2006 Roadtrek 190 P leaking grey water valve, is the blade valve adjustable?

[sbslider]

On our last trip I found our grey water tank valve won't keep water in. Not exactly sure (yet) how much / fast it leaks. What I did do today is crawl under the camper and note the rod attached to the grey water release handle connects directly to the blade valve. It move freely, that is no sticking. I also noted I can rotate the rod in either the open or closed position. I'm wondering if this rotation will cause the position of the valve to change? Note this is not the external adjustment between the blade valve assembly and the rod. I do see an adjustment type nut there that is pretty well rusted in place. When I rotate the rod, the release rod, both the release rod and rod connected to the blade seem to rotate freely. If I do this in the open position of the valve, I can't close the valve unless I rotate the rod back to the proper location. In this case the proper location is the one that allows the valve to close.

Probably just an old valve that either needs some TLC or replacement, but before I did much farther in I'm wondering about any location adjustment within the valve assembly as a function of the connecting rod. I think it's a 1.5" (maybe 2") valve.

Update: verified the leaking grey water valve is 1.5". Also, after the fooling around described above I put 1 gallon of water in the tank. I had also done this a week ago, and the whole gallon (roughly ) was in the drain hose. Today, after dumping the gallon into the tank after a few minutes water started dribbling out. Adding a few more gallons increased the amount leaking.

 

[RT-NY]

It sounds like the valve needs to be replaced. I do not think that there is any adjustment related to rotating the rod. It should be a simple job -- just a few screws to loosen, then pull out the old valve and put in the new. But the "adjustment type nut" you mention sounds to me like the nut that attaches the short rod that is attached to the valve with a longer rod that attaches to the handle you pull to dump (this is how it is in my 1999 RT 170) so I think that will need to be loosened to get the old valve out.

 

[booster]

For me, the easiest way to check the valve cable/rod adjustment is by checking the push/pull handle.

When the handle is pushed in all the way to closed position, just check to see if there is a 1/8" or a bit more of rod still showing between the handle and mounting. When you push a bit harder on the handle, it will feel a bit springy. If you have a gap and it's springy you can be pretty sure the valve is closed or against something solid that stops it.

 

[sbslider]

My setup has no cable, only a several foot long rod between the grey handle and the short shiny rod that is part of the valve assembly. These two are connected with what looks like it could be an adjustment nut. This adjustment nut bottoms out on the valve assembly, there maybe a few mils of space there. When I push the long rod, the plastic plumbing flexes a bit.



Seems like not an easy replacement for the whole valve, as I've not yet found one that looks like it.
EDIT: After watching a video I now see that replacing just the seal may not be too hard? Of course it's much harder under my RT than the trailer in the video.

This is the side going to the drain line out of the camper (downstream of valve).




This is the side connected to the grey water tank.


I tried to loosen on of the nuts (after letting some penetrating fluid sit on it for a bit) and the nut came off with part of the bolt. . Same thing when I tried the bolt on the other side, it just broke off.

 

[RT-NY]

Isn't that just a standard replaceable dump valve, like the following? If so, then it comes with new nuts anyway. This the small 1.5" valve, but there are other sizes also.

Amazon.com

 

[sbslider]

Isn't that just a standard replaceable dump valve, like the following? If so, then it comes with new nuts anyway. This the small 1.5" valve, but there are other sizes also.

Amazon.com

Yes, you are correct. The new hardware isn't the problem, its the old hardware. I wasn't clear or explicit in my previous post. Not only did one bolt break off at the nut and the head, but the remainder of the bolt has not yet been extracted from the rest of the plumbing. I tried to knock it out gently with a hammer and screwdriver, but it hasn't yet budged. Next step will be to try some sort of clamp to slowly push it out. Haven't gotten there yet . . . .

Nothing is easy working on the bottom of a 20 year old 7000 pound vehicle.

 

[RT-NY]

Yes, you are correct. The new hardware isn't the problem, its the old hardware. I wasn't clear or explicit in my previous post. Not only did one bolt break off at the nut and the head, but the remainder of the bolt has not yet been extracted from the rest of the plumbing. I tried to knock it out gently with a hammer and screwdriver, but it hasn't yet budged. Next step will be to try some sort of clamp to slowly push it out. Haven't gotten there yet . . . .

Nothing is easy working on the bottom of a 20 year old 7000 pound vehicle.

That is certainly true! But when I replaced my black water dump valve on my 1999 RT 170 it wasn't too bad of a job (that was the 3" valve). If the head of the broken bolt is entirely off, and if you can get the three other bolts out, then you might be able to just pull the plastic pipes apart on both sides and get the old valve (and broken bolt) out that way.

 

[booster]

IMO, you are almost always better of to replace a leaky or old valve in our vans. The pix so lots of rust and all the rubber parts are probably dried out and damaged. Valves aren't really inexpensive, but are not terrible compared to some RV parts. Compared to multiple times in to try to save and old valve in the less than pleasant sewage system, new valves look like a bargain to me.

 

[jjrbus]

A long time ago in a land far away the ancient ones taught me to add a Zerk fitting to the valves and add a bit of grease every now and then.

 

[sbslider]

yep, I just need to get the old one out

 

[booster]

You probably will need to cut/break off all the bolts and such then you should be able to spread the piping to get it out so you can put in a new one and get it reconnected. Loosen and flex couplings in the system to help with spreading it.

 

[otr]

when I did both valves on our 190V, the bolts were totally rusted, no heads broke off....I used a right angle grinder with a cutting wheel to cut off the bolts by cutting thru the valve half way between the two sides, very very carefully! I used the valve as a sacrificial guide for the blade. I replaced the bolts with stainless, just a few $$ at the hardware in their section of ss items. sorry no photos though

 

[dashton72]

When faced with the same issue on my roadtrek 210, I opted to just replace the entire assembly which included the valve for the black tank too. Etrailer.com had a direct replacement made by Valterra. Two new valves and problem solved.

 

[Tom 98072]

On our last trip I found our grey water tank valve won't keep water in. Not exactly sure (yet) how much / fast it leaks. What I did do today is crawl under the camper and note the rod attached to the grey water release handle connects directly to the blade valve. It move freely, that is no sticking. I also noted I can rotate the rod in either the open or closed position. I'm wondering if this rotation will cause the position of the valve to change? Note this is not the external adjustment between the blade valve assembly and the rod. I do see an adjustment type nut there that is pretty well rusted in place. When I rotate the rod, the release rod, both the release rod and rod connected to the blade seem to rotate freely. If I do this in the open position of the valve, I can't close the valve unless I rotate the rod back to the proper location. In this case the proper location is the one that allows the valve to close.

Probably just an old valve that either needs some TLC or replacement, but before I did much farther in I'm wondering about any location adjustment within the valve assembly as a function of the connecting rod. I think it's a 1.5" (maybe 2") valve.

Update: verified the leaking grey water valve is 1.5". Also, after the fooling around described above I put 1 gallon of water in the tank. I had also done this a week ago, and the whole gallon (roughly ) was in the drain hose. Today, after dumping the gallon into the tank after a few minutes water started dribbling out. Adding a few more gallons increased the amount leaking.

On our last trip I found our grey water tank valve won't keep water in. Not exactly sure (yet) how much / fast it leaks. What I did do today is crawl under the camper and note the rod attached to the grey water release handle connects directly to the blade valve. It move freely, that is no sticking. I also noted I can rotate the rod in either the open or closed position. I'm wondering if this rotation will cause the position of the valve to change? Note this is not the external adjustment between the blade valve assembly and the rod. I do see an adjustment type nut there that is pretty well rusted in place. When I rotate the rod, the release rod, both the release rod and rod connected to the blade seem to rotate freely. If I do this in the open position of the valve, I can't close the valve unless I rotate the rod back to the proper location. In this case the proper location is the one that allows the valve to close.

Probably just an old valve that either needs some TLC or replacement, but before I did much farther in I'm wondering about any location adjustment within the valve assembly as a function of the connecting rod. I think it's a 1.5" (maybe 2") valve.

Update: verified the leaking grey water valve is 1.5". Also, after the fooling around described above I put 1 gallon of water in the tank. I had also done this a week ago, and the whole gallon (roughly ) was in the drain hose. Today, after dumping the gallon into the tank after a few minutes water started dribbling out. Adding a few more gallons increased the amount leaking.

My first recommendation would be to flush the line a couple times. Things get stuck in the groove the gate slides in. Sometimes a good flush will fix the problem. We often assume the worst when the simplest is the actual solution. If possible fill the tank with hot soapy water.

 

[sbslider]

My first recommendation would be to flush the line a couple times. Things get stuck in the groove the gate slides in. Sometimes a good flush will fix the problem. We often assume the worst when the simplest is the actual solution. If possible fill the tank with hot soapy water.

Thanks for this tip! I did try a flush, filling the grey tank until it overflowed via the shower drain.
Same behavior, just a trickle of water coming out.

When I purchased my RT the seller told me to always keep a gallon of water in the black tank to keep the valve wet. Nothing said about the grey water tank, so I've always left that dry. In hindsight it doesn't make sense for one to stay wet and the other dry, so after 1.5 years like this I imagine the 20 yr old seal is dried out and slowly leaking.

 

[Winterjack]

My setup has no cable, only a several foot long rod between the grey handle and the short shiny rod that is part of the valve assembly. These two are connected with what looks like it could be an adjustment nut. This adjustment nut bottoms out on the valve assembly, there maybe a few mils of space there. When I push the long rod, the plastic plumbing flexes a bit.

View attachment 1951006View attachment 1951009

Seems like not an easy replacement for the whole valve, as I've not yet found one that looks like it.
EDIT: After watching a video I now see that replacing just the seal may not be too hard? Of course it's much harder under my RT than the trailer in the video.

This is the side going to the drain line out of the camper (downstream of valve).

View attachment 1951010


This is the side connected to the grey water tank.
View attachment 1951012

I tried to loosen on of the nuts (after letting some penetrating fluid sit on it for a bit) and the nut came off with part of the bolt. . Same thing when I tried the bolt on the other side, it just broke off. View attachment 1951027View attachment 1951028

My thought on removing the rusted nut/bolt is to use one larger socket on nut side and small socket on bolt side and then use c-clamp to press out the nut