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Old 07-19-2013, 04:23 PM   #1
therink
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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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Old 07-19-2013, 05:56 PM   #2
hankaye
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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
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Old 07-19-2013, 06:23 PM   #3
jtyphoid
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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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Old 07-19-2013, 07:15 PM   #4
hankpage
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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
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Old 07-22-2013, 04:13 PM   #5
therink
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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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Old 07-22-2013, 08:07 PM   #6
hankaye
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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
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Old 07-22-2013, 08:23 PM   #7
Festus2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by therink View Post
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
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"?
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Old 07-23-2013, 02:30 AM   #8
therink
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hankaye View Post
therink, Howdy as
Thanks for the follow-up.
Wouldn't have a pic or 2 of those disks you used
would ya???

hankaye
This is what I used. They worked real well. http://www.lowes.com/pd_36431-85334-...r+duct+dampers
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2013 Outback Sydney 340FBH (12,280 lbs loaded-scale)

2015 GMC Sierra Denali 3500HD, SRW, Duramax, CC, SB (payload 3700)

https://i1109.photobucket.com/albums/...65/340FBH1.jpg
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Old 07-23-2013, 02:37 AM   #9
therink
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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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Steve Rinker
Rochester, NY
2013 Outback Sydney 340FBH (12,280 lbs loaded-scale)

2015 GMC Sierra Denali 3500HD, SRW, Duramax, CC, SB (payload 3700)

https://i1109.photobucket.com/albums/...65/340FBH1.jpg
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