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Topic: How to repair a leaking city water connection valve instead of repla (Read 119 times) previous topic - next topic
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How to repair a leaking city water connection valve instead of repla
Yahoo Message Number: 134445
Quote
I damaged my city water connection while winterizing my rig with RV antifreeze last fall; more to that story but I will skip that part. If your rig is like my Midbath rig, the city water connection housing is painted to match your rig. And in typical Lazy Daze fashion, it is also sealed to the body quite well to prevent leaks. I placed a call to the LD factory and spoke with Vince who told me it is very easy to repair the existing valve instead of removing  and replacing the old one. Vince told me to go buy a new city water connection valve similar to the existing one and then call him when I had it in front of me so I would see more clearly what I would need to do.
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 Rather than create a new thread, I thought it might be better to reply to this original post in order to preserve the key word search capabilities of this excellent information resource.
 In short, I had the same issue with my city water valve-cum-backflow preventer on my '93 22 M-P. Unlike Steve, however, I wasn't able to disconnect the internal brass elbow in order to access the interior of the valve from inside the RV.

Here's a quick recap of what I had to do:
1. In my particular case, I could easily access & remove the flexible gray hose connected to the elbow above the valve by removing the bottom 'closet' sliding drawer. (Of course, this procedure alone required a few minutes research - LOL.) 
2. Once I had the internal hose disconnected, it was simply impossible to get wrenches on both the elbow & valve, so I had to remove the front plate in order to remove the entire unit. This was not without trepidation, but with a very sharp putty knife, I was able pry off the cover without scoring/scratching the paint. (Of course, when it was replaced, there is very slight ring where the painted over putty was knifed away.

3. Once I had the complete unit out, it was comprised of:  - a male-male brass elbow, where one end had a hose thread, and the other a pipe thread  - the actual brass city water/backflow valve with one female hose thread (to the elbow) and the other a slip on connection  - the painted exterior plate placed over the slip on sleeve  - a female hose connector that had been pressed onto the brass sleeve in order to secure the plate; the plate is firm, but can be rotated with little friction 
4. The next step was to unscrew the valve from the elbow in order to access the inside components. This should have been easy, but actually took a bit of torque. I had to carefully place the elbow in my table vice, making sure not to touch any threads. I then pulled out an old, WWII-era 20" pipe wrench that had been passed down through the family, and gingerly applied a little torque, but ended up with @ least 100 lb-ft.
  Nothing, nada, no dice. I mean, I almost thought that after all this, it would suck to be stymied basic plumbing. However, I tried once more by really cranking it and finally got it to budge. After that, I could unscrew it with my fingers. It was tight due to both factory/machine torquing and liberally applied plumbers dope. This also confirms why it would have been impossible to remove the elbow from within the RV in order to access the valve.

5. After I had the valve free, it was easy to then take out the plastic plunger (ie "tee"), spring & collar per Steve's detailed instructions. Like the proverbial story of the king who lost his kingdom for want of a nail, the culprit was a 2 cent plastic plunger housed within a $10 valve. Because what was missing on the plunger was the rubber micro-ring.
  Now, as if the advice about not using external city water vs using the gravity well & internal pump needed any further support, this is it. Clearly, at some point in time in the distant past the micro-ring had become dislodged, and then when it was hooked up once again to city water, it completely blew off to somewhere within the internal plumbing system.
  Once that happened, the internal pump could not long be used, so the RV *always* had to be hooked up to city water in order to function. (Our 19 yo RV has 59k miles, 10k of which were put on over the last 10 years, so niggling maintenance most likely put it out to pasture. There is a clear, but minor, mineral deposit stream down the side.) 
7. OK, this is the best part. I googled the part (good 'ole Marshall brass G-784 http://www.rvplus.com/marshall-brass-check-valve-brass-backflow-prevent-g-784.html) and found out it only costs $10. Next, I headed over to M Thompson's in FV, and sure enough, they had one for the same price.

Now, this is where it actually gets a little interesting: if you follow Steve's directions, you need to cannibalize the new part, rather than use the whole new valve. This frees you up from finding the proper male-pipe thread to slip orientation; I didn't care that Thompson's was threaded on both sides, I just wanted the guts.
 So, with the assistance of the parts guys who were gathered around, I popped off the collar, pulled out the tee & spring, and showed them the micro ring vs my tee without the ring. Then, again, just as in Steve's instructions, I had one of the guys hold the tee inside the valve while I pressed on the collar from the other side. Voila', a new, fully functional valve, complete with my nicely painted cover still attached.
 Epilogue - Well, the rest was easy. I simply retraced the connection steps, checked for leaks, and was done. No more leaking city-water valve, and a good lesson learned to never use that connection, even though it's brand, spanking new.

Hope this helps. Cheers.
Re: How to repair a leaking city water connection valve instead of r
Reply #1 –
Yahoo Message Number: 134448
Quote
 
 "I damaged my city water connection... Epilogue - Well, the rest was easy. I simply retraced the connection steps, checked for leaks, and was done. No more leaking city-water valve, and a good lesson learned to never use that connection, even though it's brand, spanking new.
Regan

And so yet another LD owner has learned how to do it the right way! I've also changed mine and in contrast I use city water whenever it's available (providing I'm staying more than one night).

Steve S.
Lazy Bones & Jiggs
Steve S.
Lazy Bones & Cedar
2004 30'IB (Island Bed)
Yesterday is History, Tomorrow is a Mystery
Live for the day!
Re: How to repair a leaking city water connection valve instead of r
Reply #2 –
Yahoo Message Number: 134467
Hi Steve, Thanks very much for the excellent repair description. Just what the doctor ordered for my city water valve problem caused by my not relieving water pressure prior to pushing the button to bleed the water out of that area. I had no problem finding a warning