City Water Check valve

[CaptDan]

I attempted to winterize my 2020 397 yesterday. The problem I encountered was twofold. I never seemed to be able to pressurize any of the lines where air would come out of the faucets/etc. I then decided to use antifreeze. I was unable to get the pump to prime. I tried manual priming the pump, filling the water filter container, placing the bucket high, etc. Simple no way to get the pump to suck through the city connection. I called GD and other than priming suggestions, they also suggested by passing the city connection. I did that and went straight to the pump. It immediately pulled a suction and I was done winterizing in 5 minutes. Sooooo .... something seems not right if other folks simply use the city connection. I saw in FB groups that some folks "reverse the city connection screen". I'm not even sure how (why) I can do that. Could it be that the city connection check valve is broken? There really isn't much online regarding this check valve. Perhaps I damaged it when I used a compressor (?). I guess if I go to flush out the antifreeze and reload water and it would do anything will answer the question. Do I need to replace the city water connection?

[Jlawles2]

CaptDan The screen they are talking about is the washer with the metal window screen filter in it. if you remove it and place it so that the screen is pointed in instead of out it presses the check valve open as the pump cannot pull through the spring on the check valve.

these are the screens. normally the cone is pointed out.
https://www.amazon.com/Camco-20183-H...s%2C256&sr=8-8

[howson]

CaptDan -- see https://gdrvowners.com/forum/operati...erization-time

Reversing the screen pushes in on the valve so the pump doesn't have to overcome it's resistance. In the pic below the screen is in it's normal orientation. Flip it and it will push in on the valve. Pump should work as advertised to Winterize.

[CaptDan]

THANK YOU. That makes perfect sense. I wish GD would have added that small tidbit in the manual. I'm going to try that out as soon as it gets warmer. I will also re-try pressurizing lines when I de-winterize, perhaps that was the same problem. I even called GD and they didn't tell me about this. I ended up cutting my suction line but I was planning on re-routing a bunch of hoses anyway. Thanks again!

[howson]

THANK YOU. That makes perfect sense. I wish GD would have added that small tidbit in the manual. I'm going to try that out as soon as it gets warmer. I will also re-try pressurizing lines when I de-winterize, perhaps that was the same problem. I even called GD and they didn't tell me about this. I ended up cutting my suction line but I was planning on re-routing a bunch of hoses anyway. Thanks again!

You're welcome! Just don't forget to flip the screen back around when done.

[TedS]

It all comes to tolerances. Pumps are advertised as being able to lift to some height, around 9 feet. That translates to an equivalent pressure of about 4 psi. The city water check valve may be rated to open at 5 psi. Tolerances will move both numbers plus and minus. Sometimes the pump will draw the check valve open, sometimes not. Reversing the city water screen to push the valve open takes the check valve out of the equation. The system should be depressurized so the screen will push the check valve open without smushing the screen too much.

[Yoda]

THANK YOU. That makes perfect sense. I wish GD would have added that small tidbit in the manual. I'm going to try that out as soon as it gets warmer. I will also re-try pressurizing lines when I de-winterize, perhaps that was the same problem. I even called GD and they didn't tell me about this. I ended up cutting my suction line but I was planning on re-routing a bunch of hoses anyway. Thanks again!

One thought on pressurizing..Is your water heater on bypass? If not that is a huge volume to pressurized, or if you drained it and left the plug out the system wont pressurize with it in the system.

TIP - when I have the WH on bypass and am pumping in the pink stuff I crack the bypass valve open a bit to winterize the feed line to the water heater. Its a long way from the Nautilus panel to mine and the line has a low point in it so it holds a small amount of water. I run the antifreeze into it until I see a little bit coming out the plug hole. When I am all done, I use a flush wand to rinse out the inside of the hot water tank.

[CaptDan]

Yes, I believe so. The "red" valve. Plug in and pressure relief closed. I did not put any anti-freeze in the HW tank however. Wish I did. I do need to label my low point drains as I'm not sure about the valve orientation regarding being "open" or "closed'. I'm used to having valves "line-up" with the flow but after seeing a GD design video - it looked the opposite. If open, that would nake it a wee bit hard to pressurize lines :(

[TedS]

There is a test plug intended to hold the check valve open while rv mfrs pressure test the water system. You do have to remove the screen to use it. This is the least expensive one I found. Other sources were upwards of 70 to 80 dollars!!!!! Just turn the screen over 😁

[CaptDan]

Thank you. I will try to reverse the screen first.

[Mike & Rebecca]

Just spent three frustrating hours dealing with the exact scenario captdan posted about. I was caught by surprise, because tonight was my fourth time winterizing the trailer, all using the same method, and this was the first time I had a problem.

When I reversed the mesh cone and reinstalled it to the city water connection I could feel the check valve being opened. But when I stopped applying pressure to the washer to screw in the fill house from the antifreeze bottle, the check valve closed and pushed the screen out.

I thought that tightening the hose into the fitting would compress the washer and mesh cone sufficiently to open the check valve. But the pump won't prime.

I even tried adding an additional washer hoping that would help force the check valve open. That didn't work.

Thinking it might be a pump problem, I managed to attach my antifreeze fill hose directly to the input side of the pump. The pump primed instantly and I thought "problem solved!" But then antifreeze started coming out of the city water connection.

So I went back to trying to compress the check valve but was unsuccessful. I feel like I must be doing something basic wrong, because it shouldn't be this hard, and the instructions are pretty clear.

Since the solution appears to be flipping the mesh filter around, and I've done that, I'm not sure what else can suggested. Perfect would be a special fitting that compresses the check valve while letting the antifreeze flow through.

Any additional thoughts on getting the antifreeze past the check valve would be appreciated.

[Cate&Rob]

Mike & Rebecca

I wonder if the mesh dome of your washer has deformed/collapsed such that it no longer opens the check valve when reversed. Does it look like the picture in post 3 ?

Rob

[howson]

Mike & Rebecca -- I've also struggled getting antifreeze into my rig. The first time I got so frustrated I used an external pump and forced the fluid into the rig: https://gdrvowners.com/forum/operati...erent-approach

Now I use the external pump-in-a-box that I copied from trkester as documented here: https://gdrvowners.com/tools-parts-o...f-grid-camping

Some folks have no issue at all, some struggle like crazy to get the internal pump to prime, even doing the exact same steps so you're not alone...

Howard

[TedS]

Just spent three frustrating hours dealing with the exact scenario captdan posted about. I was caught by surprise, because tonight was my fourth time winterizing the trailer, all using the same method, and this was the first time I had a problem.

When I reversed the mesh cone and reinstalled it to the city water connection I could feel the check valve being opened. But when I stopped applying pressure to the washer to screw in the fill house from the antifreeze bottle, the check valve closed and pushed the screen out.

I thought that tightening the hose into the fitting would compress the washer and mesh cone sufficiently to open the check valve. But the pump won't prime.

I even tried adding an additional washer hoping that would help force the check valve open. That didn't work.

Thinking it might be a pump problem, I managed to attach my antifreeze fill hose directly to the input side of the pump. The pump primed instantly and I thought "problem solved!" But then antifreeze started coming out of the city water connection.

So I went back to trying to compress the check valve but was unsuccessful. I feel like I must be doing something basic wrong, because it shouldn't be this hard, and the instructions are pretty clear.

Since the solution appears to be flipping the mesh filter around, and I've done that, I'm not sure what else can suggested. Perfect would be a special fitting that compresses the check valve while letting the antifreeze flow through.

Any additional thoughts on getting the antifreeze past the check valve would be appreciated.

This fitting will push the check valve open.

[Mike & Rebecca]

This fitting will push the check valve open.

Ted, a regular hose fitting will fit inside of that fitting? That looks pretty small. Hopefully my RV parts shop has that becase I need to get this done today. Next couple of nights are mid 20's and there's a brand new hot water heater in the rig. Thanks for the suggestion!