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Old 01-18-2019, 12:41 PM   #1
Maggiesclan
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Black Tank Handle Problem

Hello,

We have neighbors who just took possession of a Montana 3121RL. Today, they went to drain the black tank and the pull valve won’t pull open.

When they called their dealer they were told they would have to pack up their rig and haul it to the dealership. They were told “if” the dealership has. Valve it can be replaced. If valve not in stock, it would be necessary to order from factory.

Does anyone have an idea of a way to free up the valve handle I the convenience closet? They did spray some WD-40 and so far no success.

Thoughts please.
 
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Old 01-18-2019, 12:47 PM   #2
jeffba
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ARG!!! Bonehead dealer should know if they have the valve in stock to start with.

I hate poor service.

Call Keystone and see if you can get a mobile tech to come out.

BTW you should have started a new thread for this.
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Old 01-18-2019, 06:44 PM   #3
Carl n Susan
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If you are minimally comfortable with tools, gaining access to the black tank valve is easy. There are several threads here about it. Otherwise you can cut a access flap in the coroplast to access the valve. The quick solution, regardless of the access technique, it undo the cable at the valve and open it by hand.

Replacing a cable or even the whole valve assembly is relatively easy. Order the Valterra kit (don't mess with the other brands) from Amazon, drop the coroplast, and change the valve. It should take no more than two hours from start to finish.
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Old 01-19-2019, 04:07 AM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by carl n susan View Post
If you are minimally comfortable with tools, gaining access to the black tank valve is easy. There are several threads here about it. Otherwise you can cut a access flap in the coroplast to access the valve. The quick solution, regardless of the access technique, it undo the cable at the valve and open it by hand.

Replacing a cable or even the whole valve assembly is relatively easy. Order the Valterra kit (don't mess with the other brands) from Amazon, drop the coroplast, and change the valve. It should take no more than two hours from start to finish.
Carl I agree with you it is not a hard fix.
The dealers response to a unit under warranty is... well crappy.

How can they not know if they have the parts in stock or not?
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Old 01-19-2019, 09:40 AM   #5
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From what I have heard, sometimes it is NOT so easy to replace. The space is very tight and in order to remove and/or install the new valve you may have to cut the drain pipe and use a rubber connector (like a radiator hose with clamps) to put it back together. The rubber connector also allows some flex between the tank and drain pipe and some say helps damage when bouncing down the highway.
p.s. This is why I paid to have it installed. Also the dealer wouldn't give me a firm quote. He said between $100 and $700 in labor depending on difficulty!!!! I think I paid $150 - 300 (can't remember)
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Old 01-19-2019, 11:34 AM   #6
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If their valve is a cable style valve, it would be best to do away with the cables and use direct push/pull valves. Might as well fix it right and gain longer term dependability.
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Old 01-19-2019, 03:00 PM   #7
Maggiesclan
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Thanks all for your responses. From all appearances, it looks like the metal bar that attaches to the black plastic handle, which is attached to the valve cable, that you pull to empty black tank...is stuck.

There is a threaded metal piece that goes through the convenience cabinet. The metal piece, which is inside the threaded metal piece, that should move in and out when the valve handle is pulled won’t move. We sprayed lubricant into the threaded metal piece but so far no movement of the inner metal bar, which is connected to the valve handle.

The dealer told the owners that they need to bring it to their shop on Monday. If they determine that is a bad valve, they would replace the valve....if they have it in stock, otherwise the shop would have to order the valve from the factory.

I feel very bad for the new Montana owners who are quite frustrated over this and other issues on their brand new rig.
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Old 01-19-2019, 09:57 PM   #8
miton 5052
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You could always check out Drainmaster electric valves, have had them for 2 yrs very, little problems,make sure you get the marine switches, good luck
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Old 01-20-2019, 06:15 AM   #9
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This is why one buys an RV NEAR their home. New trailers always have issues that need to be dealt with.


And, with regards to the dealer, I believe the dealer was correct in that they may not have a specific part....who knows exactly what is going on.
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Old 01-20-2019, 06:35 AM   #10
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Originally Posted by mazboy View Post
This is why one buys an RV NEAR their home. New trailers always have issues that need to be dealt with.


And, with regards to the dealer, I believe the dealer was correct in that they may not have a specific part....who knows exactly what is going on.
They should be able to say if it is this this or this we have the parts in stock to fix. If it is something else we have to order.

These dealers charge too much by the hour to be run like Cooter's RV Fixit Maybe and see if they can fix it by what they have in their junk drawer.

In this case a simple lookup in their parts database should tell them if they have the valve in stock to start with. If not customer can then decide to go somewhere that does have the part in stock
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Old 01-20-2019, 07:45 AM   #11
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Dealer selection is MUCH more important than any other part of RV purchase including floor plan selection.
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Old 01-20-2019, 09:24 AM   #12
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I had the same problem and it was the the pice at the convenience center that was rusted. They kept using WD40 and some heavy duty pliers. Finally got it freed. Every so often I spray the rod with WD40.

Also good going Keystone for putting the black and gray pull handles under the water connections.
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Old 01-20-2019, 09:31 AM   #13
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Another thought on this subject. When I was replacing the black valve I cut the drain pipe just after the wye and installed a 4 inch long spacer that has radiator clamps on each end. All RV story have them. Now I can easily slid the piping away from the tanks to replace the valves.
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Old 03-27-2019, 09:22 AM   #14
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I just encountered the stuck black tank valve issue yesterday afternoon. It so happens our dealer is right across the street. I went over to talk to them about what I might be able to do. When that didn't work they suggested I call a mobile tech. They have 2 sick service techs. When the mobile tech guy showed up 1 hour later (the park was on his way home). He popped the rivets on the coroplast that allowed him to access the dump valve. He disconnected the cable from the valve and the valve was easily opened. He pulled the cable and the rod was totally rusted up. He was finally able to free the rod but it was toast in my opinion. Now all of the RV stores are closed. So he was at our dealer first thing this morning and the dealer swapped the original junk cable with a Valtera cable at no cost to us. He then installed it, tested it and put 3/8 screws with washers in to hold the belly up. Now I have a pretty easy way to access that area of the coach should something like this happens again. He charged $150.
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Old 03-27-2019, 10:48 AM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by waynemoore View Post
I had the same problem and it was the the pice at the convenience center that was rusted. They kept using WD40 and some heavy duty pliers. Finally got it freed. Every so often I spray the rod with WD40.

Also good going Keystone for putting the black and gray pull handles under the water connections.
Yes, I hate fighting through the hose to pull those valves. It was even worse all winter when I had the stiff pirit hose in there.

And the valves WILL freeze. Mine froze at 5 degrees. After that I made sure I emptied the tanks before the next real cold weather and then put a half gallon of rv antifreeze in each holding tank.
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Old 03-27-2019, 10:56 AM   #16
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Question Relocate the galley gray tank valve ?

Quote:
Originally Posted by waynemoore View Post
Another thought on this subject. When I was replacing the black valve I cut the drain pipe just after the wye and installed a 4 inch long spacer that has radiator clamps on each end. All RV story have them. Now I can easily slid the piping away from the tanks to replace the valves.
I wondered if anyone else has found the location of their galley gray tank valve pull handle to be in a ridiculous position ? on our 2012 3150 Monty, I can see the drain pipe where it enters the black tank line, so it might be a more visible location, where a direct-pull valve could be installed. Has anyone else considered or done this, to avoid the need to crawl around the wheels and living area slide ? Thoughts ?
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Old 03-27-2019, 11:02 AM   #17
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Originally Posted by Leftie Canuk View Post
I wondered if anyone else has found the location of their galley gray tank valve pull handle to be in a ridiculous position ? on our 2012 3150 Monty, I can see the drain pipe where it enters the black tank line, so it might be a more visible location, where a direct-pull valve could be installed. Has anyone else considered or done this, to avoid the need to crawl around the wheels and living area slide ? Thoughts ?
The galley gray tank drain handle on my 384br is under the kitchen slide out and you have to lay on the ground and crawl under there to use it.

I've got a valterra gate valve that I put on my main sewer drain before the drain hose. I leave my galley tank open and keep that closed until dumping. Of course I couldn't do that all winter so I just had to leave the galley tank open and let it drain as I used it. It didn't give me any freezing problems.
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