers to fit. I did use a bigger/faster corded drill, my cordless didn't quite cut it

I did not pre drill any holes.

I didn't add very many screws, so can't see it would weaken the beam.

And I think the foam is probably for all the reasons you mentioned.

Doug357 · 07-16-2017, 09:02 PM

Hi guys,
This was the only post I noticed about blackwater tanks so here goes. I went to fill my blackwater tank on our 2017 8224BS Rockwood to rinse the tank and got into something else and forgot all about my tank filling. Yup! it overflowed into the 5th wheel. Lucky thing I allready drained the blackwater tank and rinsed it for a bit before filling it. Fortunatley the fiver was higher in the front and a little off center so no wet carpet in bedroom or under the dinette table. Is there suppose to be a check valve that lets overflow of the blackwater tank? Especially for those senior moments? There is a notice right above the valves that the valves on the blackwater are supposed to be open when filling but you would think there would be a safeguard for those forgetful moments.

djousma · 07-17-2017, 06:43 AM

Nope. No safeguards for that. That's sorry to hear and why I make sure I don't get distracted while doing that task.

Even though you didn't have dirty tank, I'd still do some disinfecting. I bet you don't let that happen again...

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