A Non-Responsive RV Repair Guy Saves Us $$

Location: Garrettsville, OH (High 81, Low 59)

You may recall that I mentioned a few weeks ago that we had an issue with our black tank valve. The cable had come loose from the valve and it was stuck open. We had the cable replaced but we hadn’t really had a chance to test it due to the fact that we didn’t have a sewer connection there. It wasn’t until we arrived at Garrettsville and Harry went to empty the tanks (this was on the 11th of August)  that he realized that the black tank valve wasn’t closing completely. (Luckily we have an external gate valve.) We figured that maybe the cable hadn’t been adjusted properly.

It seemed like pretty good fortune at the time that there was a mobile rv guy (Tim’s RV House Call) right across the street. Harry went over and talked to him and he said he would come over after he finished his job.

So the repair guy, Tim, came over and Harry explained the issue and told him that we thought the valve cable needed to be adjusted. The repair guy said that we were better off just changing the valve and that it would probably be a $150 job. We weren’t excited about it but thought it made more sense to get things taken care of while we had access to a mobile service, as there isn’t any close by once we get to Campbellsville. Tim said he was taking a few days off but to call him on the following Wed. and we would set something up.

Right on schedule this past Wednesday Harry called Tim’s number, and left a message explaining who he was and asking for a call back. We gave him until noon and then Harry called again. This time he got Tim on the phone. Harry reminded him who we were and asked about scheduling a service call. Tim said he would have to check his schedule and that he would call us back later in the day. Something about the tone of his voice told us we shouldn’t hold our breath for a call back. And sure enough, that would be the last we would hear from Tim. (So if you’re in the Warren, OH area and looking for good dependable RV service, we wouldn’t recommend that you call Tim’s RV House Call.)

Of course, this all left us still dealing with our non-closing black tank. We started discussing our options and went back to our original idea that the cable needed an adjustment. So Harry got on the phone to our local RV repair place back in NY that had done the original cable replacement. Rich explained to him how to adjust the cable and it didn’t sound too difficult so we decided we would give it a try ourselves this weekend.

 

You can see in the picture that the black tank valve handle wasn’t going in as far as the other two do.

 

 

 

The guys had cut an entry hole in the chloroplast so Harry opened it back up so we could get to the valve cable

 

 

Before he performed the adjustment, he sprayed the valve and cable with some silicone spray to help it move more smoothly. He had me pull it out and push it back in. It has never moved easily and I had to use all my strength to pull it out and push it back in.

 

BUT…

it went all the way in!!! Without even having to do any cable adjustment!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Harry did some backflushing and we both watched the clear connection in the sewer hose. No liquid escaping when the valve is closed. Problem solved!!!

So even though we were pretty unhappy with the lack of communication from the mobile repair guy, it did save us some money and we fixed the issue ourselves.

Now we are both hoping for an issue-free fall season!!