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Shower valves upgrade PICTORIAL

Kayteg1
Explorer II
Explorer II
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 replacement.
Lately found thermostatically controlled kitchen faucet with diverter and shower, so that was exactly what I was looking for.
Model number DE-002
Had small issue with ebay seller who send it with no shower hose and stop answering my email, so will not recommend him.
Here is the old faucet that was pretty annoying to use and was wasting lot of water for adjustments.



Here is new faucet on the bench. It come with backflow preventive valves, but I did not install them as they would prevent winterizing.



Enlarging holes



Hooking up under the sink. I cut the pex and install threaded adapters where the faucet hoses attached to. Did not want to spend $60 on crimping tool, so used hose clamps on pex



Final look. The 2nd hole come very handy for soap dispenser. The dispenser bottle would not fit on it becouse of P-trap, but the dispenser come with long tubing that will suck the soap from bottle standing under the sink.
Now I set the temperature on right knob and forget it.
Open flow with left knob and will wait for warm water to come. No more going back and forth for flow and temperature adjustment. That can save quite some water.



Now outside shower. Bought that valve on ebay.



Cutting bigger hole for new valve



Attaching hoses to new valve. I was able to flex the pex enough to attach original fittings to new valve





Final look. That valve has plug in hose and temperature adjustment by turning single handle. It come with sink sprayer, but the hose will accommodate any standard shower.



I can store the hose in the compartment, but for sanitary reason will probably take it inside. Still have to figure out how to plug the other hole.
24 REPLIES 24

anutami
Explorer III
Explorer III
Bringing this thread back to life as mine after about 5 years of use and the handle finally seized up. As this is one of the best MODS I have done to my camper I am searching for a replacement.

Does anyone know of any other products that would work. I can't seem to find anything. (This is for the bathroom sink/shower combo)
2001 Ford F350 LB Diesel 4x4 CrewCab Stick
2015 Wolf Creek 850 Thermal Pane Windows, Oven, Reinforced Anchor Bolts, 200w Solar, Torklift Tie Downs, Fastguns, Stableloads

Kayteg1
Explorer II
Explorer II
So my Sprinter projects is coming to finishing part and as much as I love the thermostatic faucet, it is no longer available(Duda still has it but for inflated price)
Thermostat is especially important in new conversion as I plan to use alternator power to heat the water for night showers. Meaning W/H is set to high temperature and scalding might become a problem.
So changed my design and used under the sink thermostat to use with factory faucet.
So hot water coming under the sink is mixed to preset temperature before reaching faucet hot side.
Having kitchen sink behind shower, I made reduced temperature pipe going to it as well.
the design looks like a maze, but it should work and the thermostats cost in the range of $29, so no big expense needed.
Thinking about it, I could install the thermostat right behind W/H, but I like the convenience of adjusting knob under the sink.


Click For Full-Size Image.


Click For Full-Size Image.

Kayteg1
Explorer II
Explorer II
The new one is thermostatic as well and when I hate water restrictors as well, the pump has its restrictions when boondocking, while I don't care about water savings when on hookups.
I have 2 Truck Campers, what is another story, but lately, since the aged one is not gaining any offers, I decided to make new project and use good interior in Sprinter van conversion. Obviously don't want the lousy, factory faucet in new project.
Made a topic about it in TC section, where I intend to have this topic as well, but I made double posts at the time and moderators deleted the one in TC section, leaving this one.
Still the original in this topic faucet works for 3rd season perfectly and we spend 2 months this year on Alaska trip.
I add 8" shower head to it.

Eric_Lisa
Explorer II
Explorer II
Kayteg1 wrote:
I am on the market for another faucet and seems Chinese sellers on ebay discontinued them.
Still available at mentioned DUDA ENERGY
But then, I like experiments and found this faucet. It is design for floor mount over claw-feet tub, but if I skip the extension, it should fit the sink.
What design you guys like better?


It looks like the same design, just without the thermostatic control.

I followed you down the path with the previous one, and I did have one problem a couple years ago which I mentioned here. Why are you on the market for another one? What happened to the one you put in a few years ago? If you had a problem, I want to watch out for the same thing on mine.

I like the old one better. The thermostatic controls are a huge benefit for dealing with the nuances of camper water. I always hated the stock design which would always go cold for a moment after shutting off the flow at the shower head. Would waste a couple seconds of water every time avoiding the cold. Not a problem with this new one.

Something to consider... This new one you picked out is for a bathtub. Because it is used for filling a tub, it may not have any flow restrictions in it. Now I am absolutely the last person to start pandering to water conservation and I despise government mandated controls forced upon me....but I do know the size of truck camper tanks and a full flow faucet would be a bad thing.

-Eric
Eric & Lisa - Oregon
'97 Silverado K2500, New HT383 motor!, Airbags, anti-sway bar
'03 Lance model 1030, generator, solar,

Kayteg1
Explorer II
Explorer II
I am on the market for another faucet and seems Chinese sellers on ebay discontinued them.
Still available at mentioned DUDA ENERGY
But then, I like experiments and found this faucet. It is design for floor mount over claw-feet tub, but if I skip the extension, it should fit the sink.
What design you guys like better?

Huntindog
Explorer
Explorer
Seems like quality is a major concern. Especially since this install requires drilling bigger holes... There is no going back.
I recommend one use high quality name brand residential fixtures. I spent almost 300.00 on my kitchen faucet. Very happy with it.

The nice thing about going residential is that HD and lowes have excellent return policies. If you are not happy, they will take it back, no questions asked. I did just that on my first residential replacement. 125.00, and it performed well, but I wasn't happy with the way the water splashed back in the sink. So I got one with a longer reach, it was more money, but now there is no splash back.
Huntindog
100% boondocking
2021 Grand Design Momentum 398M
2 bathrooms, no waiting
104 gal grey, 104 black,158 fresh
FullBodyPaint, 3,8Kaxles, DiscBrakes
17.5LRH commercial tires
1860watts solar,800 AH Battleborn batterys
2020 Silverado HighCountry CC DA 4X4 DRW

Eric_Lisa
Explorer II
Explorer II
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
Eric & Lisa - Oregon
'97 Silverado K2500, New HT383 motor!, Airbags, anti-sway bar
'03 Lance model 1030, generator, solar,

hohenwald48
Explorer
Explorer
Kayteg1 wrote:
I think whole USA has code that require such back flow preventive on faucets hooked up to city water, but in RV you are the king.
I spend 25 years in house remodeling, where BFP valves are required even on garden hoses. Owers remove them becouse they are annoyig and cost troubles.
In those 25 years have never heard about city water contamination and actually I never heard about city water outage at all.
I think I would rather buy lottery ticket, than worry about it.


Here's a link to a few. Can't believe you spent 25 years in the business and have never heard of a cross contamination issue.

Contamination Problems

But that really wasn't the point of my original question. I was just wondering how a backflow preventer causes you to not be able to winterize. None of the rest of us have that issue and I was just wondering why?
When seconds count, the police are only minutes away.

2019 Newmar Canyon Star 3627
2017 Jeep Wrangler JKU

Kayteg1
Explorer II
Explorer II
I think whole USA has code that require such back flow preventive on faucets hooked up to city water, but in RV you are the king.
I spend 25 years in house remodeling, where BFP valves are required even on garden hoses. Owers remove them becouse they are annoyig and cost troubles.
In those 25 years have never heard about city water contamination and actually I never heard about city water outage at all.
I think I would rather buy lottery ticket, than worry about it.

hohenwald48
Explorer
Explorer
I know what a check valve (backflow preventer) is but was wondering how they keep you from winterizing? Unless you have some kind of unique winterizing method they should not be an issue.

The reason those back flow preventers are on a shower hose fitting is so you don't accidently siphon shower water back into your fresh water tank or into the public water system. I don't think I'd want to remove them as they cause no problems at all with winterizing and keep you from contaminating the fresh water supply.

They are not necessary on a regular faucet but are required on a faucet with a hose as a safety device to prevent cross contamination. It's probably even illegal to remove them in CA. ๐Ÿ™‚
When seconds count, the police are only minutes away.

2019 Newmar Canyon Star 3627
2017 Jeep Wrangler JKU

Kayteg1
Explorer II
Explorer II
Check valves allow 1-way water flow, so it will work wiht your way of winterizing.
I don't usually winterize in CA, but during winter preparation I am trying to empty whole system, so back-draining would not work.

hohenwald48
Explorer
Explorer
Kayteg1 wrote:
Those are spring-loaded check valves, that don't allow water to come down from the faucet.


Now I'm really confused. If they don't allow water to come from the faucet then how do you take a shower? When I winterize, I flow antifreeze in the same direction that water normally flows. If antifreeze won't flow then how does water flow?
When seconds count, the police are only minutes away.

2019 Newmar Canyon Star 3627
2017 Jeep Wrangler JKU

Kayteg1
Explorer II
Explorer II
Those are spring-loaded check valves, that don't allow water to come down from the faucet.

hohenwald48
Explorer
Explorer
Kayteg1 wrote:

Here is new faucet on the bench. It come with backflow preventive valves, but I did not install them as they would prevent winterizing.


Why would backflow preventer valves keep you from winterizing?
When seconds count, the police are only minutes away.

2019 Newmar Canyon Star 3627
2017 Jeep Wrangler JKU