Lazy Daze Owners' Group

Great Service at Advantage RV (was black tank leak)

September 02, 2009, 04:40:51 pm

Yahoo Message Number: 105484

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Hi all,
 Just wanted to relate my good experience with Dean and Sandy Ellena at Advantage RV in Napa CA. As I wrote before, my black tank began leaking early last week and I tried a number of fixes, none of which worked. I called the two Camping World's near the San Francisco bay area to try to get the repair done. The one in San Martin was just short of rude to me on the phone and acted like they were in a huge hurry to get me off the phone, saying the only thing they could do would be to replace the tank. All this without even looking at it.
 The Fairfield shop were cordial but could not even see me till Sept 10th - then decide if they could fix it or need to order parts which would could take another week or more. We were supposed to leave SF for our 2 month trip this past Monday.
 I finally checked our database files here on the website and found Advantage RV. I called them last Friday but they were closed till Monday. Monday morning first thing I called and from the moment Dean answered the phone, I knew I was in for a good experience. He was friendly, inquisitive about the problem and most importantly sympathetic to our need for a quick resolution. He said he was pretty booked up but said he likes to be able to help people out in tight situations. He said to bring it up that day (Monday) he'd have a look at it and see what was up.
 So I brought it up and he checked it out, suggested it only needed a patch kit, which he had, and recommended a simple fix to keep it from happening again. Seems the action of opening and closing the gate valve caused the short exit pipe that comes out of the black tank on my 26' MB to flex back and forth. It was pretty obvious this was the root cause. The valve had been sticking and was extremely difficult to open and close until I took it apart and lubricated it. But the damage was done. I'd figured this out before I talked to him, but he reinforced it for me.
 I picked it up this morning and we will be on our way tomorrow. His fix was to attach a simple L bracket to the fiberglass skirt and the outlet pipe. Now when yanking or pushing the valve handle, no flexing occurs at the tank and I shouldn't have this problem again. Of course keeping the valves properly lubed would probably also be advised.
 Advantage is owned and operated by Dean and Sandy and I just want to let the group know they did a wonderful job and I highly recommend them for any repairs.

See you in Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota,

David G

Re: Great Service at Advantage RV (was black tank leak)

Reply #2 – September 02, 2009, 06:13:36 pm

Yahoo Message Number: 105487

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Sorry Ellen, I was a little unclear about that part. He used a patch kit which, unfortunately, I didn't get a look at, but I believe it consisted of an epoxy specially formulated for polyethylene plastic and some patching material probably also polyethylene. Cost of the kit, around $20.00. Cost of the new valve, $20.00. 2 hours labor. After patching and letting the material set for a few hours, he pressure tested the bond by filling the tank and observing the patched area.

David G.