Water Valve Help

[masterdrago]

Where can a guy get a good explanation of how these valve work and how best to hook up. The gal that did our PDI was in a bit of a hurry and I did not have the sense to shot video. Also the owners manual with our 3791RD is not real full of detail.

[masterdrago]

The valves are really confusing. I get that the ones at the top are for what looks like a water hose/bathroom faucet. The ones at the bottom are to empty tanks to the big drain near the middle of the rv. I get that the red and blue at the bottom right are to drain the system. I know where the battery cut off switch is. The caution and warning are scary. Then there are the little flip switches/valves which are really clear as mud. I also know there are capped drain lines under the unit. Two of them. The tech guy had to go find a cap for one of them when I noticed and asked about them??

[theeyres]

Can't help on the valves but I did smile at the fact that they were in such a hurry putting that together that they couldn't even take the time to put the labels on straight. If you don't get answers here you might post that on a forum of your brand of trailer.

[masterdrago]

1 hour ago, theeyres said:

Can't help on the valves but I did smile at the fact that they were in such a hurry putting that together that they couldn't even take the time to put the labels on straight. If you don't get answers here you might post that on a forum of your brand of trailer.

First rv and a complete noob here theeyres. Please don't get me on the rig quality today. Have been looking 9 month. I could not get my better half to purchase used, which clearly have better build than the ones coming out of the factory now. I saw a new Newmar on Lake Conroe yesterday that had the furnace door off, lost on the highway after leaving the dealer. I'll bet that '07 Arctic Fox was a keeper. I have ~ a bazillion questions so I thought it might be a good idea to spread them around the forums. I'm sure someone might know here.

[Barbaraok]

If it were us, I'd find a mobile tech in the area and hire him for an hour or two to go through the whole rig with you again, this time video taping how to turn on/off each switch and what it is for.  Yes, it is money that you shouldn't have to spend, but I think it would be well worth it in the long run.   

It would help if you put the make/model/year of your rig in signature line so that people can identify whether or not they have had experience with that manufacturer.   I'd also recommend you look on iRV2.com to see if their is an "owners" forum for your manufacturer.  That can be invaluable.

Barb

 

[mptjelgin]

Can you take another picture with the blue hose removed? On our trailer there is a quick-connect (a collar that slides back) that allows the coiled blue hose to be removed and stored. We only hook it up if we want to use the outdoor shower. With the hose out of the way the valving and decals will be a bit easier to see. 

[Kirk W]

Let's start at the top of the picture you posted. The pair of valves with the blue hose & pink tag between them would be your outside shower. The valves would be hot & cold and they are supplied from the interior  water system as are the faucets inside.  Bet the other end of that blue hose has a hand shower head attached to it"freeze guard" is a part of the winterizing system, probably a place to attach a hose for sucking RV antifreeze from a jug when winterizing. You should have instructions to go with that in your paperwork.                                

The next item down is labeled "city water connection" because that is exactly what it is. Get our your white water hose and connect the female fitting to the park water hydrant (using a pressure regulator to be safe) and then connect the male end of that hose to the screw connection here. Once you remove the cap to keep dirt out, you will a fitting that has a knob around it and turns that is for this purpose. Once attached you can turn on the city water hydrant and shut off the RV water pump and the city water will supply your entire water system. 

Moving down you find a caution tag and then another water fitting. It is there to supply water the waste tank flushing system. It connects just like the city water connection but this leads to your waste tanks and you should never connect your drinking water hose to this connection! This is only used after emptying the waste tanks and is there to flush out any remaining residue from the waste that may have been left behind. 

The two T handle valves at the bottom are the waste tank drain valves, one for each tank. Should be self-explanatory. 

Move to the right and start back up you come to a red and a blue water line, each with a valve. I'd bet that those are low point drains, red is from the hot side and blue is from cold. They are used when putting the RV into storage to drain the water system. Just above them is a black valve labeled "tank fill, power fresh" and that is probably the vale to send water from your city water connection into the potable water tank to fill it for travel. Check your instructions to make sure that I am right about this, or with city water connected you can try turning it on to see if the tank begins to fill. If I'm right this is a valve that should only be opened while you fill the water tank and then closed every time. 

Above that is a black valve labeled "winterize" and it is there to work with the Freeze Guard connection when winterizing the water system. See your instructions on how that is all used.  Above that and just below that pink tag (behind the blue hose) is the water heater bypass valve. It is there to allow you to drain the water from your water heater and then leave it empty when you put RV antifreeze into the system for winter storage. It is very important to remember that while we can tell you in general how all of these items work, no two RVs are built exactly alike and so there are differences unique to each RV and you must understand your RV in order to adapt the general instructions we give here to your particular RV. 

 

[masterdrago]

Thanks all. I added stuff in sig. Thanks especially to Kirk for the best help. The manual with the new Montana is complete but brief in many areas. Many entries mention to "please refer to the manufacturer instructions supplied with the RV for instruction for this feature" like when doing a manual override of the slides when power not available. There are no detailed instructions for the water hook up panel. I do have about 19 components (axles, heater, etc) manuals. During the PDI, the gal went over it quickly and I assumed if I needed some detail, it would be in the manual. This is just all so new to me. What would have helped is if I had some layout diagrams of the electrical and water management. Apparently Keystone does not supply that stuff like most.

Mark, I tried to remove the hose but I just needed to learn how. Ring did not move easy - didn't want to rip it out.

And Barb, that is a great idea about rv tech. I'm also at IRV2. Right now, we are "camping" in the driveway and will go soon to a nearby park where some close friends are full timing. I'm also spending more time on the forums than my sweetheart is comfortable with.

I'm a retired appliance service tech and know my way around a lot of things but these campers are so different as to how things work and are laid out. Just need to learn the ropes.

[57becky]

I have attached a diagram of what the plumbing does in our rig, and it looks identical to the plumbing in your rig.  Hope this helps.  Oh, and the single valve for the water heater bypass works because it is the cold water line to the water heater, and along with a check valve at the hot outlet of the water heater, stops water from entering the water heater.  The drawing is the view from the rear of the convenience center.  The blue lines in each of the valves indicate their normal position.  When the valve is turned, that moves the line toward the hot water circuit for the bypass valve, toward the winterize inlet for the winterize valve, and toward the fresh water tank for the water tank fill valve.

 

 

[masterdrago]

WOW Beckster! That's an amazing piece of work. Bet you didn't get that from those pesky manufacturers. Mucho thanks.

masterdrago

Kenneth Drake, Willis, Tx

[Kirk W]

8 hours ago, 57becky said:

I have attached a diagram of what the plumbing does in our rig, and it looks identical to the plumbing in your rig

That is a great piece of work. As a retired electric tech, that looks much like the way I was taught to diagram an electric circuit in order to analyze it. 

 

7 hours ago, masterdrago said:

That's an amazing piece of work

It most definitely is, but in your case, there are two items in your photo that are not on the drawing, and probably not on 57becky's user panel either. That is the two "low point drains" which you have on yours. That is the red/blue water lines with chrome valves which can be seen to the lower right of the picture. If you look under the RV bay where these are I'm sure that you will see the end of each of those lines, extending a short distance through the by floor. That would be the discharge from each one and the chrome valve is there just to allow you to drain each section when preparing for storage or winterization. The two horizontal lines leaving the 90° valves will go behind that panel and connect into the hot & cold water lines at some point. The blue(cold water) line would attach in becky's drawing at some point in the outlet side from the water pump and the red(hot water) would connect about where the red line in the drawing makes it's 90° turn.

[WeBeFulltimers]

I would have told the "gal" who did your PDI to slow down and remind her that they're not getting their $ until I was completely satisfied with the PDI. We bought a 2018 3791RD 2 weeks ago which is our third Montana.  Have been full-timing since Sep 1, 2010.

[remoandiris]

23 hours ago, Kirk Wood said:

Moving down you find a caution tag and then another water fitting. It is there to supply water the waste tank flushing system. It connects just like the city water connection but this leads to your waste tanks and you should never connect your drinking water hose to this connection! This is only used after emptying the waste tanks and is there to flush out any remaining residue from the waste that may have been left behind. 

Kirk gave you a great breakdown on the panel.  I would like to add a few things since you said you are new to this. 

I NEVER attach a hose to the waste flush UNTIL I am actually flushing the tank.  Instead, I leave the hose coiled on the ground and only connect when it is time to flush.  You do NOT want to accidentally turn the hose on with the drain valve closed or have a maintenance person do it if your water connection needs mx for some reason.  I have a common garden hose for this connection.

In case you did not know, when you drain your tanks, drain the black tank first, then drain the gray tank.  That allows the gray water to flush out the sewer hose.  Typically I leave the gray valve(s) open and close them the day before I plan to drain the black.  With a load of clothes in the washer and a few showers, that puts plenty of water into the gray tanks for me.  

Also, use PLENTY of water when you flush solid waste down the toilet. 

Oh, and the sensors for the tank water levels are typically wrong, especially the black tank, so you're just going to have to learn how many days you can go before draining.  When setup in a park, I drain every 4 days.  Could probably go longer, but I don't.

If you connect to cable tv and it doesn't look good, check to see if your antenna booster is still powered on.  The antenna booster should be off when on cable tv.  

[masterdrago]

31 minutes ago, remoandiris said:

If you connect to cable tv and it doesn't look good, check to see if your antenna booster is still powered on.  The antenna booster should be off when on cable tv.  

Thanks for the hints on flushing remoandiris. It does say that - off when using cable.  I shouldn't take this ot but I've been looking all over for the booster. In the antenna manual as well as the Keystone owners manual, it mentions to turn it on or turn the antenna on and claims the booster would be near one of the tvs. I've looked near all three. Nada.

 

[remoandiris]

The booster is small and they can hide it just about anywhere.  Mine is where the bedroom tv connects to the antenna coax, on the ceiling inside a cabinet next to that tv.

Find a Montana Owners Group forum and join it.  They will probably be more helpful.

[57becky]

I guess my drawing does look a bit like an electrical schematic.  I guess being a retired electric lineman will do that to you.  The photo here is what the plumbing looks like behind the wall of that convenience center, and last year had the check valve fail in the water pump, so when I added a check valve to the line to the water pump, I decided to diagram what was there.

 

 

 

[Chalkie]

As messy as that looks ^^^ it is way better looking inside than the mess in our RV.