Tank valves

Moved from Forum Technical Support

I bought a valve lubricant from my RV store.

Follow the instructions. If I remember correctly, you dump it in your tanks when they're clean and empty, and then use normally. One bottle was enough to do several tanks (I did two in my old travel trailer, and all four in my new fifth wheel with the contents of one bottle).

I know on some cable operated valves that the cable may have a bend, tight radius or is simply too long (as put in from factory) that can cause the cable to bind over time. It may not hurt to cut or drop the belly cover and check out the positioning of the cable to see if there is a sharp radius that could be causing it to bind. If you plan to lube the valves, you will have to open belly anyway.
Steve

Dump a bottle of mineral oil in the tank after it is emptied, and let it sit a bit if possible. It's cheap, and works quite well to lube the valve, as well as the mechanism in the toilet itself.
Mike

mike in tx wrote:
Dump a bottle of mineral oil in the tank after it is emptied, and let it sit a bit if possible. It's cheap, and works quite well to lube the valve, as well as the mechanism in the toilet itself.
Mike

X2 to this. Have done the Thetford valve Lubricant, but it does not last long. Could only find Baby Oil at Wally world, which is mineral oil with fragrance, but it has worked well. Have had several dumps/cleans and valve still operates easily. Also, the baby oil was one quarter the price of the Thetford stuff.

In the past I've used a coconut oil=based valve lubricant that is poured innto the holding tsnk. I blieve you can find it at most camping supplly stores. The fact that it is coconut oil-based means it won't harm the seal. I wonder if regular vegetable oil would be a good substitute? IIRC I've used that as a valve lubricant in the past with good results in a motorhome I used to have. I used it as a blade valve lube for the toilet.

bgant4 wrote:
The tank valves on my cedar creek silverback are cable type. The one for my black tank is getting hard to open. How do you lube it as it is hidden? Do I have to drop the belly pan?

Thank you very much for asking this question. We have a 2011 Cedar Creek, and all 3 valves are hard to open. The valve on the black water tank is worse.

Some suggest using mineral oil. I will try that on all 3 valves. I remember an old question on this subject. The answer was that some of the cables are just too long, which contributes to the stiffness.
ken