Black water valve hard to open!

[McGoo]

My black water valve has become extremely hard to open and I fear it will break when using such extreme force. Is there a way to lubricate it? It is sealing fine and not leaking and otherwise does not need replacement.

[lanerd]

What I do with mine is when I have the tank empty, I will remove all fittings so I can have access to the valve gate inside the pipe and shoot it with silicone spray and work the gate back and forth a few times. Sometimes I will find tp stuck to the grooves the gate fits in and will remove that prior to spraying the silicone. Works for me.

Ron