My black tank valve is stuck. Easy lube fix?

The problem with a 17 year old rig is the seals are more than likely swollen.
Time to replace the valve assembly.

I quit using any petroleum products on the dump valve seals after figuring out that it was reacting with rubber in the seals and causing them to swell and when that happens either the slides were extremely hard to move or the seals become dislodged when pulled by the slides and all hell breaks loose along with the sewage. I now use a product produced by Dupont called 111 Compound which is a heavy bodied silicone based lubricant that will not react with the nitrile rubber based seals. Learned this from talking to the people at Drainmaster, a company that produces electrically operated waste line valves which ,by the way, has operated flawlessly for a couple of years now.

LadyRVer wrote:
I replaced both of mine at the same time on one of my RV's. Took me more than 15 minutes.. I had the 4 bolt thing down pat, but getting the seal to stay in the right place took me a couple of hours worth of tries!

Next time try using a little grease like petroleum jelly under the gasket to help hold it in place.
Bill

Poss fix: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GDErKY05-8

Replacement: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvpd7VbNDgU

I replaced both of mine at the same time on one of my RV's. Took me more than 15 minutes.. I had the 4 bolt thing down pat, but getting the seal to stay in the right place took me a couple of hours worth of tries!

The valve has warned you. You won’t get a second warning.

At least it's stuck open and not closed. Really your choice is to replace the valve. Put your truck in a steep driveway or up on ramps in whatever direction for 5-10 minutes to allow more complete drainage of the tank. Then you can level it and pull the camper if necessary and change the valve.

Typically you have to loosen or disassemble the drain pipe enough so be able to slide the valve out. After that it's 4 bolts out and in and then you're done.

Replace both of them. I just did it and it only took about 15 minutes each. If one is messing up the outher isn't far behind.
Bill

You don't say how old your coach is but when mine began to get difficult to smoothly operate after about 5 years so I just replaced the entire valve setup. The handle on the grey tank valve was developing a crack so figured better to do it at home with all my tools available and no pressure. I believe folks refer to this sort of thing as "Preventative Maintenance".

I ordered the replacement valve assembly off of Amazon {about $40 a couple of years ago} and had it in 2 days... probably would not be that simple out on the road. It took about an hour and half to pull the old one and install the new. Tip of the day: start with a clean and empty pair of tanks. :S

Spraying on lube or greasing up the exposed portion of the shafts is basically a bandaid solution once they start to stick. Better to get it done right and know that it will never be a problem during a trip.

Worked for me...

:C

Replace it. No, it's not a fun job, but it's time. There's nothing you can put in the tank itself that will help- with the exception of a lot of water to flush it out before you tackle this job.