Shower valves upgrade PICTORIAL
My so called "luxury" camper come with decent kitchen faucet, but cheap bathroom and outside shower valves. Hated those things and they come some freeze damages so was on the market for good replace...
Forum Discussion
UPDATE - Two years later (almost to the day)!
Went about prepping the camper on Friday for a short one-night getaway on Saturday. I filled the water tank, and then turned on the pump so I could put a few gallons in to the black water tank. Imagine my surprise when my shiny new faucet started spraying water in to the sink!
I grabbed some wrenches and took it apart. There is a fine crack in the base!
Of course, this stuff is never discovered unless it is right before a camping trip. I ordered a replacement faucet, but I needed to go camping first. I grabbed my Dremel and ground off the chrome around the crack. Nice bright shiny brass underneath. I could NOT see the crack in the brass. Mixed up a batch of JB Weld "Kwik" and slathered it up. Re-installed the faucet and turned the water on the following morning. No leak.
I have no idea why this cracked. The camper lives in a heated shop when not in use, so I have never winterized it because it is never frozen. So it couldn't have been a frost crack due to freezing. This is heavy brass, and I would think any impact capable of cracking the brass would first crack the fiberglass sink it is mounted in to. Maybe the brass was cracked during manufacture, and the chrome was keeping it from spraying? Then the chrome finally fatigued and cracked.
Anyway, I like the faucet, but my experience (and others on this thread) seems to indicate there may be quality issues with the product. YMMV!
-Eric
Went about prepping the camper on Friday for a short one-night getaway on Saturday. I filled the water tank, and then turned on the pump so I could put a few gallons in to the black water tank. Imagine my surprise when my shiny new faucet started spraying water in to the sink!
I grabbed some wrenches and took it apart. There is a fine crack in the base!
Of course, this stuff is never discovered unless it is right before a camping trip. I ordered a replacement faucet, but I needed to go camping first. I grabbed my Dremel and ground off the chrome around the crack. Nice bright shiny brass underneath. I could NOT see the crack in the brass. Mixed up a batch of JB Weld "Kwik" and slathered it up. Re-installed the faucet and turned the water on the following morning. No leak.
I have no idea why this cracked. The camper lives in a heated shop when not in use, so I have never winterized it because it is never frozen. So it couldn't have been a frost crack due to freezing. This is heavy brass, and I would think any impact capable of cracking the brass would first crack the fiberglass sink it is mounted in to. Maybe the brass was cracked during manufacture, and the chrome was keeping it from spraying? Then the chrome finally fatigued and cracked.
Anyway, I like the faucet, but my experience (and others on this thread) seems to indicate there may be quality issues with the product. YMMV!
-Eric
