Black Water Dump Valve won't close all the way

[mello mike]

I strongly suspect that toilet paper is jammed in the valve.

Is there a good way to clean this out without having to remove the valve? And if removing the valve is the only real option, how do you go about doing this?

Thanks in advance

[richinny]

open the valve all the way first. put one end of the slinky on the trailer and the other end high into the air. put warm water into the tank and let it sit for a while. when you're ready, quickly lower the drain end into the drain or a bucket and see if it softened the paper.

you can also put the cap on to hold the water in but it will be messy when you remove it.

[TBRich]

This happened to us once Mike...the valve wouldn't shut all the way...but after fiddling with it for a while (opening and closing as far as it would close) we got the paper blockage to break loose and go through the slinky... it's the first an only time that's happened... good luck!

[Relentless]

First solution is get a sewer solution instead of the slinky. Go on sewersolution.com. It has back wash capability. Short of that, open the valve and spray water from a hose thru a garden hose nozile back up the the pipe. This will break loose the paper and tear it down enough that it will pass thru the valve.

John

[ricknach]

While it is probably dried tolet paper it could also be something else.
In my case it was a piece of rubber gasket that was torn and caught on the gate. Had to replace the valve as all efforts to flush it out failed.
Rick N

[mello mike]

Thanks, everyone, for the replies.

Rick,
The valve and black water holding tank are both brand new, just installed in January, so it's probably not a bad valve gasket. The failure to close happened immediately after dumping for the first time.

I'm trying Rich's suggestion right now and will let that sit for a day, then I'll try your suggestion, Terry. I'm hoping this works.

John,
I'll look into one of those.

[fstuneck]

You can usually stick a mirror up the pipe and see what's going on with a little help from a flashlight. Hopefully, your gasket is ok. Just took ours apart and although it took awhile, it wasn't the worst job. Hope you can see what's up there. On our 34 we I can see whether both valves are closed or not. Ours had a lot of sand and stuff in there.

[richinny]

so mello mile, are your legs still crossed? lol

[mello mike]

Originally Posted by richinny

so mello mile, are your legs still crossed? lol

LOL, the Sovereign isn't being used right now, but we did try soaking to disolve the toilet paper. We let it soak three days in the 100 plus temps and it did help, but the handle still doesn't quite go down all the way. The wire clips don't quite clear the handle.

[dogpound]

Mike:

We were having problems with our black tank valve and the thought of paying someone close to a thousand bucks to fix it didn't appeal to us. When we got home from Quartsite this year I approached it from two directions. The stick you put down through the toilet helps break loose anything in the tank. As someone above suggested, I took a water hose an stuck it up the drain and moved it back and forth with the water running full speed. I did eventually get some additional deposits out and the valve is working fine now.

Good luck.

Bob
4CU/CAC
WBCCI # 10105
TAC # CO-7

[mello mike]

Thanks, Dogpound. I'll give that a try.

[lbrownah]

Wondering if this is my issue too.

The first few times we carried water, in our Argosy got earlier in the spring, we had no leaks and drips out of the sewer connector.

Two trips ago though, we had a bit of a drip, so silly me decides to take the cap off...bad idea, even though I made sure the valves (I thought) were closed.
Gory details aside, it was not fun. I have no idea how that much grey and black could've escaped with the valves appearing to be closed. Checked again when we dumped, same issue...the cap looks like it has a small crack in it, but its holding back far too much liquid that shouldn't be in there (and wasn't in there the previous times) with the valves closed.
Last trip (keep in mind these are small trip...2 nighters), same thing...although we didn't use the black water tank. Both a slow drip the entire time (although this was less, maybe it is just the black water) and, when taking the cap off at the dumping station, I had to hustle to connect the slinky before too much grey water escaped.
Unless I've buggered up my valves somehow for good (haven't gone under and checked), maybe something stuck in there, like toiliet paper, is the issue.

[thecatsandi]

Originally Posted by mello mike

I strongly suspect that toilet paper is jammed in the valve.

Is there a good way to clean this out without having to remove the valve? And if removing the valve is the only real option, how do you go about doing this?

Thanks in advance

Did you lube the seals before installation?

[BScott]

I have the same problem with my 72 Safari 23 footer. I am glad I ran across this post. Thanks...

[perryg114]

Somewhere I have a stick with a hole in the end coming out at 90 degrees that fits on a garden hose. If you were to stick that in the exit and flush the valve area with water with the valve open, it should dislodge anything stuck in the valve. My valve would not shut off because the seal got caught by the blade. This was probably a result of something stuck in the valve that pushed the lip of the seal the wrong way and the blade held it that way. I would leave the valve open so the seal does not take a set. Here is a photo of my valve.

Here is the thread on my valve replacement issues as well.

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f444...th-109487.html