Black Water Tank Drain Valve

[dadsterkc]

I'm in a 2018 GD Solitude 375 RES. I went to dump my black tank today and pulled he cable but nothing came out. I'm guessing plugged line or valve issue. My best guess is valve issue since all these cables have never operated smoothly. I'm about to crawl under and start to evaluate. I'm not even sure where the tank is located and how to access it. If anyone has an idea that can help my efforts, I'm all ears.

[howson]

I'm in a 2018 GD Solitude 375 RES. I went to dump my black tank today and pulled he cable but nothing came out. I'm guessing plugged line or valve issue. My best guess is valve issue since all these cables have never operated smoothly. I'm about to crawl under and start to evaluate. I'm not even sure where the tank is located and how to access it. If anyone has an idea that can help my efforts, I'm all ears.

Welcome to Grand Design's Technical Forum, Dadsterk.

First, may I suggest that using your email address is not a good idea for a forum name? Not against a "rule" or anything, but internet spiders crawl this site all the time. Exposing your email address opens you to a lot of spam. I can shorten it to "dadsterk" for you if desired. (You can't change it at this point.) Let me know.

For the black tank issue, the tank *should* be directly below the toilet. Typically a clogged tank is due to not enough water in the tank, but I'm not a plumbing expert. There are plenty of folks here with more knowledge than me on these types of problems. One of them is my fellow moderator, Cate&Rob . Hopefully he'll be along soon and will chime in (or there are any number of other forum members who might participate, too).

-Howard

[Cate&Rob]

dadsterkc

The first question is . . . does the pull handle "feel" normal? ie: Do you think it is still moving the gate valve or has the cable come loose from the valve?

As mentioned earlier, the most common cause for what you describe is too many solids/paper and not enough liquid in the tank. There are a number of aftermarket products designed to solve this, but if the tank is not full, add lots of water by way of the flush connection and let it sit for a while.

You can usually see the gate valves with a flashlight by unfastening the underbelly coroplast along one of the frame rails. If you need to replace a gate valve, you will have to drop the coroplast . . . we can get into this in more detail if you have to do this.

Rob

[Country Campers]

Behind the back wall in your pass thru, this is a removable wall , you may be able to see where the toilet drain comes down and thru the basement floor into the tank. This will give you an idea of where to start to look. You may also be able to see the connection of the toilet drain into the holding tank, and if lucky you might see the drain valve there as well. The toilet drain usually enters the holding tank right where , or in close proximity , to the holding tank drain pipe. This may save you from dropping the coroplast.

Welcome aboard, hope we can get you the help you need.

Brian

[dadsterkc]

First of all thank you Howard, Cate & Rob, Brian and Michelle. Howard, if you can change my user name to dadsterkc, It will avoid some spam for sure. Now for an update. I removed part of the coroplast cover and was able to feet the valve move while my wife operated the handle. I do indeed need to oil those cables.

I then ran a plumbing snake from the outlet up the pipe to the valve. My wife opened the valve and I cleared a clog. I hooked up the sewer, reopened the valve and ran water until the tank was clean and the pipes cleared. I'm not new to RV, but fell into the trap of using too little water. Lesson learned

Now for part 2.

There is a piece of steel channel running beneath the black tank from one frame to the other. That piece is bowed about 2 inches over 8 feet. I looked at another Solitude in the RV Park and thst one appeared bowed as well. Does anyone know if that is the way it was designed or if it just bowed from the weight of the black tank?

[Cate&Rob]

There is a piece of steel channel running beneath the black tank from one frame to the other. That piece is bowed about 2 inches over 8 feet. I looked at another Solitude in the RV Park and thst one appeared bowed as well. Does anyone know if that is the way it was designed or if it just bowed from the weight of the black tank?

Hi dadsterkc,

That piece of steel under the tank was not bowed when it was installed. The tanks are rectangular when new.

Rob

[Country Campers]

dadsterkc

I changed your name, I know Howard is busy this week with other things.

Glad you got the clog worked out.

Brian