Our black tank valve has not been closing all the way. It
flushes fine and it shuts but ever so slightly, it leaves
just a small opening to allow the liquids from the black tank
to run out so I've been relying heavily on the third valve on
the outside, the Valterra valve, that has been a life saver.
He's like, let's drop the underbelly or actually just cut
a hole. I did discover what's leaking. RV life. Oh, the
Hanks. What are they doing? Done everything in my power to
clear this obstruction or what I think it is to be an
obstruction. Basically, I noticed that the other two gray
tanks are running like simultaneously in a straight
fashion but the black tank rod or the one that you pull to
release the black tank contents. It goes out and then
it loops up and over and behind waterlines and I'm thinking
that's probably making it bind up. If anything, that might be
the culprit. I'm going out on a limb here and saying that's
going to need to be rerouted in a straight fashion like the
other two. Here's a catch though. When I first got this
replaced, Renee and I only had one option and that was to
order the shorter-length black tank cable. They come in
multiple sizes. So, if your black tanks near the back of
the RV, they have really long ones and then if it's closer to
the front like ours, they have really short cables. Why does
that matter? Well, let me tell you. If you get a really long
one and you only have a short distance, you're more likely to
bind that cable up when opening and closing it. So, we're like
let's get the shorter one and not have that situation happen.
I think what might happen is it might be a little too short and
whoever installed this the last time instead of telling us
about it probably just looped it up in a crazy fashion just
to get the job done and get us out of there. I'm not calling
out names here. I'm just like saying what my two cents are.
So we'll see if I'm right or if I'm wrong. Most likely the
ladder. I'm sure when Andy the Mobile Tech gets here he'll
send me straight.
While I'm waiting for Andy to show up,
I'm doing my due diligence by just cleaning out the black tank.
I'm gonna flush it out really nice and well for him.
I just figured that'll be a nice thing to do for him.
So he's not having to see
all parts of the Hanks that he just really doesn't want to see.
Before we start getting into the really bad parts of the
story, I want to express how important it is to utilize
services like mobile repair techs. I mean, come on, you
know how it is. Getting to a repair shop or a dealership for
service work, it's like pulling teeth. The resources that
people like Andy can offer can be very valuable in a pinch.
Save yourself the time and the headache by at least making a
phone call to see what some of the other options are for your
situation. Trust me, you're going to be so happy you did.
You changed or somebody changed this valve for you, right? Yup.
Yeah, it just takes such a hard. Yeah, it's just a hard
turn right here because the valve is right there. You got a
little bit of a leak there. Trying to determine exactly where it's
coming from. We'll get back to that one in a second. So we
rerouted the the rod itself and it was a no go. It's still
meeting resistance so we think there's something within that
valve between the seals that's just wedged in there. Gave me
two options. He's like let's drop the underbelly or actually
just cut a hole like an H and gain access that way. I said
let's just do it the quick way. To be honest I wasn't surprised
by the options we were presented with. I wouldn't put
anything past RV life. Here we go. Cutting into a brand new
underbelly once again after recently getting our grey tank
replaced. However, I learned a valuable lesson today. Cutting
and gaining access into the underbelly is far less of a
headache than actually dropping the entire underbelly. Now, of
course, that is if you know exactly where the problem lies.
Hold up, hold up, hold up. I know what you're thinking.
Where's all the water coming from? Don't worry, we'll get
there, I promise. Just give me a few minutes. Now, for the
dirty job itself. It's going to be a mess no matter what. Our
best recommendation would be to do thorough flushings of the
black tank multiple times before the actual RV tech
arrives. Believe us when we say that we heard some horrific
stories from Andy's previous experiences. Once Andy was able
to determine where the black tank valve was located, he
accessed the underbelly and went right to work. Now, one of
the hardest parts was dislodging the valve without
causing any damage to the plastic pieces surrounding but
low and behold, after a sewer shower on poor Andy, we were
able to get the valve free and we're shocked at what we found.
Now, I have to say in over five years of full timing, we've
never had this problem. So, don't hate on Carl. The
smallest pieces of toilet paper were wedged within the crevice
of the valve. I know, disgusting, right? All of this
work just to pull out a few clumps of toilet paper.
However, this did the trick. We are now able to close the black
tank valve without any problems. Hashtag thanks,
Hanks. Is that good? Yeah. Oh, good. Yeah, I know. Go ahead
and work it. See, you.
But once we get some liquid in there. Yeah. Oh. Yeah. That
shuts way better. Yeah. I feel it. You almost feel it closing
right. Right. Like what we want to do. Yes. Is start
putting some water in the tank. Okay. Alright. Let me get the
flush going here. Andy is the man. Let me tell you. This guy
you just so professional. So nice because he had to like
readjust this valve and all the seals like four times before it
stopped leaking. He was so patient. I can't but help give
him a little bit of a shout out. If you're in the Ocala
area and you're in a pinch, stop on by here at a local resort
and give him a call because he is just downright professional
guy. I'll leave his information down the description below for
you. I'm just saying, it's good to have a working black tank
once again. We can officially let er rip. It's nice having
you guys here along for the journey. What kind of journey
would it be without this stuff happening in RV life? Am I
right?
Come outside to put our pickleball stuff away and I
discover like a couple inches of water in the pass through
storage. Just Ney Ney here right now because Carl is currently
getting something replaced on the truck. They just called me
and I'm at the dealership getting Dee fixed. The
entertainment console's glitching so I'm getting that
replaced so that's going to be jeez I don't know probably like
1500 bucks and of course RV life never stops and never ceases to amaze
us throwing curve balls at us whenever we least expect it. I
did discover what's leaking. Kyle had an idea before that it
was starting to give us issues. A little bit of a leak trying
to determine exactly where it's coming from. I do have to
clarify that the leak that Andy and I originally found was off
a separate waterline. So I addressed that shortly
thereafter. Needless to say here we go again. Been so so
caught up in the weekend that we forgot to check it. Ney's
back at home getting it all mopped up. Yep. Just roll with
those punches guys. You know how it goes. Let's get this
addressed together. We'll we'll overcome this hurdle. That's
the way the Hanks do it. All done. Let's go see what kind of
mess we got ourselves into. We keep things extra spicy here.
At least Dee's fixed. The moment of truth. It started so that's
a plus. So it might be time to invest in one of those like flovees
or Govees or those things that tell you when there's a
leak in your pass through. Don't let this happen to you
guys. Don't wait until there's a leak like the Hanks are
doing. Get one of those sensors. No more glitching.
Yes. So much winning. Except also so much losing. I forgot our
RV is completely flooded.
Let's do this. This is a bit of a situation and I'm by myself.
Came up with a solution. Well, something to help drain the
water. I'm actually tilting the RV down so the water will like
come from the back of the RV and actually just at least get
to the front because I'm wondering how I'm going to get
this big puddle out and I tip the RV forward just a little
bit so the nose is down and so far like the water's starting
to drain. Oh man, I don't know if that's a good idea like I
don't know where that's coming from. Actually, I think it's
okay because I think it's just going that little hole there.
Hello. Hey. Hey, how is things on. Good. I actually figured
out a solution to getting all the water out. I just like, are
you on your way back, hon? Yeah, I'm just pulling off the
exit now so I should see here in a couple of minutes. Oh,
you're going to be coming back soon? Okay. Yeah. Alright,
Bob's here so I'm going to show em what's going on. I was able
to drain most of the water by dropping the front RV and just
letting gravity do its thing. So. Oh, okay. Gotcha. Is it is
it all in the underbelly? Probably because it's like the
it's like the the water heater it looks like. Okay, see you
soon. I'm going to do it more down just a little bit more.
Oh shoot. Shoot. Shoot. Shoot. Shoot. Yikes. I just realized
the steps are going to freaking break the frame if I do this so
I gotta raise this back up. Yikes. Yikes. Yikes. Yikes. Did
I break the steps?
Ooh that was a close one. I just realized as I was lowering
the front of the RV that the steps were down. Another tip
for you guys. If you're going to be in the front or raising
the front or anything. Just check those steps, first. We're
literally sharing this experience so that you guys
remember these things. Come on. A lot of you guys are probably
watching the TV right now going no Ney Ney. Don't do that. Don't
do that. But guess what? By the time this video actually makes
it in front of you. It's too late. Oh the Hanks. What are
they doing? Again let's see what happens if I really lower
it. Okay, I had it lowered as much as it will go and yeah,
the concern now is that there's water going into the freaking
battery. So, I gotta check that now. Okay, Renee, this might
not be a good idea. Oh boy oh boy. I really hope it's not
putting water into this front pass through storage. I didn't even
think of that. I thought I was being really smart by doing
this. Boy oh boy, let's see. Let's see.
How's the battery doing? Oh wow. Okay. It seems like it's dry in here.
That was my concern is that water was going to... I don't see.
You can't really see. I don't feel water back there. Okay.
Seems like it's fine. Alright. It seems fine in here. So I'm
going to keep going ahead with this tilting this thing forward.
Well first things first is I shut off the water.
Anytime you see a leak. Just right away. Shut off the water
source. Your city water connection. Kill it. It's RV
life thing yeah. I mean there's leaks happen in your home.
Leakes happen in RVs. Things get shaken and loose and this
is what happens. Seems like most of the water made its way
to the front most of it. But I'm sure ton of it just went in
the pass through. I'm nervous about that converter though.
I'm always just thinking about the electronics. Like I don't
want to get zapped. So I did go inside and I flipped the
converter breaker off. Not the entire breaker but just the
actual breaker for the converter. It's like a 20 amp
I believe. And I wasn't sure if I had the right one so I just
did the ones around it too just in case. Never hurts to shut
off extra electricity in this situation.
RV life. Well, it could be worse, right? Now, don't be
fooled. The Hanks are not always happy, go lucky.
Actually, sometimes quite the opposite when we're in
situations like this but we do have some great tips on how to
keep your cool when moments like this arise. Now, in order
to help with all the overwhelming stress, we always
try to reframe our mindset into small little games and if all
else fails, we try to make each other laugh. I almost put my
swimsuit on because there's so much water in here and I was
like, I don't, we don't have a washer and dryer. I don't
want to dirty up like my jeans and... This'll do. Screw it. In
situations like this we don't think about everything we need
to do at one time but rather one thing we can achieve before
moving on. Now Ney Ney nailed this when she realized she needed to
first shut the water off rather than panic so it's an easy win
but now instead of jumping in and stressing about where the
leak is coming from she moved on to the next easiest win
which was creating an open work space emptying out the pass
through and starting a mop up the mess. See, if you take
every step into small bite-size pieces, it truly becomes like
the saying, eat an elephant a bite at a time. If you're new
here, I'm Ney Ney. The other half is Carl but his real name
is Kyle. I just call him Carl. It's his nickname and you guys
can call him Carl too when you see him. Welcome to the pass
through storage. Underneath here is um, is your steps. This
is exactly like where our shoe storage is underneath here.
With cat hair or something. What is that? What is that? We
actually had an issue with Dexter and I'm sure some of you
who have cats have had this issue where they want to come
underneath here and go into this pass through storage area.
We used to have like a big block over this completely and then
we realized that this is important for airflow. So, you
never want to completely seal this off because it helps with
the airflow from underneath and throughout your RV but we just
put a little stick here because Dexter is a little chunky
monkey and he won't fit through that as well. We do have a
temperature device in here so we can monitor the temperature
in our pass through storage. Here is our converter, 55 amp power
converter so that takes AC power and charges your battery
basically. Probably hot water in there. Okay. So we could really quick...
Just drain it. Okay, let's just drain it real fast. Might as well.
While I'm back here, might as well kill two birds with one
stone and flush out all the sediment from the hot water
heater. You know, just might as well take advantage of it while
we have it all ripped apart here. We found out some amazing
things from doing this and actually have another entire
video talking all about it. I'll leave that one linked
above for y'all to go check out. It goes quite in depth
with this whole process but we love that we were able to make
the most out of the situation because it's amazing how
quickly this sediment has built up once again within the water heater.
Cleaning everything out was nothing short of satisfying. I
inspected the anod rod which looked great in shape. I also
reapplied a fresh layer of thread tape but once the water
heater was actually drained I could address the leaking
without concern of being burned. The leaking was coming directly
from a plastic piece called the check valve so there is one
role that the check valve has which is to prevent backflow of
antifreeze into the water heater during a winterization
process. Now the biggest headache was that when I
removed the check valve the actual check valve snapped in half. So
right now the only option we have is to do the flat head
screwdriver thing and just kind of hammer a groove into it
and then in hopes to use like a needle nose plier to get it out
or something. These things are amazing. Get some of these if
you don't have them because they can get in those little
crevices and really clean out the inner threads.
Unfortunately until this was removed you cannot thread any
other pieces into the back of the water heater. So it took
forever to dig this out. Seeing that we never winterize I actually
went ahead and removed the check valve and instead just
placed a half-inch brass coupler. Maybe this will bite
me in the butt later on. You know how we roll. We'll always
keep you all posted. Wanna know some even crazier things that
happened to us in the RV life? Watch these videos. We'll see
you all next week.