Opening and closing gray and black tank valves

[jtownstumpjumper]

Beginning to experience difficulty pulling the handles on the cables that open and close our gray and black tank valves on our 2014 CC Silverback 33RL....they are located on a panel in the pass thru storage compartment....actual valves are in the underbelly area...will WD40 or something similar work it's way down the inside of the cable and help free things up...any one had similar problem or have any suggestions?

[DaveandSue]

I've had decent luck getting WD in there.Helps alot. Be careful because you can break the cable off the handle and then you get to replace the valve.

[Decon Blue]

Could possibly not be the cables at all. Could be the slide seals on the valve. Over the years I've found a handy trick, I put 2 capfulls of laundry softener in my tanks each time after I empty them. Keeps the seals nice and slick. Been doing it for many years. I buy the cheapest liquid laundry softener I can get. I full time and dump once a week, so bottle of softener last me about couple months at least. Hope it helps ya.

[jtownstumpjumper]

Originally Posted by Decon Blue

Could possibly not be the cables at all. Could be the slide seals on the valve. Over the years I've found a handy trick, I put 2 capfulls of laundry softener in my tanks each time after I empty them. Keeps the seals nice and slick. Been doing it for many years. I buy the cheapest liquid laundry softener I can get. I full time and dump once a week, so bottle of softener last me about couple months at least. Hope it helps ya.

Thanks for your reply and suggestion.....Probably wasn't clear in describing the issue....really didn't feel the cable was freezing up....I felt like it was the seals needing lubricating...was trying to find a way to get something to that area for lubrication....I like your thoughts about the laundry softener and will begin trying that immediately....thanks, again.

[bigdaddy1]

Lately I have been spraying a small amount of silicone on the rods before I push them back in and it seems to be helping.

[Jim_bob]

We have not used our motor home for awhile but I keep water in the toilet and flush it when ever I am in the motorhome and I think about it. Last fall I put some TST Drain Valve Lube in it. I flushed it a few times and after I would pour a little more lube in the toilet. I don't think I have poured any more in it after those few times. I just happened to be in the motorhome today and I flushed the toilet, I could still see that the rubber seal was still coated with the lube. So something like that lube might help. Can't hurt.

[RudysWorld]

Thetford RV Toilet Seal Lube & Conditioner
I use the above on the seal on the toilet and it works great. I would try empty tanks and pouring some in and see if it wouldn't help. Good Luck!

[Big Bill]

2x on WD 40 or silicone

[pengle]

I have a 2012 CC 29RE. My black tank valve has always been hard to open and close. I've had to put one hand next to the valve handle to give me enough leverage to pull the handle out.

So I pulled the hard plastic cover off the bottom of the 5th wheel. Cut the insulation to get to the valve at the end of the cable. The valve is located between the black tank and the outlet pipe.

I have tried unsuccessfully to remove the valve - twice. It is held in with 4 nuts and bolts and the valve is sandwiched in-between two flanges. I can't move the flanges far enough away from each other to slide the valve out. (I know, how hard can THAT be?)

With the bolts out, my valve handle moves VERY easily. So the problem occurs as the bolts are tightened. The valve is binding up as it is captured between the two flanges as the bolts are tightened. This happens because the two flanges are not parallel.

My solution ended up being to only tighten the bolts enough so the valve would not leak. I don't have a long term solution, since there is no room in the area to get the flanges realigned.

[jtownstumpjumper]

After reading various threads on hard to open valves, I added about a cup of vegetable oil followed by 3-4 gallons of hot water to each tank today while they are virtually empty....also tried to spray some silicone spray into the cables near the handles hoping it will work it's way down inside the jacket of the cable....we leave Tuesday morning for the first trip of the season...will find out this week if any of this helps with the lubrication of the valves.....

Thanks to all for the suggestions.

[waxman1947]

I have a 2014 Silverback 33rl and have had a lot of trouble with the black tank valve being hard to open and close since new. I had Blue Dog RV replace the cable with a shorter one and can operate it with two fingers now. The factory uses to long of a cable and it is curled up in the underbelly.