In this video, I locate and replace a faulty brass 1/2" check valve (one-way valve) in the RV water heater output piping. Turns out the rubber o-ring had split and the spring was vibrating against the brass casing making a heck of a racket.
I was able to narrow down the problem to the check valve while doing my routine water heater flushing. I noticed that even though the winterizing valve was in the correct position I was still getting water trickling into the water heater.
I have always wondered, when showering in my Cougar 5th wheel, I have noticed that when I pause the shower with the shower head, when I continue I get a moment of cold water. Maybe this valve is the reason.
During pauses, the water still trickles a small amount, and the water from the supply takes the path of least resistance. This check valve is the resistance, so that is why it it cool water.
Thoughts?
Interesting. Maybe someone that has a rig that doesn't use the check valve on the water heater can tell us. I've seen so many people comment on the dribble on the showerhead and the cold blast.
We have a TT we were finding the hot water was migrating down the cold line and when we turned on the ball valve to rinse off we were scalded ! So we added a one way check valve to the shower cold side, with a ball shutoff between the tap and shower head. This saves on wasting water and no scalding when turning shower on to rinse off. Hope this helps.
My check valve made noise years ago. The fitting was so tight and hard to reach that I simply stuck a wire in through it and pulled all the guts out. This hysterectomy has served us well.