Black water tank valve replacement

[3fivers51]

I have a 2017 Grand Design Reflection 303 RLS and wondering if anyone else has one? I needed to replace the black tank valve and wondering if anyone has had this problem with this particular model? I thought I would tackle this job and I did not think this was beyond my wheel house. Well I checked out Youtube and got a few videos to make sure it was something I could do. So I gave it a try. I got the valve out but it took quite a bit of time and after doing so I still amazed I got it out, in fact I still am scratching my head on this one. The piping was so tight I had to tear the seals to get the valve out. Well the new valve came with new seals so that was not the problem. Getting the new valve in is impossible. I even had my wife come under to help me and I showed her the trouble I was having and she said the same thing that it was impossible! At 130.00 / hour labor I thought I could save some money. Up to this point I have not done anything the rv dealer would not have done.
Thanks,
Bill

[geotex1]

Your plight is not uncommon. Techs hope the trick of being able to pull the tank and piping down will be just enough to leverage a replacement in. Probably 75% of the time it works, but when it doesn't your only choice it to pull the toilet and free the toilet flange. I have replaced several over the years on our campers and my luck has been 50/50 with sneaking the replacement in. Good luck getting it sorted!

[FT4NOW]

When I replaced a few valves on my Momentum I cut the main header with a sawzall. It made removing and installing a new valve easier. I originally had the same problem as you, and got the valve in, but it leaked. Setting it in place with the cut header was very easy and no leaks. I used a 3" rubber coupling from Lowe's to seal where i cut the pipe and that never leaked. You need to slide the coupling on before you install the new valve or ir wont go on. The coupling uses hose clamps on both sides and is designed for sewer piping.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[WhittleBurner]

I agree with FT4NOW. Had to do the grey tank. Must have tried at least 4 times and could not get it to not leak. After doing some research have decided to cut ours to fix it. If it ever stops raining long enough around here that is exactly what I will do.

[timlisajax]

Took our last trip of the year a week ago and when I went to dump the tanks, the black valve would hardly open or close. It's always been stiff, but it was so bad this time I thought I was going to break it. Long story short, got the black tank emptied, all cleaned out, and ready to winterize.

I'm going to go ahead and replace the black valve so I don't go through this next year, or worse yet, have it break in a campground. It looks like a very tight install from some of the videos so I am not opposed to using a 3" coupler. There are questions.

We have the 337RLS. I know I have to cut the chloroplast to get to the valve. How does one determine where the valve is? I thought about dropping the chloroplast near the sewer connection and looking up in there with a flashlight to see if I can see the valve. I don't want to open up the underbelly and find out I'm 10' away from where I need to be.

I've seen various valves on Amazon, Etrailer, etc. and is there a brand (Valterra?) that is better than the others? I think the one in the camper now is a braided cable vs some that may be a solid flexible rod.

Or maybe my issue is the rubber gasket on the valve is sticking. I use a tank lubricant and it helps a bit, but not enough. Have seen a video where a guy installed a zerk fitting on the valve housing and shoots grease to keep the valve running smoothly.

My biggest thing is that I'd like to fix this with a high quality component, make sure its not leaking and moving freely, then button things up. Not a project I want to do on a frequent basis.

I'm sure I'm missing some thoughts so any advice would be appreciated.

[IBEW Sparky]

@timlisajax

I recently had a portion of my 337RLS chloroplast open to run a new 12/2RX cable for an exterior outlet. I took the screws out underneath on the door side from the steps to the front... this isn't enough to replace your valve but I did notice that the black tank valve is on that side of the RV and located on the rear side of the black tank. Approx location is 3' to the right of the steps just inside the I-beam frame. Absolutely no need to cut the choroplast, remove the underbelly screws from the front axle all the way to the front, across, and back again on the opposite side. You can drop that much of the chloroplast and put it back when you are done... Cutting it isn't necessary.

[minnow101]

More than likely it’s the cable that’s causing your binding issues. You are smart to swap out the valve now. Unfortunately most only find out the valve is hopelessly stuck with a full tank of stinky’s.

[timlisajax]

@timlisajax

I recently had a portion of my 337RLS chloroplast open to run a new 12/2RX cable for an exterior outlet. I took the screws out underneath on the door side from the steps to the front... this isn't enough to replace your valve but I did notice that the black tank valve is on that side of the RV and located on the rear side of the black tank. Approx location is 3' to the right of the steps just inside the I-beam frame. Absolutely no need to cut the choroplast, remove the underbelly screws from the front axle all the way to the front, across, and back again on the opposite side. You can drop that much of the chloroplast and put it back when you are done... Cutting it isn't necessary.

Great advice and info. The chloroplast installation is pretty clean forward of the axles. I'll give that a shot and see how it goes. Thanks Sparky

[Gronk1]

Took our last trip of the year a week ago and when I went to dump the tanks, the black valve would hardly open or close. It's always been stiff, but it was so bad this time I thought I was going to break it. Long story short, got the black tank emptied, all cleaned out, and ready to winterize.

I'm going to go ahead and replace the black valve so I don't go through this next year, or worse yet, have it break in a campground. It looks like a very tight install from some of the videos so I am not opposed to using a 3" coupler. There are questions.

We have the 337RLS. I know I have to cut the chloroplast to get to the valve. How does one determine where the valve is? I thought about dropping the chloroplast near the sewer connection and looking up in there with a flashlight to see if I can see the valve. I don't want to open up the underbelly and find out I'm 10' away from where I need to be.

I've seen various valves on Amazon, Etrailer, etc. and is there a brand (Valterra?) that is better than the others? I think the one in the camper now is a braided cable vs some that may be a solid flexible rod.

Or maybe my issue is the rubber gasket on the valve is sticking. I use a tank lubricant and it helps a bit, but not enough. Have seen a video where a guy installed a zerk fitting on the valve housing and shoots grease to keep the valve running smoothly.

My biggest thing is that I'd like to fix this with a high quality component, make sure its not leaking and moving freely, then button things up. Not a project I want to do on a frequent basis.

I'm sure I'm missing some thoughts so any advice would be appreciated.

The valves in your trailer are LaSalle/Bristol. Valterra is a better replacement, you can change out the cable without disturbing the valve. You can do it with L/B cables but it's more involved (youtube).
I had a sticky grey cable this last summer. After our last trip I went after it with PB Blaster & Zep 45. I also opened up the basement wall & rerouted the cable to have the bends not as sharp. It took a few days, but works much better now. I just didn't want to lay on my back for a couple of days.

[timlisajax]

Thanks Sparky and Gronk for the input. As Sparky mentioned, I opened up the underbelly on the door side just enough to get a flashlight in there and to see where the valve is. It doesn't look to difficult to roll back the chloroplast from the front to the axles as Sparky mentioned. Interesting that the GD site shows the camper needing a 96" cable but doesn't say for which tank. My guess is that the front gray and black both take a 72" cable and the 96" goes to the rear gray tank for the kitchen sink. I ordered one of each so should be good to go.

My only concern is wedging in the new valve after taking the old one out. Doesn't look like there's alot of "give" in the black plastic pipe.