Leaking City Water Flange

[proaspen]

Hello Fellow RVers: Need some help and wish to pass on information. First some background: I have a 2006 Fleetwood Bounder Class A motorhomer, model 35E. In the water management compartment (port side of rig), I have two (2) city water flanges, one providing city water to the rig and/or filling up the internal tank, and the other is connected to the black tank clean-out sprayer (this came with the rig). In the past 8 years, I've had leaks where the external hoses connect to the brass city water flanges (female hose to male connector). They were early on, during my warranty period, and the dealer replaced them. Well, I'm on my own now. Developed a leak where the external hose (male connector) connects to the city water flange providing H2O to the rig. Figuring it was caused by brass on brass and the weight of the hose on the connection, I replaced the hose brass fitting with a plastic one. Solved the leak issue. Suspecting this will fail over time. I then developed a similar leak on the black tank city water flange. Before doing the same fix as before, I just put the fresh water hose on that flange. Leak was just as bad as before. So, I figured I needed to learn how to replace the city water flange. Easy peasy, remove three screws, disconnect the hose going to the back of the flange and out it pops. Issue was made for my low technical skill level :-). Went to Amazon and found the flange. It is a JR product (P/N 160-85-A-26-A). I bought two (2). Each part comes with the screen gasket that goes on the female side of the flange. I installed the unit, connected the hose, and fired it up. The compartment was flooded with water coming out of the back of the city water flange. What the heck!!!! Deinstalled the flange from the panel, and reconnected the hoses to the flange below the panel so I could see what was happening. Slowly turned the water on, and water spewed out the back. I'm thinking a washer was missing. Got a spare and tried to put it on...doesn't fit. Darn! Thankfully I didn't throw the old one away (yes I'm a low level hoarder), and compared the two flanges. The old one had a (what I call) a wierd looking gasket on the flange male brass fitting. That gasket did not come with the new one, so I carefully removed the gasket (it was stuck a bit) and placed it on the new one. Reconnected everything, fired that bad boy up, and VOILA, no leaks!! My mind is boggled over why the flange didn't come with the needed "rear" gasket. Now I need to find spares. Don't know what they are called. Its like a waher with a sleeve on it. The sleeve goes into the back of the flange, and the gasket rests on the brass end. Appreciate you technical folk telling me what it is so I can order some. Oh, if you know why the gasket doesn't come with the flange, that'd be interesting info for me too. Probably has something to do with the wide range of possible uses for the flange.

I humbly await your guidance!

Gary Provencher

[proaspen]

Myredracer: Thanks for responding. Looks like that is indeed the case, the washer is part of the plumbing fitting vice the flange. Clearly, when I disconnected the old flange, the sleeved washer was pulled out of the fitting. Thankfully, I was able to remove the sleeved washer from the flange and use it again.

Thanks to all for engaging me on this. I now know the direction to head. Take care all!

V/R
Gary P.

[myredracer]

I bought a JR Products city water inlet recently and it didn't come with a washer of any sort.

The interior side of an inlet gets connected with a "swivel" fitting (usually plastic in an RV) that has a seal in it like in the photo. These seals can occasionally fall out when handling the fitting. If that's your "washer" that is missing, I don't think you can get just the seal. It's not a part related to the inlet. A complete swivel fitting is around $5 or less and not worth the cost of shopping or driving all over to find a seal. Once the fitting is installed, you shouldn't need a spare because you'd rarely ever disconnect the swivel fitting. Many RV dealers stock the swivel fitting, and they're at Home Depot and plumbing wholesalers and hardware stores.

[proaspen]

Makes sense. WILCO on suggestion. Thanks for responding.

V/R
Gary P.

[Fleetwood99]

proaspen wrote:

I humbly await your guidance!

Gary Provencher

Bottle that and sell it. We all need some of that to share with you.

[Old-Biscuit]

I think WHY the new city water connection didn't come with a new washer is because the washer is part of the fitting that screws onto city water connector.

Stop by an ACE Hardware store...check out the various washers......flat, coned, compression etc.