Valve for low-point drains . . again

[Mr. October]

Having 2-3 forums and a 1/2 dozen Facebook pages to ask and look for answers sometimes leaves me lost. When I de-winterize I want to take the opportunity to add valves to the low point drains. Somewhere someone had pictures of valves that screwed on in place of the plugs. Several folks on the Facebook page said they used these:



But they are threaded incorrectly. Unless they did something different to attach them. I found some I may add higher up so I don't have to crawl under the coach but I KNOW someone had found a pretty simple solution that screwed in in place of the caps or just went on the ends of the lines . . but I don't remember where they were. Anyone?

[Mr. October]

All right . . I answered part of this by searching the greater Forest River forum. I now see that a lot of rigs have female caps instead of the male plugs we have. Hence the valve shown above would work. I have ideas and found a few solutions at Home Despot but still pretty sure someone found male plugs with valves.

[BehindBars]

Originally Posted by Mr. October

All right . . I answered part of this by searching the greater Forest River forum. I now see that a lot of rigs have female caps instead of the male plugs we have. Hence the valve shown above would work. I have ideas and found a few solutions at Home Despot but still pretty sure someone found male plugs with valves.

Another option, assuming your unit’s plumbing is PEX, is to buy a PEX fitting ball valve and install it in the low point drain line wherever it’s convenient to reach. Having done plenty of copper sweating but never having done PEX plumbing before, I recently took on a project of adding a 2 gallon well tank to my motorhome. The PEX cinch tool cost less than $40. I made 17 cinch clamp connections and every one came out flawless. It’s quite idiot proof.

So, I’m looking at the idea of putting a valve on a low point drain like you are. Putting a PEX ball valve in a convenient spot in the drain line would now be such a simple no-brainer operation.

[Semperfi24]

You could get a pipe union that is threaded on both ends. Then you screw the union into the ball valve on one end (the ball valve in your pic), and the union into the low point drain pipe at the other end. Just a thought. Adds one more piece to the "fix", but would accomplish the goal

[Mr. October]

Originally Posted by Semperfi24

You could get a pipe union that is threaded on both ends. Then you screw the union into the ball valve on one end (the ball valve in your pic), and the union into the low point drain pipe at the other end. Just a thought. Adds one more piece to the "fix", but would accomplish the goal

Would you believe neither my local Lowe's or Home Depot have these? Annoying . . .

[Mr. October]

Originally Posted by BehindBars

Another option, assuming your unit’s plumbing is PEX, is to buy a PEX fitting ball valve and install it in the low point drain line wherever it’s convenient to reach. Having done plenty of copper sweating but never having done PEX plumbing before, I recently took on a project of adding a 2 gallon well tank to my motorhome. The PEX cinch tool cost less than $40. I made 17 cinch clamp connections and every one came out flawless. It’s quite idiot proof.

So, I’m looking at the idea of putting a valve on a low point drain like you are. Putting a PEX ball valve in a convenient spot in the drain line would now be such a simple no-brainer operation.

This is actually sort of "plan A". Do you really need the PEX cinch tool to put a valve in-line? I was thinking of something like this: PEX Ball Valve

I thought that and a couple hose clamps would do the job.

[Kcoulter]

How about this?
https://www.homedepot.com/p/FLAIR-IT...6889/308745556

[Mr. October]

Originally Posted by Kcoulter

How about this?
https://www.homedepot.com/p/FLAIR-IT...6889/308745556

That could work. I'd just take the existing threaded adapter out and put that right on the PEX. Still have to go underneath but that could be a winner! Easy installation. No tools.

[BehindBars]

Originally Posted by Mr. October

This is actually sort of "plan A". Do you really need the PEX cinch tool to put a valve in-line? I was thinking of something like this: PEX Ball Valve

I thought that and a couple hose clamps would do the job.

Again, going on the assumption that your plumbing is PEX, a SharkBite PEX valve would be a simple installation. Cut off the current plug with a hose cutter, slip on the SharkBite. Done. No tools needed except to cut off the existing plug.

https://www.amazon.com/SharkBite-222...ustrial&sr=1-3

[tinkerreknit]

I used PEX crimp on ball valves. The crimper is great in the house or camper. I wanted a lightweight valve so it wouldn't move around and destroy the seal into the belly. Also, I wanted to shorten the PEX tubes for the same reason. I glued up a long "wrench" out of PVC and some fittings. I can place it over the valve handles to turn them without crawling under.

[EricNJ]

I went the route of adding pex valves using the crimper. I borrowed a crimper from my neighbor and it was brain dead easy (and I’m they type of guy to hire a plumber for EVERYTING. Not handy at all. LOVE the valves. Great easy mod.

[boogiejack75]

Originally Posted by Mr. October

Having 2-3 forums and a 1/2 dozen Facebook pages to ask and look for answers sometimes leaves me lost. When I de-winterize I want to take the opportunity to add valves to the low point drains. Somewhere someone had pictures of valves that screwed on in place of the plugs. Several folks on the Facebook page said they used these:



But they are threaded incorrectly. Unless they did something different to attach them. I found some I may add higher up so I don't have to crawl under the coach but I KNOW someone had found a pretty simple solution that screwed in in place of the caps or just went on the ends of the lines . . but I don't remember where they were. Anyone?

I bought these for mine. Pricey, but seem high quality.

Mini Ball Valve Stainless Steel 316 Ball Valve Male to Female (1/2 inch) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CZDX62B/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_VjtAEbJ3HRZZ4

[Hoglou]

x2 on the pex with metal valves. Also consider relocating the hot drain if under the rv.

[bubbles]

Originally Posted by Mr. October

All right . . I answered part of this by searching the greater Forest River forum. I now see that a lot of rigs have female caps instead of the male plugs we have. Hence the valve shown above would work. I have ideas and found a few solutions at Home Despot but still pretty sure someone found male plugs with valves.

This is what I used with having plugs for the drains. These are not expensive items. The male to male is from yard irrigation tubing.

[BobHanke]

I bought a pair of valves at Camping World that are designed for two diameters requiring cutting the smaller section off. Leaked like a sieve. Bought brass ones at Home Depot which work fine. May try to find plastic ones.

[Hoglou]

Two crimper are available, the smaller 10" one for a folding crimp like ithe rv original ones, and a longer 18" that crimps a wedding ring style. I carrty the small one with me in the coach and use the large one when I build seperate assemblies. I do not use the wedding rings on the factory plastic connectors, nad swap them for brass when I can. Got both for lowes, crimps, conectors, and a few 24" pex lines when on the road.

Food for thought - if your hot water drain plug under your rv fails or falls then your back to the shower house. for the trip.

[PenJoe]

Our Sunseeker 2500TS came with caps on the low point drains. Easy to get dirty and wet when accessing. There was a heated bay withe the pump and filter directly above. As hot and cold were in close proximity, I cut each pipe and added in 1/4 turn valves with Pex ends. Easy and effective. As others have said, Pex is easy to work with one caveat-the initial squeeze with the crimp tool is a bit difficult. Once the fitting starts to compress, it becomes easier. It crimp tool will not release until the fitting is totally seated.

Note the vertical blue and red Pex pipes on the right side of the photo and the valves in the lower right quarter of the photo. There are no cap below the valves now.

[jimmoore13]

A hunch about the threads not matching.

The fitting you showed is an "NPT pipe thread." This is a tapered thread meant to go on a tapered male NPT nipple or pipe. As you tighten these two tapered parts, the male gets fatter and the female thinner so that a bit of teflon tape or pipe dope will seal the joint.

The cap fitting on your low-point drain is likely a straight male pipe and female cap that relies on a rubber gasket embedded in the cap to form the seal. The threads are not tapered. The cap screws on with little resistance until you hit the rubber gasket. And the mismatch is intentional so that you don't attempt to assemble the two incompatible parts that cannot form a water-tight seal.

If you can cut off the cap fitting and still have about 1" or so of PEX before you get to a Tee fitting or similar obstruction, you could get a PEX Sharkbite fitting - ball valve - to replace the cap fitting. This will save the effort and expense of purchasing PEX tools. (But you might be happy to have them later.)

https://www.homedepot.com/p/SharkBit...E&gclsrc=aw.ds

Sharkbites are pretty amazing. I have used about 6 or 8 of them in my home plumbing (copper) and they are as good or better than a sweat fitting. I've heard similar reports with PEX. I hope this is helpful.

[jimmoore13]

One down-side of brass is that it's heavy. A brass Sharkbite ball valve hanging out in space is a fair amount of unsupported weight. Be sure the plumbing leading to the low-point drain is sturdy enough and well-supported enough to handle the stress of that heavy valve vibrating as you go down the road.

[Jack350]

This is the easy answer. Proper threads and very light. Found it at local plumbing store for $3. $10 on Amazon. Install on both hot and cold in a minute, no tools needed.