Black tank valve

[Finleyflyer]

We bought a CC 38fb2 summer of 2015 and are already having issues. The main one is the black water tank valves have both failed ( broken actuators) the tech said, they were missing parts. This is quite frustrating we felt that we did our due diligence in research on CC being a good product and are now having second thoughts. We are wondering if anyone else has had this issue.

[GOTTOYS]

Cedar Creek doesn't make the valves. They buy the same ones everybody else uses and install them. A bad valve doesn't make the Cedar Creek a bad product. I don't know what actuators they are referring to. They use actuators on electric valves. Cedar Creek to my knowledge only uses manual valves with a cable. ???

[nomad297]

Did you purchase a used unit?

Bruce

[dieselguy]

Hard to open/close tank valves are common. I'm assuming your speak of a broken handle or cable which though not frequent will happen from time to time. Since the underbelly is sectional on CC's it's pretty easy to drop the needed panel and swap out the cable or even the valve itself. Some put liquid Calgon fabric softner or aftermarket products made for lubing the holding tank valve blades in the tanks. Others squirt WD-40 or equivalent down the cable sheaths as best they can. Believe me ... if all you have is a bit of trouble with your dump valves ... you did choose well. Frame flex, delamination, roof staples popping thu the membrane, slideout issues, tank failures, fridge failures cause way more grief.

[Finleyflyer]

Thank you for the replies very helpful. To answer your questions it was the cables were broken, subsequently they took apart the valve and found missing pieces. As far as used, our unit is a 2016 I miss wrote earlier bought it new so we are a little concerned with the problems. I understand that they might sub certain parts out, but they should make sure they are quality parts and that they are all there on the fit. Now that both cables have broke its concerning we were just wondering if this was an ongoing problem for other people.

[dieselguy]

My unit is a 2016 Silverback bought in April. I had to replace my black tank dump valve by June ... no matter what was adjusted, it would not close all the way. Every time I dumped I got a suprise when I removed the sewer cap. When the valve was removed it would close by hand, but not by cable??? The second week of ownership, I had to replace my fresh water tank as it had a crack in it about 1/2 way to the top. During PDI it didn't have enough water in the tank to get to the crack. In July, my fantastic fan failed ... I'll stop the saga at this point

[Finleyflyer]

Omg I am so sorry! I think you need trauma counseling after that fiasco. We are really lucky that we have a good repair service that knows how to work with Forest River warranty. They are also so helpful in just answering questions without nickel and diming for it so there's that. We have already looked into wrap around extended warranty for when the year is up. This year has not bode well...

[Jim34RL]

My Black tank valve will sometimes not close completely either every time when I close the valve. To resolve this issue I purchased a Valterra T58 twist on valve for the end of the waste pipe. This valve works great and I do not have to worry if the black tank valve is fully close. This could work for you also as another gate valve that is easy to access.


By the way my 2010 Keystone Cougar failed all three of the cables for the gray and black tanks in the first year of ownership. This is just part of the fun of owning an RV. Stuff happens and you deal with it.

[RSchleder]

I just gotts ask-----did you really expect these type of products to be issue/problem free? Wait until you pay $200K-$300K for a "top end" diesel pusher motorhome and experience many of the same problems that folks that paid $20K-$30K for a travel trailer have. Is this right, no not really! Is it real world, absolutely! I'm afraid, if you are to ever enjoy the RV life, you will need to totally adjust your expectation as to the quality of the American manufactured RV's. It's either adjust, be unhappy, or move on to some other spare time activity! Your choice!

[97flhtcui]

Last week we were in for warranty work and had the black tank valve replaced. Got tired of solids in the pipe when I removed the cap. Our dealer said he has replaced a lot of black tank valves on 2015 cedar creeks.

[Finleyflyer]

Reply to RSchleder-- I have been a lifetime boater so problems with products such as these I expected down the road not a month into it. We didn't pay 200k for ours but, we felt it shouldn't have started going south as quick as it did for the money we paid I didn't even state all the other things that have also had to be fixed. Look I was just looking to see if people had similar problems I don't really feel real like I need to be berated or lectured for seeking out answers.

[spock123]

Originally Posted by Jim34RL

My Black tank valve will sometimes not close completely either every time when I close the valve. To resolve this issue I purchased a Valterra T58 twist on valve for the end of the waste pipe. This valve works great and I do not have to worry if the black tank valve is fully close. This could work for you also as another gate valve that is easy to access.


By the way my 2010 Keystone Cougar failed all three of the cables for the gray and black tanks in the first year of ownership. This is just part of the fun of owning an RV. Stuff happens and you deal with it.

X2. Works for me, now no surprise when I take the cap off


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[GOTTOYS]

Originally Posted by Jim34RL

My Black tank valve will sometimes not close completely either every time when I close the valve. To resolve this issue I purchased a Valterra T58 twist on valve for the end of the waste pipe. This valve works great and I do not have to worry if the black tank valve is fully close. This could work for you also as another gate valve that is easy to access.


By the way my 2010 Keystone Cougar failed all three of the cables for the gray and black tanks in the first year of ownership. This is just part of the fun of owning an RV. Stuff happens and you deal with it.

Same thing that I did. When one of my gray tank valves cable broke I just left it open and used this valve to dump. Worked good for a couple years until I fixed it. This should be the first thing anybody puts on their RV..

[SilverbackMel]

I had a black tank valve replacement 6 months ago on my 2015 Silverback 33rl. I tried everything to fix it myself: detergent, ice cubes; back flush device for hours and many tank purges; internal sprayer for hours....
Finally quit!
It is not FUN to have a gallon of poop splash on your damned clothes after a day's travel...
Having that ugly extended flushing device ( which I do own ) is not that desirable.
As far as $$$ into an rv?! Well, regardless of dollars spent, it comes from the individual pocket. Does anyone buy with the anticipation of failure within the damned warranty period? Really? Who Are you? I have STUFF you need to buy, NOW!
If " components " are inferior, we rely on the manufacturer to change their build specs so the stressed parts go away!
My grandchildren can assemble toys that hold up longer than some systems.
The ONLY road to improvement is choosing another mfgr. You can argue they are no better...probably so. BUT, yes, BUT! Toyota crushed the american auto industry and FORCED IT TO RECOGNIZE CONSUMER NEEDS. Guess what?!
IMPROVEMENT HAPPENED!!
Consumers came back over time to american mfgrs.
Sometimes a SWIFT KICK IN THE WALLET GETS ATTENTION!!
We, as consumers MUST insist on an ALL INCLUSIVE 3 year warranty at purchase! Don't build crap and depend on buyers for the fix as you go home in your fancy vehicle to your house on the hill!

[GOTTOYS]

Originally Posted by SilverbackMel

I had a black tank valve replacement 6 months ago on my 2015 Silverback 33rl. I tried everything to fix it myself: detergent, ice cubes; back flush device for hours and many tank purges; internal sprayer for hours....
Finally quit!
It is not FUN to have a gallon of poop splash on your damned clothes after a day's travel...
Having that ugly extended flushing device ( which I do own ) is not that desirable.
As far as $$$ into an rv?! Well, regardless of dollars spent, it comes from the individual pocket. Does anyone buy with the anticipation of failure within the damned warranty period? Really? Who Are you? I have STUFF you need to buy, NOW!
If " components " are inferior, we rely on the manufacturer to change their build specs so the stressed parts go away!
My grandchildren can assemble toys that hold up longer than some systems.
The ONLY road to improvement is choosing another mfgr. You can argue they are no better...probably so. BUT, yes, BUT! Toyota crushed the american auto industry and FORCED IT TO RECOGNIZE CONSUMER NEEDS. Guess what?!
IMPROVEMENT HAPPENED!!
Consumers came back over time to american mfgrs.
Sometimes a SWIFT KICK IN THE WALLET GETS ATTENTION!!
We, as consumers MUST insist on an ALL INCLUSIVE 3 year warranty at purchase! Don't build crap and depend on buyers for the fix as you go home in your fancy vehicle to your house on the hill!

I doubt that we will see any drastic changes in the RV industry anytime soon. Maybe owning an RV just isn't for you....No offense but, perhaps you might find the Holiday Inn is an acceptable alternative.

[phillyg]

Originally Posted by Finleyflyer

........but they should make sure they are quality.......

I'll bet you CC has identical valves with remote cables as my signature unit. Yes, they should make sure, but they don't. My black tank valve jammed the first time I tried to close it. Dealer tried to blame me for not knowing how to use the valves. Duh, I've only been RV'ing for 30 plus years.

[Jim34RL]

Originally Posted by SilverbackMel

I had a black tank valve replacement 6 months ago on my 2015 Silverback 33rl. I tried everything to fix it myself: detergent, ice cubes; back flush device for hours and many tank purges; internal sprayer for hours....
Finally quit!
It is not FUN to have a gallon of poop splash on your damned clothes after a day's travel...
Having that ugly extended flushing device ( which I do own ) is not that desirable.
As far as $$$ into an rv?! Well, regardless of dollars spent, it comes from the individual pocket. Does anyone buy with the anticipation of failure within the damned warranty period? Really? Who Are you? I have STUFF you need to buy, NOW!
If " components " are inferior, we rely on the manufacturer to change their build specs so the stressed parts go away!
My grandchildren can assemble toys that hold up longer than some systems.
The ONLY road to improvement is choosing another mfgr. You can argue they are no better...probably so. BUT, yes, BUT! Toyota crushed the american auto industry and FORCED IT TO RECOGNIZE CONSUMER NEEDS. Guess what?!
IMPROVEMENT HAPPENED!!
Consumers came back over time to american mfgrs.
Sometimes a SWIFT KICK IN THE WALLET GETS ATTENTION!!
We, as consumers MUST insist on an ALL INCLUSIVE 3 year warranty at purchase! Don't build crap and depend on buyers for the fix as you go home in your fancy vehicle to your house on the hill!

How many manufactures of gate valves are there? I for one have looked into this and let me tell you there are not many. So the RV industry only buys from a limited number of suppliers and the RV industry usually buys from the lowest cost supplier. Just like Toyota, Honda, John Deer, Caterpillar and the rest of the manufactures that build products do.

When you design a product there is an acceptable failure rate that engineers design to; this is called a B10 life. Marketing and service will define what this life should be such as 10 units can fail for every 1,000 units made. This is the standard in the industry we all design to a B10 life for a given product. If we did not have this than the average consumer could not afford the product and we would all be paying the same price as the Feds did for the Apollo moon rockets and some of them failed also.

[spock123]

Fat chance on a 3 year warranty. There is more people that buy rv's every year, with gas and diesel so cheap now they will be more rv's sold than ever before.


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[SilverbackMel]

Originally Posted by GOTTOYS

I doubt that we will see any drastic changes in the RV industry anytime soon. Maybe owning an RV just isn't for you....No offense but, perhaps you might find the Holiday Inn is an acceptable alternative.

Perhaps you missed my point. There were No, NADA, ZIP, NONE, NO OTHER, hotels within 25 miles. It was end of season event! Tried every B&B and hotel.
Stayed in our rv arrival night but had to turn it over for 2 nights!
This was a factory recommended repair center, not my choice IF we wanted work done prior to 2016!!
Won't be doing that again! In fact, need to go back for a roof replacement. Coordinating with a more desirable accomodation. It's called; learning from experience!
We like the unit, just think the industry cuts too many corners. I agree 100% on the tire concerns!!

[Rich5117]

This type of failure and poor quality happens all the time and for almost everything we use or buy today. Sometime we are the lucky one and get a good product and then again maybe not. We were not so lucky with our frig temps were great during pdi first trip would not cool properly, hello new frig. Took 3 months. Had an alternator go bad on my Ford Escape five ford factory alternators later it still was not fixed. They sent escape to electrical shop, found that all five brand new alternators had bad brand new voltage regulators.

It does not have anything to do about being an RV,er or liking Ford etc, bad things happen to good people. Especially just when you think your getting ahead.

Merry Christmas, oops Happy Holidays being politically correct.