Sewage valve stuck open

How did you make out with your tank?

From your description it sounds like your seal that the blade slides between is jammed, your tank is empty, so the next step is to replace the valve. I would jack the camper up on the side that your drain is on to keep what water you have left in the tank then replace the valve. Also what I did on mine was to add grease fitting on top of the valve and pump some grease in there just to keep the blade sliding smoothly between the seals. I pump in some grease when ever the handle gets hard to operate. The grease fittings are tapered and will self tap into the plastic after a under sized hole is drilled. Hope this helps.

Dave H M wrote:
Bobo, Careful in assuming the grey tank is a 1.5. All three of mine are 3 inch.

OK, my point is that the black tank is NOT 1.5 inch.

Bobo, Careful in assuming the grey tank is a 1.5. All three of mine are 3 inch.

The temporary valve is great for back-flushing the black tank.

1. Attach temp valve to RV dump pipe.

2. Connect hose to temp valve and dump station.

3. Open temp and black valves.

4. When Black tank is empty, close temp valve.

5. Open Grey tank valve. This allows he grey water to back-flush the black tank.

6. Close grey valve.

7. Open temp valve.

8. Repeat steps 4 through 7 until grey tank is empty.

Dave H M wrote:
since it is summer time, I will tell you what got me down the road.

My remotely/cable operated black valve was leaking out the drain pipe.

I went into the nearest RV place and bought a valve that you clip onto the drain pipe just like the cap does.

Kicked back and enjoyed the rest of the trip. I replaced the drain valve after getting home and the weather improved.

This is the temporary valve that Dave H M is talking about.

And this is the permanent replacement that opnspaces is talking about.

Be sure you DON'T get the 1.5" valve as that fits the gray tank outlet.

since it is summer time, I will tell you what got me down the road.

My remotely/cable operated black valve was leaking out the drain pipe.

I went into the nearest RV place and bought a valve that you clip onto the drain pipe just like the cap does.

Kicked back and enjoyed the rest of the trip. I replaced the drain valve after getting home and the weather improved.

It sounds like the only things that are currently wrong are some sensors that are not accurate and a stuck valve. From your post it sounds like the tank is empty.

I would look under the fifth wheel and see if you can see the tank and the valve. Now find a way to tilt the trailer toward the valve to completely drain the tank.

If the drain comes out of the back of the tank, jack up the trailer so that more stuff drains out of the open valve. If it comes out of a side of the tank, find a way to lift the other side.

Once the draining stops tilt the trailer in the opposite direction so the contents in the tank run away from the valve. Now while everything is draining away from the valve, go get some tools. If I remember correctly you will need a 3/8 inch wrench and a 3/8 inch socket and ratchet.

Unscrew the four bolts and unhook whatever is holding the exit pipe and stinky slinky onto the valve. Now pull the valve out and take a look. If you did this right you will only get a dribble out of the tank as you have the outlet tilted up so the effluent is drained away from the valve. Find the problem and fix or replace the valve. They only cost about $14.00 so they're not too expensive.

You really don't want to let this go or you most definitely will wind up with the dreaded poop pyramid. The solids will drop into the tank and stay under the toilet while the little bit of water from the bowl will drain out.

Good luck with it and let us know how you make out.

Well, the valve problem is not resolved but I made progress today. I got the auger and ran it down the toilet... and encountered no resistance. I ran the whole 20 feet down there and it didn't even feel like it hit soup. So I got curious and disconnected the drain pipe, filled up the toilet with a gallon of water, and let it go- then ran outside to see what came out. It was pure liquid, brown, but no lumps. By the time my husband got home I showed him what I was investigating, and we ran more loads of water down the toilet. We ran a garden hose inside the RV, hooked the drain pipe back up, and dumped about 12 toilet-fulls of water (not steady streams, I wanted to let loose waves of water for better force). Then I disconnected and ran a single gallon again, and presto, the water coming out was quite clear. And the gauge is down to the bottom third light. Now it is not so urgent- I know the flow is still okay, and I can start figuring out what to disassemble to find the exact problem. :)

Depending on the type of valve you have, there might be a rubber gasket that came loose from the valve. That happened to me. The gasket came loose from the valve and got "situated" in the pipe at just the right angle to keep the valve from being able to go all the way in. We were able to get it shoved out of the valve's location so I could close the valve, but we couldn't get it removed (and the valve was not leak-proof without the gasket.

Because I wanted to move the valve's position anyway (it was way underneath the RV), I ended up having the tank drained, then cutting the pipe near where the gasket was stuck, removing the gasket, adding new piping to extend the position of the valve closer to the edge of the RV. I also changed the valves to new ones that don't have rubber gaskets.