2100BH - Cutting into Underbelly

[PalidaMors]

Hey all-
At the conclusion of last camping trip discovered the grey valve was completely seized, which is fun on a 2 month old camper. Unfortunately we are storing our rig 2hrs away right now, so I'm amassing knowledge and tools before i head back out to do battle with it.



I've got some NutBuster, and I'm willing to cut into the underbelly to replace the grey valve. While I'm there I might just replace the black too.


Two questions-

1) What are the best grey and black valves (wire actuated) that you can buy? I do NOT want this to happen again.
2) What tape or sealant do you use to seal the underbelly back up? Is there some magical black tape you all use?


Thanks!

[backtrack15]

Do you remember whether or not the handle moved at all? If the handle doesn’t move at all (metal handle shaft won’t move or rotate), it’s likely just corrosion between the shaft and the sleeve right at the handle. You can free this by using channel locks to grip the shaft and rotate it slightly to break the corrosion. Then once free, clean it up and regularly lubricate the shaft with something like white lithium grease.

This happened to me on my old fifth-wheel trailer. It’s even more likely on the MM because the valve handles get sprayed with water if you drive on wet road. I actually lubed mine on the dealer lot before I brought it home. I lube them roughly every other trip to the dump station.

[PalidaMors]

So i was putting some decent strength into it at the dump station and the handle itself rotated, but I THINK it was only rotating around the screw, not that the shaft was rotating. Otherwise it had absolutely no play, didnt budge a millimeter. When i get there one of the first things i will do is unscrew the grey handle and see what the shaft is actually doing.

[backtrack15]

Sounds promising. Hopefully it’ll be a quick two-minute fix for you.

[jnfrcher]

Please let me know what you did. We bought ours new in March and went on our first big trip. The 2nd grey tank handle won't move at all and the black tank handle is super tough. My husband is strong and he bent the handle trying to close it up again. We bought our camper 7 hrs away and the closest workshop said they were out and couldn't even make us an appt until January. I hate to pay for warranty work but it is looking like I might have to. Any suggestions?

[PalidaMors]

Originally Posted by jnfrcher

Please let me know what you did. We bought ours new in March and went on our first big trip. The 2nd grey tank handle won't move at all and the black tank handle is super tough. My husband is strong and he bent the handle trying to close it up again. We bought our camper 7 hrs away and the closest workshop said they were out and couldn't even make us an appt until January. I hate to pay for warranty work but it is looking like I might have to. Any suggestions?

Ok so I ended up cutting the underbelly directly on the other side of the grey water pull. This is after using PB Blaster on it for a full day to see if I could get it to chemically release (no luck there). I unscrewed the nuts holding the grey water puller to the frame and pulled the wire through the hole. I then cut the wire, and stripped back about an inch. Now I can do the Two Pliers Trick to open the grey tank.
I happened to have a crimping tool on hand and crimped on some extra wire so that the grey tank wire didn’t go back into the underbelly while I drove. You will have to find a similar solution if you go this way.

It’s not tough and it’s an ok interim solution until you get the grey valve and pull totally replaced.