City water hook up question. (Newbie here)

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CJAG

CJAG

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 18, 2018
Posts
108
Location
Hendersonville, TN
Do you use your water pump when hooked up to city water? Or does the pressure of the open hose take care of it? If so is there a risk of seals blowing because of pressure? Curious about this since we are leaving on our first long trip in 2 weeks.
 
Most RVs have a "demand" type of water pump that will only turn on when the pressure in the line connected to the pump falls below some preset level. If you are connected to city water. the pressure in the lines will never fall below that level, and the pump will never turn on.

Joel
 
Don't forget about a pressure regulator for the city hookup

This a cheap one that will work. But the pressure was to low for us.
https://www.amazon.com/Camco-Pressure-Regulator-High-Pressure-40055/dp/B003BZD08U/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1544112874&sr=8-3&keywords=rv+pressure+regulator

We upgraded to this one
https://www.etrailer.com/RV-Fresh-Water/Valterra/A01-1117VP.html
 
No. Turn the pump off when connected to city water.  A pressure regulator is only required at parks with high water pressure.  I carry one and have used it a couple times.  I test the water pressure first with my hand or visually.  Usually, with exceptions, the water pressure is normal or low.  Once in a while you find a park high high pressure and I put the regulator then.
 
Buy a pressure regulator and always leave it attached to your water hose line. We did not and hooked up to a normal park. When I turned the water on, all I could here was my wife yelling "there is water coming out of the wall". High pressure blew apart our waterline in the kitchen, and had to call in a professional to repair it. My best advice again, buy the pressure regulator and use it every time you hook up to city water.


Bill
 
billwild said:
Buy a pressure regulator and always leave it attached to your water hose line. We did not and hooked up to a normal park. When I turned the water on, all I could here was my wife yelling "there is water coming out of the wall". High pressure blew apart our waterline in the kitchen, and had to call in a professional to repair it. My best advice again, buy the pressure regulator and use it every time you hook up to city water.


Bill
Click to expand...

I agree.  While most parks we've been to have seemed okay, some haven't.  Also, pressure can vary with usage upstream, so what seems fine when you check it can change.  30 seconds to install the regulator when you hook up is cheap insurance, IMO. 
 
Hello, another Newbie here.

I attached a photo from our wet bay.  Is the highlighted brass fitting a pressure regulator?  If not what is it?

I appreciate the help.
 

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thelazyl said:
Hello, another Newbie here.

I attached a photo from our wet bay.  Is the highlighted brass fitting a pressure regulator?  If not what is it?

I appreciate the help.
Click to expand...
BY the looks of it, that is a pressure regulator.
 
thelazyl said:
Hello, another Newbie here.

I attached a photo from our wet bay.  Is the highlighted brass fitting a pressure regulator?  If not what is it?

I appreciate the help.
Click to expand...

It does look like one..(the pic's a little small).
It appears to be the cheaper one ($5.00) but it should work. I prefer this one myself
https://www.etrailer.com/RV-Fresh-Water/Valterra/A01-1117VP.html
It allows more flow and adjustable pressure.
 
thelazyl said:
Hello, another Newbie here.

I attached a photo from our wet bay.  Is the highlighted brass fitting a pressure regulator?  If not what is it?

I appreciate the help.
Click to expand...

Photo is pretty small, but it looks like one.  Either that or possibly a quick disconnect.  Is the end threaded for a garden hose?
 
If you are connected to city water. the pressure in the lines will never fall below that level, and the pump will never turn on.
Click to expand...
Not necessarily true all the time. I've had a few occasions when I've inadvertently left the pump on and it would run when we opened a faucet. But I normally leave the pump off unless I find "city" pressure too low (that happens occasionally).
 
I agree it looks like a cheap inline regulator, they work sort of ok to protect plumbing, but are limited in their accuracy and have limited flow, you might want to upgrade to an adjustable one with a pressure gauge on it, available for about $25 on amazon under a number of brand names such as https://smile.amazon.com/Esright-Pressure-Regulator-Lead-Free-Adjustable/dp/B075RRCWGD/

Also note some RV's have pressure regulators built into the water inlet, they look something like this https://smile.amazon.com/SHURFLO-183-029-18-White-Pressure-Regulated/dp/B00074QUDU/ of course these do not protect the water hose only the interior plumbing

p.s. for safety sake I generally don't leave city water turned on at my coach, I only use it to refill the onboard tanks, and turn off my water pump when I am leaving the coach for the day, that way something like a toilet valve leak can't over flow my black tank and flood the coach while I am gone.
 
If you are connected to city water. the pressure in the lines will never fall below that level, and the pump will never turn on.
Click to expand...
That may or may not be true, depending on park pressure. In most park systems, when a faucet is opened the pressure will fall low enough for the pump to come on and supply some percentage of the total water flow. Most pumps are factory set to come on at about 45 psi, but some of us adjust upwards to 50-60 psi.
 
Back when I used to hook up full time I used a good regulator set to 50 PSI and the pump was a 45 PSI so it never came on even if I turned it on. which I did not.

Now I use tanked water (For assorted reasons) and only hook up long enough to fill the on board tank.
One of the reaons.. Last night it froze. Should again tonight but this afternoon in the 40's I tanked up  Hose is not going to freeze cause there is nothing to freeze. tank is heated.

Another.. local wate is high in chlorine.. Sitting in the tank it quickly dissipates.

Another  Summer I stay mostly in two places. one the water is a tad nasty.. The other good You can figure out which I fill up at.

Plus it is easier if I do not have to hook up EVERY time I park.
 
If it IS a pressure regulator, it should be marked either 50 PSI or 60 PSI.  If it were me, I would go out and buy a new and better one. 

I also use water from my tank, by the way, mostly for the same reasons as John from Detroit.  I fill my fresh water tank once every few days, and that makes one less thing to connect and disconnect.  It helps that I live alone and do not use as much water as a couple does.
 
thelazyl said:
Yes, the end is threaded for a garden hose.

Thank you for your help!
Click to expand...

Yup, should be a regulator.  I agree with posters above that you might be happier with the Valtera adjustable kind.  Better flow.
 
We always used the water pump at local RV parks, but often times took our chances without a regulator. We never had any issues with water pressure or surging.
 
Always use a water regulator.

Save yourself a lot of grief and worry.

Sometimes I leave the water pump on so it will kick in if water pressure drops. Also it will kick in if they turn off the water.

I was dying my hair and needed to give it a good long rinse. I had the water pump on and it's a good thing!

The park decided to shut off the water for repairs. There I would have been with drippy staining hair dye trying to get out of shower to turn on pump.

 
I want to point out that in our trailer the pump is only used to pump water from our holding tank so it has to have sufficient water in it before the pump draws anything, or it just pulls air and can remain on when water fawcett is off.

I presume this is the case for everyone else, but as OP ( original poster ) is new I just wanted to be clear.  Correct me if other RVs work differently.

If pressure from city water low then we fill holding tank and use pump so that dual source supply gives us more water.
 
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