Water fill select knob replacement

[jefflbi]

2004 Winnebago Journey. In the water compartment the water fill select knob flew off sometime today, after I left to go home of course, and my girlfriend who has been working nights woke up to water shooting out the hole. My question is, is it a major deal to replace it. She tried pushing it back on, but it will not stay in place. I have a feeling there is going to be some sort of stress crack on knob which will not be strong enough to hold back the water pressure. TIA............

[Ray,IN]

Replace entire valve.

[jefflbi]

Is this valve a common part??

Update: Just ordered the valve from Winnebagoparts online........... only $25 plus shipping. My next question is how difficult is this job??

[Morich]

how big the problem will vary but most likely the valve does need replaced and that can mean a BIGGIE or not so big!
The problem is that some are made and plumbed so we can take the metal sheet it is mounted on loose and pull it forward enough to get to the plumbing in back. Depends on how many lines and how flexible??
Others have a small section in the large section which we can take loose to get it done. I looked adrawings but we don't get the best drawing for that age group so not always clear.


Does this show a second small sheet where the faucet, etc are connected to let us take it loose, rather than remove the m from the large sheet?

[jefflbi]

Originally Posted by Morich

how big the problem will vary but most likely the valve does need replaced and that can mean a BIGGIE or not so big!
The problem is that some are made and plumbed so we can take the metal sheet it is mounted on loose and pull it forward enough to get to the plumbing in back. Depends on how many lines and how flexible??
Others have a small section in the large section which we can take loose to get it done. I looked adrawings but we don't get the best drawing for that age group so not always clear.
Attachment 185658

Does this show a second small sheet where the faucet, etc are connected to let us take it loose, rather than remove the m from the large sheet?

Yeah, that drawing is a little different from what I have. I'm not at the RV now, so I can't go and take a look. I'll be going back tomorrow to pack everything up and bring it home. The part will be a week, so I have time to get the old one out..........

[jefflbi]

The valve blew while it was in the City Water Fill position. If I can get the valve in the fresh water fill position will that allow me to use water from the fresh water holding tank??

[Morich]

If it is what I have seen and the plastic inside blew out, I would guess that the old pressed back in the whole will have some part broken offf and likely to blow back out, even with the reduced pressure from the water pump.
But I might be worng as I'm sure there are lots of those that are different and break in different ways.
New valve is often the only way to fix it. But if you need water while waiting for the part, if you can find which tube comes from the tank and which goes to the rest of the RV, I might guess tying those two together would let you use water from the tank???
Some type of flexible connection that you could put on for temorary use might work but that is pretty far out guessing!

[jefflbi]

You are correct, something must broken off because the piece will not snap back into place and turning it to fresh water fill doesn't do any good. The water pump just blows it out. But if I hold it in place it's fine. It took me a while to figure out how to get the covers off, and other than cosmetics, I really don't see what they even need them. But my temporary solution was to use a zip tie to hold it in place. I was able to use an 8 inch tie and wrap it around the elbow and secure it up tight. That will get us through this trip, although I am having my girlfriend turn off the water and the water heater while she's at work.

[Morich]

Looks like a winner--if it gets you by in a pinch!
The reason for the diverter valve is that many RV will leave an air leak if we leave the valve in the wrong position and that air leak won't let the pump build a vaccum to suck water out of the tank as it is so mush less work to pull air and move the lightweight stuff instead of water!
The old story of hiring a guy to haul water if he finds he can haul air!
It's a mean world!

[jefflbi]

Well I was able to gain suitable access to the valve, and the old one is removed. I'm creating a video to post on youtube because this was the first time I couldn't find anything that was remotely helpful, so I decided to make a video to maybe give someone else a helping hand. It really wasn't bad getting access behind the cover, but I did have to drill out two rivets that hold in place the valve that I removed and the valve that is for the water heater bypass. I think I can get new rivets in there when the time comes, but now I know I need to keep a small rivet set on hand in my tool bag..........."Get an RV they said.........it'll be lots of fun they said".............

[Morich]

The only thing on an RV that works full time is the owner!

[jefflbi]

Originally Posted by Morich

The only thing on an RV that works full time is the owner!

Wait, but I just retired!!!

[Ray,IN]

My water fill-valve appears just like yours. Let us know when your video is up on Utube..

Jeff, they are a lot of fun; between work sessions. I have now been retired (3X) for more years than I worked.. Now I don't know when I had time to hold down a job and still get things done at home.

[johnnyk]

In our RV those are Flair-it pex fittings. The biggest issue is actually getting the fittings on the PEX tubing.. It helps if you have the Flair-it tool, but it's a pain regardless. You should be able to get the fittings off Amazon. I gave up on them last year and replaced the valves with brass ball valves.

[FIRE UP]

Originally Posted by jefflbi

You are correct, something must broken off because the piece will not snap back into place and turning it to fresh water fill doesn't do any good. The water pump just blows it out. But if I hold it in place it's fine. It took me a while to figure out how to get the covers off, and other than cosmetics, I really don't see what they even need them. But my temporary solution was to use a zip tie to hold it in place. I was able to use an 8 inch tie and wrap it around the elbow and secure it up tight. That will get us through this trip, although I am having my girlfriend turn off the water and the water heater while she's at work.

jefflbi,
First off, that decal for your water source selection doesn't seem correct. At least that's not what mine looks like with the same exact plumbing scenario in our '04 Itasca Horizon 36GD with the CAT C-7 330HP. Mine says: City Water in one position of the valve and, WATER TANK FILL in the other position. In the City water position, you receive water from the outside source but, you're not filling the tank. In the other position, you're filling the tank. According to your decal, you're filling your tank from either position. This is not overly important, it just seems odd to me.

Anyway, I have replaced that valve and while actually replacing it is no big deal, getting to it is another story. Winne/Itasca didn't (as usual) make things easy to maintenance or repair. Your plumbing compartment is slightly different than mine because the ranking of the models for Winne and Itasca made for different layouts of those compartments. If I recall, the Journey and Meridian compartments are 1/2 plumbing and 1/2 electrical, correct? My memory ain't what it used to be, not that it was any good in the first place.

But, in any case, it's a step procedure to replace that valve. That is, you just have to look at what steps are needed to gain access to it. It may mean taking things apart that have little to do with that valve but, are needed to be removed or maybe partially disassembled so that something else can be removed, so you can eventually gain access to all the components that make up the connections to that valve.

It was quite a while ago that I replaced mine and again, if I recall, it wasn't overly technical, just time consuming because of the amount of items that had to be removed, moved, altered or whatever just to gain access to that valve. On mine, I had to remove the front panel so I could see what was involved with the removal and replacement of that valve. Getting that panel off was not an easy chore. Then, some of those fittings on that PEX or whatever type of tubing system it is (again, I used to know all the names of this stuff) can get to be somewhat stubborn and will fight being removed. What may seem like a fairly easy fix, can turn into a small nightmare. Good luck Sir.

Scott

[tim myers]

And for more confusion the labeling on my 2007 Journey 36G is Normal and Tank Fill. With city water hooked up and the valve in the Normal position the city water only goes to the house water lines. If the valve is in the normal position and no city water is hooked up water comes from the fresh water tank to the house lines via the pump. With city water hooked up and and the valve in the Tank Fill position water is provided to fill the tank only. I found out early that you don't want to try to run the pump with the valve in the Tank Fill Position and no City water hooked up, as the pump just circulates fresh water and never pressurizes the tank.

[dickb46]

Getting the cover off and on is the hard part. The old pex fittings were not
generally replaceable once once installed and new ones were impossible to install in tight spaces.
Sharkbite fittings are an easy replacement on use on existing lines and don't need large tools to install the fittings.
I just had to replace the cold water feed line to the passenger side of the coach from the bay to the shower.
The thinking about it took three times as long as the doing it.
You can get the new valve, hook the pex lines onto it while on the bench then splice it into the system using the sharkbite fittings (you just push the line into the fitting and it's done).
Really, it's easy as pie.
dickb

[FIRE UP]

Originally Posted by tim myers

And for more confusion the labeling on my 2007 Journey 36G is Normal and Tank Fill. With city water hooked up and the valve in the Normal position the city water only goes to the house water lines. If the valve is in the normal position and no city water is hooked up water comes from the fresh water tank to the house lines via the pump. With city water hooked up and and the valve in the Tank Fill position water is provided to fill the tank only. I found out early that you don't want to try to run the pump with the valve in the Tank Fill Position and no City water hooked up, as the pump just circulates fresh water and never pressurizes the tank.

Tim,
I'm assuming you mean pressurizes the SYSTEM, NOT THE TANK, correct? Your water tank is not pressurized in any part of the operation. You probably already knew that.
Scott

[tim myers]

Originally Posted by FIRE UP

Tim,
I'm assuming you mean pressurizes the SYSTEM, NOT THE TANK, correct? Your water tank is not pressurized in any part of the operation. You probably already knew that.
Scott

yes the system

[DancinCampers]

My guess is that the nut cracked, or the O ring on the stem split. I have replaced the guts on these valves without replacing the whole valve. The guts are pretty much interchangeable.