So we pulled into a campground in MS. yesterday and hooked up to their services and noticed that they had excellant water pressure. This morning I noticed water dripping under the rv.
So this morning I emptied the basement again and took down the rear wall and looked into a rats nest of water hoses and found 3 separate leaks. 2 of which are T fittings and a cracked fitting on the hot water tank bypass valve. I went to search for one in the area but to no avail. So I am looking for a part number so I can order one. Has anyone re configured the water lines behind the wall yet. When we get to NC I think thats what I will be doing.

Hey Ken -

I had a similar issue behind my convenience center. Turned out that the factory used pretty inexpensive plastic clamps to secure all the hoses to fittings. When I detected the leak I needed to replace at least 3 of them but decided to just replace all of them with metal clamps as the others were sure to fail at some point. No problems since.

The only change I made to the hoses was to remove the water filter. Near impossible to change there and I wanted a two stage external water filter system anyway.

I think that I am going to eliminate as many plastic fittings as possible and shorten as many hoses as possible to eliminate the mess behind the wall. Would love to install a maniblock and work the whole system over that way you can isolate a leak if needed and not lose the whole system.

I replaced the crappy plastic 3-way by pass valve with a brass valve from Swan Industries. It costs half of what the same replacement plastic valve costs. You have to order direct from Swan. Here is their web site:

http://www.swanindustries.com/rv-plumbing-parts/

You might also check out the quality water manifolds on Amazon which are set up for 1/2" pex lines.

Do it right and install a manifold for the Hot and Cold. Separate your lines instead of "teeing" all of the lines on the same Primary (like Redwood did to cut costs). You will increase you flow and when someone else turns on a tap, you won't get scalded or frozen. With a shut off on each line, if you have a problem, you can isolate the one problem instead of shutting down your stay-cation.

Here is an example of quality work:

Use brass fittings and shut off valves:

And while you are at it, you could insulate the lines...It would buy you some additional freeze protection and it will keep the hot lines hot longer between uses.

Just suggesting...

So which valve did you buy too many different ones to choose from. I did notice that Lowes home improvement does carry a lot of PEC stuff.

I helped our neighbour install the Swan valve when his OEM valve cracked. Another suggestion before you rip apart the piping, if you have those crimp style pex clamps on the pipes you may want to try to re-crimp them, another friend with a Grand Design had leaks caused by the crimps not tight.

It goes without saying that some RV parks have 100+ psi water pressure, a water pressure regulator is essential.

I helped our neighbour install the Swan valve when his OEM valve cracked. Another suggestion before you rip apart the piping, if you have those crimp style pex clamps on the pipes you may want to try to re-crimp them, another friend with a Grand Design had leaks caused by the crimps not tight.

It goes without saying that some RV parks have 100+ psi water pressure, a water pressure regulator is essential.

I might add that you use a "regulator" not the little "restrictor" they may have given you when you bought the RW. .

So which valve did you buy too many different ones to choose from. I did notice that Lowes home improvement does carry a lot of PEC stuff.

Valves, Fittings and Pex Piping....

PEX Types:

For Pex piping, read this interesting article about PEX A, B and C...Make your decision as you wish. But be informed and don't buy the first thing you see. My bet is that RV manufacturers use the cheapest stuff on the market. Most people would not have a clue...

https://www.pexuniverse.com/content/types-of-pex-tubing

Fittings:

Brass all the way. Make sure to use a brand made in the USA. The foreign materials may not meet manufacturing standard and may break when compressed due to thin walls or mixed metals or just poor quality. US parts have a Standard to follow. I'm not saying that they are all perfect but your odds will increase that you'll get a better quality product.

You'll also need the crimping tool. They are not cheap. Use the Stainless Steel Bands (again USA).

There is another option to use external style fittings. This will increase your water pressure as the fittings do not go inside the pipe but rather outside the pipe. You'll get better flow.

Water Quality:

Keep in mind that in certain corrosive water environments, it would be better to have plastic. But my bet is that this is more the exception than the rule.

Water Pressure:

Like others have noted...I keep a pressure regulator on our system at all times. It is set for 40#'s. This is light. Some others use 50#.

GipC, just a comment about PEX clamps.

I use the circular type clamps (the ones that use the circular crimp tool that has a go-no go gauge) on the rigid PEX piping in the Redwood (and at home for plumbing). But, I have found that these clamps don't fit over the slightly larger OD flexible piping that RW uses in the area around the convenience center, the other (Sharkbite?) clamps and crimp tool is required there.

Just for anyone that is planning some Redwood plumbing work!