Vandals targeting Motor Homes?

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woodartist

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Jun 23, 2006
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Wandering the Old West
Is anyone aware that people are pulling the black water valves on motor homes to create a spill that they have to deal with EPA to resolve.? I heard it was a reaction to the slow moving motor homes that slow traffic , with those stereotyped cataract old follks????
 
Haven't heard that one. What was the source of the story? On many, but not all, motorhomes the black valve is inside a locked bay.
 
Don't know the details Tom, but was told this my someone who was at yellowstone. The keys aren't very secure and maybe they just "hacked" them.  I'll try to get more details.......I'm fairly sure that it was motorhomes though......
 
In addition to hacking the lock, they would have to unscrew the cover that allows the dump hose to exit the bay. If it's not unscrewed, the mess ends up in the bay, not on the ground. There's  also a good chance they'd get covered in the stuff themselves. Seems to me that it would be a time-consuming way for someone to "get their own back" because some "old guy" was driving slow.

Sounds like one of those stories folks read on the internet. Remember, don't believe everything you read on the internet
 
The only time my black "stuff" ended up on the ground a real dummy put it there. ::) ::)
 
There is an old story of a theif who tried to siphon gas out of the wrong tank.

Can't happen, totaly different kind of cap, valve, and so forth

But it is still a cute story

I think this falls in the same category  Most vandals won't even know which compartment to open
 
John In Detroit said:
Most vandals won't even know which compartment to open

That thought crossed my mind too John.
 
Jeff  some dummy in this family did the same thing, and the lovely wife don't touch it.  Nough said.
 
woodartist said:
Don't know the details Tom, but was told this my someone who was at yellowstone. The keys aren't very secure and maybe they just "hacked" them.  I'll try to get more details.......I'm fairly sure that it was motorhomes though......

Many motor homes do use the same keys for bay locks just like all trailers use the same lock. If one was to open the valve they would most likely get covered in the "stuff" that comes out unless they were very quick on their feet. If they weren't familiar with the valves it could be they just dumped the gray tank. Not much of a concern there considering the alternative.
 
OK, I'll confess. It was me!

Actually, I don't know, but it happened to me. I had a habit of leaving the bay doors unlocked, in the back yard. Started missing gas. (My mileage went down, and eratic, until I got a locking gas cap. Now it's back up.) Next trip, after getting the locking gas cap, I went to put the sewer hose out, at a dump, and when I took the cap off to connect the hose, I got drenched. Both valves were open. I closed them, quickly, but not quickly enough. Changed clothes, took a shower, stored the clothes in a plastic bag in another bay. Hosed out the bay. Cleaned up the spill. (Didn't call the EPA.)

Now, I lock all bays unless I'm in one, at the time. When I go to the sewer bay, I check to make sure the valves are closed. Not doing that again! No, I don't think for a minute that I put the cap on and then opened the valves, myself. Some gas thieving jerk is probably still laughing. That's fine, I cut off his supply of gasoline!

We live and learn.

Ray D
 
Ray,

This is different what I thought reading the first post. Since the bay doors were always unlocked, it's conceivable that some kids opened the valves while the coach was sitting in your yard. You wouldn't have known about it until you pulled the cap off, which conceivably was after you'd filled the holding tank and were ready to dump. Sounds more like a prank than someone getting back at you for driving slow.
 
Or that the gas theif got ticked and did it.

By the way... The first accessory I got after leaving the dealership was a locking gas cap

(I picked a few other things up AT the dealer when I got the MH but that was the first post-delivery item)

Turns out my Damon takes the same cap as a Chevy Silverado.... And my Customer Relations rep knew this because.... He drives a Silverado!  (Chevy builds tough trucks)
 
John - Tom: I think one of you is right. I do suspect the gas thief.

But, I drive slow. I cruise control at 55, on the Interstate, where the speed limit is 75. Everybody passes me. I try to make that easy to do. On our first trip with the previous MH, 91 Allegro, we got it in Kansas City. Had 1500 miles to go. Developed a shimmy in the front end - a king pin it turned out. Pretty bad at 50 +/-. So, cruise control at 45, the whole way.

One of the best trips either one of us ever had. Even Nebraska was interesting! Wyoming, fascinating. You have any idea what you can see, crossing those two states, end to end, at 45?

Played road games, GPS games, what ever came to mind. Took a while! Worst part was construction jobs in Nebraska. A lot of them. They narrowed it down to one lane, each way, but left the speed limit at 65 to 75, whatever it was to start with. I felt awfully sorry for folks behind me. Pulled over, when there was a chance, to let them pass. Everyone was good natured, to my surprise.

Anyway, slow is not necessarily bad.

Ray D
 
On older motorhomes, at least on our 1990 Winnebago Elandan, the dump valves are behind a door that has no keyed locks.  Opening the door reveals the "handles" that you pull to dump.  So on our rig, WoodArtist's story would apply.  The good news is that based on our quite limited travelling we've never seen, far less heard of, this form of vandalism.

Mind you, you only need one white crow to prove that all crows aren't black, so I suppose one prankster's trick and bandwith goes to rat sh**.

Ciao,

Doug
 
DougJ said:
On older motorhomes, at least on our 1990 Winnebago Elandan, the dump valves are behind a door that has no keyed locks.

Understood Doug. Same story on our old Pace Arrow (IIRC they weren't even behind a door). That's why I said "On many, but not all, motorhomes ......"

It appears that John and Ray have the most likely scenario - payback by the gas thief.
 
I had this pitcher of some one running along side of our slow moving RV and pulling the handles  ;D
 
You could always take about oh, 12 inches of double barral shotgun barrel (Just the "Business end" not the fireing chamber" and mount it in the bay next to the valve with a sign hanging from it "Do you really want to do this"

Note, since i'ts only the end of the gun, no fireing pin, no triggre, no fireing chamber, no hammer, nothing to make it go BANG, it's perfectly safe, not even a firearm, just pipe
 
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