Fresh water tank slowly filling up while on city water.

Jesstruckn/Jesstalkn

Well-known member
OK gang what do you all think it is. I spent 9 days in Jackson hooked up to city water with the Anderson valve on "city" then about the 7th or 8th day my fresh water tank over flow vents started dripping. My gauge said 2/3s but it had to be full.
So is it the Anderson valve leaking back or could it be the pump ? I'm thinking if the valve is on City the pump should be cut off. I guess I need to find one of Dan's pluming schematic sheets on here. Dan do you have a short cut for me.
 

Jesstruckn/Jesstalkn

Well-known member
Couldn't find the the schematic I'm looking for in there. The first one you sent, had the old schematic with the gravity fill. I'd like to see the new version with the Anderson valve. I'm a visual guy that can figure it out if I see how it works. I could bee missing it though
 

danemayer

Well-known member
Jerrod,

It's likely the 4-way valve core leaking. It used to be more common for the pump's internal check valve to get stuck partially open, allowing backward water flow to the fresh tank. But I think if you check the output line from the pump on your LM365, you'll find it connects directly to the 4-way valve. Another connection on the valve goes to the tank. If that's the way yours is set up, the only way for water to flow from the city water to the fresh tank, is a routing problem inside the valve.

To be certain, you might disconnect the swivel connector at the 4-way valve that goes to the fresh tank to see if water comes out that side of the valve when city water is ON. But with a slow leak, it might not be immediately obvious.

For the pump to be leaking backwards, the output would have to be teed into the water line after the valve, which is how it was before the 4-way valve was used. I doubt yours is plumbed that way.

Either Heartland or Anderson should be willing to send you a replacement valve to install.
 

Jesstruckn/Jesstalkn

Well-known member
To funny Dan as I was reading your first paragraph the lift bulb cam on "duh" take the fresh line off the back of the Anderson valve and turn the water on.
I pretty sure that what it is and it looks like they have a seal kit for it.
Have you had one apart before ?
Should I rebuild it or replace it ?


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danemayer

Well-known member
I've taken one apart. Takes about 10 minutes or less to change the cartridge and that includes time spent figuring out how to remove it. Changing the entire valve assembly is also pretty quick.

Anderson did some redesign on the valve to address damage to the o-rings. I'm not sure if the changes were limited to the cartridge, or also include the rest of the assembly. So I'd replace the whole thing. After you're done, if you can see damage to the o-rings, some pictures would be interesting.

But before going too far, I'd confirm the leak at the valve, and also confirm the routing of the pump output - that its output has to go through the valve in order to feed the lines going to the faucets.
 

Oregon_Camper

Well-known member
I've taken one apart. Takes about 10 minutes or less to change the cartridge and that includes time spent figuring out how to remove it. Changing the entire valve assembly is also pretty quick.

...it will take you longer to remove the basement wall, then to fix the valve. :(
 

PNG68

Member
I just had this happen to my new Newport. I believe the check valve was stuck in open position as I had the 4 way valve on city. I turned the water off, switched my valve to normal, turned my water pump on and turned faucets on in trailer and pump the fresh water tank down to empty. Turned water pump off, reset the 4 way valve to city and turned the water back on. This time it did not fill my fresh water tank.

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Jesstruckn/Jesstalkn

Well-known member
How long did it take to fill it the first time it happened ? Mine took about 7 day to fill half the tank. As it was already 1/2 full when I hooked up to city water.
How long has it been on now ?
 

PNG68

Member
I had hooked my trailer to city water around 2:00 pm and the next morning my wife noticed that we had water leaking under the rear of the trailer. I might of caused this because I turned on the water pump right after I had hooked to the city water because it didn't seem like we had very good water pressure at the kitchen faucet. It has been 2 days now since this happened and do not have any water going into fresh water tank. According to the schematic I saw the water line from the fresh water tank goes through the water pump and a check valve and then ties into the same line as the city water line. I am not sure if the check valve is built into the water pump or is after the water pump. I read where this valve can stick in the open position and if this happens it will cause the fresh water tank to back fill from the city water line.

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danemayer

Well-known member
I had hooked my trailer to city water around 2:00 pm and the next morning my wife noticed that we had water leaking under the rear of the trailer. I might of caused this because I turned on the water pump right after I had hooked to the city water because it didn't seem like we had very good water pressure at the kitchen faucet. It has been 2 days now since this happened and do not have any water going into fresh water tank. According to the schematic I saw the water line from the fresh water tank goes through the water pump and a check valve and then ties into the same line as the city water line. I am not sure if the check valve is built into the water pump or is after the water pump. I read where this valve can stick in the open position and if this happens it will cause the fresh water tank to back fill from the city water line.

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If you have the 4-Way Anderson Valve, the output of the water pump is probably connected directly to one side of the 4-Way valve, rather than to a tee that goes into the water line feeding the faucets. In effect, the valve takes over the function of the tee that's on older models. When the water pump is ON, if you set the valve to NORMAL, the valve opens a path for the pump output to flow to the faucets.

I know that some people have been told that the valve will allow water flow from the pump when set to CITY, but having taken apart a valve to examine the water pathways, I think that can only happen if there's a leak inside the valve, probably from damaged o-rings.

With the pump ON, and the valve set to CITY, there would be suction trying to pull water through the valve. To me it seems doubtful that this could cause water from the water inlet connection to flow past the o-rings and into the fresh tank. But if the o-rings are damaged, the pressure of city water could leak past the o-rings and into the fresh tank.


I've thought about this some more and took a 4-way valve apart to check.

The pump output is not connected to the 4-way valve; there's no place to connect the output side to the pump. So it must be teed into the line that feeds the faucets.

Also, in both CITY and NORMAL positions, there is a channel open in the valve that connects the suction side of the pump to the fresh tank feed line.

That means that when the valve is set to CITY, city water could flow backward through a stuck check valve in the pump and then would also flow back through the channel in the valve and on to the fresh tank.

This also means that a failure in the pump's internal check valve is still probably the primary cause of the fresh tank filling by itself.

Adding a check valve on the output side of the pump is one way to correct this. Replacing the pump is another way.

Anderson 4way valve 4 city.jpg Anderson 4way valve 4 normal.jpg


Anderson 4way valve 3 tank.jpg Anderson 4way valve 5 Sanitize.jpg
 

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