85 Sunrader septic dump valve is broken off,..

[perry mason]

Hi, I just bought an 84/85 Toyota Sunrader FG-180 (18 footer) with lot's of problems.

Q: How do I find a sliding dump valve for the waste systems? I looked on-line but no one declares a tank side connection size for their sewage fitting products.

There is a gray water holding tank, passenger side, just behind the rear duals, fitted below the floorline. I can't see the details because it's foamed in so the tank doesn't freeze but the slide that let's you dump the gray water is bent and leaking. Water only seems to enter this tank from the kitchen sink drain. After removing the broken part I'm left with a male stub fitting exit from the tank, round and measuring 3 and 7/8" diameter. How do I find a replacement fitting for this? I assume the tube that's in the bumper bayonets onto this and you dump by sliding the gate valve open.

Q: There is NO valve on the toilet tank at all. You can lift the toilet lid, hit the flush lever and see daylight through the open tank. I'm assuming there is a really small holding tank under the shower floor. From outside the rig and underneath I can shine a light into the round 3 and 7/8" round stub and see a square box inside. This collects shower water so there's enough fluid to wash out the solid waste? Does the poo ooze back up the shower drain if it gets too full and you go up/down steep hills. How does this tank work?

I'm a do it yourselfer so if there's cheaper fittings at a regular plumbing store that would be great. Thank you for your time and happy rv-ing.

[Diesel_Aggie]

The dump valves are pretty standard. You may have to pull yours off and take it to a local RV store to match it. I find listings for 1.5", 2" & 3". It should look similar to this: http://www.pplmotorhomes.com/parts/rv-toilets-tanks/20097.htm They have all three sizes and will ship. Good people to deal with. After rereading I'm not clear on if you need the valve or the part downstream of the valve that has 4 round tabs which is what the sewer hose would twist onto and lock. This piece is usually pretty standard too. At least on the sewer hose side, I've never seen anything other than the standard size for a 4" hose which appears to be what you have. A decent RV parts store should have one of these too. I couldn't find one on the PPL site but I'm certain they have it as their service facility and inventory is very large.

There is a small tank under the shower floor. Basically you need to put a drain valve on, just as above. You certainly should not see daylight. If the tank overflows which taking a shower, you will need to take another shower after draining the tank. Poor design. If you search or read some old threads here you will find some discussion on modifying this. I've never had a tank splash up while driving but if it is filled to 1" of the shower grate then it certainly seems possible.

The best way I know to deal with a black water tank is to start with an empty tank. Add some water to the tank to start with. Add chemical deodorizer if you choose. This keep the solids from sticking to the bottom of the tank. Use RV specific toilet paper. When it is convenient to empty the black water tank, fill it up as much as possible with water before draining. This gives you the best chance of flushing the solids out. If you don't fill the tank with some water initially the solids can fall on a dry part of the tank, stick, harden and become a fossil. You now have tank odor that is hard to get rid of. Often times you will have to scrape the tank or replace it if this happens. As this tank is so odd, replacement almost certainly means having one custom made. You may wish to look at some of the larger RV forum sites for general things like this. They have LOTS more traffic and these subjects are often covered in FAQs there. I'm not going to list the site names as I"m not sure if that is permitted here.