Waste Valve Seal Replacement Torque

[Paul_D]

I just replaced the seals on my 1 1/2 valve and it leaks. I am looking for a torque spec, or advice from a user who has replaced seals. they are baout 5-6 ft-lbs right now. It could be a twisted seal as the leak is rather substantial from the joint of the pipe and valve flange.

The old bolts were rusted and sheared, so no chance of judging the torque from the removal process.

Fortunately I started with the grey side. Once I get this right, I'll test the black side. The black valve did have debris on on the blade. Looked like excess solvent when they glued the hub on.

[dons2346]

Make sure the seal is in correctly, use some plumbers grease on both sides and install. I have never worried about torque on the bolts

[Paul_D]

Thanks for the info and I did use silicone grease, but cant be sure the seals stayed in place. I'll open it up and see if the seals are mushed.

I'm hoping the black tank side is good. There are two valves on the black side, so I haven't tested it yet. The grey tank test fill was was mostly water and antifreeze, so it wasn't too bad a smell.

[Dutch Star Don]

If it's leaking that much, you have a seal dislodged.

Find some thin plastic like the sides of a milk carton or a thin place mat or plastic cutting board sheet. Cut two pieces out that are about four inches by four inches. Use some grease, Vaseline, etc and install the seals. Place the plastic over both seals, sandwiching them in. Slide the valve on and when in place, pull out the plastic. Insert the bolts and tighten.

Tighten with a 1/4" drive socket or small wrench. They should be tight but stop if you start to distort the valve body.

[Paul_D]

Thanks for the plastic sheet suggestion. Will try that. I have silicone grease, Vaseline is not good for rubber. Not sure of the compound the seals are made of, but silicone grease works with synthetic or natural compounds

[Paul_D]

I finally have the 1.5 inch valve installed. Thanks to the suggestions it went well. I used the plastic from the valve packaging to slide the valve and seals in place.

I did find a bunch of excessive solvent in the pipe flange. Also saw this in the 3" valve. Another Thor workmanship issue.

Bad news, the 3" valve leaks. I'm waiting on a replacement.
More bad news - the 1.5 inch pipe has a small leak in the pipe. Still haven't found it, but expect it's where it rubs the generator frame (another Thor workmanship issue).

[glwinger]

Originally Posted by Paul_D

I just replaced the seals on my 1 1/2 valve and it leaks. I am looking for a torque spec, or advice from a user who has replaced seals. they are baout 5-6 ft-lbs right now. It could be a twisted seal as the leak is rather substantial from the joint of the pipe and valve flange.

The old bolts were rusted and sheared, so no chance of judging the torque from the removal process.

Fortunately I started with the grey side. Once I get this right, I'll test the black side. The black valve did have debris on on the blade. Looked like excess solvent when they glued the hub on.

You wouldn't have been able to tell the torque on the old bolts. They were rusty and it would take more torque to remove them.
When tightening, tighten each one a little and from one bolt to another til tight. I would be more concerned about getting an even seal.

[Paul_D]

The torque I used was about 2 ft-lbs - not much. I figured I could always tighten more if needed. I tightened in a cross pattern.

When I was done the square clamping bracket had a very slight bow in the center.

[Paul_D]

I found the hole in the grey water line. Exactly where I suspected. Thor had the pipe rubbing on the generator frame. I cut the grey line at the hole.

This gave me the opportunity to remove the entire grey/black combiner coupling. I found more excess solvent glue, this time on the black side.

I used a shielded Fernco coupling to repair the grey line then re-installed the valves.

To finish up, I re-positioned the pipe clamps, added rubber between the metal clamps and the ABS plastic pipe, and verified the grey line was clear of the generator frame.

I broke out the torque wrench for the Fernco coupling, and decided to use it to torque the Valterra values to 20 in-lbs. Tomorrow I test.

[Paul_D]

Put everything back together and better supported the dump connection.
Unfortunately, i raised it about an inch and now its difficult to hook up the sewer hose. I have a clear 90 extender on order.

I replaced the grey and both black valves. Some lessons learned

When removing the valve, crack loose the bolts on the top side first. Then the bottom, having a bucket below for the drips.

Expect several bolts to sheer off. If the rusted section of the bolt is still stuck, just unscrew it. It's easier than trying to hammer it through.

When you remove the valve body, it will have some water in it. Be careful or you will wear some smelly water.

I coated the valve blade and new seals with silicone grease.

As suggested above, I used two pieces of thin plastic, one on each side , to hold the seals in place as I positioned the valve. I actually cut my pieces from the packaging on the new valves.

After seating the seals and tightening the bolts finger tight. open and close the valve to verify the seals are in place. It should be a smooth motion, no resistance, no bounce back.

I tightened to about 15-20 in-lbs (1-2 ft-lbs) . Not very tight.

When testing, if there a fair amount of water escaping from the square seam, a seal is not properly seated.