Water dripping from antifreeze intake

tort1305 · 04-30-2016, 06:15 PM

My wife and I have been on a cross country trip from Tennessee to Washington state in a 3 month old Flagstaff MicroLite. Everything was fine the first several nights. Then, at a campground in Wyoming, after hooking up the city water with 90 pounds of pressure (I did have a regulator/restrictor on my hose), I found a steady stream of water coming from the antifreeze intake. I used it as it was with the dripping and made it through the night. The next night at a different RV park with only 60 pounds of water pressure, there was no leak. Now I'm at an RV park in Oregon and was told in the office that they had less than 60 pounds of water pressure, yet I am getting the dripping out of the antifreeze inlet valve again. Can anyone provide any insight as to why this is happening and what I can do about it? Thanks.

**wmtire** · 04-30-2016, 06:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tort1305

My wife and I have been on a cross country trip from Tennessee to Washington state in a 3 month old Flagstaff MicroLite. Everything was fine the first several nights. Then, at a campground in Wyoming, after hooking up the city water with 90 pounds of pressure (I did have a regulator/restrictor on my hose), I found a steady stream of water coming from the antifreeze intake. I used it as it was with the dripping and made it through the night. The next night at a different RV park with only 60 pounds of water pressure, there was no leak. Now I'm at an RV park in Oregon and was told in the office that they had less than 60 pounds of water pressure, yet I am getting the dripping out of the antifreeze inlet valve again. Can anyone provide any insight as to why this is happening and what I can do about it? Thanks.

This sounds kinda odd, as many times the RV antifreeze intake is between the pump and freshwater tank and may have a valve or backflow preventer at it.

If you are connecting to city water, then the city water would be pressurizing back thru the pump and valve to the antifreeze intake for this to occur.

Yours could be differently plumbed than the pic below....which I am posting to make sure we are talking about the same thing.

You are not perhaps turning on the pump while hooked to city water, are you?

tort1305 · 04-30-2016, 06:45 PM

Thanks for the quick reply. I believe my plumbing system is about what your picture looks like. I did not turn on my water pump, but did add water to the fresh water tank just in case I ever needed it (no water hookup available).

Fortunately, the leak is just a steady drip and doesn't adversely affect the water pressure from any of the faucets or the toilet flushing, but it IS disturbing that it just started dripping like that while in the middle of a fairly long trip. I will be taking it back to the dealership once I return home, but sure would love to get this issue resolved even before getting home.

**wmtire** · 04-30-2016, 06:51 PM

OK, is there not a valve handle right there at the antifreeze injection point? The handle may be on the opposite side of the valve and you are not seeing it. I would just make sure the valve is closed fully to the antifreeze line.

raspivey · 04-30-2016, 07:04 PM

My first thought is that the valve to the antifreeze line is open and the check valve in the pump is leaking by. I'm willing to bet that if he turns the antifreeze valve back to the tank, the tank will start slowly gaining level.

rockfordroo · 04-30-2016, 07:12 PM

Instead of the 3-way valve as shown in wmtire's pic, he might have 2 separate valves, one to the FW tank and one to the AF connection (My Roo 19 was like this). If the FW tank valve is fully closed, but the AF connection valve is not, it would explain why the FW tank isn't filling, but the AF connection is leaking.

tort1305 · 05-02-2016, 09:05 AM

Thanks to all who responded to my initial question. I did close the valve at the water pump and no longer have the dripping coming out of the antifreeze inlet. However, now I find that even though I am on city water, my fresh water tank is getting filled up. Not that big an issue as the sinks, shower and toilet are all working. I will be visiting the dealership when I get back from this trip for some education and a full check up on my RV.

doc73 · 05-02-2016, 09:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tort1305

Thanks to all who responded to my initial question. I did close the valve at the water pump and no longer have the dripping coming out of the antifreeze inlet. However, now I find that even though I am on city water, my fresh water tank is getting filled up. Not that big an issue as the sinks, shower and toilet are all working. I will be visiting the dealership when I get back from this trip for some education and a full check up on my RV.

Just be careful when the tank fills so you do not burst anything.. In the tank that is.

ScottBrownstein · 05-02-2016, 09:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tort1305

Thanks to all who responded to my initial question. ...

Either bad check valve or some debris in the check valve. Easy fix. Your next problem is going to be water running out of the tank when the tanks fills all the way.

5picker · 05-02-2016, 09:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tort1305

Thanks to all who responded to my initial question. I did close the valve at the water pump and no longer have the dripping coming out of the antifreeze inlet. However, now I find that even though I am on city water, my fresh water tank is getting filled up. Not that big an issue as the sinks, shower and toilet are all working. I will be visiting the dealership when I get back from this trip for some education and a full check up on my RV.

Yep, we knew that was coming if/when you closed the valve to the antifreeze inlet.

The check valve in your water pump has a problem.
Either it is bad or has some debris stuck in it.

Turn off the city water, crack a spigot and relieve the pressure.
Then turn on your water pump and and draw water through the system using the pump. (cycle several times)
Turn the pump off, crack a spigot to relieve the pressure and turn the city water back on. See what happens.

Sometimes this is enough to remove the debris and reseat the check valve that is built into the water pump.

LeslieGary · 04-09-2017, 01:06 PM

Tort1305, thanks for posting this. I had the same problem and applied 5picker's fix and it worked like a charm. My thanks to 5picker for saving me from a lot of suboptimal solutions!

5picker · 04-09-2017, 06:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LeslieGary

Tort1305, thanks for posting this. I had the same problem and applied 5picker's fix and it worked like a charm. My thanks to 5picker for saving me from a lot of suboptimal solutions!

You are most welcome!
This is a great forum with lots of very helpful and knowledgeable folks.

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