Water hose stuck on side of trailer..

Wow!

I have very, very hard water with not only a lot of dissolved minerals but also so much iron the raw water coming off the pump looks like deep red mud with out a good prefiltering and softener system..

I have never had any hose bibs get stuck and have never used vinegar in the water to wash my vehicles...

Sometimes if you do not get a good seal on the hose bib the water gets around the seal and that allows small amounts of dissolved minerals to drop out of the water in the hose bib threads..

To release the grip of the dissolved minerals you will need to soak the entire hose bib connection for a long time with vinegar.. So with RV sidewall hose bibs this becomes and issue on just how do you submerge it..

You could try something stronger like CLR (Calcium, Lime and Rust remover)which is designed to remove hard water stains..

All else fails, you may need to carefully dissect the leftover hose parts from the hose bib.. Be very careful that you do not break or damage the valve or valve seat contained in the RV portion of the hose bib.. That valve prevents water from coming out of the RV when you use your freshwater pump..

The last resort, remove the hose bib connection from the RV and replace with a new RV hose bib.. You can buy new hose bibs at your local RV dealer.

Gdetrailer wrote:

The last resort, remove the hose bib connection from the RV and replace with a new RV hose bib.. You can buy new hose bibs at your local RV dealer.

This might be your best option. The bib has probably has as much mineral build-up as the hose did.

RV city water connector..

HERE



To remove the hose portion you cut off, you will need to work from center of the hose towards the outside of the RV fresh water connector.

You do not want to break or damage the plastic part inside the RV fresh water connector, that is the check valve which prevents water from spraying out when you run your on board water pump.

Depending on if your hose that you cut off was brass or plastic removal would be accomplished by crushing the brass portion of the hose you cut off and then using needle nose pliers to to try to turn the hose portion.. Plastic would require cutting out with a pretty small saw or perhaps a hot plastic cutting knife..

Alternately, you could remove the RV fresh water connector from the RV, then you could submerge that entire part in vinegar or CLR for a few days and see if you can get it to move.. Once removed, reinstall the RV fresh water connector..

Once you have this fixed, to avoid this from happening again, make sure this connection is not dripping, seeping or leaking at any time.. Depending on age of the RV, sometimes you need to replace the rubber gasket that fits inside the Fresh water connector as they do wear out or get hard.



Replacement gaskets are cheap, 30 count for less than $5..

Take a small hammer and spend a few minutes lightly tapping on the (former) hose end all the way around, sideways and straight on. The minerals when dry are like sandstone and crumble pretty easily. Then using a good pair of pliers start gently working the hose end back and forth.

Once the solids have been broken up movement turns them to powder.

If you cant get it off by soaking or using some sort of penetrating oil. You can try a key hole saw with a metal blade or a mini hacksaw. Cut the male end , lengthwise, in like 3 spots. You will cut into the threads on the female end a little, but dont cut through the whole fitting. After you make the cuts, pull off the stuck fitting. The small cuts in the thread will not stop you from using it. If all else fails, replace the whole thing. I have problems at home with dissimmiler metals and leaving my hoses attached the the home for half the year. I spray the ends with silicone spray now.

A plumber friend says to tighten it just a tad. then loosen. Has worked every time I did it that way.

JaxDad wrote:
Take a small hammer and spend a few minutes lightly tapping on the (former) hose end all the way around, sideways and straight on. The minerals when dry are like sandstone and crumble pretty easily. Then using a good pair of pliers start gently working the hose end back and forth.

Once the solids have been broken up movement turns them to powder.

The minerals while they may break up into a powder, will actually act like grit or sand and bind the two items together indefinitely making removal difficult to impossible. It is the reason why facets and valves that are exposed to water with high mineral content wear out fast.

That is one of the main reasons to try a liquid approach by soaking in a solution known to reverse the crystallization of the minerals. Strong vinegar solution is the safest bet. The vinegar solution dissolves and liquefies the hard minerals, reducing the concentration of minerals by dilution. The biggest downside is time and how you are able to keep the affected parts in the solution.

It took time to get stuck, it will take time to get enough vinegar solution flowing around the threads to make a difference.

Forceful attempts most likely will result in damage to the inlet, at this point, it is not usable so basically damaged so a mechanical "hail mary" is certainly worth a try.. But I suspect unless you find a way to cut a relief into the hose part (inside) it most likely isn't going to end well.

That is why I mentioned the OP may need to consider removing the RV water inlet to either soak it in solution or simply buy a new inlet and replace it.

If it comes to this I force it. If something breaks it needed replacing anyway.

time2roll wrote:
If it comes to this I force it. If something breaks it needed replacing anyway.

"Graceful" force.

If I was in this situation, and it was this stuck, I would be looking very hard at removing the inlet from the RV first. Doing so just might save your bacon from damaging or twisting off the water line on the inside of said RV in a bad place to get to. Pex can take a lot of abuse but the stress of twisting it could cause leaks at other joints and connections.

Those outlets are screwed into virtually nothing but the thin sidewall with a couple of short screws, basically 1/16" thick fiberglass and maybe 1/8" plywood.. Won't take much to rip out the screws causing a much more expensive repair in the end.

If the waterline on the inside is connected via a crimp, cut it off allowing some space for a splice and when you put it back in you can use Shark Bite connectors to put it back together..

Trying the baggie, rubberband, filled with vinegar idea first