[Archived]

I don’t have a Vantare and to be honest I haven’t spent time looking at Vantare dump valves. My first reaction is to wonder if you have a macerator, and if you do that is the answer unless you have two tanks and two valves.

If you have no alternative such as a macerator now is a great time to dump the tank(s) and start disassembling the valve opening mechanism to see if there is a way to manually pull one open and closed. Don’t disassemble the valve or remove it from the tank.

If it is any consolation I can’t remember anyone ever posting that they had to dump a full tank and the valve opening mechanism had failed. That suggests there must be a way of opening and closing the valve if the electric mechanism fails.

[Paul]

Our Liberty had electric dump valves. Actually, they were manual valves with electric actuators.

Should they fail, all that I would need to do is disconnect the actuator and operate the valve manually.

Hope this helps…

[Davy]

What brand are they? If they are Drainmaster valves, there is a way to manually open them. Instructions etc. can be found at drainmaster.com. I replaced mine this spring with the newest ones that have stainless gears compared to the old aluminum ones that were originally installed. I like them.

[Ed]

And I, using the theory of life supported by Jon prior to his acquisition of the XLII, replaced them with manual. Haven’t missed the power but the oem Liberty electric valves are easily opened in an emergency with minimal tools as previously mentioned.

[Archived]

Joel I have succumbed to a life of wretched excess complexity. I can offer no justification other than advancing old age and a burning desire to spend money before my son in law gets it.

Our 97 XL was far from basic and all the things I used to laugh at such as powered dump valves have wormed their way into our lifestyle. Now on a rainy day when the holding tank is full I can empty it by pressing a button on the dash. Likewise I can fill my water tank equally easy.

I don’t even have to leave the coach to open the gray water by-pass.

The point is I am now one of those who speak from both sides of my mouth. As much as I favor simplicity I love pushing a button and watching all the shades go up or down. Or the awnings come out. Or the cord reel to play out more cord or retract cord.

I would tell you the things I don’t like except those CC guys are gunning for us Liberty guys and I am not going to make it easy for them.

[Archived]

Come on Jon. I think Liberty makes a great product and I love the unnecessary but very cool looking polished everything. Come to think of it, I like most conversions. As I’ve said before a perfect coach would use the best from each converter as no one converter has done everything the best.

BTW, the one thing I hate the most with my CC is that it didn’t come with a single living area slide. Come to think of it, none of the 98 chassis had Prevost installed slides.

[Archived]

Gil………We agree.

I do think almost every Prevost owner should be very happy in that the conversions available to us are all fantastic. And everyone proves that there are a lot of ways to skin the cat.

Look back at all the posts over the last decade and a half which is when we really started having forums and it is a rare thing when anyone has criticized the conversion part of a Prevost. In fact it is rare when anyone criticizes the Prevost chassis.

Each converter has their style, their way of doing systems, and their particular strengths. We obviously like Liberty and we have remained Liberty owners because our experience with the coach has always been positive. We all see the same loyalty to other conversions for the same reasons. I will candidly admit we lucked out in buying our first Liberty because we had no access to the amount of experience and expertise potential buyers have today. It wasn’t luck when we bought our last two. And I believe no matter what people drive today the percentage that wouldn’t consider the same conversion they have is very small because I don’t believe any of us can point fingers at any conversion and say it is not acceptable.

Slides have made living in our present coach compared to the previous one much easier. You are right in recognizing how they add value. But they do eat up a lot of valuable space not only for closet or storage room upstairs, but they have a substantial impact on bay space. Everything has a trade off which means nothing can ever be perfect.

[Archived]

Greg on my marathon… the values can be manually operated by pulling a pin and manually opening the valve.. on mine it’s in the CS 4th bay….

Bill

[glen]

I thought this day would NEVER come!

Jon

likes

the

buttons!

[Clifford]

I am not sure that this will provide you a great answer, but I believe it will supply a workable answer for an emergency. If you have the same gates as are installed in my coach, there are gate adjustments on either side of the gate (longish threaded rods with hex nuts). Sorry I don’t have a picture. I believe that this adjustmenst can be backed off a considerable distance and would allow you to manually lift the gate. Work space is really tight and I recommend a good assortment of extensions and universal swivels.

This is good to know because if you ever get to the point that you find water dripping near the sewer hook up, or you find the sewer hook up is full of water when you open it to connect to your ground pipe, it is likely that these gates need adjustment so they close tight.

Hope this helps, Good Luck.