Holding Tank Valves?

One issue with factory installed electric valves is that most of them are installed in the wrong position. I don't remember which brand wants their valve which way, but I do know that the valves on my Carrilite are 90* from the right position. Problem is that there is no room to rotate the valves to the correct position and this is from the factory.

SuperDuty5’er, everything I have is in the pass-thru storage compartment; nothing is exposed to the road or outside. My cables and valves are in the storage compartment and I have to open the outside storage compartment door to dump my tanks.

I’m thinking about doing the installment replacements myself because I have the time to do it and it is a good way to get to better know my 5th wheel. The only thing is I have not made up my mind. I went under there and looked at it and I may only need to replace the cables X3 because the valves look fine. Although if I get the electric valves then I would replace everything and install the wiring for the control switches as well.

The more I look at this the simpler it seems and the more I feel like I should cancel my Camping World appointment and just install whatever I decide on myself. I’ve found some stuff online, including pictures, on how to install a new holding tank valve. Nonetheless, thank you for your input.

Ya know the valves I installed mount over the existing valve-effectively replacing the cable with a motor-I went with these because my valves were fine-2 of my 3 cables were shot-the******they spray on the roads here in the winter destroys everything! The assembly clamps around the existing valve-think you take two of the 4 bolts out maybe, and attaches to the threaded pull that the old cable assembly connected to. The project for me was later wiring them to have multiple control stations with a pilot light to indicate position-but that's what I do! ;)

I am really undecided; got a couple of weeks before my Camping World appointment. If I just replace the cable actuated valves I’m thinking I can do that myself and avoid the cost of labor, learn more about my 5’er by getting up under there and seeing how things are done, and the cable actuated valves are covered under my extended warranty.

On the other hand electric valves would be very convenient, even though they cost more and will not be covered by my warranty. I’ve found about an equal amount of pros and cons about the electric valves, but I’ve also found some criticism about the cable actuated valves which I currently have. One such criticism said that they had to change their cable actuated values every year because of the cable sticking or coming loose. This is what has happened to me only after having my brand new 5th wheel for about 15-months.

As I said, I still have a couple of weeks to weigh this and make a decision. My extended warranty will cover replacement of the cable actuated valves but I can purchase a relatively cheap 3-year protection plan from Camping World that will cover the electric values.

I rarely dump the black from inside-I like keeping my grey closed but love the convenience of opening the grey from inside at 1am when I decide to throw laundry in after a couple of showers-when camping with ciy water it's really easy to fill the grey tank fast...I know the condition of my hose and connectors-and how positive of a connection I made at the sewer outlet in the ground.

I do like to witness the black flow out through the hose-and then the grey flushing over the black to rinse the hose. Sometimes I think the electric valves are like power windows-we got away without them, don't necessarily need them, but no longer live without! Yes, I just put a new passenger window motor in my X at 245K-will that change my purchase plans next time around-no way! Either way-it's very convenient standing outside and leaning over and flipping a switch.

Thank you Noplace2 for your feedback. SuperDutyFiver mentioned having the electric valve panel inside his rig as well as having one outside attached to the rig. But you do raise a good point about paying attention to dumping your tanks and how things can go wrong.

I guess for me I would only use the inside switch when I am hooked up to a camp site sewer and not when at a dump station. It does seem like “Murphy’s Law” strongly applies to electric waste valves as so much can go wrong.

Roy & Lynn, thank you for your comments and the link. The issue I have with hearing all of these negative stories about electric waste tank valves is that there are many different brand names and types of electric valves on the market.

Some who commented on this thread have mentioned Drainmaster, Barker Auto-Drain, and Valterra electric valves. But most who said that their electric valve did not work have not mentioned what type and brand name they were using. Although there seems to be a lot of complaints about Drainmaster.

Any true research on a product considers a lot of different sources and specifics as to that product. Maybe everyone who is saying they had trouble with electric valves all used the same type of electric valve. I would not say that all electric valves are bad based on experiences with one type of electric valve. But I do appreciate all of the feedback, and I am also getting feedback on this from another RVing website, as well as online reviews on the Valterra electric valves. A sincere thank you to everyone for your input.

One of the blogs that I follow has been having issues. Electric Holding Tank They switched because they were having leaking issues with the manual and couldn't get it fixed. So now its worse.

Fulltiming for 13 years and on our second rig, I have no desire for electric dump valves. Just something else to malfunction. But that's not why I called. :) Several folks here have extolled the virtues of having controls inside the rig. Convenient? Well, duh! BUT, I don't care whether you're piloting a duct-taped wonder or a $2 million fabu-bus, we all have to dump, and usually that is via relatively flimsy sewer hoses. Even the best of them can, and do, spring leaks as do the fittings.(and yes we know about and own Rhino products-best thing to happen to fulltiming RV'ing since the dawn thereof) I guess if you DO own one of those 2M rigs you likely have "people" to do "those sort of disgusting things" for you. I digress.

My point is that, when I dump, I want to be out there watching my hose and fittings to make sure that I'm not messing stuff up for myself or others, either visually, environmentally or olfactoraly.

So Larry, get whatever gizmo floats your boat. Be vigilant. Thank you for listening.

So I went looking for some reviews online and did not find that many. I am considering the valterra electric ez valve system, which is what Camping World sells. I did find some reviews at Amazon.com from people who purchased and had this product installed. They were mostly positive. Now I guess it’s time for me to make a decision.

http://www.amazon.com/Valterra-E1003VP-Valve-Electric-System/product-reviews/B004RCXC1G

Its’ good to have all the feedback. Jim I asked for others opinions because I want to know what others think. I have made an appointment with Camping World for the second week of December, but I can always cancel that appointment.

I am leaning heavily towards purchasing electric valves, but I still appreciate the opinions of others. I feel like whatever is installed it has the potential of breaking down. Thanks to SuperDutyFiver I learned something about specifying inside controls if I have the electric valves installed. I also learned something from MPI Mallard about staying away from Drainmaster valves. This is why I asked for the opinions of others.

Although it does seem like there are more negative opinions on this than there are positive opinions. This is my 4th RV and I have never had the pull cable release valves before, and I‘ve had a lot of trouble with them and have grown to not like them. Another possible option may be to get the regular manual sliding door type waste valves, which I have had on previous RV's and they gave me no trouble whatsoever, but I don’t know if they can be installed in place of the cable actuated valves which I currently have. I’ll have to ask Camping World about that.