Black water drip leak

[heyheymymy]

Hi folks,

I'm about to head out on a six month trip in my new (to me) '86 Citation, but I just noticed that I've got a little drip coming from my black water. I've attached a picture. It's a new development, and I'm wondering if it's something that I should be taking care of now, before it gets worse? The tanks are empty except for some of the blue deodorizer liquid, which is what's leaking right now.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Glad to be a part of such an excellent forum.

Here's the picture of the two places that are leaking:

[Gulfstream Greg]

The valve for that tank is bad. As you can see it has 4 bolts holding it together. They may or may not come off easily. Mine is leaking also. Bad thing is sewage builds up behind the cap and when you pull off the cap it gets all over you when it splashes on the ground. The valve is available online from just about anyone who sells rv parts. Some auto parts stores have them. Even Walmart I think has them. Wear some leather gloves when taking it off so you don't accidentally scrape or cut yourself while playing with the nasty stuff. Your other valve might be bad also. Might think about replacing both while you have it apart.

[heyheymymy]

Thanks for the info, Greg. Sounds like an easy enough fix. And I'm glad it's happening now when there's nothing in the tank, rather than a few months from now.

I'll head out tomorrow and find the parts. You're right that I might as well replace both valves while I'm down there. Sounds like it should be a fairly straightforward process?

Thanks again.

Edited September 4, 2010 by heyheymymy

[Gulfstream Greg]

Your welcome

I have to do mine before our next trip. Post back on how easy it hopefully is.

[edbonez20]

Hello there. I'm a newbie on here and as a motorhome owner too. As of today I now own a 86 Sunrader. I came across these forums and had too sign up. I was wondering if anyone had any good resources for parts for these. My black water tank is wasted. I could probably fix it but I think a new or used one would be the better way to go. Can I get a direct replacement or are they pretty much all universal? Also one of the airbags I think is bad. Anyone know where I could find this stuff fairly inexpensive or any recomendations? Thanks. Edward.

[xanthogar]

If you're gong to replace it I'd suggest you replace it with one that has a flusher on it, it's a hydro flush valve which leans your tank out and helps prevent build up. It's like $10 more but it'll keep your tank cleaner and make for a better emptying experience, it's $45 at camping world they call it the flush king.

[86rader]

Hi folks,

I'm about to head out on a six month trip in my new (to me) '86 Citation, but I just noticed that I've got a little drip coming from my black water. I've attached a picture. It's a new development, and I'm wondering if it's something that I should be taking care of now, before it gets worse? The tanks are empty except for some of the blue deodorizer liquid, which is what's leaking right now.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Glad to be a part of such an excellent forum.

Here's the picture of the two places that are leaking:

I too had a leaky blade valve. With mine, the mounting flange was cracked from an overtightened bolt so I had to replace it. from the looks of the inside of mine, the actual valve mechanism which is simply the flat blade and 2 large O-rings, appeared to be fine. a good cleaning might have sufficed.

of course the things are cheap, so replacement ain't a bad idea anyway, particularly if it is difficult to access.

when you do install the new blade, i recommend you smear the new O-rings with silicone grease. The silicone will help keep the rubber O-rings pliable and will keep the valve working smoothly. you can get the silcone grease at a hardware store or a pool supply store. it's the same stuff used for pool filter O-rings. if you have a pool, you probably already have some and know what i'm talking about. also, make sure you use stainless steel hardware to mount the new blade valve. i think it comes with the valve. and don't overtighten as the person that installed my old one did.

[heyheymymy]

Thanks for the advice, everyone.

We don't have any Camping World stores around here, but there is an RV sales and supply place nearby which will probably have a Flush King unit or some equivalent.

When I do the repair, I'll take photos of the process and post them here for the reference of others who might have the same problem in the future.

Before I start, is the consensus that I might as well replace the whole end section down there with something like the Flush King (http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/flush-king/20522), rather than opening things up and trying to replace whatever smaller part might be the problem within the larger assembly?

[heyheymymy]

Just a quick update letting you folks know that I haven't done the install yet. After reading 86Rader's post, I played around with the bolt tightness, and the problem seems to have gone away. I bought the replacement part, so I'm waiting now to see if it happens again. If it does, I'll post an update with pictures of the install so that others can see what to do if they encounter the same problem.

[Homer]

Mine was leaking too! I went to a local RV dealer and they had the replacement valves and I replaced both gray and black water valves. You can also get the replacement " O " rings and not have to buy the complete valves. You will have to know the size of the valves because they come in 3 or 4 sizes. They also have new hardware to place them back on included in the package.

http://www.go-rv.com/coast/do/catalog/page?pagePrev=TRUE&dealerId=2517&pageNum=354

check this page and see both things you need are on this page.

Good luck

[JohnW]

I did mine on the 79 black water tank. I drained the tank and flushed it a few times with bleach and laundry detergent and then left the valve open to dry things out for a couple of days then the nasty work began. It was not bad from the nasty stuff stand point but from a pain in the but stand point it was. My bolts looked the same and they were all rusted I had to cut them off with a dremel tool being careful not to break the flange side on the tank.

New valve assembly is in, plan to fill it up with water to test for leaks...

Its not fun but you just have to commit to get it done in one day once you start. I bought a pair of mechanics gloves placed over some nitril gloves and threw the entire mess away when I was done.

Good luck.

[Gulfstream Greg]

Hello there. I'm a newbie on here and as a motorhome owner too. As of today I now own a 86 Sunrader. I came across these forums and had too sign up. I was wondering if anyone had any good resources for parts for these. My black water tank is wasted. I could probably fix it but I think a new or used one would be the better way to go. Can I get a direct replacement or are they pretty much all universal? Also one of the airbags I think is bad. Anyone know where I could find this stuff fairly inexpensive or any recomendations? Thanks. Edward.

Your post here might get better results if you start it as a new post dedicated to your specific question.