Stymied- now no city water either - Hi-Lo camper travel trailer forum

Doug Allen · 08-19-2017, 10:58 AM

The month long effort to understand and correct the pump problem resulted in me ordering a new pump a couple days ago. Now this!
My first trip was cancelled at the last minute yesterday when I noted a slow leak behind where the city water hose is connected to the Rig strainer and city water input. There are cracks in the quick connect "union connector, but the tube won't pull up more than a 1/2 inch and my tools won't fit inside the circular cutout in order to remove and replace the defective "union connector."

JackandJanet · 08-19-2017, 02:34 PM

And I suppose you can't get to it behind the trailer wall either? Is it possible to disconnect the tube at the other end?

I have to say, I'm glad I don't have your water system troubles!

- Jack

Doug Allen · 08-23-2017, 07:01 PM

Update on RV water problems. Some success- The new pump arrived Saturday and I hooked it up to a 12V power supply in the kitchen, and it seems to work well. The old 1998 pump didn't work when I hooked it up today in the same manner.

The old pump was under the couch (bed) at the front of the rig, and I had to unscrew a board to get at it. The new one will easily fit where the old one was, the only difference being the new one has 4 feet as compared to 3 feet for the old one.

There's no urgency in replacing the pump until I repair or replace an elbow union connection just inside the cutout for the city water connection. The pump will pump water to that leaking area. I can't get my hand into the cutout or pull the 1/2" elbow union to where I can remove it. I can get some tools in there. I tried with a vice wrench to remove the connector from the tubing. No luck. Is it glued on, do you think? I might be able to cut the tubing below the union connector, but then what do I do?

With the board removed to get at the pump, I can see more of the tubing and may be able to loosen a union to the hot water heater which would give me more slack for pulling the other elbow union outside the cutout. Same problem. The straight union connector at the hot water heater also seems to be glued or at least very firmly on the tubing. Anyone worked with these connectors and tubing and have any ideas? I've been mostly studying the problem and haven't yanked very hard yet!

Garry · 08-25-2017, 12:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doug Allen

Update on RV water problems. Some success- The new pump arrived Saturday and I hooked it up to a 12V power supply in the kitchen, and it seems to work well. The old 1998 pump didn't work when I hooked it up today in the same manner.

The old pump was under the couch (bed) at the front of the rig, and I had to unscrew a board to get at it. The new one will easily fit where the old one was, the only difference being the new one has 4 feet as compared to 3 feet for the old one.

There's no urgency in replacing the pump until I repair or replace an elbow union connection just inside the cutout for the city water connection. The pump will pump water to that leaking area. I can't get my hand into the cutout or pull the 1/2" elbow union to where I can remove it. I can get some tools in there. I tried with a vice wrench to remove the connector from the tubing. No luck. Is it glued on, do you think? I might be able to cut the tubing below the union connector, but then what do I do?

With the board removed to get at the pump, I can see more of the tubing and may be able to loosen a union to the hot water heater which would give me more slack for pulling the other elbow union outside the cutout. Same problem. The straight union connector at the hot water heater also seems to be glued or at least very firmly on the tubing. Anyone worked with these connectors and tubing and have any ideas? I've been mostly studying the problem and haven't yanked very hard yet!

Doug, the tubing is more than likely "Pex" tubing and the fittings are not glued on. Once the fitting is loosened from the fitting, you should be able to pull the Pex tubing out of the fitting. Most RV suppliers will have Pex tubing and fittings in stock. This stuff is not easy to work with.

Hersbird · 08-25-2017, 12:29 PM

I would just cut it where you can reach it and add a union at that point after you pull it out, fix it, and feed it back in. If it is that PEX tube you could get the push in fittings but I kind of just like the old barbed fittings and regular hose clamps.

Doug Allen · 08-25-2017, 02:13 PM

Thank you Garry and Hersbird,
It's been six days now since my planned first trip was cancelled because of the leak. I've spent some hours diagramming the plumbing and studying, online, and at Lowes and Home Depot all the different type of connectors.
The problem is access through the small city water cutout or from inside, through the small space between the hot water heater and the inside wall. I can't fit my hand into either space! Poor engineering on Hi-Lo's part. It would be a trivial 15 minute job if there were access. I may have to take off the outside fiberglass wall or the inside wall to get access.
There are two T connectors at floor level in that space I can see from inside, but can't reach, one from the pump to a second tee (and on to the cold water faucets) on one side and on the other side to the hot water tank input. The second tee is a couple inches further back, also on the floor, and 18"under the city water cutout. It routes the city water to both the cold water faucets and the the hot water tank through the first tee.
Hi-Lo has left no slack between these connections so I can't pull the tube and leaking connector even a 1/2 inch toward the cutout . If I cut pull it a little ways out of the cutout I could easily replace the connector. If I could disconnect even a single connector from one of the tees, I could probably pull the city water tube a couple of inches and then repair, but I can't reach the tees PLUS all of them seem to be glued to the 1/2 inch including the one at the city water cutout which I have tried many times to remove.
So I finally cut the glued-on tubing inside the city water cutout at just bellow the 1/2" CTS to 1/2" NPS female swivel and am left with the open 1/2" tube below the level of the cutout. I don't know if any of the tubing or connectors are PEX.

Gary, they don't look like the Pex connectors sold today at Lowes and Home Depot where I have bought about $20 of connectors plus tubing,hoping I might find a combination that works. Hersbird, I love the idea of those push-on fittings because I canreach in the cutout far enough to do that, but the NPS side would be too low in the cutout to connect to the city water flange. So would anything else I've found so I remain stymied at the as to my next step!

Garry · 08-26-2017, 06:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doug Allen

Thank you Garry and Hersbird,
It's been six days now since my planned first trip was cancelled because of the leak. I've spent some hours diagramming the plumbing and studying, online, and at Lowes and Home Depot all the different type of connectors.
The problem is access through the small city water cutout or from inside, through the small space between the hot water heater and the inside wall. I can't fit my hand into either space! Poor engineering on Hi-Lo's part. It would be a trivial 15 minute job if there were access. I may have to take off the outside fiberglass wall or the inside wall to get access.
There are two T connectors at floor level in that space I can see from inside, but can't reach, one from the pump to a second tee (and on to the cold water faucets) on one side and on the other side to the hot water tank input. The second tee is a couple inches further back, also on the floor, and 18"under the city water cutout. It routes the city water to both the cold water faucets and the the hot water tank through the first tee.
Hi-Lo has left no slack between these connections so I can't pull the tube and leaking connector even a 1/2 inch toward the cutout . If I cut pull it a little ways out of the cutout I could easily replace the connector. If I could disconnect even a single connector from one of the tees, I could probably pull the city water tube a couple of inches and then repair, but I can't reach the tees PLUS all of them seem to be glued to the 1/2 inch including the one at the city water cutout which I have tried many times to remove.
So I finally cut the glued-on tubing inside the city water cutout at just bellow the 1/2" CTS to 1/2" NPS female swivel and am left with the open 1/2" tube below the level of the cutout. I don't know if any of the tubing or connectors are PEX.

Gary, they don't look like the Pex connectors sold today at Lowes and Home Depot where I have bought about $20 of connectors plus tubing,hoping I might find a combination that works. Hersbird, I love the idea of those push-on fittings because I canreach in the cutout far enough to do that, but the NPS side would be too low in the cutout to connect to the city water flange. So would anything else I've found so I remain stymied at the as to my next step!

Doug you are correct about the fittings at Lowe's and Home Cheapo not looking like the ones on your trailer. That is why I had to buy mine at an RV repair shop.