Sewer Dump Valve

[davidbrady]

(07-23-2013 23:19)cmillsap Wrote:  I inserted the camera into the valve body and saw the seal laying on the bottom of the valve. Leaving the camera in the valve body, I made a hook on the end of a wire coat hanger and fished it through the end of the sewer pipe where the hose connects. The camera allowed me to guide the hooked end behind the seal and drag it through the pipe to exit at the hose connection. That camera saved me a whole lot of time and frustration....

A little laproscopic surgery Chuck!

I had the same thing happen last spring. The seal separated from the paddle and lodged itself in the pipe. My tank was full so I empathize with the shower you took! I didn't think of using a camera to find the seal so I worked blind with a coat hanger to retrieve it. Pretty much the same experience... The seal was wedged sideways making it nearly impossible to extract thru the valve body. I too had to come in thru the discharge pipe. What a mess! Part of the problem is that on my LXi I think the paddle valves are installed upside down. The handles extend downward when opened allowing gunk to build up in the valve body. There's no room to turn them around. On my TODO list is replacement with electric (or possibly manual) valves. My neighbor has a Monaco with electric valves - they're compact so I think they can be oriented properly. I wouldn't mind getting rid of these Dupree valves.