Black dump valve stuck open 2016 Micro Minnie

[Fletchim1]

2016 micro minni black water dump lever stuck in the open position, not sure how to fix, any help would be appreciated. Will I have to cut out the board underneath to expose the lever all the way back to the tank? can I access the tank valve by removing the toilet? thank you!

[creativepart]

Hi, I see no one else has responded to this question.

We've had more than our fair share of folks with this type of problem. Some have a gate valve stuck open and some have one stuck closed. Both problems are really bad problems to have.

The "handle" moves a cable called a Bowden Cable that snakes under the TTs underbelly to - hopefully - push and pull on the very simple gate valve. Problem is, all manner of things can make this go bad. Generally, there is something loose at the valve end or along the cable and when you move the handle the cable just moves and not the valve.

There are real fixes or there are temporary or jerry-rigged fixes.

The official fix is to cut into the coroplast on the bottom of the TT to gain access to the valve and cable. Careful cutting to make a workable section that you can leave partially attached ti the entire bottom covering yet gain access to the problem area. This will allow you to tape that section back into place with something such as Gorilla brand tape.

Once you gain access you should be able to determine the problem and come up with a suitable fix.

For a jerry-rigged fix, since your valve is stuck open you can follow the black dump piping to where it gets near to the main dump valve and using PVC plumbing parts and glues cut the 3" pipe and add a new gate valve near the dump valve. With this in place you can use the new gate valve handle to dump your black tank.

I had a different brand of TT a decade ago with the same bowden cable setup. I hired a tech to fix it and he gave me two prices one to remove part of the bottom covering and fixing the loose bowden cable OR another much cheaper price to add a new black water gate valve near the main dump piping. I chose the cheaper fix and I kept that TT for a number of years and that fix worked great.

While he was at it adding the new valve he cut the bowden cable off and removed the OEM dump handle to prevent confusion to any new owner.

I think there are a number of posts about this issue and some even have some photos of the process of gaining access to the area.

[creativepart]

Here's some links to other posts on this type of issue:

https://www.winnieowners.com/forums/...bh-368085.html

https://www.winnieowners.com/forums/...ml#post3950053

https://www.winnieowners.com/forums/...es-367730.html

https://www.winnieowners.com/forums/...ut-367786.html

[Fred 2106DS]

Fletchim1, here's another thread you may want to check out, I have a number of posts in this thread with pictures and a PDF that will give you a good idea of what you are dealing with once you open the coroplast underbelly. Also, there's a post showing how I sealed the underbelly back up.

Let me know if you have questions.

Fred

https://www.winnieowners.com/forums/...ck-366651.html

[NomadRider]

I carry one of these with me just in case I have a stuck open valve

[eatSleepWoof]

Timely thread.

As it happens I opened up the coroplast under the tanks & valve a few weeks earlier to have a look at how it's all setup should I ever have an issue. Well, the issue came much sooner than I anticipated, and after the last trip I now have a valve that's stuck open. This is on my 2022 2108FBS (bought new in January of this year, only used for ~4 trips).

Here is a photo I took while I was there. Photo taken from passenger side.

On my trailer the gate valves face the passenger side, and are physically on the passenger side of the trailer, while the actual pull/push handles are on the driver's side of the trailer. The cable goes from the handles, all the way across the trailer, and then does a 180-degree turn before connecting to the gate valves. Utterly moronic design; whoever came up with this needs to be punched in the face.



The one unexpectedly nice thing I did find under there is heating elements under the grey and black water tanks; on most trailers that have tank heating, the heating is only in place for the fresh water tank, because you can pour antifreeze into the other two tanks (to prevent them from freezing). That was a nice find.