rv Aluminum valve handle

How to Replace Broken Grey/Black Valve Handles and Caps
We just celebrated the two year anniversary of the delivery of our 2020 Scamp 13’.  In the past couple of years we’ve been to incredible places, seen miraculous things, and have had numerous adventures.  We’ve also been fortunate that there have been no major issues since receiving our trailer from the factory.  We have done a bunch of upgrades which make our Scamp much more comfortable and livable and all of these changes can be found on this website!  Sometimes, though, minor parts need to be replaced over time.  And, on our last trip (Anza Borrego Desert State Park), our Scamp did have some parts issues.  One of the valve handles broke apart when dumping.  And, at the same time, one of the two bayonet hooks, holding the black tank valve cover on, broke.

Once a valve handle breaks, it’s harder to open and close the valve when dumping.  Plastic parts are vulnerable to wear and tear and their eventual failure might also be accelerated by UV exposure when outside.  Fortunately, replacing the valve handles and caps to the grey and black tank connections is easy and inexpensive.   Rather than replace our broken valve handle with another plastic one, we went with this lightweight aluminum handle.  To remove and replace the broken handle, just use a pair of vice grips to stop the metal rod from turning and twist the broken handle counterclockwise to remove.  Similarly, twist the new handle clockwise onto the metal rod to install.  Note:  to avoid a mess, it’s best to completely drain all tanks before doing this to avoid pulling the valve rod open and accidentally releasing grey or black water.

When a cap cover bayonet hook breaks and the cap no longer seals securely onto the grey/black sewer connection pipe properly, the excess grey and black water runoff may leak onto the ground even after closing the valves.  That’s definitely a mess to avoid.  The stock valve covers only have two bayonet hooks, so if one breaks there isn’t much holding the cover on and providing a good seal.  So, when one of the hooks broke on our black tank valve cover, we chose a cap with 4 bayonet hooks instead of two.  That way, if one (or even two) breaks, the cover still can be securely sealed onto the drainage pipe.  This Camco cover seems to do a great job (and at the time of this writing is less than $5!).  The cover also comes with a garden hose connection, which is great for draining grey tank water into jugs (like what we do with our “Holy Grail Portable Grey Water Tank Solution”).  Additionally, there may be some locations (e.g. BLM lands) where dumping grey water may be legal and having a long garden hose allows for the grey water to be dumped far away from the trailer.  Note:  Although we do use this cap on our black tank sewer connection, we never use the garden hose connection because it would likely get clogged with black water debris.  We only drain black water using standard 3” rv sewer hoses when connected directly to dump station drains.

So, if you find yourself in a situation where your grey or black tank handle snaps or one of your drain covers breaks, don’t be too concerned.  Just replace them easily and inexpensively!  It’s also a good idea to carry extras on hand when you travel, just in case.

Disclaimer:  You will get the same great Amazon price by clicking on the links here compared to buying directly on Amazon, but by buying here you will also be supporting the continuation of this website as we get a small commission from each sale.  These are products and procedures we use for our own Scamp that we selected and developed from our own research and experiences.  However, we do not endorse any specific product and cannot guarantee that the products we use are exemplary and the procedures we use are complete, accurate, detail the correct recommended procedures, or apply to your model small travel trailer.  It’s always best to double check with your manufacturer or operation manuals to ensure you are doing everything correctly.