cold burst of water

2gypsies wrote:

CarnationSailor wrote:
Regarding the Oxygenics shower head - I have one, it dribbles when I turn it off, AND I still get the blast of cold water when I turn it back on.

We've had our Oxygenics for 4 years now and it's wonderful. There's never a temperature change.

Does your trailer have a single winterizing valve (plus a check valve) or two winterizing valves?

CarnationSailor wrote:
Regarding the Oxygenics shower head - I have one, it dribbles when I turn it off, AND I still get the blast of cold water when I turn it back on.

We've had our Oxygenics for 4 years now and it's wonderful. There's never a temperature change.

yup, cure is usually very simple.

The solution isn't to ADD a check valve, it is to REMOVE an existing check valve!!!


Most common cause is the "one quarter turn valve" winter bypass setup. they use a one way check valve on the hot output of the water heater and a quarter turn ball valve on cold inlet. Unfortunetly the one way valve on the hot outlet is very cheap and poorly designed and the restriction is very pressure and flow dependent and not a linear function. So when you turn down the flow, hot water restriction through the valve increases signficantly and hot water flow decreases more than cold water and you get the cold blast. In fact, at low flow, restriction is high enough to almost completely turn off the hot water flow.

Solution, remove the check valve completely on the hot outlet and install a winter bypass system with two quarter turn valves. Problem solved.

BTW when I did this on mine and mentioned to the local dealer service dept, they said, yes, very common complaint and they do the same as i did to fix the problem.

I took one of the valves apart. It's design is very good at backflow prevention for use when winterizing. However, the design when water if flowing through it leaves a lot to be desired to get flow that is a linear function of pressure and downstream restriction.

Regarding the Oxygenics shower head - I have one, it dribbles when I turn it off, AND I still get the blast of cold water when I turn it back on.

I also have a check valve in the water heater's output line so that is not a solution. As to replacing the check valve with a ball-cock type of valve, I do not understand how that would fix the problem.

Furthermore, I have yet to hear a complete explanation as to why the problem happens in the first place. (Dealer said, "All travel trailer showers do that.")

I turn the hot on full then add cold to adjust temp no problem when closing the head off.

If yours is set up like ours was it has a check valve in the hot water line right at the heater.This valve holds the water from the hot line from going back into the heater when you turn the winterizing valves.I took it out and put a ball valve in its' place to close when winterizing.The spring in it holds it closed when there is very little flowing through the lines so all you get is cold water in the shower hose while it is just dripping.It's a whole lot better to turn an extra valve when winterizing than put up with the cold water surprise.And yes it does work.

You're right on the money with the hot water line check valve. Where to put it? Try to get it in the line to the shower. If you can;t get in there then I have seen them placed in the main hot water line where it leaves the water heater and right after the tank winterizing valve(s). Don't forget if you have to winterize your rig to be sure and drain that line as the check valve will hold water there Hot or cold and that will be enough to freeze and break a line.

Merrykalia wrote:
Yes. When I turn it back on, I aim it at the shower wall for about 5 seconds, then turn it back toward me.

Cheap and easy fix.

(Yes, I realize this is a sarcastic response, but I found that it does work and it was really cheap.)

Actually, this is what I do. I never even thought about it.

That's why the Oxygenics shower head (and a few others) will dribble and not shut off completely. The dribble keeps the lines from being back fed from either cold or hot at the mixing valve. Some people complain the shower doesn't turn off completely. Personally I'd rather have the dribble than the freeze or scald. If you leave don't turn off the shower completely, then you won't have the cross flow problem.

Haven't a permanent fix but I use that cold water burst to either wet my washcloth or rinse the soap out of it.