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Old 02-06-2015, 10:59 AM   #1
stillcampin
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A couple plumbing problems

I've had our 3900FB for several months and have a couple plumbing issues.

1 - low water pressure when on city water. The pressure coming out my water treatment equipment (filter & softener) is just fine. I've checked it at the hose connection in the convenience center after the treatment equipment and get several gallons a minute. Inside it is terrible! It takes 9-11 seconds to fill a std water glass at the kitchen sink. Forever to fill the coffee pot, not to mention trying to do dishes. Sometimes not enough to keep the sprayer in spray mode. Not much better elsewhere. Sometimes I get a beginning rush of water for a second then it returns to 'normal'. I've checked, and cleaned, the screens at the convenience center input and at the faucet. It is better when running the water pump but not what I'd call perfect.

2 - front bath toilet drain periodically clogs. In this floor configuration the drain for the toilet does not drop straight into the holding tank but takes a couple of jogs getting there. Normally there is no problem but it has clogged at least a half dozen times since getting the rig last June. The solution is to take a plumbing snake, connect it to a portable drill motor, and run it up and down the drain for several minutes. Once the clog is loose we are good for a few more weeks. I've used enzyme based drain cleaner but it didn't really help. One of the first times I did the snake it came out with a screw so I suspect a protrusion into the drain pipe that is catching the TP.

Any help in resolving these situations or pointers on how to get to the plumbing to check things out would be appreciated. I don't have a truck at this time so taking it in for service is problematic.
 
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Old 02-06-2015, 12:26 PM   #2
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I had the same toilet problem with another 5'er we owned a few years back. I ended up replacing the drain with all the jogs in it and found a bunch of glue dripping and dried out in all of the joints thus catching the TP and clogging things up after redoing the drain and I was able to take 1 jog out of it and it worked perfect. The fix worked but I didn't like having to do this job. Also after fixing I made sure we flushed with a lot of water. Hope this helps
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Old 02-06-2015, 12:31 PM   #3
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There is a check valve behind the hose bib on the city water hook-up. If you take the screen out of the inlet you can manipulate the tit that controls the check valve. Perhaps it has gotten tilted in it's housing. Short of that you may have to remove it to see if that is the problem. They do go bad.
For the toilet issue, providing you are using plenty of water to flush, I would find someone that has a camera on the flexible shaft to take a look at the inside of your plumbing. On mine it is all 3 inch abs pipe with glued joints so there shouldn't be anything for debris to cling to. Those cameras are available for about $90 at harbor freight but I have no idea how good they are. Jim
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Old 02-06-2015, 12:31 PM   #4
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There are flow restrictors in the tap that you shoud remove and use lots of water when flushing.
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Old 02-06-2015, 12:36 PM   #5
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I've done a fair amount of plumbing work but don't look forward to opening up the trailer. At least we have the middle toilet for when it clogs and if I have to take it out of commission for a couple of days.

Actually, since these are only 'minor' irritants, I'm waiting for something major to justify having someone haul it back to the dealer for the work. If I had a truck that is what I'd do in a heartbeat.
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Old 02-06-2015, 01:25 PM   #6
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Someone forgot to tell me that when I push in that tit that I'd get a face full of water. LOL.

Got clean glasses but the water pressure did not improve.

I've taken the spray head off the end (that should have removed the flow restrictor) but the pressure didn't improve. Besides, the sporadic good flow I occasionally get when first turning it on indicates a restriction prior to the faucet.
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Old 02-06-2015, 05:13 PM   #7
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Tom--Unless you are a long way from the dealer you purchased the unit from, I'd be taking it back to them to figure out the problems. Your unit is a 2014 and should still be covered under warranty.
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Old 02-07-2015, 01:36 AM   #8
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[quote]Originally posted by stillcampin

Someone forgot to tell me that when I push in that tit that I'd get a face full of water. LOL.
Oh yah, I forgot to tell you if you push in the tit you will get a face full of water. My bad. Are you by chance using a pressure regulator? I had one go bad but only when under pressure. Flowed good through the hose but once hooked up to the 5'er, low pressure inside.
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Old 02-07-2015, 03:26 AM   #9
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Did you check the flow over a period of time. If your filters are restricting the flow you'll get good pressure for a very short period of time and then it will drop. I've had to use less restrictive filters in my system to eliminate that issue.
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Old 02-07-2015, 04:42 AM   #10
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Do you have good pressure if you use your water pump?
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Old 02-07-2015, 05:45 AM   #11
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Even though you were able to clean your glasses while checking the check valve on the incoming hose bib connection, seeing that it is free, it still may be the problem. If you can, and you will have to get in behind the convenience center wall to do this, disconnect the line on the back of the hose bib, and temporarily connect a fitting without a check valve and see what your water pressure and flow does. It is very possible that you have a defective check valve that needs to be replaced.
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Old 02-07-2015, 11:51 AM   #12
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Quote:
quote:Originally posted by Rondo

Tom--Unless you are a long way from the dealer you purchased the unit from, I'd be taking it back to them to figure out the problems. Your unit is a 2014 and should still be covered under warranty.
I agree but, unfortunately, I don't have a truck. I will need to have a mobile unit come out and do professional checking of things to satisfy my extended warranty so I'll have him spend some time if I haven't solved it by then.
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Old 02-07-2015, 12:14 PM   #13
stillcampin
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Quote:
quote:Originally posted by jimcol

Are you by chance using a pressure regulator? I had one go bad but only when under pressure. Flowed good through the hose but once hooked up to the 5'er, low pressure inside.
Definitely use a pressure regulator but I'm on the second one since the first froze. During the few days I was without the regulator it didn't make any difference.
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Old 02-07-2015, 12:21 PM   #14
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Quote:
quote:Originally posted by DQDick

Did you check the flow over a period of time. If your filters are restricting the flow you'll get good pressure for a very short period of time and then it will drop. I've had to use less restrictive filters in my system to eliminate that issue.
I've had lots of experience with filters clogging so I check the flow rate every month to determine if a change is needed. I've lost only a couple seconds when filling the water glass since these filters were new several months ago.
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Old 02-07-2015, 12:25 PM   #15
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Quote:
quote:Originally posted by K0LCB

Do you have good pressure if you use your water pump?
It certainly isn't outside hose pressure (and I don't expect it to be) but it is acceptable. I get a 6 second fill time for my water glass and a decent morning shower when running the pump.
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Old 02-07-2015, 12:33 PM   #16
stillcampin
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Quote:
quote:Originally posted by rohrmann

Even though you were able to clean your glasses while checking the check valve on the incoming hose bib connection, seeing that it is free, it still may be the problem. If you can, and you will have to get in behind the convenience center wall to do this, disconnect the line on the back of the hose bib, and temporarily connect a fitting without a check valve and see what your water pressure and flow does. It is very possible that you have a defective check valve that needs to be replaced.
That is a reasonable task and might even show some other problem with the covers removed.

It will have to wait until a non-rainy day so I can clear some working space in the bay. At my location that might not be until July.
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Old 02-07-2015, 12:36 PM   #17
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Quote:
quote:Originally posted by stillcampin

Quote:
quote:Originally posted by K0LCB

Do you have good pressure if you use your water pump?
It certainly isn't outside hose pressure (and I don't expect it to be) but it is acceptable. I get a 6 second fill time for my water glass and a decent morning shower when running the pump. That is almost twice as fast as it is without the pump.
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Old 07-29-2015, 04:18 PM   #18
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1. Wonder if a plumbers snake is little too stout? I use a garden hose, and that seems to work well enough to clean the tanks and plumbing. Recently, flushed the tank/plumbing three times with the hose. On the last fill, almost overflowed, and some junk floated into the bowl. That made me wonder if there are some turns, crevices, etc. that a partial flush doesn't get to unless the tank and bowl are almost completely filled?

2. I used a pressure regulator along with a home-made double filter using an Omni-Pur filters. Understand that the desirable water pressure is about 40 psi. Found that using my filter and regulator restricted my pressure to almost unacceptable levels. (Filters are properly maintained). Removed the regulator and now only use the filters to regulate water pressure.
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Old 07-29-2015, 05:19 PM   #19
stillcampin
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It has been some time now since I've had the toilet clog. We try to remember to use LOTS of water when flushing the front toilet. Using the snake is what does clear it but it does take a while. I wish it had a stiff wire brush on the end, similar to a dryer vent cleaning brush (but stiffer). I did try a dryer brush but the flexible fiberglass handle was too flexible.

The lack of water flow/pressure continues to plague me. The mobile tech agreed that is possible the entry valve could be the problem so I need to get the covering stuff off to verify.
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