City water at campground causing problems?

[rjgrady]

This is our first time camping with our 2017 2109s so getting things figured out. City water is doing a lot of spitting inside like there's air in the line, but not quite as bad as when filling the water heater. And we seem to be running out of hot water quickly.

Water hookup here at the campground is down in a well instead of a hydrant above ground. Anyway, I cannot get the connection there to stop leaking completely. I've used a few different hoses and washers. I can get it to stop leaking but if that hose coming out of the ground moves a bit, as it likely does when we draw water, it'll start leaking again.

So, is it sucking air into the line thus causing the sputtering inside?

Also, I've tried two different water pressure regulators with the same results. Water pressure inside the trailer is ok but not great. I haven't tried it without the regulators but I filled the tank and using the pump now and water pressure is steady and not sputtering.

The hot water runs out more quickly than our other trailer while showering. If we don't have enough water pressure, maybe its just not filling the water heater quickly enough? We're going to try showering using the pump tonight and see what happens.

Any ideas?

[Iggy]

If the water heater is running out of hot water quickly you probably have in bypass winter bypass mode or the valves are set incorrectly.
Check the input and output valves are open and the bypass valve is closed.

[SeaDog]

I very much doubt that a hose leaking water is sucking air at the same time. Like Iggy said check your water heater valves plus lift the relief on the water heater to ensure you got all the air out. be careful when lifting the relief have gloves on its hot.

[BBQGUY]

Bring the water leak to the attention of the campground, they may move you to another site or offer a discount.

You are not intaking air at the hose connection.
The connection is under pressure.

The spitting is from air in the hose, which is now in the RV. This is typical to have and something you may encounter every time you hookup to city water. It is best to run several gallons of water through the supply hose to flush it out before connecting to the RV. This will reduce the air in the RV lines.

You will have to bleed out the air that's in the trailer lines from every facet (hot and cold side, one side at a time) including the toilet and outside shower if you have one. If you want to remain connected to city water, disconnect from the RV, turn on city water and flush out the air in the supply hose. Reconnect to the RV.
As for the leak, its most likely from years of cross threaded hooks ups. Its best to fill the onboard freshwater tank and use it. There is no guarantee the hose will remain connected to the supply.

As for running out of hot water, 6 gallons don't go far. Check to make sure the water heater bypass is completely turned off and that the outside shower is off. If both sides of an outside shower facet are on, cold water will mix with hot and cause what appears to be a short supply of hot water. If your water heater has an electric element you may have to cut it on at the water heater. Make sure the tank is full or it will burnout quickly.

[rjgrady]

Thanks for the help. I'll check those valves and the outside shower when I get back this afternoon. I thought I had them right but I'll check again. The bypass is different from our previous trailer.

That makes sense now with the sputtering. Every time I've unhooked that hose to try to fix the leak or change the pressure regulator I've reintroduced air into the system.

[nomad297]

The problem is your antifreeze intake valve is in the position for the uptake of antifreeze, so you are sucking air from your antifreeze inlet. Flip the valve (close to the water pump) so it is in the other position for normal use.

Bruce

[Tom48]

Originally Posted by rjgrady

Thanks for the help. I'll check those valves and the outside shower when I get back this afternoon. I thought I had them right but I'll check again. The bypass is different from our previous trailer.

That makes sense now with the sputtering. Every time I've unhooked that hose to try to fix the leak or change the pressure regulator I've reintroduced air into the system.

We have noticed on the few occasions that we have been on city water that we flow more water through the shower than we do on the pump. Never ran out of hot on the pump but we relax and use more on city water so the WH does run out. Remember your pump is probably 3 GPM max. While on city water at 50 psi you can run double that rate.

[5picker]

Originally Posted by nomad297

The problem is your antifreeze intake valve is in the position for the uptake of antifreeze, so you are sucking air from your antifreeze inlet. Flip the valve (close to the water pump) so it is in the other position for normal use.

Bruce

How could this have anything to do with ingesting air into the plumbing system when hooked to city water which the OP has suggested they are?
The OP also said they had NO problems when using the pump.

The antifreeze intake is on the suction side of the on-board water pump and isolated from the city side of things by pressure (city water) and the pump's check valve.

[rjgrady]

We're ruling out a few things here. The valves on the heater are in the correct position according to the diagram above. The outside shower was completely turned off so it wasn't mixing there. The antifreeze inlet looks correct to me.
I realized that the bathroom sink had better pressure than the kitchen. I took took the aerator off and found a little chunk of something (maybe a little sliver of pipe when they cut it?). I removed that and now we have good pressure in the sink.

I think the air in the system was simply from me unhooking the hose to the city water so many times.

Tonight we'll shower with the pump and see if we run out of hot. I actually think it's just my wife taking too long of a shower and running it out but she's not satisfied with that answer! So I told her I'd ask around here.

We had a 2004 Sunline 1950 before and rarely ran out of hot water in that one. So not sure what the difference is now... Anyway, i think she's almost convinced that it isn't broken already.

[nomad297]

Originally Posted by 5picker

How could this have anything to do with ingesting air into the plumbing system when hooked to city water which the OP has suggested they are?
The OP also said they had NO problems when using the pump.

The antifreeze intake is on the suction side of the on-board water pump and isolated from the city side of things by pressure (city water) and the pump's check valve.

You are correct. I read what he wrote, but answered as if he was using his water tank. I don't know what happened to my brain. Thanks for the correction.

Bruce

[5picker]

Originally Posted by nomad297

You are correct. I read what he wrote, but answered as if he was using his water tank. I don't know what happened to my brain. Thanks for the correction.

Bruce

Don't feel alone!
Most times I'm right there with you!

[5picker]

Originally Posted by rjgrady

We're ruling out a few things here. The valves on the heater are in the correct position according to the diagram above. The outside shower was completely turned off so it wasn't mixing there. The antifreeze inlet looks correct to me.
I realized that the bathroom sink had better pressure than the kitchen. I took took the aerator off and found a little chunk of something (maybe a little sliver of pipe when they cut it?). I removed that and now we have good pressure in the sink.

I think the air in the system was simply from me unhooking the hose to the city water so many times.

Tonight we'll shower with the pump and see if we run out of hot. I actually think it's just my wife taking too long of a shower and running it out but she's not satisfied with that answer! So I told her I'd ask around here.

We had a 2004 Sunline 1950 before and rarely ran out of hot water in that one. So not sure what the difference is now... Anyway, i think she's almost convinced that it isn't broken already.

Don't forget... if your water heater is both electric and propane, you can turn both on and get a little longer shower because of the quicker recovery rate. (two separate systems heating water simultaneously)