Replace/fix Drain valves on 1990 Winnebago Warrior?
Hi all,
Well, I thought I had a leak on my city water inlet, but after pulling the oven and examining the inlet I do not.
Last time we hooked up to city water was at Disney, and when we did I noticed we had a leak under the RV. I thought perhaps my renovated shower was leaking, but it was not. Since we were on city water, I assumed that we had a leak between the city water inlet connection and a check valve to the main internal system. Since it didn't leak when on internal pump, I assumed it was on the city side.
This weekend I pulled the oven and saw the city inlet. There is no line between the fitting and the rest of the internal line - the fitting plugs directly into the main internal line with a T. The check valve is in the fitting itself. And also, there is no leak there nor any evidence of one.
I have often noticed when pulling my drain valves that they were damp and they would spray at you a bit when you pull on them to pop them open. Usually when you press them back down and the system is pressurized they stop leaking/weeping. I know the system holds pressure as if you leave the water pump on it holds pressure indefinitely.
All I can think of is that we must not have fully seated the drain valves and they were leaking when hooked up to city water.
My 1990 Winnebago Warrior has 4 drain valves. All of them are a pain in the butt to get to. I sure hope with modern RVs that they make this essential piece of equipment more accessible than they did 20 years ago!
2 valves are under the driver-side rear bed. They can be reasonably accessed through a hatch under the mattress. You can't really see one of them but you can feel it easy enough.
The other two are under the bathroom sink. However, they ran a heat duct directly above them so you cannot see them at all. You have to feel for them. And when I do feel them, they are usually wet.
I have taken pictures of them here:
http://imgur.com/a/O4pQ9
I'm sure one reason the heat duct is routed the way it is is to help keep those water lines and drains warm in cold weather.
I am thinking of re-routing the ducts somewhat over to the side if I can get a vent that can sneak under the cabinet door.
Anyway, my question is, is there a way to replace the packing or the seat of these valves? From the look of them, everything had to have been assembled from the "outside" - there is no access to the opposite side of the valve so the stem *should* come out of the valve assembly somehow. Do they thread out? Can they be fixed to stop weeping?
If I want to replace that section, it looks like there is a single pipe clamp on each valve under the sink. I wonder if there is any service line heading under the floor over to the shower on the other side of the RV. In other words, how the heck can I get those valves out of there to replace them without taking the sink cabinet out?
Any ideas?
Thanks,
Steve
Well, I thought I had a leak on my city water inlet, but after pulling the oven and examining the inlet I do not.
Last time we hooked up to city water was at Disney, and when we did I noticed we had a leak under the RV. I thought perhaps my renovated shower was leaking, but it was not. Since we were on city water, I assumed that we had a leak between the city water inlet connection and a check valve to the main internal system. Since it didn't leak when on internal pump, I assumed it was on the city side.
This weekend I pulled the oven and saw the city inlet. There is no line between the fitting and the rest of the internal line - the fitting plugs directly into the main internal line with a T. The check valve is in the fitting itself. And also, there is no leak there nor any evidence of one.
I have often noticed when pulling my drain valves that they were damp and they would spray at you a bit when you pull on them to pop them open. Usually when you press them back down and the system is pressurized they stop leaking/weeping. I know the system holds pressure as if you leave the water pump on it holds pressure indefinitely.
All I can think of is that we must not have fully seated the drain valves and they were leaking when hooked up to city water.
My 1990 Winnebago Warrior has 4 drain valves. All of them are a pain in the butt to get to. I sure hope with modern RVs that they make this essential piece of equipment more accessible than they did 20 years ago!
2 valves are under the driver-side rear bed. They can be reasonably accessed through a hatch under the mattress. You can't really see one of them but you can feel it easy enough.
The other two are under the bathroom sink. However, they ran a heat duct directly above them so you cannot see them at all. You have to feel for them. And when I do feel them, they are usually wet.
I have taken pictures of them here:
http://imgur.com/a/O4pQ9
I'm sure one reason the heat duct is routed the way it is is to help keep those water lines and drains warm in cold weather.
I am thinking of re-routing the ducts somewhat over to the side if I can get a vent that can sneak under the cabinet door.
Anyway, my question is, is there a way to replace the packing or the seat of these valves? From the look of them, everything had to have been assembled from the "outside" - there is no access to the opposite side of the valve so the stem *should* come out of the valve assembly somehow. Do they thread out? Can they be fixed to stop weeping?
If I want to replace that section, it looks like there is a single pipe clamp on each valve under the sink. I wonder if there is any service line heading under the floor over to the shower on the other side of the RV. In other words, how the heck can I get those valves out of there to replace them without taking the sink cabinet out?
Any ideas?
Thanks,
Steve
