broken black water dump valve

Tundra57

I have a 2019 Tab 400.

Coming home I hit a chunk of truck tire thrown up by another semi. Missed the Tundra, but hit the black water dump valve and broke it. The handle shuts, but the square bit moves from side to side and leaks. Its a bristol 3" valve and i see the replacement valve section on EBay. It looks as easy as undoing the four bolts, slide out the old and slide in the new.

But is it really that easy. I have to be ready next weej, so there is no time to contact my dealer, wait for a quote, order from NuCamp and ship. Typically takes a couple of weeks.

ChanW

@Tundra57 I replaced that valve on ours when the blade housing got a hairline crack.

If you can see that the break is not on the upstream side of the four-bolt valve, then yes, it is that easy. (Can be a little messy cuz there's no way to shut off 'flow'!)

Tundra57

@ChanW thanks. I'm about to pull out that section, but i see no other damage.

Mine is no hairline crack and whatever was left in the black tank is on I74 somewhere. :-).

ChanW

Well! That was convenient! 

Tundra57

I have two valves on their way. The black dump handle sticks out more than the rest of the assembly, so it got hit. I am working on boxing it all in. Not easy. :-). Although I have repaired the old valve with ABS adhesive. I'll keep it as a spare.

Tundra57

So i did make the replacement. It was not easy. I lubed up the seals with vaseline. Then i pushed the valve onto one side, holding the pipes apart to avoid seal kinking. Then i slid off the seal on the other side from the valve and slid it over the mating pipe. Then I pushed back on the black side pipe and lined it up. When its correct, the flanges almost close up on their own and the dump valve will open and close correctly. Took me two attempts when I worked out how to do it.  I did it on my own, but would have been much easier with two.

Deb55

My black valve handle broke too. Luckily we were taking the 400 to NuCamp for solar, and I had them replace it at the same time. Also, the cap had lost nearly all the teeth that hold it in place. I'm not sure how all this happened--we had only been on one 9 day trip! 

ChanW

So @Tundra57, I should apologise. I might have specified that my experience was with the Tab '320'! 
That clearly doesn't translate to work on the 400!
I hope you documented your job to save others the pain... (I certainly didn't!)

Michigan_Mike

I think losing the valve or any part of the dump mechanism are anyone’s worst nightmare.  I had the black tank assembly break off on my former 320 T@B in a hilly campground north of Sante Fe one summer but was able to piecemeal it back together enough to make it back to Michigan. Although the cap and pipe in front of the valve broke off I was still able to dump the trailer but it made for a tense chore and was a bit messy!  

Since the 400 assembly sits so low this is something to be aware of and to do your best to protect it on the highway and higher elevated driveways, terrain,etc.  Another reason to consider the boondock version of the 400.  I’m always looking for the truck tire treads on the expressway as I peeled back a trailer fender a few years back and that is another good reason to maintain adequate distance between yourself and vehicles ahead of you as a road hazard can rear it’s ugly head at any moment while towing. 

I’m glad you got the valve replaced too!  👍🏻

Tundra57

@Michigan_Mike i have the boondock. I had already dodged a few pieces. This piece was thrown up by a semi in front so no time to avoid it. I am currently looking at how I can box the dump system in for both protection and freeze proofing.

Its not a simple box as the dump valves stick out past the tab walls. Looks like ill have to fabricate something. The blackwater handle sticks way out and thats what got hit as my rear truck wheel spit out the rubber. Ass i saw through the mirror was that the handle was pulled out. Only when I saw blue water did I know something was busted. Just a hairline crack where the slider box on the valve meets the body. Some abs glue has fixed it, but I didnt trust it. Not a reccomended way to dump your black tank. :-(.