ball valve or blade/gate valve for holding tanks ?

Dave5Cs · April 04, 2016, 12:24:41 PM

Clifford mine are all inside or in ground boxes so no sun on them. Good try though, Lol

Dave5Cs

goutoe · April 04, 2016, 02:38:25 PM

I would recommend valterra slide valves pricey but very good valves, the problem with ball valves is not only the handle, but if any moisture is held within the valve is very apt to freeze and break so you need to leave the handle at a 45 degree angle when winterizing so nothing can be trapped, a ball valve is never recommended for a holding system, besides slide valves are very easy to replace 4 bolts and your done. good luck>>> John.

luvrbus · April 04, 2016, 04:15:23 PM

You can buy good slice valves,I replaced the 3 in on the van with one that had a SS paddle it was pricey compared to the Camping World crap it cost me over 50 bucks.Wasn't enough room on the van for a ball valve and I didn't want another cheap RV dump valve so I paid a little more

kyle4501 · April 04, 2016, 07:42:02 PM

Quote from: goutoe on April 04, 2016, 02:38:25 PM
I would recommend valterra slide valves pricey but very good valves, the problem with ball valves is not only the handle, but if any moisture is held within the valve is very apt to freeze and break so you need to leave the handle at a 45 degree angle when winterizing so nothing can be trapped, a ball valve is never recommended for a holding system, besides slide valves are very easy to replace 4 bolts and your done. good luck>>> John.

If the tank is empty when the valve is closed. . . .
If there is sufficient waste in the tank to fill the cavity in the ball valve, won't there will be equal freeze problems in the piping to the valve?

I'll look into the Valterra valves tho . . . .

Scott & Heather · April 04, 2016, 07:51:33 PM

Kyle, if you exit underneath the bay, you're not going to have much slope to the sewer connection...

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kyle4501 · April 04, 2016, 08:30:16 PM

Quote from: Scott Bennett on April 04, 2016, 07:51:33 PM
Kyle, if you exit underneath the bay, you're not going to have much slope to the sewer connection...

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Good thought, but that won't cause a problem for this application.
I'll have more height than the Airstream had.
My Newell isn't as close to the ground as the Scenicruiser is. Even when the air bags are flat, I still have enough room to shimmy under the coach.

goutoe · April 05, 2016, 07:26:38 AM

Kyle, when a ball valve is closed any water left in the valve is sealed in, it has no where to go if it freezes it will break the body, same goes in an open mode any water left behind the seal would freeze, therefore the valve needs to be partially open when winterized, in my line of work Ive seen hundreds of ball valves freeze mostly brass ones on lawn irrigation backflow preventers, dont get me wrong the ball valve is the best thing out there in the right application, keep in mind if you choose to use slide valves to keep the main body higher than the top of the pipe in case the seal on the slide would fail. hope this helps.>>> John.

kyle4501 · April 05, 2016, 06:35:07 PM

John,
Good point about freezing, but in this application for the waste tank drain, the valve will be empty when closed. If water leaks into the valve after it is closed, wouldn't it time to replace the valve anyway?
The reason I want to use a ball valve is because the slide valves I have used in the past ALL leak. Haven't had leakage problems with ball valves. . . . . yet.

Also, there are a bunch of brass ball valves in that bay for the pressurized water service - which means the ball will be full of water when closed - bigger problem for freezing.

As for winterizing, I follow the factory's recommended procedure -
1) park inside
2) plug in
3) ensure bay heaters are on

I then relax knowing coach is ready to go as soon as I am

goutoe · April 06, 2016, 11:17:09 AM

Kyle, What ever kind of valves you choose you may want to consider using fernco couplings on your p.v.c piping, it makes things alot easier for the next time that they need changed, I only had about 6" between my black tank and the slide valve, so I bought a socket fernco to go over the socket on the tank and also over the socket on the valterra valve ( the socket is the outside of the coupling or fitting ) and the rubber fernco acts as a vibration dampener it worked great on my bus, I have 3 slide valves in a very small area. I like your winterization program, unfortunately I dont have an indoor option, just a big carport, it gets way below zero here in Nebraska! good luck with your project.>>>> John.

kyle4501 · April 06, 2016, 11:41:42 AM

John,
The frenco coupling is my safety net in case the glued fittings don't work out as well as I hope.
Here in SC, we don't often get below 0 deg F.
My method of winterizing works well -- IF -- the power stays on. Haven't lost power for over a few hours in the last 23 years, so . . . . .

Thanks!

Sealark · April 12, 2016, 03:11:34 PM

Just custom built all three holding tanks out of polypropylene and used fernco fittings between the spigot flange on the tank fitting and spigot flange on a Valterra gate valve. Ordered separate gate valve bodies and separate flanges depending on application for under $25 each off Amazon. Replacement seals are only $5-$6 with new hardware and can be changed in 15 minutes. Get the metal blade handles, seem to last better. Also ordered the bayonet flange for the black tank. I cut a short section of 4" PVC thin wall drain pipe in half lengthwise and place that under the end of the bayonet flange where sewer hose attaches to extend past the bay lip and any dribbling water doesn't end up in bay when disconnecting sewer hose. With the fernco fittings the vibration is absorbed and I can remove the whole valve configuration if I want to pull out the tank(s) if needed. Also a waterbed heater works good under the tanks, or between them to prevent freezing.

John316 · April 13, 2016, 07:09:25 AM

The trick with the ball valves is to buy nice $$$ ball valves. Go for the SCH 80 high end valves, and they will last forever.

luvrbus · April 13, 2016, 07:24:02 AM

Glad you spent the money for the $$$ ball valve John and I like it

John316 · April 13, 2016, 11:02:49 AM

Quote from: luvrbus on April 13, 2016, 07:24:02 AM
Glad you spent the money for the $$$ ball valve John and I like it

We liked them too, Clifford. We got tired of those dumb blade valves. They would always leak and were a pain to deal with. Glad those are still working well for you!

gumpy · April 13, 2016, 02:31:34 PM

I put Valterra slide valves in mine back in 2005. I also bought a set of replacement gaskets for them. Have never had to put them in. Have never had a leak.

My father-in-law put in an electric dump valve. It was nothing but trouble.