Installing check valve

[yport]

Quick question friends .... I too have the issue of the of water filling the fresh water tank when you don't want it to. Replaced the Anderson valve under factory warranty ... same problem still.

I have a check valve to install in the line as suggested by many. Are you installing that in the short "hose" line running from the Anderson valve to the water pump? with water flow direction from the pump to the valve?

Thanks

 

[danemayer]

We had a debate on this a few months ago with varying opinions on which side of the pump to install the check valve. The Shurflo Inline Check Valve instructions don't say. I don't remember the argument advocating putting it on the input side of the pump. Without a good reason to do otherwise, I would put it on the output side of the pump so there's no water pressure applied to the pump from city water.

 

[lynndiwagoner]

Output side of pump with arrow pointing away from pump. I did a write up on the easy way to do this......you will need a check valve that has 1/2" threads on both sides. Take the 1/2" line off of the pump on the output side. On my BC this is made of PEX rigid line, even though the pump manufacturer recommends flexible lines only going to the pump input and output....just to keep vibration and a noise to a minimum. Anyway, you will need a short pre-made piece of flexible line with female 1/2" connectors on each end, which you can get at any home improvement store in the plumbing department. Take one end of the line and screw it onto the output side of the pump (where you previously disconnected the line) and screw the checkvalve onto the other end with the arrow pointing away from the pump. Take the line you disconnected from the pump and screw it onto the open end of the check valve.

 

[yport]

oh darn ... thot that would be the answer Lynn!! I too have the rigid line on output side and flexible hose connection on input side. Would have been a lot easier to install on flexible input side hose ... pretty tight on output side. Will need to unmount pump and move around to accommodate check valve and remount.

The puzzling thing is that the fresh water tank sometimes does NOT drain (I leave drain valve open) ... like it did all morning here and now decides not to ... and nothing has changed!! Hmmm ... Will install check valve anyway.

Thanks for the input Dan & Lynn.

 

[pegmikef]

Output side of pump with arrow pointing away from pump.

Yep, I did it this way last year and it solved the problem. I was fortunate as the pump lines are flexible so I just had to splice it in the output line.

 

[lynndiwagoner]

On mine it wasn't that tight, I had room to unscrew the rigid fitting. You won't have to move the pump because you are going to attach one end of the flexible line to it, and depending upon how long a "jumper" you buy the checkvalve will be quite a distance from the pump. A plus to adding the flexible line on the output side is that it sure cuts down on vibration and noise. Of course it's leaking back into the fresh water tank because the check valve built into the pump is leaking. My pump was still in warranty and was replaced by Shurflo so I took the checkvalve out. I'm saving it for the next time this new pump starts leaking.

 

[simsfmly]

Going in there today to install mine. Should I mention I hate doing plumbing? Wish me luck.

 

[simsfmly]

OK, boys. Here's what I've got:



Flexible line coming in. Pex going out to an elbow, then about a 2" piece going to a T.

My thought is to reposition the pump, get a short piece of flexible line with the inline check valve spliced into it, then attach it to the out of the pump and the pex. Anybody have other thoughts?

Thanks in advance.

 

[TedS]

I'd leave the pump where it is. Use a long piece of flexible hose. Put the check valve in it. Put a loop in the hose. Connect one end to the pump fitting and the other to the tee. The long piece of flex hose will isolate pump vibration from the rigid pex.

 

[recumbent615]

Another alternative to changing the plumbing at the pump would be to install an inline check valve in the pex section that connects to the city water. I am assuming that your connection goes either all PEX from the pump or like mine it goes flex to pex to the T connection ( where City water pressure is ) if you have a section of 1/2 inch PEX that it can be installed in just go to Home Depot and get a SharkBite 1/2 inch Check Valve - Cut the PEX and insert the pipe into both ends of the Fitting - DONE.

 

[simsfmly]

The pump isn't the leak. The Andersen 4-way valve is. Unscrewed the hose going to the fresh water tank from behind the valve, capped the valve output, watched the drain for the fresh water tank for an hour or so and it stopped leaking. <sigh>

So, will be calling Heartland on Monday and see if I can get a new valve to install. Did I mention I hated plumbing???

 

[TedS]

Just to verify that it is a problem valve, take the cap off and see if water comes out that port.

 

[MTPockets]

My tank was filling when hooked to city water. I replaced my pump and no more problems - 2 years.