Holding tank valve and cable

[mangomike]

Holding tank valve and cable
Questions about roadtrek 210 ,, newbie,,,, six months ownership,,,, 20 days of camp
Both the holding tank and the graywater tank cables and maybe the valves are difficult to operate. We are going to start out by cleaning and lubricating these parts
but my questions are
1. Is the cable a priority roadtrek part or is it available from a second party
2 is the valve a priority roadtrek part, or is it available from a second party

And of course we have the same problem as most other RViers (it seems )the tank sensors do not operate very well. I've read a number of posts on the subject and I am still split about whether to get new exterior sensors (sea level or something like that) or get used to knowing when to dump. Those seem to be the schools of thought.
In any case my question here is
1. When you open the flushing flap on the toilet do you literally looked down into the holding tank.
2. And if you do not dump in time ,,, what happens?
3. I'm thinking that because the toilet is the only thing hook to the black water tank ,,, the result would be the toilet would just (JUST?) Back up. Has anyone had this happen?

Thanks for your help
Michael

[Bruceper]

The blade valve is universal (ish). There are a few different sizes and they cost around $10. Pretty easy to replace but wear gloves while doing it, you are working with a sewer pipe after all. Many videos on Youtube show you how to do it.

What happens if your black tank is full? Your toilet will fill and flushing will just fill the toilet more. Then you need to drive to a dump station and that is going to make a mess.

It is possible but not likely that you could have sewage leak where the toilet meets the pipe to the tank but that's unlikely.

Your black tank should just be getting filled from the toilet. Most RV's have a grey and black tank for waste. Some RV's have a combined waste tank so having a shower could lead to sewage coming up the shower drain. Not a pleasant thought.

[Doneworking]

Cleaning and lubricating the cables to the valves will normally make them work ok. Cleaning out the black tank and the gray tank should make the valves function better and can often help make the sensors work better as well.

Google or search the forums for cleaning ideas. First of all, I would suggest draining the tanks, add water until half full, put in some detergent (some use dish washing Dove) and drive around several miles.....in town works well because when you stop and go you slosh the liquid in the tanks. Drain, flush the tanks with fresh water and you will often find that helps.

[mloganusda]

If you fill the black tank with water, dump in a lot of ice cubes and this will help with cleaning the tank sensors.

MLogan
2017 Trend
Smyrna, TN

[mangomike]

[/QUOTE]. Cleaning out the black tank and the gray tank should make the valves function better and can often help make the sensors work better as well.
[/QUOTE]
Thanks for the reply
As to cleaning tanks ... We use a commercial ( camping world product ) tank cleaner when we are camping and flushing every few days. When we head home we flush and switch to the "Geo" method ... washing soap and water softener + 3 or 4 gallons of fresh water sloshing it around while driving home and to our next camp site . We have done the above about 4 times (camping trips ) so far.. That mixture stays in the tank until we head back out to camp.
We boated ( with holding tanks ) for a long time and the "Goe" method is what seemed to work well.
When I get a chance I'll get under the rig and see what the cables look like. On the internet it looks like the cables are pretty generic,I hope that is so. with Roadtrek out of business anything that is Roadtrek specific is hard to come by.
All just part of the learning curve. I am really glad we have our (boating ) experience with 12v/110/lp , inverters, water usage, holding tanks and so forth. It seems like it would be very hard to start from scratch.
Thanks again for your hrlp
Michael

[Doneworking]

Mangomike, I have serviced the cables on our 2007 210P a couple of times over the years. I simply removed them from the panel where you pull the knobs and slowly, ever so slowly dripped lubricating oil down the inside of the cable. Drop by drop, it takes several minutes for each of the two cables. Then, I reinstalled the cable to the mount, put the knobs back on and that was that. They were serviceable after the lubrication. I simply didn't want to take them completely out and do the process.

[junesupe]

I'm a complete newbie and read everything trying to learn. So please bear with me.
I understand the check valves for opening and closing the gray and black tanks. I have a leak on the gray valve side so I ordered new check valves for both and will replace them - both because the handles are hard to pull out and push in on both.
My questions is about cables? What am I missing?

[avanti]

Some rigs have the valves in inaccessible places, so they extend the handles using flexible cables.

[junesupe]

Originally Posted by avanti

Some rigs have the valves in inaccessible places, so they extend the handles using flexible cables.

Oh, ok now understand. Thanks

[gklugie]

Roadtrek manufactures almost nothing. They integrate RV-s with commercially available parts. Most everything is available if you seek well.