Sticky black water valve

[Garyvv]

My black water valve on my 303 is getting progressively harder to open/close. I know the permanent fix is to change it out. I have the afrermarket Valterra. Has anybody with this problem just kept the black water valve open and controlled the dump with the Valterra.

[alias100]

I have not had this problem, but others have fixed sticking/tight valves by lubricating or rerouting the cables so any bends and turns have larger radius's (sp?). The Valterra on our trailer sticks out a bit too far from the side of the trailer to be trusted as the only black water valve. To easy to knock it off.
Good luck with your issue.

[Pap and Mimi]

I use the valterra to prevent surprises when removing the cap as well as letting the gray tanks equalize (black closed/both gray open) I had a gray valve that got hard to open/close, to the point I bent the wire trying to close it. I ordered a valve kit off Amazon that was not the same brand as factory. I had to enlarge 2 of the 4 screw holes to get them lined up. Not as easy task to tell what was needed reaching up through a flap I made in the coroplast.

[trailrydr]

I too used the valtera valve to help with gray water retention after bending and eventaully breaking the valve body keeping it from closing (luckily)!

However, I would highly recommend replacing the valve gaskets.... cause sooner or later you may break the valve or bend the pull shaft and it might be in the closed position when it does eventually quit working, and then becomes a immediate issue to deal with.

Changing out the valves and or gaskets biggest issue is mostly dealing with the coroplast removal/installation. Cable binding and replacement of the valve was fairly straight forward and easy to do. My tanks did allow some movement to get the valve back in place between the pipe flanges.

Tip: I used a moveable transmission sizzor floor jack to help as a deadman while dealing with the coroplast. I centered it the middle moving it forward as I replaced screws on either side. Ended up doing the whole coroplast installation myself that way.