2017 View 24J grey water waste leak

[TimothyPaul]

Hi all whenever I go to drain my black and grey tanks it seems as though when I take the cap off, there is water coming out. It looks like it's gray water and not black so I am wondering if the valve itself is leaking and how I would check that if anybody could give me any advice thank you in advance

 

[creativepart]

You are seeing leaking at one of your two gate valves. On your RV it's cable actuated from your utility panel. To see this leak you need to crawl under and follow the plumbing to your gray water gate valve. It's possible that something is interfering with the valve closing all the way, so waste water is leaking past the valve. OR there is a kink in the bowden cable that opens and closes the valve causing it to not close all the way.

It's not a difficult fix but to do it right you need to remove and clean up the gate valve and inspect or replace the cable, possibly.

Any RV repair tech can do this job if you don't want to do it yourself.

As a stop gap before getting a repair you can get an "emergency" gate valve that attaches just like your sewer hose and that way you can keep any leakage from coming out when you uncap the dump tube.

Amazon.com

 

[Morich]

I often like to look at a situation before trying to start.
For this, we have a really nice " interactive part catalog" that can let us get a good look at what is hidden behind all the other stuff!

Parts Catalog

Once you drill down to your specific RV and locate the drawings, we can zoom in or swing around to get some really good look at what to expect. That can take a bit of "
learning curve" so I did some looking and have a couple point to suggest for the final fix you may want to do at some point.
This is what we can see looking from the side in toward the tanks:

And zooming in to a closer look more from the bottom:

See how the grey tank drain (red line) is a pretty straight push/pull while the black tank drain (purple line) has a big180 turn before reaching the valve?
I tend to think of the curve as a bit of trouble waiting to happens as it puts more strain on the clips that attach the line and they tend to get loose.
Have you worked on anything like a lawnmower, etc. that uses this type control? They need the outer cover to stay solid while we move the controls to make the inner wire slide back and forth to move something at the end!
If that outer cover gets loose enough, the inner wire may not move and that makes it fail!
Perhaps just my thinking and it needs checked but I tend to think it more likely the curved one is the problem and you may be getting a leak from black tank??? But that is a big guess that needs checked before trusting!!
I might want to verify it is the grey tank valve that needs help? One way to do that testing is to let the grey drain fully, close the valve and then add water to the grey to see if you get a trickle coming straight down and out?
No way I'm saying you have to be wrong, just that the curve gives more trouble and first step is to KNOW which needs work!

This link will get you to a bunch of pictures to see what might be going on in the valve.

https://www.etrailer.com/RV-Waste-Valves/Valterra/T1003VPM.html

Pretty simple item that ahs a plastic slide "gate" that moves in a track to open or close. It may just be sticky and the control not pressing hard enough to slide it fully closed or it may have some nicks in the blade to form a hole for water to leak out?
It may require getting into the bottom cover of the RV to work on it, so knowing for sure WHICH is my first thought!

The black tank drain just seems more likely to have trouble due to the curve??

Wish you luck on the chase!

 

[klook]

The curve is more problematic but he would probably know if it was black water. I have seen stuff get caught in the blade of the valve and stuffed into the crack between the rubber gaskets and prevent it from sealing perfectly. This can warp and damage the gaskets.
Drain everything real well and run a camera up in there before going crazy.

I love your schematics.

 

[TimothyPaul]

Thank you, thats what I was thinking too. I like the extra gate valve idea too.

The curve is more problematic but he would probably know if it was black water. I have seen stuff get caught in the blade of the valve and stuffed into the crack between the rubber gaskets and prevent it from sealing perfectly. This can warp and damage the gaskets.
Drain everything real well and run a camera up in there before going crazy.

I love your schematics.

wow - thats a clever idea, I had not thought of running a camera up there.

 

[TimothyPaul]

I often like to look at a situation before trying to start.
For this, we have a really nice " interactive part catalog" that can let us get a good look at what is hidden behind all the other stuff!

Parts Catalog

Once you drill down to your specific RV and locate the drawings, we can zoom in or swing around to get some really good look at what to expect. That can take a bit of "
learning curve" so I did some looking and have a couple point to suggest for the final fix you may want to do at some point.
This is what we can see looking from the side in toward the tanks:
View attachment 2397956
And zooming in to a closer look more from the bottom:
View attachment 2397957
See how the grey tank drain (red line) is a pretty straight push/pull while the black tank drain (purple line) has a big180 turn before reaching the valve?
I tend to think of the curve as a bit of trouble waiting to happens as it puts more strain on the clips that attach the line and they tend to get loose.
Have you worked on anything like a lawnmower, etc. that uses this type control? They need the outer cover to stay solid while we move the controls to make the inner wire slide back and forth to move something at the end!
If that outer cover gets loose enough, the inner wire may not move and that makes it fail!
Perhaps just my thinking and it needs checked but I tend to think it more likely the curved one is the problem and you may be getting a leak from black tank??? But that is a big guess that needs checked before trusting!!
I might want to verify it is the grey tank valve that needs help? One way to do that testing is to let the grey drain fully, close the valve and then add water to the grey to see if you get a trickle coming straight down and out?
No way I'm saying you have to be wrong, just that the curve gives more trouble and first step is to KNOW which needs work!

This link will get you to a bunch of pictures to see what might be going on in the valve.

https://www.etrailer.com/RV-Waste-Valves/Valterra/T1003VPM.html

Pretty simple item that ahs a plastic slide "gate" that moves in a track to open or close. It may just be sticky and the control not pressing hard enough to slide it fully closed or it may have some nicks in the blade to form a hole for water to leak out?
It may require getting into the bottom cover of the RV to work on it, so knowing for sure WHICH is my first thought!

The black tank drain just seems more likely to have trouble due to the curve??
View attachment 2397960

Wish you luck on the chase!

Oh my, thank you so much for all this insight. It look like from your drawings, I may be, at the least, be able to do some physical inspections of the major components. The water that leaked really wasn’t all that yuckie, and it didn’t smell which is why I presumed it was grey, but now reading your thoughts - I guess I will check better (and wash my hands more often!!!!). Unfortunately, I am all too familiar with lawn mower repair - so I understand exactly what you are saying….

I am going through a family situation, but should be able to delve deeper into this later this week. As I stop gap until I resolve, I am most likely going to order the gate valve off Amazon that someone else suggested.

 

[Morich]

It's often not the fix that is so bad but figuring out which way to go!
depending on the RV and how that valve might fit or not, there is also an alternate to consider.
There are caps with garden hose fittings built in. If it is just grey water that sneaks through to collect, you might also consider this different shape cap instead of a valve. This might be smaller if things look too close to the ground for the valve to fit.
Then I might look at leaving the hose cap on to stop dripping, then hold the drain hose under the hose fitting as I gradually unscrewed the cap to let the collected water drain?
I've not used either type but just throwing that out to consider.
This search gets lots of options, one I see might be picked up local to you to save shipping on a small item?
RV grey water cap

 

[Seymour2Lane]

TP,
Our 2016 View 24V has the same issue as yours-
About a cup of Grey water comes out when the drain cap is removed. This happens almost every time.
As Richard has suggested, we changed out the cap to one that has an additional smaller garden hose drain as built in. We then put the drain hose under it and open the garden hose cap to drain the small amount of Grey water before attaching the drain hose.
I think that this grey water collects at the cap because there is some grey water left in the line that wouldn't "pump" over the rear axle from the grey tank but a bit makes it over while traveling.
Hope this helps, Mike

 

[Morich]

One of the things we always need to keep in mind is how different RV may be, even when they look very much the same. Different floorplans get different plumbing at times. In this case the 24V is quite different than the 24J.
The 24J used the more traditional waste lines, while the 24V used a pump to transfer waste from the grey to the black tank and then let it drain!

The 24J has the tanks moved to be close together while the 24V had the grey tank in the rear and used a pump to move the grey water to the black tank area by going up and over the axle!

Some points are the same but we can find different problems on different RV!

 

[Seymour2Lane]

Thank you for pointing out the differences Richard.
Regards, Mike

 

[Morich]

This is my main toy when playing with the RV subject and I am constantly finding there are tons of small differences under the floor or hidden out of sight!

Parts Catalog

And I have to admit that I get more inspired to look at a computer while having coffee. Way more fun than crawling around trying to find things!
I lost my motivation somewhere along the line!

 

[johnmedman]

Hi all whenever I go to drain my black and grey tanks it seems as though when I take the cap off, there is water coming out. It looks like it's gray water and not black so I am wondering if the valve itself is leaking and how I would check that if anybody could give me any advice thank you in advance

I have an 2018 Winnebago View 24D and I find it very hard, compared to the black tank valve, because the cable is not a straight shot where as the black tank cable is straight. I have also had trouble with this but what seems to work is twisting the t-handle back and forth as I push in. It almost feels like I'm going to break it but 7 years and still going strong. Hope this helps before you spend money on an RV service center. You may also try fill the gray tank to the max (when the gray water starts to come up in the shower) and then open the drain valve all the way and that may flush something that is stuck in the valve.

 

[akeagle]

Hi all whenever I go to drain my black and grey tanks it seems as though when I take the cap off, there is water coming out. It looks like it's gray water and not black so I am wondering if the valve itself is leaking and how I would check that if anybody could give me any advice thank you in advance

I had that issue for a couple years. Decided to fix it late last summer and as others have suggested, it was a leaking gate valve. Mine was from the black tank. A bit of an icky job to be sure, but as I learned from working as an actual plumber in the past, it all washes off! The only minor issue I had was having to move or remove some of the bracing that holds the piping and valves in their normal operating positions. This was necessary to create enough space to get the offending gate valve out and the new one in. Before mounting the new gate valve, I disassembled it and coated the moving surfaces with waterproof plumber's grease. Works like a new one now! Oh, one more thing: the old rubber couplings on both sides of my gate valve were dried and cracked. One was even starting to seep a little. My local RV supply didn't have any so I ordered from Amazon. If needed be sure NOT to get your new ones from the local hardware or plumbing store. They only stock 4" long couplings which would not for with my setup. The RV industry appears to use the 3" long version of the couplings and those worked perfectly.

 

[Bnystrom]

I've got the same issue as well - a couple of ounces of odorless clear water in the cap, though sometimes it actually grows green algae. Our View 24DL is going on 16 years old and still has the original gate valves, so I'm probably just going to replace them. I've lubed both of them using the "drill holes and spray grease" method, which helps with actuation, but it hasn't stopped the leakage. The valves are cheap enough that it's not work trying to repair the old ones.

 

[jeffandnancy]

I often like to look at a situation before trying to start.
For this, we have a really nice " interactive part catalog" that can let us get a good look at what is hidden behind all the other stuff!

Parts Catalog

Once you drill down to your specific RV and locate the drawings, we can zoom in or swing around to get some really good look at what to expect. That can take a bit of "
learning curve" so I did some looking and have a couple point to suggest for the final fix you may want to do at some point.
This is what we can see looking from the side in toward the tanks:
View attachment 2397956
And zooming in to a closer look more from the bottom:
View attachment 2397957
See how the grey tank drain (red line) is a pretty straight push/pull while the black tank drain (purple line) has a big180 turn before reaching the valve?
I tend to think of the curve as a bit of trouble waiting to happens as it puts more strain on the clips that attach the line and they tend to get loose.
Have you worked on anything like a lawnmower, etc. that uses this type control? They need the outer cover to stay solid while we move the controls to make the inner wire slide back and forth to move something at the end!
If that outer cover gets loose enough, the inner wire may not move and that makes it fail!
Perhaps just my thinking and it needs checked but I tend to think it more likely the curved one is the problem and you may be getting a leak from black tank??? But that is a big guess that needs checked before trusting!!
I might want to verify it is the grey tank valve that needs help? One way to do that testing is to let the grey drain fully, close the valve and then add water to the grey to see if you get a trickle coming straight down and out?
No way I'm saying you have to be wrong, just that the curve gives more trouble and first step is to KNOW which needs work!

This link will get you to a bunch of pictures to see what might be going on in the valve.

https://www.etrailer.com/RV-Waste-Valves/Valterra/T1003VPM.html

Pretty simple item that ahs a plastic slide "gate" that moves in a track to open or close. It may just be sticky and the control not pressing hard enough to slide it fully closed or it may have some nicks in the blade to form a hole for water to leak out?
It may require getting into the bottom cover of the RV to work on it, so knowing for sure WHICH is my first thought!

The black tank drain just seems more likely to have trouble due to the curve??
View attachment 2397960

Wish you luck on the chase!

I didn't see the Destination 5th wheels in the catalog. Anything like that out there for us?

 

[Morich]

Sorry, as far as I know it is only for the Winnebago motorhome group.