Joker Valve Time again ( and more )

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AynB
Posts: 88
Joined: Tue Jul 08, 2008 8:13 pm

Joker Valve Time again ( and more )

Post by AynB »

Joker Valve - It was that time again - if'n you are squeamish, don't bother reading any farther.

Yep, time again for the Joker Valve to be replaced - however this time I decided and planned on also replacing the sections of hose that rise up from the Joker to the top of the blackwater holding tank. In part to get a good sense of just how much narrowing has taken place and to get 'er done for the next few years.
The old hoses were of two styles, the bottom, visible section is the white, softer Sanitation type hose, where the upper hidden section is the heavier black, reinforced Sanitation hose. As I could not obtain from any of the Seattle area vendors the black style, so both pieces are going to be the softer white stuff.

Now answer me this: Why, Oh Why did Catalina take a discharge diameter of 1 1/2" ID and halfway to the tank, neck it down to 1" ID? Is is because of space requirements, that they could not get a 90 out of the top of the tank that would fit? It had to cost more man-hours to install. It also causes some acceleration or at worst, restriction to the product moving through the pipe such that when I pulled it all apart, the ONLY place that had any real buildup ( and that is original hose since 2003 ) is at that final 90. Of course it ( the 90 ) can't be cleaned or replaced. The only foul part of the whole job.

As I have written before - don't attempt this job until the old joker is shot. You really don't want to do this job with the 3 feet of head pressure with any kind of waste product in it when you pull the plate. Mine was shot - no problem at all to then fill the bowl with fresh water, flush out, watch nearly clear water back fill to the change in bowl curvature. Easy - repeat as necessary until your sensibilities are satisfied. Get the engine room turkey baster, and draw out the standing water until dry, wait a bit, draw out the last little bit. Now there won't be hardly anything in the hoses. Pull the three screws and muscle the large diameter hose away and pull the joker out. If that's all you need, then you can replace with the new piece, and re-install the three screws. I did mark both the flange and the casement as there is only one way for the flange to attach.

If, on the other hand, you want to do all of the hoses - in part because with age they start stinking in and of themselves ( easy test: wet a cloth or paper towel, rub the hoses, then smell the cloth - if the cloth smells like you know what, then the hose has become ONE source of Head odor ). Undo all of the stainless steel hose clamps and start working the various couplings apart. The middle two ( at the reducer ) and the bottom one , were quite easy to manage. I inserted an icepick and lifted the hose a bit, and cut, with a razor knife, inline with the pick - eventually working my way down to the end of the coupling. The booger is the upper one, I was so afraid of fracturing the old plastic by torquing the hose that I ended up just making a "tool" out of a piece of coat hanger and working it down between the hose and coupling - the icepick was too long for the job. Once I got a bit of air gap, I squirted dish soap in the gap and kept twisting and pulling. Eventually it came loose - showing a barbed fitting. I only mention the barbs as the center reducer has no barbs at all - just two raised rings to hold the hose. This is where I expect to get leaks later on.

To replace the hoses, I started at the top, cutting it to length first - placing the new hose end in just boiled water and a bit of dish soap on the barbs. Slid on very easily. Next the reducer, then the large diameter hose. The ends of the old hose were not cut square, and I was a bit concerned that the askew-ness was needed, but when I test fit everything - I found that it was not the case - just laziness on the part of the original assembler. Pop in the joker and make another go around with all of the clamps and screws to be sure that they are tight and then fill the bowl with water manually and wait for a drip to form.

Took me just under three hours of work, no blood, no beers and about 100 hours of thought beforehand over the last 3 months. There was, of course, the obligatory leak - found in the middle of the night - just needed a bit of tightening at the various hose clamps.
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