Pages

Friday, July 30, 2010

RV Basics : A story about a broken bathroom faucet

[ Update ]

We did actually do this twice. The faucet I picked at Home Depot was the CHEAPEST known to mankind. It lasted maybe 4 months.

We replaced it the next time with the SECOND cheapest faucet in Home Depot.

It pays to get just a little bit better than the cheapest.

M

[ Original ]

When you start reading up on RV's, you'll find there are lots of 'experts' who start talking about very sophisticated things like reverse osmosis water filtration systems, automatic satellite TV systems, and automatic rv leveling and rv stabilization systems and so forth.

I'm not one of those guys. I still wonder "Hey my rv faucet is broke - how do I fix it?"

And I say this because it did break! One thing we're learning is that much of the equipment on an RV is unique to an RV. So when the faucet broke - like you can see in the picture below - after the RV dealer's normal business hours we started to panic because we had to turn off ALL of our water.

I'm going to pass onto you what I've learned from this experience.

From RV Park and Campground Review videos, RV basics, and travel stories with Sheri and Marlan

We actually decided to remove the rv faucet rather than replace the valve on the cold water side. When we took it apart, there were some numbers on the side of the faucet, which you can see Sheri's finger pointing out. I think if I knew much more about plumbing, that would have helped me, but in this case it didn't help much.

The MOST IMPORTANT information was actually that the hot/cold valves were exactly 4 (four) inches apart. That turns out to be a kind-of, sort-of standard. Read on.

From RV Park and Campground Review videos, RV basics, and travel stories with Sheri and Marlan

Because of the 4 inch centers, I was able to locate, in Home Depot, a suitable replacement faucet for our rv. I took a chance (because I did not bring the broken faucet to Home Depot), that the new one had identical fittings underneath the sink (can you see the two plastic inlets with threading above).

And it did have identical fittings. The rest of the installation was pretty straightforward. I was able to hand tighten the fittings and they did not leak.

From RV Park and Campground Review videos, RV basics, and travel stories with Sheri and Marlan

So here is my short summary :
  • RV sinks MIGHT use standard plumbing fittings - ours did.
  • A 4" center-to-center faucet is a standard - or at least you could find one in a Home Depot.
  • You can make this repair for under $15.
  • Take the broken faucet with you when you go shopping.

No comments: