Cold shower

[imnprsd]

Thanks for the "Shower Blast" tips and the video that talks about the uneven hot and cold water pressures in the water lines, which also means you are wasting water while you wait for the shower water temperature to "normalize" after you turn off-on the water saver to the shower hose.

Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpnN...ature=youtu.be

This imbalance is a bigger problem if you upgraded to a single faucet head... and if you removed the check valves at the hot water tank, which I did last year because they got stuck and I had no hot water for 3 days!

So I just drilled out the check valve on the top of the hot water tank and that solved the no hot water problem and I did not believe there was a penalty to this approach until I winterized my coach.

For example, with single sink and shower valves you can never shut off the cold water side when you turn the valve to full-hot. So now it takes me 4 gallons of RV anti-freeze to winterize my system instead of just 2 gallons it used to take before I removed the check valves located on the top and on the bottom of my hot water tank. So this is another issue albeit a minor one.

My point is that these check valves in the hot water tank are located 10 feet of 1/2" Pex hose away from the faucet; and without the hot water upper check valve installed in my hot water tank, there is no pressure holding the winterizing antifreeze back when you turn it to full-hot. So the fix to that is to NOT flush your hot water tank before you winterize.

Anyway, back to the subject at hand: I like the idea of adding a check valve, to the hot water line, as close to the faucet and shower valve as possible, but I would recommend using a SharkBite check valve instead of a threaded Camco (cheap) Check Valve that is known to fail often! In addition, I believe it will be easier to install the shark bite check valve since you just have to cut your Pex hot water line and install it. (In the right direction of course!)

However, I just finished my summer travels and my RV is now in storage. So I will not be able to verify the effectiveness of adding a shark bite check valve to my single sink faucet and just before my single shower valve, so if anyone tackles this project this season, can you please let us know how things work out for you, and if you have room behind the shower escutcheon to install a shark bite check valve?

Thanks!

Here's the shark bite on Amazon, but they sell them at HD and Lowe's too.

https://www.amazon.com/SharkBite-U20...0662416&sr=8-6

Note: It will take 3 of these shark bite check valves if you want to attack each of your 3 water faucets, or you can just do the shower valve if you get a blast of hot water or cold water every time you turn the shower head pressure on-and-off.

[Wyatt]

Originally Posted by NYer

Can’t screw it on. Faucet connection is too close to wall. Up at the shower head, the knob, when tightened faces the wall. Sigh.....

Mine too is also too close to the wall to install the shutoff valve at the inlet.
So once I get it off the wall, when I install the backflow device, I’ll get it in and turn the handle perpendicular to the wall.

[Wyatt]

Originally Posted by imnprsd

Thanks for the "Shower Blast" tips and the video that talks about the uneven hot and cold water pressures in the water lines, which also means you are wasting water while you wait for the shower water temperature to "normalize" after you turn off-on the water saver to the shower hose.

Video:

Anyway, back to the subject at hand: I like the idea of adding a check valve, to the hot water line, as close to the faucet and shower valve as possible, but I would recommend using a SharkBite check valve instead of a threaded Camco (cheap) Check Valve that is known to fail often! In addition, I believe it will be easier to install the shark bite check valve since you just have to cut your Pex hot water line and install it. (In the right direction of course!)

My backflow device only needs to be attached as in the video—simple install.

Curious when you say the Camco device is prone to failure? What is offering you state based upon? Reviews?

[imnprsd]

My SINGLE handle shower valve is pictured below. It's a Moen. And while I would like to put a check valve as close to the shower valve as possible, I only have as much room as what lurks behind that round escutcheon. Therefore, I think the shark bite check valve may be my best and only option. IDK. I have yet to address this subject and since my coach is in storage until next season, so I will not be able to report back anytime soon. Hopefully, someone else with a single shower, and single bathroom faucet will let us know what they discover.

As for Camco, everyone knows they fail, and when they do you will remember what I said every time you are forced to take a cold shower!

I would trust shark bite check valve over Camco; and the shark bite can be installed anywhere you have access to your Pex line. Just cut and insert the shark bite and your done. This is 10x easier than unscrewing the hot water line at the faucet and your chances of ending up with a leak is practically zero! Shark Bites work really well on Pex too!

[Goodspike]

Again I'll mention my preference for dual lever handle shower faucets, because you can remember the proper settings from shower to shower and don't need to waste water getting to the proper and safe temperature. If you have a dual handle round knob faucet that doesn't require more than 3/4 turn to full on I would suggest trying to retrofit lever handles. You won't regret it.

[Wyatt]

Originally Posted by imnprsd

I would trust shark bite check valve over Camco; and the shark bite can be installed anywhere you have access to your Pex line. Just cut and insert the shark bite and your done. This is 10x easier than unscrewing the hot water line at the faucet and your chances of ending up with a leak is practically zero! Shark Bites work really well on Pex too!

I don’t have an access panel behind my shower, so the only way I can install the backflow device is by removing the shower valves from inside the shower.