Bad engineering meets potential for a huge mess. Why your RV’s gate pulls are a big cause of frustration.

Waste tank gate pulls. They’re a big frustration for many RV owners, especially fifth wheel and larger travel trailer owners. Which of us hasn’t been met with a nasty liquid surprise when we’re setting up at a new RV park and take off the cap on our RV’s waste pipe?

Bad engineering

Most fifth wheels and many travel trailers have holding tanks located underneath the RV and far away from the main gate pipe where you twit on your 3-inch articulating waste disposal hose. Often, they are grouped together with the actual tank gate pulls located in a bay or behind an access door.

As you might guess, there’s some cabling involved between those pulls and the actual gate valve located just outside your holding tanks. In almost every case, cabling has some twists and loops in it. It’s that extra cabling that — over time — allows the gate blade to stick open. And when that happens, liquid seeps out, leaving you with two problems: Liquid waste accumulating and waiting for you behind the sewer pipe cap and solid waste building up in the tanks.

The solution

I always advise our customers, that if there’s a need for them to pull off the chloroplast or other barrier underneath their RV, plan on having electronic gate valves installed. At a cost of about $250 each, they are the perfect solution to gate valves that never close.

For anyone handy, installing them is pretty easy. You could also have a mobile repair company or RV repair shop put them in.

I’ve been asked if they aren’t just another piece of complex machinery that can fail. Sure, but I’ve rarely seen it happen and every RV owner I’ve spoken to with them, swears by them.

To me, the electronic RV waste tank gate pull is a no-brainer. They’ll keep your tanks sealed off, prevent seepage and reduce the build-up of solid waste in your RV’s holding tanks.

Keep in mind that we may receive commissions when you click our links and make purchases. However, this does not impact our reviews and comparisons. We try our best to keep things fair and balanced, in order to help you make the best choice for you.