City water fills fresh water tank. ..when it's not supposed to. ...

sptddog · 05-09-2015, 04:23 PM

Seems winterizing wasn't done well on my camper. We've got the water heater solved but today the city water fill directly fills (and overflows) my fresh water tank. The value wasn't moved and most Def is in the normal flow pain. I assume that there is a check valve at the valve that broke because city water goes directly into the fresh water tank. I've turned it off and will spend the rest of our trip using the water pump. We've used the camper last weekend and this weekend and the fresh water tank was fine. Moved to a new campground today and hooked the water back up, two hours later water is pouring out the fresh water tank at the fill area. Thoughts on the valve?

I've already replaced a toilet flush valve last weekend and the bathroom faucet has a constant drip, so I have a replacement faucet bit haven't installed it yet.

Sigh. Hoping this isn't an every trip a new piece of plumbing fails!

jsmith948 · 05-10-2015, 06:06 AM

There is a check valve in or adjacent to the fw pump that is meant to prevent this. If the check valve has failed or isn't closing due to some debris (plastc from when the tank was drilled?) lodged in the valve, the city water will prssure fill the fw tank. Others have been able to clean the check valve and solve the problem.

Festus2 · 05-10-2015, 06:55 AM

sptddog -
I think you are right ----"winterizing wasn't done well on my camper". It would be my guess that the two cracked valves, one on the toilet and the other for the FW tank, were caused by not ensuring that they were part of the winterizing process. The check valve for the FW tank should be done separately since the pink stuff won't reach this valve as it is "behind" the pump. I use a hand pump to get the antifreeze into this valve as well as the black tank flush connection.

The toilet needs to be flushed when winterizing to make sure that the pink stuff finds its way into toilet flush valve.

roadglide · 05-12-2015, 06:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jsmith948

There is a check valve in or adjacent to the fw pump that is meant to prevent this. If the check valve has failed or isn't closing due to some debris (plastc from when the tank was drilled?) lodged in the valve, the city water will prssure fill the fw tank. Others have been able to clean the check valve and solve the problem.

. There is directions on my 311 impact inside the service area good thing . Connect your hose to the service water port . The 3 rd valve tank power flust that valve needs to be vertical to fill the fresh water holding tank when full move it back horizontly. I just did mine for the first time this morning .

sptddog · 05-13-2015, 11:26 AM

It goes in next week to figure out which it is...water pump valve or fill valve. Either way, PIA to fix. Perhaps I'll get lucky and it will be covered under warranty (extended, I'm out of factory warranty coverage) because I would think the dealer isn't going to want to blame it on winterization when they themselves were the ones that winterized it.

I'll most certainly go back to doing it myself next year. I used to, and figured since it was at the dealer for other stuff, I'd have them do it. I have always used the fresh water tank and water pump to pump antifreeze through the system and all the faucets, outside/inside etc. (we don't drink from any faucet, and I sanitize so I never worried doing it this way). So I assume by doing that I effectively covered that valve that is internal to the pump in the process. I'm guessing they used the winterization option on the control panel and maybe this doesn't flush through everything? They replaced the tank flush valve - that was one of the reasons it was at the dealer (that had been leaking). The only thing I never put antifreeze in is the hot water tank....

I did read some information online that mentioned if the water pump operates normally, i.e. doesn't run unless a faucet is opened indicates that it's not leaking from that valve. Running w/out a faucet on would indicate a loss of water pressure and thus a leak. Not sure if that's true or not, but I'm crossing my fingers it is, and maybe it's just the fill valve. This is the first I've ever had water in my fresh water tank or used the water pump since I've owned this RV - it was winterized by the dealer we bought from when we purchased.

dave-g · 05-14-2015, 01:49 AM

I'll bet the dealer calls it a bad valve. But if he is super honest- he may say it froze and do it at nc. I would let them know you want your old parts back.

When I winterize - I do 2 things- 1st I blow out every thing with air. I'm amazed how much water comes out. Then I drain the gray and black tank. Then I hook up antifreeze to the water pump ( disconnect line from fresh water take and put in gallon jug.) I then pump in 6 gallons- with the water heater on by-pass. So far so good-

I'm hoping to un winterize this weekend-

jim09s · 06-07-2015, 04:59 PM

I too had my fresh water tank filling up when connected to city water. It would take about 10-12 hours but then it would overflow the fresh water tank. I had the dealer replaced the fresh water fill valve that uses the city water as it's source. Thought it was fixed but first trip out this year it did it again. Pain in the butt having to dump the fresh water tank every day. When I got it home I opened the access cover and removed the suspect fill valve. Internally the seal was all screwed up. It was also supposed to be a 90 degree valve but this one moved almost 180 degrees. I went and bought the correct 90 degree valve and installed it myself. Found that the cone style washers used for the connectors had two in one of the connectors also. Pretty sure that one is on the dealer. After replacing the valve and checking fittings for tightness and leaks, I could hear water running with the city water hooked up but with the fill valve closed. I turned the water source off and the "noise" of running water stopped. After a bit I noticed that the water pump was the source of the noise. I suspected it was bleeding back thru the water pump to the tank because the city water pressure was above the water pump rating of 55 PSI. I put a pressure regulator on the input line (45PSI) and the noise stopped and the tank doesn't fill unless I turn the valve to fill the fresh water tank. Hopefully this fixes my problem and maybe you can check on yours for the same type issues.

sptddog · 06-08-2015, 11:41 AM

They did replace my fresh water/city valve and that seems to work. I did suspect the water pump, but I had a pressure regulator on mine so I sort of figured it was the valve. Hopefully it holds. Next time though I'll fix it myself - wasn't cheap!

kilolima · 06-08-2015, 01:14 PM

I had the same problem with my Bighorn. It had a four-way valve. Sanitize, city, normal and fill. I switched between settings while there was still pressure on the hose from my city connection and it pinched and tore an O-ring. I swapped out the valve and that fixed it. Lesson learned turn off pressure before you switch any valves between any settings. Even with my PRV ((presser reduction valve) in line!

The Yuma dealer was too busy so I R&Red it myself. Was warrantied so no cost and they replacer the whole water station box. If I had to pay, I would have done it myself and just replaced the oring.

sptddog · 06-09-2015, 08:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kilolima

I had the same problem with my Bighorn. It had a four-way valve. Sanitize, city, normal and fill. I switched between settings while there was still pressure on the hose from my city connection and it pinched and tore an O-ring. I swapped out the valve and that fixed it. Lesson learned turn off pressure before you switch any valves between any settings. Even with my PRV ((presser reduction valve) in line!

So the bypass is in the same valve? When mine broke - I had flipped the bypass on and off a bunch of times the day before it broke (with city water hooked up and working). Wonder if doing that created the same pressure issue that broke yours. Good to know and avoid in the future. Thanks for the input, might save me next time!

kilolima · 06-09-2015, 03:06 PM

My service manager advised me to turn off city supply and RV pump when ever switching any valves. open any lines that are pressured up that may cause back pressure damage, then select what u want...pressure up and you will keep from damaging stuff.

Alpine · 06-25-2015, 05:32 PM

My fix for the city water filling my fresh water tank was a trip to Home Depot and ordered a "Sharkbite" check valve "200 lb" back pressure for under $20.00 I installed it in the water line coming from the fresh water tank, before it enters in the water pump. Problem solved.

You may also like: