cancel
Showing results forย 
Search instead forย 
Did you mean:ย 

Bad city connection check valve cause low water pressure?

dee74
Explorer
Explorer
To give you some background, I used my freshwater tank and pump recently and everything worked well. I rarely use the tank and pump and almost always,99.9% of the time, connected at the city water connection. I used my camper this weekend and was connected to city water and my water pressure was very low and kept dropping to a trickle. The pressure at the campground was freat and I do not use a pressure regulator, just a straight hose connection. I went and investigated and found the check valve seemed to be sitting crooked and possibly deformed. I straightened it out as much as I could without tools and the water pressure seemed a little better but still not great. I know a faulty valve can cause a leak when using the pump but could this valve be causing the low pressure when using the city water connection?
11 REPLIES 11

joebedford
Nomad II
Nomad II
ItsyRV wrote:
If the city water inlet is connected to a flexible hose/tube inside, it's a remote possibility the hose/tube somehow got kinked and is restricting flow.
Good point - that happened to mine. The city water inlet is the second from bottom white hose on the right in the photo I posted above. A short length of pex then flexible hose. I had to loosen the connections and twist the hose to get the kink out. You can see that it's still a bit restricted but not bad enough to worry about.

dee74
Explorer
Explorer
I plan to take it apart Saturday when I get back to camper. Should I use butyl tape to seal it back on camper.

ItsyRV
Explorer
Explorer
If the city water inlet is connected to a flexible hose/tube inside, it's a remote possibility the hose/tube somehow got kinked and is restricting flow.
1994 Itasca SunDancer 21RB - Chevy G-30 chassis.

Old-Biscuit
Explorer III
Explorer III
YES.......
A bad check valve in City Water Inlet WILL cause low flow issues

Check valve is a plunger/spring/O-ring assembly \IF o-ring gets dislodged is can Block water flow to plumbing lines
Is it time for your medication or mine?


2007 DODGE 3500 QC SRW 5.9L CTD In-Bed 'quiet gen'
2007 HitchHiker II 32.5 UKTG 2000W Xantex Inverter
US NAVY------USS Decatur DDG31

Lwiddis
Explorer II
Explorer II
You have courage to hook to city water without a pressure regulator. Russian roulette!
Winnebago 2101DS TT & 2022 Chevy Silverado 1500 LTZ Z71, WindyNation 300 watt solar-Lossigy 200 AH Lithium battery. Prefer boondocking, USFS, COE, BLM, NPS, TVA, state camps. Bicyclist. 14 yr. Army -11B40 then 11A - (MOS 1542 & 1560) IOBC & IOAC grad

myredracer
Explorer II
Explorer II
A city water has a threaded "swivel" fitting on the interior side. Often inside a cabinet or behind a bank of drawers. You could get access to the interior side of the inlet and punch out the check valve. They're just cheapo plastic gizmos. I removed ours and replaced it with a commercial grade brass one. Perhaps that would help you?

AFAIK, check valves inside city water inlets are an integral part and you'd need to replace the inlet. That would require caulking it. I'd opt for a separate new one inside.

Is the filter screen still in the city water inlet? They can sometimes plug up with silt & debris. Same thing can happen to the check valve.

A regulator is always a good idea. CG water pressure can get very high and I've heard of it getting as high as 200 psi. We've seen as high as 140 psi. If you travel around much, you won't know what kind of pressure you'll have. Also, sometimes pressure can be at an acceptable level but there can be a surge that could possibly cause damage.

joebedford
Nomad II
Nomad II
I know this is a pretty pathetic diagram, but it represents exactly what's in the photo I posted above. If your rig is like mine, the check valve is the only thing between city water and rig plumbing.

Beverley_Ken
Explorer
Explorer
It's probably a defective check valve. The valve may have come out of the the mount, missing retainer clip. That's why it appeared crooked,out of place. With the pressure from the city water, it's pushing the valve piece too far and obstructing water flow. It probably doesn't stop the water from leaking out when using the pressure pump either.
Relativity cheap and easy to replace..

Ken
2006 Winnebago Outlook 29B E-450.
2012 Honda CR-V AWD
Blue Ox Aventa LX tow bar and Brake Buddy Vantage.

joebedford
Nomad II
Nomad II
In any case, RV plumbing is always easy to figure out. This is my Voltage 3950.

dee74
Explorer
Explorer
joebedford wrote:
Was the water pressure still low when you checked your pump after the problem with city water?


I actually put some water in the tank and used the pump for better pressure. The pump worked great and easily built up pressure.

joebedford
Nomad II
Nomad II
Was the water pressure still low when you checked your pump after the problem with city water?