Is this plumbing correct?

[atikovi]

I picked up a '79 Santana camper van and if you connect city water to the outside fitting, water comes out the sink faucet continuously. It’s an electric faucet that has a switch which turns on the pump to make water flow so you can’t turn off the flow if there is pressure like when its connected to city water, which doesn’t make any sense. Is it plumbed correctly?

The fresh water tank is on the right. The manual fill is the large fitting up and to the back. The white hose going back is the drain, and to the left is to the pump. The gray hose going back is to the city water connection and then the hose going under the carpet is to the faucet. Shouldn’t the city water be connected to the pump so a check valve would prevent the electric faucet from continuously flowing until it was switched on?

 

[Grandview Trailer Sa]

Re: Is this plumbing correct?

There is a check valve in the pump to keep city water backing up and filling the water tank..but your sink is on the pressure side of the city water which is correct. Sounds like a faulty faucet to me.

 

[atikovi]

Re: Is this plumbing correct?

OK thanks. The faucet is electric. You turn on the switch which turns the pump on which makes the water flow. There is no mechanical "OFF" on the faucet. What is the point of a city water hook-up if you can't shut off the faucet. And that faucet looks to be origianl to the RV.

 

[Grandview Trailer Sa]

Re: Is this plumbing correct?

I have never heard of a faucet like that. Usually you have a switch to turn the pump on when using the water tank, but when using "city" water, you don't use the pump and the faucet is just on/off like in your home.

 

[krsmitty]

Re: Is this plumbing correct?

Sounds like time for an upgrade

 

[C Nash]

Re: Is this plumbing correct?

I like Ken have never seen a faucet like this. Is there not handle or knob on the faucett? Just flip a switch and the water flows ? give us a picture of the actual faucet? Keep us posted as we need to know for future problems. Sounds like a ck valve problem to me.

 

[atikovi]

Re: Is this plumbing correct?

It's this faucet: https://www.makariosrv.com/products/Faucet-Only-for-Electric-Pump.html

 

[C Nash]

Re: Is this plumbing correct?

Ok that was a fast comeback :laugh: Looking and reading about it I would say you have a bad faucet. It says it has a ck valve so I would assume the ck valve comes into play when you hook to city supply. Thanks for coming back with the picture. It's a new one for me but I dont get out much anymore. Keep us posted on the fix

 

[C Nash]

Re: Is this plumbing correct?

Is just the ck valve replaceable?

 

[Grandview Trailer Sa]

Re: Is this plumbing correct?

I have never seen a faucet like that..........

 

[atikovi]

Re: Is this plumbing correct?

The faucet is leaking where the spout attaches to the body so I'm ordering a new one but can't imagine where the check valve is.

 

[Grandview Trailer Sa]

Re: Is this plumbing correct?

Well, your pump is supposed to take water out of the storage tank. When using "city" water you do not use the pump. I think you could do a little rewiring....use a switch to turn on the pump when needed and a use a regular faucet when on city water or pump.

 

[atikovi]

Re: Is this plumbing correct?

I just wanted to figure out why it was done like this. I don't imagine ever hooking it up to city water just to run one kitchen faucet anyway.

 

[Grandview Trailer Sa]

Re: Is this plumbing correct?

No, not just one faucet. Sorry if you thought I meant that. All the plumbing in the RV works the same. Either off the pump or city water pressure.

 

[akjimny]

Re: Is this plumbing correct?

I have seen faucets like this before. Single spigot with a rotary on/off switch instead of a faucet knob like we're used to. They were used in RV's and boats and if memory serves, were not supposed to be plumbed into city water. They were only meant to run off the fresh water tank and pump. From the picture it looks like some previous owner has re-plumbed.

I believe it could be fixed by running the city water input line into a tee in the line from the fresh water tank to the pump. You would have to put a check valve in the line between the tee and the tank to keep city water from filling the tank - and hope the check valve in the pump will hold against city water pressure. If it doesn't, you will still have water coming from the faucet even when the pump it off.

Best solution would be as mentioned by the Ken(s) above. Replace the faucet you have now with a standard faucet and install a switch to turn the pump on and off. Hope this helps some. Post back and let us know how it works out.