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Old 07-24-2019, 06:07 AM   #1
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Follow up to fresh water tank drain valve on 2015 Itasca Sunstare 27N LX

I have a 2015 Itasca Sunstar 27N LX. I found the valve to empty the fresh water tank in elec/water compartment. Turned it and no water came out. Is there a vacuum or something I need to release to get the water flowing? I thought I'd ask before I disconnect the hoses from the valve.

Thanks in advance.
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Old 07-24-2019, 08:46 AM   #2
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A guess without looking at drawings but I suspect that is only to drain a small portion of the pipe, not the tank itself. A close look in other compartments to find other valves or a slide underneath to look for tubes hanging down make find more valves.

Doing a quick look at drawings but without having the VIN number to know that I'm looking at exactly the right drawing, there seems to be a second valve for draining down and behind the panel with the most obvious valve. Perhaps a quick look down and up under that panel?
There is also a valve for use when adding antifreeze which is located near the water pump on the other side of the rig but that is to set up for sucking in the antifreeze if I'm reading it correctly.
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Old 07-24-2019, 06:45 PM   #3
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You should get flow as soon as you open the drain valve. Air gets admitted into the tank thru the fill door port on the side of the RV, you can maximize air admittance by unlocking and opening the fill door.

In my 2015 Vista 27N I also had a problem with draining the fresh tank. I had to remove the OEM valve and replace it with a gate valve I bought at a home center. Once I did the fresh tank drain worked fine. The OEM valve had been blocked by someone on the assembly line using too much pipe cement.

FYI the Vista 27N has three drain valves, and a hot water heater bypass valve. You have to use all three and operate the bypass valve if you are trying to get as much water as possible out of the hot and cold water lines. You remove the drain plug from the hot water heater to get the water out of there,

- the one that is in the Elec/Water basement compartment that is connected directly to the bottom of the water tank.

- one that has a valve next to the water pump

- one that has a valve behind the water heater , that can be accessed by removing the metal access cover that is above the water heater.

- the bypass directly behind the hot water heater

Note that there is a check valve on the upper outlet of the hot water heater, that often cause problems with low or no hot water flow at all. Personally I removed it and replaced it with a gate valve between the upper outlet and the tee joint that comes up from the bypass valve.
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Old 07-25-2019, 01:43 AM   #4
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OP - The valve on the back wall of the water compartment is a direct shot from the bottom of the tank, is less than a foot long, and should flow a strong stream to empty the tank rapidly. On mine, the soft plastic handle stripped very easily, and turns freely without turning the valve. I had to find a metal one to turn my drain valve. Could this be your problem? If not, maybe replacement as Randy did is in order.

Randy - what is the purpose of the original check valve on the water heater outlet? Now that you have converted it to manual, do you just leave it open all the time? or when do you leave it closed?

Thanks,

Dan
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Old 07-25-2019, 08:39 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by danhannah View Post
OP - The valve on the back wall of the water compartment is a direct shot from the bottom of the tank, is less than a foot long, and should flow a strong stream to empty the tank rapidly. On mine, the soft plastic handle stripped very easily, and turns freely without turning the valve. I had to find a metal one to turn my drain valve. Could this be your problem? If not, maybe replacement as Randy did is in order.

Randy - what is the purpose of the original check valve on the water heater outlet? Now that you have converted it to manual, do you just leave it open all the time? or when do you leave it closed?

Thanks,

Dan
The classic water heater bypass (that Winnebago used to use and that most other RV manufacturers still use) used 3 on-off valves, one on inlet of HWH, one on outlet of HWH - both normally on, and a 3rd valve that could connect cold and hot lines, normally off.

Winnebago uses a A-B switch type valve on the cold side of the HWH. Normally in A - that connects cold to the HWH inlet. When set to B cold connects to hot. Rather than have a 2nd valve on the HWH outlet, they put a spring loaded check valve with a plastic plunger on the HWH outlet, so that when the A-B switch is set to B and one pumps RV anti-freeze into the lines, the solution does not flow into the HWH thru the outlet.

Why? I think because it saves Winnebago about $ 1 per RV :-(

Two problems removing the check valve and replacing with a gate valve address:

1. The check valve can get crudded up and the water pump water pressure does not cause it to partially open or it stays stuck shut completely. Result is low hot water pressure and eventually no hot water.

2. The check valve plunger being spring loaded causes a small pressure drop - the less flow the more pressure drop - so that the water pressure on the hot side is less than on the cold side. So when you use the shower head shut off valve, and there is just a trickle of water out the shower head, the water temperature of the water in the line between the mixing valves and the shower head changes and you get that nasty shot of cold shower water when you reopen the shower head shut off valve. Getting rid of the check valve greatly reduces this.
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Old 07-26-2019, 01:03 AM   #6
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Great explanation. Thanks. I'm off to dig up the Pex tool and find a valve next time I get a minute.

In effect, adding that valve sort of mimics to old winterizing system, it seems.

Do you think there was any other reason for the check valve in the HW outlet? I can't think of one.
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Old 07-26-2019, 01:07 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rhb50 View Post
I have a 2015 Itasca Sunstar 27N LX. I found the valve to empty the fresh water tank in elec/water compartment. Turned it and no water came out. Is there a vacuum or something I need to release to get the water flowing? I thought I'd ask before I disconnect the hoses from the valve.

Thanks in advance.
I am sorry to hijack your thread. Did you find that the valve handle was stripped? Did you find a bad valve?
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Old 07-26-2019, 05:00 PM   #8
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Originally Posted by danhannah View Post
I am sorry to hijack your thread. Did you find that the valve handle was stripped? Did you find a bad valve?
In mine pipe cement dripped down from one of the joints above freezing the valve in the closed position. I also had the handle strip when I tried to to force it loose when it was stuck closed. The valve Winnebago uses is a POS, just replace. If you don't have PEX tools, just use some good stanless steel hose clamps.
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Old 07-26-2019, 05:04 PM   #9
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Originally Posted by danhannah View Post
Great explanation. Thanks. I'm off to dig up the Pex tool and find a valve next time I get a minute.

In effect, adding that valve sort of mimics to old winterizing system, it seems.

Do you think there was any other reason for the check valve in the HW outlet? I can't think of one.
No a good gate valve costs about $ 7 retail assume Winnebago could get for half that, $ 3.50. The POS check valve they use likely has a Winnebago cost of under $ 2.50. No reason other than to save material cost, 2 less PEX clamps and some labor .

Sometimes I wonder if any of the design engineers at Winnebago actually use their RVs for a few years so they can see the things that don't stand the test of time or that cause annoying things like the the freezing cold water hit in the shower when you release the shower on-off valve.
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Old 07-29-2019, 01:26 PM   #10
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True, True.

But I also see some smart ideas and quality work in the 27n.

Not always, but most of the time...

Think how bad some other rigs are!
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Old 07-31-2019, 05:23 PM   #11
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On ours I found the valve in the elec/water compartment will not drain the tank completely. Don’t know why. I have resorted to opening the valve by the water pump and turning on the pump to completely drain the tank.
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Old 07-31-2019, 06:00 PM   #12
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Water won't drain after turning the knob

the answer is easy: turn on the water pump!
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Old 07-31-2019, 09:46 PM   #13
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Open the valve and turn the pump on , works every time.
And since the drain is on the curbside, all the water will drain out ��
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