[gr cleaning solutions]

Hi all my gate valve has been dripping for a few weeks when the vacs switched off .
But today I noticed a small amount of water coming from underneath the machine could this be a leak coming form the nut that holds the gate valve inside the waste tank.
Do I need to replace the whole gate valve or is there a seal that may be gone.
My machine is an Extracta hoping to get some advice before I take it a part tomorrow
 
Thanks Gavin

[John Milnes]

Take the valve appart and you'll probably find that it's fouled by something thats come off the carpet. Also you can replace the seals if they are damaged.

[Kinver_Clean]

The seals are two rings with lips running round them- one inserted each side of the slider assembly. Usually a load of sand/crud gets in the gap between the seals and stops the gate shutting right down to the bottom.
Take it all apart and clean it. The gap in the bottom of the gate slot can be really hard to gouge out. Just be careful not to damage the plastic. Sometimes the blade gets scratched, this can be scraped a bit smoother.

[david@zap-clean]

Mine started dripping after 3 months use - I now clean it out regularly with a little water and a toothbrush.

[Jim_77]

If you fail to regularly remove the grit that gets in the seals, it grinds the lower most part of the circular to an off-round shape so it won't fit down snugly in the seals any more.  The only thing you can do is replace it but guess what you can't buy the individual bits, you have to buy the whole assembly.

However all you need to do is un-bolt the front part of the gate valve assembly leaving it fixed to the machine, replace the gate part along with the new seals (might as well) and then bolt it back together again.  I used to have quite a few unused halves of these assemblies and old seals chucked in a box in the shed!

You should try to make it a habit at the end of every day to wash the waste tank out with a hosepipe, keep the gate open and stick the hose in there to wash the grit out from between the seals.  A bit of silicone lubricant on the gate and also put onto the spindle from above will help keep it operating smoothly.

[JandS]

Yes noticed mine doing this yesterday.
Scraped mud out of bottom of groove where gate sits
and hey presto, no drip.

[James Jacob]

Blocked Gate valve... As seen in the form of photos