Electric Valves Grey & Black water

[avalanche50]

Own a Carriage/Domani 30ft 5th wheel, 2008.
Having problems with the Black water valve sticking. Had a new one installed for both Blk/Gry and the first outing the black stuck ! The dealer says there is a history of this type problem. They say there is only one company that makes these valves.
The RV came eqipped from the factory with the system and is sold as a main feature so naturally I want to keep it as original as possible.
During storage I have dumped fresh water down the sewage tank hoping that would resolve the issue. There is a small potmetal allen wrench emergency release valve but thats not the answer I need.

1. Does anyone know if there is a more proficient electric vavle made by another company?
2. other than remove and install a manual system, any other tricks to try?

[MPI_Mallard]

Believe me I feel for you, don't forget, I'm stuck with these P.O.S. drainmaster valves as well and as long as they are working they'll stay but one more failure and they go into the garbage where they belong and replaced with good old reliable cable gate valves!!

Good luck

[Veebyes]

MPI_Mallard wrote:

Veebyes wrote:
Ah ha! Welcome to the club. It took me awhile to figure out the problem but now I know. Yes, mine was installed incorrectly as well. Seems all of them were, no matter the RV builder.

Lack of use seems to be part of the problem. Heck, I was under my trailer today at the dump station, allen wrench in hand, turning the screw just a little, then the switch worked fine. After that it was worked back & forth, back & forth. Hopefully next time, in a few days, it will work.

I have an access cut out in the belly material to get at the valve & we carry a stock of that metal tape to seal up the belly material after each time it has to be gotten at.

It is a nuisance but there is no room to turn the valve assembly into the position it is supposed to be mounted in.

On edit, having a look at the pics above...BULL! I have those 'new' type switches. The problem is at the valve itself.

No bull$$$$ on the 'new' switches, they have been working fine now for two years and replacing the switches is WAY easier than replacing the valves!!!

Yeah, well those 'new' switches had me under the trailer again today with my trusty Allen wrench. Moved it a 1/4 turn & the valve worked fine with the switch.

Back & forth. Open & closed a few times with the switch. No problem. Lets see what happens at the next dumping in 4 or 5 days time. My bets are that I'll be under the trailer yet again.

[MPI_Mallard]

Veebyes wrote:
Ah ha! Welcome to the club. It took me awhile to figure out the problem but now I know. Yes, mine was installed incorrectly as well. Seems all of them were, no matter the RV builder.

Lack of use seems to be part of the problem. Heck, I was under my trailer today at the dump station, allen wrench in hand, turning the screw just a little, then the switch worked fine. After that it was worked back & forth, back & forth. Hopefully next time, in a few days, it will work.

I have an access cut out in the belly material to get at the valve & we carry a stock of that metal tape to seal up the belly material after each time it has to be gotten at.

It is a nuisance but there is no room to turn the valve assembly into the position it is supposed to be mounted in.

On edit, having a look at the pics above...BULL! I have those 'new' type switches. The problem is at the valve itself.

No bull$$$$ on the 'new' switches, they have been working fine now for two years and replacing the switches is WAY easier than replacing the valves!!!

[SlickWillie]

I just replaced a cable operated valve on our Rushmore with the Valterra EZ Valve. You merely flip a ring, and it can be operated manually. No problems so far.

[griffy00]

I have 3 Drain Master valves on my 2005 rig that I bought new. Originally, I had one valve that was creating problems. A review of my owner's manual quickly revealed that the valves were mounted in the incorrect position. The rigs' design and placement location of the valves do not allow for proper mounting.

I have inspection hatches cut into my underbelly for easy access. I can manually override any valve in 10 minutes or less.

Another problem that I found was the 4 bolts on the valve were over tighten. Sometimes when a valve sticks, which is now rare, I can merely loosen the 4 bolts, operate the valve several times, and re-tighten the bolts and all is well. Since I'm a full-timer, my valves get a weekly workout. And, two of my valves are so old that they have the old screwdriver manual override instead of the newer allen wrench fitting. I'm pleased with my electric valves!

[ol_Bombero-JC]

.
Flush (pun) the electric valve/s!!..:(

Same for cable operated valves.

Install *manual* valve/s where you can get at them to repair or replace.

Reply to thread, "Key features of your 5ht Wheel", by new 5th buyer asking (among other things):

"What is the most painful (as in cost, time, inconvenience) experience involving repair you ever had to deal with."

"Painful" - "Time and inconvenience"

*Here*

Also - always carry an "add-on" Valtera valve (for your 3" sewer line).



~

[cbenn]

I have Valtera electric grey/black in my 08 Grand Junction and have had no issues, it is important to install them as straight up as possible, mine are all at 12:00, and no problems at all, going on 6 years old.

[Veebyes]

Ah ha! Welcome to the club. It took me awhile to figure out the problem but now I know. Yes, mine was installed incorrectly as well. Seems all of them were, no matter the RV builder.

Lack of use seems to be part of the problem. Heck, I was under my trailer today at the dump station, allen wrench in hand, turning the screw just a little, then the switch worked fine. After that it was worked back & forth, back & forth. Hopefully next time, in a few days, it will work.

I have an access cut out in the belly material to get at the valve & we carry a stock of that metal tape to seal up the belly material after each time it has to be gotten at.

It is a nuisance but there is no room to turn the valve assembly into the position it is supposed to be mounted in.

On edit, having a look at the pics above...BULL! I have those 'new' type switches. The problem is at the valve itself.

[Western_Sky_Ran]

WE-C-USA wrote:
I have 3 of them in our unit. All of them where installed wrong from the factory & failed. They have to be mounted between the 10 o'clock-2 o'clock position to keep water from collecting in the valve motor & gears.

We also have the 2008 Domani Fifth-wheel and have had the same problem you are experiencing. What WE-C-USA said above is exactly what the problem is. The Domani drain pipes do not allow for this type of "tilted" installation therefore the electric valves will continue to fail over and over.

We have had a second set of electric valves installed and so far so good but when they finally fail to the point of me climbing underneath and using the hex key every time to dump my tanks, I'm going to install one single manual valve dump at the end and allow both tanks to co-mingle as it were.

Good luck!

[Allworth]

It seems that RVs are like automobiles in that the more such "advanced" devices you have on them the more things there are to fail.

Power awnings.
Power tank valves.
Auto levelers.
Remote control slides.
Sat systems.

The list seems to grow every year.

[MPI_Mallard]

OH BOY!!! DRAINMASTER! I have three and all have been replaced two to three times under extended warranty then the following winter in Florida the black tank valve failed, drainmaster's B.S. reason was that the good people at Cedar Creek installed them wrong and so did the local Cedar Creek dealer but after some digging I found that CC was NEVER told that those valves could not be positioned horizontally and drainmaster started putting those warning stickers on AFTER CC was having problems, mind you this is "hear say' but I know Cedar Creek would NEVER build such a flaw in any of it's rigs like these junk valves intentionally but I really was surprised that our local Cedar Creek dealer who was paid to do the replacements didn't start asking questions when they see the warning labels on the new valves they repeatedly installed, so much for "idiot-proofing" I guess! So back to the newly failed valve, I'm speaking to a woman at drainmaster who now tells me that the original rocker switches they suppliedshown in this picture turned out to be the problem and the new "mechanical" switchesshown in this picture is the solution so $175 sheckles later and some re-wiring they now work as promised.
These valves have been the only problem I've had with my rig and Cedar Creek sent me replacement manual valves for me to convert and the next failure I will. I asked drainmaster why these switches weren't a recall item as they clearly are the problem but I never got an answer, just a bill.

[Nolan]

We have Drain Master electric valves on our trailer. Didn't order them with it, they just came on it. Two out of the three have failed. Have manual pull valves on them.

[WE-C-USA]

I have 3 of them in our unit. All of them where installed wrong from the factory & failed. They have to be mounted between the 10 o'clock-2 o'clock position to keep water from collecting in the valve motor & gears.

[greende]

I have not personally owned these valves but there have been quite a few post regarding them here over the years. Most of the problems IIRC were related to the way they were installed (I think it was the direction they were pointing). Give a call to the company. I'd bet they could shed some light on what to do to correct the binding problem.