12v valve for city water shut off

[SolitudeAtLast]

I’m looking for the thread about shutting off city water supply when leaving for the day etc. I believe it was one of the Moderators who described installing an elect shut-off valve at the city water inlet, tied into the hot water heater switch. When leaving for the day, they shut off the HWH and that also shuts off the external water. Prevents having a leak in the trailer while gone.
Interested in where to get the 12v valve, and wiring details. I searched the plumbing section, but couldn’t find it.

Thanks,
Doug & Barb

[Cate&Rob]

SolitudeAtLast
Hi Doug & Barb,

This is the valve that I installed and it is connected as you describe . . . nothing wrong with your memory!
I got the valve through Amazon. Look for the 12V one that draws no current either open or closed . . . but does close when 12V is removed.

Rob

[flyfshrockies]

SolitudeAtLast Cate&Rob The concern over turning off the water when gone form your site is well founded. Several times over the years we have seen units with water running out of them and no one around. We always turn off the water when leaving for any length of time, at least if my memory operates as it should.

Rob, that is a great looking shut off and a very good idea to hook it to the hot water heater switch. Is there much reduction of flow with the addition of the valve?

Dave

[SolitudeAtLast]

Thanks Rob! Do you remove the valve when setting up or sanitizing, or anytime the HWH has been drained, so that you don’t turn it on when empty in order to open the water valve?
Doug

[Cate&Rob]

Hi Doug & Dave,

The ball valve opens to essentially the ID of the Pex water system, so there is no noticeable restriction. As a side comment . . . when I replaced all the soft hose in my plumbing system, I re-routed the all-Pex lines to clear a future need to remove the furnace (my 2015 furnace does not have an exterior access panel). This added a lot of elbows and I was expecting a noticeable flow reduction, but this has turned out to be insignificant.

Whenever I drain the water heater, I always turn off the 120V breaker in the panel . . . just to be sure that the electric element can't be accidentally turned on. To allow "city" water into the RV (even for filling the tank or winterizing with antifreeze) the electric water heater switch has to be turned on to also open this valve. As long as the heating element breaker is off, this will not cause any harm.

Rob

[Superduty]

Cate&Rob
Rob, The first picture showing the valve, where are your 3 drian valves??

Sorry about the tread hijack.


Steve

[flyfshrockies]

Cate&Rob Thanks for the further info. Seems I may have a new project at some point when we get a home again since we are full timing while relocating.

Dave

[Cate&Rob]

Cate&Rob
Rob, The first picture showing the valve, where are your 3 drian valves??

Sorry about the tread hijack.


Steve

Hi Steve,

This picture was taken “mid project” on the complete water and drain system redesign/rebuild. The three drain valve handles are back in their original location . . . with different cable routing to operate the valves more easily.

Rob

[SolitudeAtLast]

Rob, where did you make wire connections, at the +12v on the HWH itself, and other wire grounded to frame? I assume you didn’t run the 2 wires all the way up to the control panel? And, is an in-line fuse needed?
Doug

[Cate&Rob]

SolitudeAtLast
Hi Doug,

I did connect to power directly at the panel switch . . . partly because (at the time) I was not exactly sure how I was going to control this valve. You could splice into the wiring to the water heater for both power and ground, but (in my case) the main panel is only about 8 ft away, so was actually cleaner to make the electrical connections there. I fused the valve with a small (3A?) inline fuse.

Rob

[Hermes]

We operate from our pump and only use city water to refill the fresh water tank. Easy and convenient to turn off the pump on the way out the door, better water pressure and is tell tale sign if a leak occurs while around.

[Cate&Rob]

We operate from our pump and only use city water to refill the fresh water tank. Easy and convenient to turn off the pump on the way out the door, better water pressure and is tell tale sign if a leak occurs while around.

This is certainly a viable alternative . . . if you don't mind listening to the pump every time you open a faucet. The benefit of using "city" water pressure is no pump noise. Agreed that there are parks where their water pressure is very low, but we have seldom encountered this.

Rob

[SolitudeAtLast]

Hermes

Hi Bruce. The camper is permanent on our campsite, and we spend 4-5 winter months there. Being permanent, it’s less hassle and work to use city water than monitoring and refilling the fresh tank; and would put a lot of wear on the 12v pump. And we have pretty good water pressure. Campground is on the city water supply. Also one less thing for DW to deal with. Keeping track of black & gray tanks, dumping them, black tank flush etc is plenty without worrying about running out of water. But, you point is well taken that just using the fresh tank and pump allows you achieve the desired result using the pump switch.

Regards,

Doug