Dump Valve

It is my understanding that Thetford is the top of the line in RV plumbing. Inspired by the hype, I thought the repair or replacement of my leaky dump valve would be a simple procedure. It was not.

The first complication is that there is no longer an Airstream dealer in my city. Hasn’t been for around 30 years. And, since the nearest Camping World is one state over, my only option for ‘talking over’ an RV part are the local white box dealers.

I visited one of them with my Thetford Slide-EZ T-1169 Model 01447 dump valve. “What’s that off of? An Airstream?” Nodding agreement, I asked about a rebuild kit. “Um, doubt we have anything for a metal-backed valve. How old is it?” He suppressed a laugh when I told him my Airstream was made in 1967. But apparently taking my project as a challenge, he got on the Thetford parts hotline.

I don’t know if he was talking to a moron, or Thetford’s parts department is in disarray, but even after spending at least 20 minutes on the phone, and receiving several faxed pages of information, the now frustrated parts man did not know what my options were. But just to make sure he covered all bases, he checked his inventory, and found a kit for converting my valve to “an all plastic version”. I was not real thrilled with the kit since it would increase the thickness of the valve assembly & require plumbing mods. But since all the plumbing was currently laying in my driveway, I bought the kit as a backup plan. It is the left hand kit in the picture.

A week or so later, I visited another RV parts department for something else, and picked up one of their catalogs. Under Thetford Portable Toilet Parts they listed part number 03827 “Repair package for Thetford termination valves with stainless steel or bronze covers”. Although the catalog listed it as a stock item, the man behind the counter could not find it. Catching another man coming out of the back room & explaining the situation, the second man disappeared into the back room & reappeared with what I needed in a somewhat time worn package. Apparently, this particular dealer used to be the town’s Airstream dealership, and still had a box of stuff from the old days. Since the package was shrink wrapped, I figured the rubber parts were still good. It didn’t hurt that he sold it to me for the antique marked price since the catalog listed it at $37.79.

The rebuild went smooth enough, but I am not sure why Thetford holds the area around the mounting points together with brass grommets. Forming the new ones into position was a bit of a chore since I did not have the right forming tools. Luckily, the die & mandrel that came with a tarp awning grommet kit I had laying around was close enough to do the job.