It never ends, does it? Started losing pressure after 5 minutes, down to a trickle. Thought it was the Park water, tested it, fine. O.K., the water softener? Bypassed it, same. Could not fill the holding tank, take showers or even do dishes! After screwing around all morning, I walked around to the wet bay and THERE WAS WATER ALL OVER! Went to the dark side, looked underneath. No drips.I 'd had a bad leak in the HWH a while ago, so checked that, nada. I happened to walk up forward and noticed the neighbor had a drip irrigation system that had a leak, and the water was flowing to where I thought I had a leak in the coach. Opened a cold one and wondered "what the hell is happening?" Searched under the sink again, noticed a Pentair 'whole coach' water filter system blocked by our pots and pans that I assume was OEM, but had no paperwork about the service of it. Did some checking online, ordered a fresh filter, YES!!!!!! Back in business after screwing the day away. The filter needs to be changed every year, or more often depending on usage. Now I know............. :facepalm: :headwall:
I suspect the check valve at the coach water inlet connection is stuck or broken.
Doesn't that filter just go to the small drinking water faucet to the left of the big faucet?
No. The Pentair (from what I can figure since crawling around under the sink is a pain) filters the on-board, the holding tank, and the small faucet. Since nothing is labeled and no schematics exist, I'm not sure about the small faucet, which, I always thought was the only part of the potable that WAS filtered!
Mike,
Did the new Pentair filter fix your water problem? My only experience with the Pentair filters is that they are not used for whole coach filtration, only the drinking water at sink. Mine looks just like yours. They are restrictive low flow filters. Can't handle any volume use. The black handle on top of Pentair is a shutoff valve for changing filters. If your plumbing is as you describe, perhaps your Pentair valve was bumped by a pot or pan under the sink?
I agree with Bill Willett, the check valve at water inlet is a possibility. I recall reading another Forum thread where same issue, low water pressure, turned out to be busted check valve. That or mineral buildup in the plumbing. Do you have additional water filters between coach and the park water supply spigot at your site?
Look forward to hearing that the problem you have is fixed and how.
Sounds like check valve stuck.
That filter is OE-- well it's placement is anyway. No idea when it was last changed. My last records (which you should have: Change ADC filter 2/2/12). It goes to just the small separate spigot to the left of the sink and to the ice maker.
I would start by removing the screen in the kitchen faucet and checking for mineral deposits.
I may not be explaining the problem well enough: at 5 min. the pressure in THE WHOLE COACH drops to a dribble. After a 10.00 min. shut-down, the pressure comes back up, but not for long. The drop affects the kitchen (with new faucet), the shower, head + no pressure to fill the holding tanks! I'm going to throw the filter in today. Pentair says a psi drop is sure sign of time for a fresh canister, so I'll see. Anything else that could be causing this?
Add-on: we can get pressure through out the coach (can take showers, etc.) when we pump from the on board potable.
There in no filter in the holder under the sink on our coach and we have no water issues. Haven't tried the spigot though. I assume the filter mike showed above is the one I need? OCD tells me I need one
The Everpure filter under the sink supplies the drinking water tap at the sink and a line runs across the kitchen to the refrigerator/icemaker on our coach. It does not supply the house plumbing (sinks, shower, fresh tank etc). It does make a big difference in the taste of the water & ice cubes though. I'd recommend adding the filter if you use the drinking water or icemaker, otherwise it does nothing for you.
Yes, check for restrictions between shore water faucet and coach.
That includes any external filter or pressure reducer as well as the fill/shore water valve.
Checked from shore water to wet bay, all fine. Nothing external. I did not know I had a "fill/shore water valve". Any idea where that is? It does NOT explain why I get good pressure for 5 min., then, drip, drip. Is there some sort of anti syphon plastic unit behind the hose fitting in the wet bay?
Yes, built into the receptacle that you screw the hose into is a check valve/anti-siphon valve and does warrant checking.
And, you are correct, on the 1993 U240 the fill valve is up forward in the "flip up" compartment between the front seats and would not be causing your shore power restriction.
Can I just remove the anti- siphon valve and still run water? The chances of finding a fresh one here are dicey, and YOU KNOW the DW will not be pleased if we have NO WATER!
The internals (check valve, spring, and cage) can be removed. Whether you can do it will depend on what tools you have handy and your skill set.
Mike
Can you fill the tank for now and use your pump?
No, I tried. The water pressure drops so fast, It would take me a case of beer to open the ball valve at the tank, fill for 4 min,, drink, let it recharge, fill, recharge, drink. ALL DAY LONG! Wait a minute, that sound like a great idea. News when I sober up!
Here's a pic of the valve lines for the on board water tank. Left is incoming, right is drain. I read the condition on my 'Tote Vision' screen.
As long as your pre-coach filter is not a problem (i.e. if you remove the hose connection at the side of the coach water flow is good), then the anti-siphon/check valve is the next likely suspect.
They are available anyplace that sells RV parts.
Look here for replacements and or temporarily removing the guts:
rv water fill check valve - Google Search (http://www.google.com/search?q=rv+water+fill+check+valve&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b-1)
Had same issue of low pressure and volume on my coach. Changed the check valve/anti siphon valve (even though there was no sign of internal failure) and woo hoo beautiful pressure and volume coach wide! Never could see why it was restricting the flow into the coach. But it definitely was. I control repressive at the shore spigot with a variable/adjustable pressure regulator.
Yup, pulling the check valve is next, since I just replaced the 'Everpure' filter (# EV959201) for the Pentair 'QL-3' head, Being the filter has 'O' rings and lockers, it is not easy, given the stupid location, to put pressure on the bottom of the canister to get it up into the head and twist to lock. No leaks, whew! Anyone who has one of these ( Pentair makes fine products) should study the enclosed pics and bookmark them (you can't read the instructions on the canister!). Mite need some help from the DW or other to get it up and set, since you can't see the body whilst laid-out on the floor trying to push!
Yes, It was the check valve. I took out the cover box from the compartment forward of the wet bay and removed the check, tested it, junk. Found a brass version. I'm happy! (so is the DW!). ^.^d
Glad you are back "wet again".
Yes, the inlet check valve/back flow preventer was the likely suspect, given your symptoms.
Wet is good (except in the PNW in December!) The fact that the anti-siphon valve lasted so long is amazing. I'm not even going to put the fresh brass unit into my files, given how long they last. Pulling the wall cover off the bay forward was the secret to success! ^.^d
Before I put in my new anti-siphon valve I unscrewed the in line at the tank fill shutoff valve and then hooked up a hose and "back flushed" the line. I capped the outlet end with an old sock (no holes) with a rubber band and banged on the water line wherever I could all the way back while the hose was running. Absolutely amazing how many mineral deposits pieces came out!!
Now check the screens on your faucets, seeing as how you have been disturbing the water lines.
By the way, my new anti-syphon valve comes apart if you push the end in. Save the little white collar and when you take the valve off it is a simple job to just push the collar back over the hump on the shaft. Really nice friendly design, not like the old one with the steel pin that can get lost easily because it is so small. One less part!!
During some plumbing work on our new to us coach we found mineral deposits in the faucets and hose fittings. We removed our water filters, (we have two, the Pentair under sink and a whole coach one we just installed during wetbay remodel. Then did a flush of the H2O system with a vinegar/water solution. Introduced the diluted vinegar by siphoning it into the fresh water tank. Left it overnight. Got a fair amount of milky liquid out of the Atwood heater and all the faucets. Afterwards when checking faucet screens they were clean. Unfortunately this system flush procedure doesn't reach the check valve which is located upstream of the fresh tank. Next year want to set up a container with some vinegar on the upstream shore water supply side so the solution can be drawn thru check valve into the tank while filling.
Not sure why but the propane detector went off during the vinegar solution flush. Had that momentary feeling of "what now!" Soon realized that because the propane gas was off the alarm might be related to the vinegar odor. Alarm quit once we opened windows and turned on the fans.
What do others do to keep mineral buildup down?
I had thought it would be a big can of worms to get at the ASV from the wet bay where the water hooks up. The more I looked at it (on my trusty stool), it made me open the compartment to the left front. Pulled the enclosure (the one with the 110 v. outlet) and there it was! ^.^d
P.S.: I have NO IDEA what the little black plug do-dad is under the outlet.
12 VDC outlet/cigarette lighter plug.
Some of us carry lighters! What did you REALLY use it for? I think you'ce got a couple of those under the passenger-side dash, also.
We have real hard water down in Arizona. Hated taking showers and worried about build-up in the system, also. Got this unit (Amazon) and love it. I flushed the entire system and have checked a couple of times, clean, clean. There is a smaller model than ours available which would be easier to move around (they are HEAVY!), but since we pretty much stay in just a couple of Parks, it works well, since it does not have to be regenerated as often, we do ours once a month. Buying a water tester is a good idea, tells you how much salt to add, depending on use. Be glad to help, the REP in Phoenix has been very helpfull with some of my bonehead questions. ^.^d
I plugged in a spare potable water pump mounted on a board to be able to fill from CG spigots with no hose connection threads.
Mike,
We acid wash with vinegar
Pamela & Mike
Recommendation I found was fill water heater with 5% vinegar and then turn on water heater for 4-8 hours in order to bake off any deposits. Works great!
I also filled lines with 5% and let set for 3-4 days, then ran fresh water thru lines in order to get solution in grey water tank for next dump.
By the way, 5% vinegar will kill your grass if you dump it on the lawn, even accidentally. (Not guessing here. Actual dumbass mistake)
All good advice. I happened to talk with a RV tech that was working next door just now. He said "I make a ton of money off owners that do not have proper filtering equipment." He liked my water softener! ^.^d