This morning I'm bring the RV over to the guest house to dump the waste tanks. Everyone knows you start with your black tank then switch to the grey tank(s) after the black is emptied. Right off the bat I pull the rod completely out of the black tank knife valve. (Oh Flippin' Great!) I'm off to New Meadows, ID to pick up a new valve and install it. At least I had the luck of the draw and the valve opened and dumped. Instead of yanking the rod out without dumping. (Ewwww! that would be nasty!).

 

Just another adventure of turning wrenches I guess....

 

Also got to check the wheel bearing I've got one creating a squeak now... Not a good sign... 

Sorry about that. Mines next since it is a 2002 model. I hope its an easy fix

 

I'm glad the winds' not blowing this way boss.

Ugh... The valve is all the way on the passenger side of the RV and the handle is on the driver side. Then all the screws were rusted in the bottom. So about 3 or 4 screws I had to grind the heads off to get the belly pan down. Then I was barely able to reach the 4 bolts and nuts. Then the two pipe flanges barely had enough room pulling on it to get the valve out. Then putting in back in place I had to reach in and single handed and stretch the rubber seals on the flanges. Then once the seal in place try and pull the pipe careful back and stick the between without knocking the seals off. What a pain in the rear. It back in place for now I'm going to dump 5-10 gallons of water in the tank and check for leaks. The valve was fairly cheap at 19 dollars and not really a tough job normally but when you force to work it single handed makes it tough.

Not tough for a contortionist and magician like you Michael.

 

I wonder why they call it a 'knife valve'  expecting some big ones??

 

Anyway enough joking around....... I heard that pouring Johnson baby oil in there each year after it's put away for the winter keeps the rubber seals lubed and soft so this doesn't happen.

I normally leave all valves open so the rubber seal can relax for the entire winter time. This also allows the tanks to dry out and so the scum to possibly fall from the wall next time used. 

I think it's good not using cheaper alcohol based rv antfreeze. I think the alcohol tends to drys out the seals.

I ran up on a deal on knife valves while in a store many, many years ago. The closing out their RV stuff and I got them for a couple bucks each IIRC. Never had one fail. Sorry to here about yours though. 

 

 

What part of it failed?

 

I've had the rods come unscrewed before and have always been able to screw the rod back on.. But you get that "awe crap" feeling for a few seconds!

No.. The entire rod came out of the knife valve completely. Just a little hole where the rod came out of. 

Wood it be a good idea to unscrew it when new and put a dab of epoxy on the threads and screw it back in? Wood it last longer?

I'll take a picture of the rod and valve.