Fresh water valve issue

Speters22 · 04-16-2021, 07:05 AM

Anyone have this issue? Our first trip out with our 2021 Eagle fifth wheel last October after at least a week of camping with no issues hooked up to city water, my husband left for work and noticed water running out from somewhere. He had to leave and could only shut off the water from the city water source. It had been cold so he thought maybe the hose froze or something. When I was able to look closer I saw that after I turned the water back in it was running out of the fresh water fill. Even though we had valves in the position for city water and had been working fine for a week or longer. We had it in for service to fix it and have it winterized and a few other minor things. And guess what.... first trip out this year hook up at the campground and same exact thing happens right from the get go! When we called the dealer we found out they couldn’t “duplicate the problem” so nothing was done! My understanding from googling this is it happens and usually is a stuck valve maybe or something. Does anyone have experience with this and know what we can do to fix it?

Camper_bob · 04-16-2021, 07:47 AM

Most likely the water pump. There is a valve in it that keeps the water system from back-flowing into the tank. Those valves often get stuck. When city water pressure is applied, the water flows back through the pump and fills the fresh tank. You could fix the pump or put an additional back-flow preventer in line between the pump and the tank.

You could also cycle the pump a few times to see if you can get it "unstuck".

ETA: "Check valve". It's called a check valve. Bad case of CRS this morning...

Speters22 · 04-16-2021, 08:44 AM

Thank you and by cycling the pump a few times do you mean using the pump for awhile and then switching back and trying to use city water cause we have tried that we’ve been having to fill the fresh water tank and use the pump since Monday when we came.

Camper_bob · 04-16-2021, 08:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Speters22

Thank you and by cycling the pump a few times do you mean using the pump for awhile and then switching back and trying to use city water cause we have tried that we’ve been having to fill the fresh water tank and use the pump since Monday when we came.

Yup.

It sounds like your check valve isn't going to "unstick" itself on its own.

You can take take the pump head apart and see if there's debris in there. Clean it out, reassemble and try again. Or you could replace the pump entirely. Or you could put a higher quality check valve in line between the pump and tank.

Full disclosure: I've never actually dealt with this problem personally. Also there is another discussion on the forum regarding the same exact issue that is getting a little more traction right now than your post:

https://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f...ter-85961.html

Camper_bob · 04-16-2021, 09:00 AM

Also, here's a short, concise article on potential causes and fixes:

https://learntorv.com/water-pump-check-valve/

Tunce the traveler · 04-16-2021, 09:12 AM

You should ( or maybe) have a shutoff valve at the end of the pex line before it enters the water pump to prevent a backup. This will stop the city water from entering your fresh water tank and out of the fill port. If I’m understanding this correctly.

Camper_bob · 04-16-2021, 09:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tunce the traveler

You should ( or maybe) have a shutoff valve at the end of the pex line before it enters the water pump to prevent a backup. This will stop the city water from entering your fresh water tank and out of the fill port. If I’m understanding this correctly.

+1

If there is a valve there, that would fix the problem.

But my TT did not have a valve there that I can remember. And I don't remember my MH having one there either?

FWIW, it would make perfect sense to have a valve there for the "winterizing kit" so you can pump AF from the jug using that extra hose. So I think my TT must've had one, because it had a winterization hose right there ahead of the pump... There's that CRS kicking in again...

ETA: My MH wouldn't have a valve there because I have a "distribution panel" that directs water. So winterization is done through the city water fill port. The dials in the control center are turned to accomplish the desired action.

That being said, I wonder if you could direct the valves to "winterization" setting and accomplish the same thing?

billcf7 · 04-16-2021, 09:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Speters22

Thank you and by cycling the pump a few times do you mean using the pump for awhile and then switching back and trying to use city water cause we have tried that we’ve been having to fill the fresh water tank and use the pump since Monday when we came.

Was your fresh water tank empty when this problem occurred and then completely full when water started leaking under rv? If not this is not a check valve problem.

Speters22 · 04-16-2021, 10:26 AM

To the best of my knowledge and recollection the fresh water tank was not full before or after this occurred the first time. It just started running out of the full port and when we checked the fresh water tank status in the panel it was not full. This trip being our first trip out since winterization it just started running out of the fresh tank fill port as soon as we hooked up and turned in city water and the fresh tank was definitely not full at that point.

Speters22 · 04-16-2021, 10:38 AM

I tried to attach a pic of my set up not sure if it worked. I also have a video I’m trying to upload.

Camper_bob · 04-16-2021, 11:26 AM

This whole time I was thinking you had water running out of your fresh tank overflow hoses.

Since it's running out of your tank FILL port, I'm betting it's a check valve in that tank fill outlet. That being the case, have you tried to stick your finger in the tank fill outlet and "exercise" that check valve?

Pressurize the system with the hose on the city water port, pop the cap off that tank fill outlet, STAND ASIDE, and stick your finger in there and depress that check valve a few times and see if it will "unstick".

It's also possible that the cone screen is "backwards" in there, depressing the check valve. You might do this when winterizing to make it easier to defeat that check valve and get AF into that line. So check the position of the cone "filter" (it's really just a screen attached to a gasket). If it's pointing "in", it's probably depressing the check valve in that outlet.

Speters22 · 04-16-2021, 12:36 PM

Here’s the thing, we took the screen out and there isn’t a valve in there so we took the screen out of the city side and there is. We thought aha that’s the problem. Looked at our friends fifth wheel that is identical and theirs does not either? So now what?

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