Sticking Lever
Good Morning, Last time we went out, after hooking up to the sewer line at the campground, my black tank lever was super hard to open. Not sure why or what preventative maintenance can be done to en...
Forum Discussion
I once had some cable operated valves that were always really tough to open and close. It seemed no amount of grease on the rod would prevent them from occasionally getting stuck closed. One day I went to take the take the cap off to hook up the hose and I unleashed a brown volcano. My wife was absolutely no help since she was completely incapacitated by laughter. Laughing myself, I frantically tried to contain the brown beast with the hose. I eventually got the hose on, but the laughing continues to this day.
Anyway the handle was pushed in as far as it could go, to the point that I would rock the trailer pushing it in, but it would not stop the flow. At this point I was sure that there was something stuck in the valve preventing a complete closure. This could also explain why I had such a hard time opening it. I took the valve apart and it was clean as a whistle.
After investigating a little more it turns out the problem was that the cable was far too long. The handle was located about 12" away from the valve location, but the cable length was actually 36" long. The loop that the cable made was much too tight and that made it really difficult to open and close completely close the valve. Instead of trying to make the curve more gradual it was easier to just shorten the cable to the proper length. Never had a problem after that. Something to think about if you are using cable operated valves.
Anyway the handle was pushed in as far as it could go, to the point that I would rock the trailer pushing it in, but it would not stop the flow. At this point I was sure that there was something stuck in the valve preventing a complete closure. This could also explain why I had such a hard time opening it. I took the valve apart and it was clean as a whistle.
After investigating a little more it turns out the problem was that the cable was far too long. The handle was located about 12" away from the valve location, but the cable length was actually 36" long. The loop that the cable made was much too tight and that made it really difficult to open and close completely close the valve. Instead of trying to make the curve more gradual it was easier to just shorten the cable to the proper length. Never had a problem after that. Something to think about if you are using cable operated valves.
