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07-19-2013, 04:23 PM
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#1
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Senior Member
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Rochester, NY
Posts: 1,605
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Need suggestions - reinstalling Y drain fitting between back and grey tanks
I just completed removal of the valves and 3" Y drain fitting on my black and grey tanks to remove debris from my black tank valve seat. My grey and black tanks are about 18" apart and the common 3" drain pipe enters up into the belly to a 3" Y fitting between the tanks. The drain pipe, Y fitting, and both grey and black tank gate valve flanges are one single piece (glued). I need to find a way to separate the tanks about 3/4" while they are in place to get the valve flanges to pop back into the tanks while keeping the o rings in place. This is not fun to do when there is residual tank water dripping in your face.
Anyway, the tank side walls have some flex and am thinking of gently lodging a couple 2 x 4's in between the tanks to push the side walls in just enough to get the flange lips to pop into place while being able to keep the o rings seated. I do not want to cut or replace the Y fitting and close nipples if I don't have to.
Anyone have suggestions?
Steve
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07-19-2013, 05:56 PM
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#2
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Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Arrey,
Posts: 2,368
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therink, Howdy;
Thanks for keeping us in the loop with the original problem.
Not sure if I understand correctly. Do you need to move the tanks apart or together to get things back where they came from???
How are the tanks secured to the frame? Could you loosen them up a tad
so you can jiggle them for alignment? Perhaps if they need to go apart you
might use some thing like an X chock
http://www.adventurerv.net/bal-xchoc...-pi-22848.html
or a short hydraulic jack to push them apart a smidgen.
Just jottin' down a few ideas ...
hankaye
__________________
Striving for a less complicated life since 1949 ...
Home: 2008 Cougar 278 RKS
T.V.: 2004 F-250 4X4, Level III BulletProofed , Detroit Tru-Track Differential (915A550)
Dog: 2006 Border Collie (Rascal) aka Maximum fur dispersal unit. (08/04/2006 - 12/16/2017) RIP.
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07-19-2013, 06:23 PM
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#3
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Texas
Posts: 265
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I have a similar problem and plan to cut the 3" pipe in a convenient location and use a rubber coupler to reconnect the cut pieces after I get the valves back together.
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07-19-2013, 07:15 PM
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#4
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Site Team
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Venice
Posts: 5,346
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Steve, your plan should work since air temps are as warm as they are. If it were cold I would be afraid of cracking the tanks. If you can push from one tank to the other, I don't think that 1" of flex should be hard to get. If you bite your nails, this job will cure you of a bad habit. Good luck, Hank
__________________
Hank & Lynn
2007 Cougar 290RKS, E-Z Flex, 16" XPS RIBs ( SOLD .. Gonna miss her ... looking for new 5r)
2004.5 Dodge 2500 QC, LB, 5.9HO, WestTach gauges, Ride-Rite
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07-22-2013, 04:13 PM
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#5
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Senior Member
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Rochester, NY
Posts: 1,605
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Mission accomplished! I remove the wipe jamming up the black valve, then ended up wedging to cut to proper length 1x2s between the tanks to get another 3/4" of room to get the Y fitting and valve assemblies into place (in one piece). Flowing advice I received on rv.net, I picked up two 6" round hvac sheet metal duct dampers (round disks) to act as blinds to get the valve flanges lined up with tank flanges, then gently pulled out the dampers so as not to disrupt or curl the flange seals/o-rings.
I filled the tanks to capacity to test for leaks, success. Both valves work, seamlessly.
Today I scored a large piece of black Chloroplast from a sign shop I do business with. Now alll I have to do is button up the hole I made in the belly.
Moral of the story, make sure foreign objects including baby wipes do not find their way into the toilet.
Fwiw- the only insulation the tanks have from the elements is the thin piece of Chloroplast underbelly covering. There is about 2" fiberglass insulation sandwiched between the sub floor and a black fabric material above the tanks. Polar package my foot.
I am sure I saved myself at least $500 doing this myself. Not to mention my black tank is as clean as it ever will be.
Thanks for the help and suggestions.
Steve
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07-22-2013, 08:07 PM
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#6
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Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Arrey,
Posts: 2,368
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therink, Howdy;
Thanks for the follow-up.
Wouldn't have a pic or 2 of those disks you used
would ya???
hankaye
__________________
Striving for a less complicated life since 1949 ...
Home: 2008 Cougar 278 RKS
T.V.: 2004 F-250 4X4, Level III BulletProofed , Detroit Tru-Track Differential (915A550)
Dog: 2006 Border Collie (Rascal) aka Maximum fur dispersal unit. (08/04/2006 - 12/16/2017) RIP.
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07-22-2013, 08:23 PM
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#7
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Site Team
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Fraser Valley BC Canada
Posts: 7,015
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Quote:
Originally Posted by therink
Fwiw- the only insulation the tanks have from the elements is the thin piece of Chloroplast underbelly covering. There is about 2" fiberglass insulation sandwiched between the sub floor and a black fabric material above the tanks. Polar package my foot.
Steve
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Steve -
Thank you for confirming what we have been saying all along about the "Polar Package". Probably too late now, but when you were crawling about down there, did you add any more insulation around the tanks in an effort to make it more of a real "Polar Package"?
__________________
2008 Cougar 5th Wheel 27RKS
2005 2500 GMC Duramax
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07-23-2013, 02:30 AM
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#8
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Senior Member
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Rochester, NY
Posts: 1,605
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hankaye
therink, Howdy as
Thanks for the follow-up.
Wouldn't have a pic or 2 of those disks you used
would ya???
hankaye
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This is what I used. They worked real well. http://www.lowes.com/pd_36431-85334-...r+duct+dampers
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07-23-2013, 02:37 AM
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#9
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Senior Member
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Rochester, NY
Posts: 1,605
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I did think about adding insulation however I only have a small area opened up right now. To insulate properly, I would need to drop the entire belly and put some real planning into. This sounds like a future project.
Steve
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