# RV - waste problem



## dcummin (Jan 21, 2008)

Morning all - just back from a lovely trip in Brighton, but unfortunately a bit of a smelly one

Ill try and describe as best I can my problem

Black waste - rather than being held in the tank seems to leaking directly into the pipe that you empty from and dripping onto the floor. The cover is on there, but dont think its 100% watertight

The leaver you pull down to empty the black waste is in the closed position

Does anyone have an idea what could be causing this - Im thinking that maybe some toilet roll or something is blocking the seal from closing correctly - if that is the case any help on a way to clear/fix this

many thanks

David

(hopefully one day ill be able to do a trip without something going wrong)


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## iandsm (May 18, 2007)

*waste*

Try flushing in reverse with a high pressure hose pipe.


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## dcummin (Jan 21, 2008)

"Try flushing in reverse with a high pressure hose pipe"

Should I get my wife to stand in the toilet to check the water is coming through 

sounds like a good idea - ill give that one a go many thanks


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

I would fill the tank with clean water and dump it a few times in the hope of flushing anything which might be caught in the valve out. It won't hurt to give the tank a clean anyway.

I don't think the cap could be relied on to be watertight, in fact I don't even think they have a seal in them.

The seal on your dump opening/closing valve may be faulty, Alan.


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## davesport (Nov 12, 2006)

Ughhhh !

(pinches nose & runs away) 8O 

Apologises in advance for making a completely useless & irrelevant reply. Good luck with fixing this  

D.


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## eddievanbitz (May 1, 2005)

The seal on the blade valve is *V* shaped. When you close the blade valve you will often press matter, normally toilet paper into the *V*

This builds up and the more "matter" the less blade can slide into the *V* This ends up with a little dribble which makes us use more pressure on the lever or rod which compresses the material even further into the *V*

Then, ultimately the blade cannot even slide into the *V* at all and then you get a leak!

Get a long thin screwdriver bend it in a vice about 25 -30mm from the tip. If you can see the blade seal use the blade to clear out the debris. If the valve is in the pipe, you'll have to undo the four nuts and bolts, slide the valve assembly clear of the pipe and clear it that way.

Or change the blade valve LOL

Cheers

Eddie


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## chiefwigwam (Jan 23, 2013)

alan, off topic i know but im only noticing your avatar mh, when did you change the frankia?

what prompted you to do so?

i only ask as we were looking at one a few days ago.
cheers

John


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## dcummin (Jan 21, 2008)

eddievanbitz said:


> The seal on the blade valve is *V* shaped. When you close the blade valve you will often press matter, normally toilet paper into the *V*
> 
> This builds up and the more "matter" the less blade can slide into the *V* This ends up with a little dribble which makes us use more pressure on the lever or rod which compresses the material even further into the *V*
> 
> ...


this is going to be a really disgusting job - best get it done before our indian summer arrives thank you for a really thorough reply

I didnt think I would ever miss the thetford toilets


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

chiefwigwam said:


> alan, off topic i know but im only noticing your avatar mh, when did you change the frankia?
> 
> what prompted you to do so?
> 
> ...


Hello John. We changed a couple of weeks ago. Mainly for space but there are many other things I prefer about this van. Not least having something approximating a proper toilet.

A few things have taken a little getting used to but we do much prefer this one. It has some obvious disadvantages such as fuel consumption and would you believe slightly less storage space.

I would recommend you go for it if you fancy a change. Look for one already converted to LPG if it's petrol, ours is.

Regards Alan.


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## Christine600 (Jan 20, 2011)

On mine there is a bit of a hose where I can connect freshwater and help flushing out the blackwater tank. If you have this then flushing freshwater while you niggle the valve back and forth might help?


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## harrison (Apr 20, 2010)

The only way is to strip the valve down it all unbolts and clean it, I allways empty black first then grey to flush the pipe out

Paul


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## Sloany (May 15, 2010)

Once in a while i drop the black tank first then refit the main cap. Then i open the black tank then the grey and allow the grey to backflush into the black. Shut the grey off and the black remove the main cap then redump the black. Then finally dump whats left in the grey. Sounds complicated but easy after a couple of times. It gives the black a good rinse out.

Dave


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

dcummin said:


> eddievanbitz said:
> 
> 
> > The seal on the blade valve is *V* shaped. When you close the blade valve you will often press matter, normally toilet paper into the *V*
> ...


Yes, the joys of RVing.

We used to have a clear plastic elbow with a back flush connection so you could see when it was draining clean.
Sadly your going to have to get 'up close' to the problem and as Eddie says clean the gate valve or replace the seal.

Ray.


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