Why the air valve or more water fun!

[Roger Watts]

The little woman called me to the bath today. She said you better see this. God I hate to hear those words. I've been battling a tiny water leak around the glass shower gimping. Well today there is water running out from under the sink cabinet. It turns out that there is a air valve, for anti hammering I assume. Kind of a mushroom shaped affair with a water line running into it. This piece was put in so sloppily at the factory. It puts the Pex cold water line to it, at a 2 o'clock position and tilts the whole affair. there was no bracketing to it, just hanging there. Water, and I mean quite a bit, pours out, at times randomly. Water around the shower I assumed was from my leak I had been chasing. This volume of water then increased. The water was definitely coming out of this little gadget, with drops hanging off it.
I would assume that this part should be straight up and down not to leak. Is there anyone else out there who has one of these that leaks now and then?
Almost all of the problems I have had with this 07 TKE have been water related. From the the second new toilet I had to replace, to the 14 in. of Pex tubing I found in the black water tank outlet valve. It didn't just fall in the tank at the factory. Don't get this wrong, we still love this rig, and the over all build on the rest is very good. But this plumbing stuff has very little QC, and is getting old.

[Roger Watts]

The little woman called me to the bath today. She said you better see this. God I hate to hear those words. I've been battling a tiny water leak around the glass shower gimping. Well today there is water running out from under the sink cabinet. It turns out that there is a air valve, for anti hammering I assume. Kind of a mushroom shaped affair with a water line running into it. This piece was put in so sloppily at the factory. It puts the Pex cold water line to it, at a 2 o'clock position and tilts the whole affair. there was no bracketing to it, just hanging there. Water, and I mean quite a bit, pours out, at times randomly. Water around the shower I assumed was from my leak I had been chasing. This volume of water then increased. The water was definitely coming out of this little gadget, with drops hanging off it.
I would assume that this part should be straight up and down not to leak. Is there anyone else out there who has one of these that leaks now and then?
Almost all of the problems I have had with this 07 TKE have been water related. From the the second new toilet I had to replace, to the 14 in. of Pex tubing I found in the black water tank outlet valve. It didn't just fall in the tank at the factory. Don't get this wrong, we still love this rig, and the over all build on the rest is very good. But this plumbing stuff has very little QC, and is getting old.

[LindaH]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Roger Watts:
Kind of a mushroom shaped affair with a water line running into it. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Does the "mushroom shaped affair" happen to be brass-colored with a silver-looking "cap" on it?

If this is the item you're talking about, it has something to do with the automatic black-tank sprayer. It's *supposed* to be attached so that it's positioned straight up and down.

Ours, however, was not attached in any way and, thus, was laying over, allowing it to leak. Earl bought a clamp and attached it to the back of the wall underneath the sink, so it now sits straight up and down.

Additionally, if you leave the hose attached to the black tank sprayer even when you're not using it, you might want to quit that practice, or at least drain the water from the hose to relieve the water pressure, which also contributes to leaking.

By the way, the silver-looking *cap* is adjustable, so you might want to try tighening it up, too.

Now, if the item you're talking about *isn't* the same one I discussed above, then I don't have the foggiest!

[Butch50]

Linda,

I know what you are talking about as I can see it under our vanity sink also. It is brass with a silver/chrome top on it. I had no idea what it was for but you are saying that this is vacuum break for the black tank flush system? If it is it sure seems like a strange place to put it. It would seem that the only time it should leak is when you have the hose hooked up to the black tank flush and water turned on. If it leaks at any other time it would seem that it is black water flowing back to it?? If it does not have water hooked up to the flush where would the water come from?? This is just some of my thoughts.

Mine is also leaning (about 2 o'clock poistion) to the right looking into the cabinet.

Here is how they work Vacuum Breaker

I was just looking at it the other day trying to figure out what it was. I guess now I know. See how much smarter we get by reading the web.

[LindaH]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Butch50:
I had no idea what it was for but you are saying that this is vacuum break for the black tank flush system? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
That's what Ed at PI told Earl when he called to find out about the leak we had in that item (although Earl says Ed didn't say specifically that it was a vacuum breaker).

Earl just told me that it wasn't Ed who told him not to leave the hose hooked up outside when not in use. He just figured that if the hose was unhooked, the water in the line would drain out and, thus, there would be no water in it to leak. So far, it's worked, but maybe attaching the breaker to the back wall under the sink so that it sits up and down helps, too.

I don't think there was *any* black water flowing back into it and leaking. All the water we saw was absolutely clear with no smell.

[Butch50]

Hi Linda

That is what I was talking about if you don't have your hose hooked up for the black tank flush then there should not be water there. What this does if you have a hose hooked up and have water running and there was a sudden loss of pressure on the fresh side, which would cause a vaccum in the line, it allows the vaccum breaker to open and shut off the line from the other side. In this case the black tank. This keeps it from sucking water from the black tank and contaminating fresh water lines and the water.

When you install a sprinkler system most towns require 2 back flow preventer valves. These do the same thing to keep the city water from being contaminated by keep the line from reversing and pulling water back through the sprinkler heads into the fresh water system.

Thanks for the info, like I said I was trying to figure out what that thing was for and it makes sense now.