Low point Drain Valve Operation.

[GoodoleBob]

I knew I had this low point drain on my Sunny. Up until today I had never tried it out. I see two flip handles under the bathroom sink area. I see a Red line and a Blue line. I do not see any visual indication as to operating these two flip handles. They each have a 180 degree motion potential. I can't say I know what is right or wrong in the way they are positioned frankly. I tried flipping them every which way and combination of ways and nothing drained out beyond a few drips according to my DW who was observing outside. I know the fresh tank was half full of water. Why can't I make this work? What exactly is the correct way to drain using these two valves?

Thanks

Bob

[Gene]

I don't know if this will help but mine are under the kitchen sink area and when the ends point to 2 o'clock (as I face them) they are closed, when they point to 10 o'clock they are open. You will only get a large amount of water come out if you are connected to "city water" or your pump is turned on. .... or in my case while adding antifreeze ....

[JohnB]

Bob, the low point drains only drain the hot and cold water piping inside the trailer. Red = hot, blue = cold. They do not drain the fresh tank. The fresh tank drain it that super mini little white pain in the neck valve off the bottom of the fresh tank with a short hose feeding it.

If you open up the bath and kitchen faucet and the relief valve on the HW heater it will let air in to break the vacuum and then gravity will drain as much as it is going to. Make sure the pressure is bled off before lifting the safety relief.

If you hook up the compressed air to the fresh inlet you can burp those low point drains and blow water out of them.

The words gravity drain is a relative thing. What will come out by gravity once the vacuum is broke is all that will come out. It takes compressed air to blow the other several pints out.

I do mine so automatically I cannot remember if it is a 90 degree turn or a 180. You flip it all the way until it stops and then it ports to outside. Then flip it all the way back to shut it off. They are a 3 way valve.

Hope this helps

John

[awellis3]

Originally Posted by JohnB

They are a 3 way valve.

John

Whatcha mean, "3 way"?

Teach

[GoodoleBob]

Yes what is meant by threeway valves John? Mine are capable of a full 180 degree motion. So you must be saying that the straight up position is also functional in some way. Is that so? Frankly I see no value in these things verses the confusion of how to operate them correctly. I'm still confused.

Bob

[henryj]

On the newer trailers they do flip 180°. I used a felt marker to label the handles with a "C" so I know when they're closed as it's easy to forget in the rigamarole of winterizing. The only advantages of using the drains is for "dry" winterizing which I wouldn't do in a freezing cold location; and you will use less antifreeze. I have drained and not drained the lines and I still need 2 jugs of antifreeze, so suit yourself, YMMV.

There is no reason to use the low point drains other than for winterizing.

Henry

[Sunline Fan]

Originally Posted by henryj

There is no reason to use the low point drains other than for winterizing.

The only other reason is if you don't plan to use the trailer soon and you had some funky water in the lines, you can drain it out so it doesn't sit in there.

Jon

[JohnB]

Teach and Bob

A 3 way valve. Sorry guys…. I try and curb my industrial background but I can’t help myself some times.

There are several types of valve flows patterns. 2 way, 3 way, 4 way, 5 way are common. And there are more exotic ones as well. The average home owner or RV’er only ever run into 2 way or 3 way in there normal course of things.

A 2 way valve has 2 ports. An in and an out. It is either open or closed when in the full shifted position. Think of a water fountain with a knob lever on it, you flip the lever and water squirts out. The water is either off or squirting out the hole to allow you to drink it. There are many uses for 2 way valves around the house. The garden hose, the drain valve on your hot water heater, the shut off valve that supplies water to the toilet tank, etc.

A 3 way valve has 3 ports. One port is common and the other 2 are selections so to speak. If water is pressurized on the common port you can select which outlet port will get the water. In the case of the low point drains, the common port is the pressure source pipe. The 2 outlets, 1 goes to the outside of the TT the other feeds down stream pressured items. And in a T2499 it is the toilet if I remember right. It is for sure on a T310SR.

A 3 way valve is also used as a by pass valve in the HW heater hook up. The common port is the pressure supply line. The outlet ports 2 of them, one goes into the HW heater the other bypasses the HW heater. Sunline used this exact same valve on both of my 2004 campers and I’m sure Bob’s 2007, for the low point drains and the HW heater by pass.

See here.



So that is what a 3 way valve is. Does that help explain it?

The low point drains or shall we call them, a fresh water supply drain to the outside of the camper allows the option to drain water from the fresh water piping system. It does not drain it all, maybe only 60 to 70% of it at least as observed on a T2499 or a T310SR. Each floor plan I’m sure is different.

Now who in the world uses them??? Well I do, even as poorly of a total drain they may be. I actually use them after every camping trip we go on and we camp a fair amount. Just not as much as I would like too… They have a level of value to me that it allows me to burp/purge to the outside standing water in the pressure lines of the system verses splashing it up in the sinks or into a galloon jug under the faucet that splashes out all over the drainee (aka me….)

H’mm, water left in the camper after camping. This is a topic we have not yet ever that I can recall discussed on SOC. Some leave it in, some don’t. That is a good post all on it’s own. If we want to discuss this please take out a new one. I can see it getting quite long and it might be a great value to folks who have not yet thought thru this.

Hope this helps

John

[MACK C-85]

The low point drains on our '07 276SR are two-way valves, not three-way. They are in the rear bathroom vanity near the floor and our hooked into the vanity supply lines. They are not your typical 90 degree handle operation, however. The pipes are vertical and the handles are at a 45 degree angle to the pipe when opened or closed. I can never remember which way is which, so I used a thin SHARPIE and marked each side of the handle OPEN or CLOSED.

MACK

[awellis3]

Originally Posted by JohnB

So that is what a 3 way valve is. Does that help explain it?

Yup. Now, my set up



has the valves under the sofa. Bathroom, HWH and fresh water tank to picture left, city water and kitchen sink to the right. If these are three-way valves, how would they work? (Your best guess) Any other 2653 owners out there who know?

Teach

[GoodoleBob]

That's exactly how mine are configured also. I don't believe anyone has specifically address the orientation issue as yet...I guess I can fiddle around until something happens. But would be great to hear from a known user whose has figured it out already.

Bob

[MACK C-85]

Unless there is a third connection on the valve with a pipe going through the floor you can't see in the picture, those are two-way valves. If it's just the two pipes seen in the picture and they are in fact low point drains, one side should go outside some how and the other side should be tied into the plumbing somewhere. Usually the valve handle is in-line with the pipe when open, at a ninety degree angle when closed. i.e. in your picture they should be open.

If they do have the third connection going through the floor, I hope you can pull them up some because the valve handle typically would need to be in-line with the pipe through the floor to drain.

Mack

[Steve Collins]

There is a pipe going through the floor under each valve. That's why one is oriented left and the other right so the levers can both be flipped without moving anything else. Handle pointed to the ceiling should open the drain valve and allow the water to dump out the pipes underneath.

[MOKID]

This is what the low point drain looks like on our 2005 T-1950. You can actually see the drain going thru the floor.100_4637.jpg

[MACK C-85]

That's interesting that the valve handle points away from the third port, usually they would be in-line. Learn something new.....

[JohnB]

Originally Posted by GoodoleBob

That's exactly how mine are configured also. I don't believe anyone has specifically address the orientation issue as yet...I guess I can fiddle around until something happens. But would be great to hear from a known user whose has figured it out already.

Bob

Bob

That type of valve in Teach's pic has a stop on it. And yours should too. It does not go 360 degrees.

Worst case. The next time you have water in the camper, flip it a full direction until it stops. It will be full open to the outside or fully closed to the outside and in it's normal working condition. If you are 1/2 way or part way, water will be draining outside.

It appears some floor plans use a 1 ended pipe and a 2 way valve. My 2004 T2499 used the 3 ways if my memory serves me correct. I did it out of habit so much I do not recall. Since I was blowing it out with air, I know if it was open or closed.

John

[awellis3]

Originally Posted by MACK C-85

Usually the valve handle is in-line with the pipe when open, at a ninety degree angle when closed. i.e. in your picture they should be open.

Nope, they're closed.

[MACK C-85]

Quote:
Originally Posted by MACK C-85
Usually the valve handle is in-line with the pipe when open, at a ninety degree angle when closed. i.e. in your picture they should be open.

Nope, they're closed.

The three-way valve is "open" to the two visible pipes, closed to the third "drain" side.

There is a pipe going through the floor under each valve. That's why one is oriented left and the other right so the levers can both be flipped without moving anything else. Handle pointed to the ceiling should open the drain valve and allow the water to dump out the pipes underneath.

What I am learning is valve handle "conventions" don't mean a whole lot in these applications. Typically the handle would go inline with the third pipe, not 180 degrees like these do. Oh well, live and learn.