Do I really need this?

[Kevin K]

I have a 13' scamp. Do I really need a

Water Pressure Regulating Valve on the inlet hose to control the water pressure?

[Doug Mager]

not unless you don't care IF some of your on board water lines blow out (most likely will happen when you aren't there to take immediate action to shut off water supply). R/V parks water pressure(s) vary from park to park, seems to depend on how large a park, IE: number of serviced sites needing a constant water supply. Don't let the cost of buying one desuade you from using one. .....remember the old addage: 'an ounce of prevention......' yadda yadda yadda!!!!

[Donna D.]

Wow, that's a fancy one. My is the cheapy model from Wally World or the like. PS: It stays permanently attached to my water hose, so it's easy to hook up to the hose bib.
Camco Manufacturing Inc. 40053 Water Pressure Regulator - Brass

[Steve L.]

I've got one of those but that doesn't mean anything. I rarely meet a gadget I don't want. But "need" is a strong word.

I bet in the 4 years I've been RVing I've only hooked up to water maybe 3 times. And I've never seen pressure over 40 psi or so.

I haven't heard of anyone's RV pipes bursting from over pressure but I can imagine it happening.

I think the basic water pressure regulator is nice to have. Cheap insurance. The adjustable regulator with dial is wretched excess (sort of the camping motto over here at Castle Pretentious).

[Anne H]

All good advice above - I have one of the really simple in-line ones.

Might depend on how old your camper is too. I became a believer when I first hooked up an old VW Westfalia to city water - I had water everywhere!!!! and then, running to turn it off at the city water - I tripped over the hose and pulled out the connector on my bus. Altogether a very wet and ultimately expensive mistake.

Better safe than all wet I say.

[Chester Taje]

I think it cheap insurance. I use mine all the time when i have hookups.

[Joe Z]

About twenty years ago i didn't use a regulator on our (then) stick built and went swimming....... when we returned water was pouring out of the door......what a mess
Joe

[Frederick L. Simson]

Might depend on how old your camper is too.

My 1978 Fiber Stream was plumbed with gray "Qest" brand Polybutylene I've had several fittings crack and leak. I found that replacement original parts are rare as hen's teeth locally. When I discovered this problem, I was not motivated to replace ALL of my supply plumbing. I did find a source locally, and have hoarded a supply of the brittle compression nuts. When they get used up, I will have no choice but to rip the plumbing out and replace it all. Until then, I will continue to NEED a regulator.

[Greg A]

Someone on one of these forums somewhere recommended to always shut the water off if you are leaving the trailer for a bit. We've been in the habit of doing that so far, but I have noticed in some parks my supply hose bulges quite a bit. I think I'll get one over at Wally just to be safe.
When I rebuilt the Scamp last spring I used all reinforced water line. Bit more expensive, but probably worth it.

[Chester Taje]

Someone on one of these forums somewhere recommended to always shut the water off if you are leaving the trailer for a bit. We've been in the habit of doing that so far, but I have noticed in some parks my supply hose bulges quite a bit. I think I'll get one over at Wally just to be safe.
When I rebuilt the Scamp last spring I used all reinforced water line. Bit more expensive, but probably worth it.

Good reply.

[Gerry]

[quote]I have a 13' scamp. Do I really need a
Attachment 10760



As said it is cheap insurance...I have a cheap one from Wal*Mart and leave it right on the end of my hose so when I pull the hose out it just on the end. No Biggy.
Gerry the Canoebuilder

[Kevin K]

Would this work if I just open the water spicket at the camp ground a small amount (Not full open) and not even use a regulator?

[Joe Z]

kevin...
that won't work. when the water is not being used (faucets in trailer closed) it still builds up to the same pressure as if it was fully opened. but as soon as you open a faucet somewhere the pressure will be full and then drop down to the pressure of only being opened a little bit. shut the faucet and in a little while the full pressure is on your system again.
try a test on your garden hose and just open the faucet (at the house)a little bit and feel the hose (it will be very hard) pull the trigger and for a second a highly pressurized water will come out then drop down to a lower pressure.
Joe

[Gina D.]

I shut of the water when I am away from camp as well. My regulator is like Donnas.

What do full time folks do? I would imagine it's a pain to go to a faucet every day when in the same spot for long periods of time.

[Dean & Mary]

I use a brass regulator and an inline shutoff valve. Easier to do a quick shutoff when leaving camp.

Dean

[Bill MacDermod]

Although we use one my take is that whether your there or away and the lines let go your gonna get wet especially if it happens at night

[Roger H]

I have two quick stories... in my first 1978 Scamp 13 (that I very foolishly towed with a '79 Jeep CJ-7), I was hooked up to a fresh water spigot in Lake Havasu City near the (then) newly reconstructed London Bridge. We had invited some friends from Las Vegas to meet us there and we were having a great time.

My (now ex-) wife was standing in the trailer doing something or other in the middle of the afternoon when all of a sudden she began shrieking like a tornado siren. You could hear her for blocks, and you'd have thought someone was trying to kill her. My buddy and I sprang from our chairs and ran to the door to find the faucet feed line had come off the faucet from the pressure. It was flying around like a crazy snake, spraying my (now ex-) wife and the interior of the trailer with full pressure water. I got it shut off a the spigot, cleaned it up, and since we were in the desert in the summer, the trailer dried out quickly. It was a hilarious memory even today, but I'd shudder to think what the trailer would have looked like had we been away for a few hours when it pulled off. Something akin to an aquarium, no doubt...

The other was a hose that I had lying in the sun, again without a regulator (since the trailer had a residential pressure regulator inside). The hose swelled up like a python that had eaten a pig. My 5/8" hose got to be about 2 1/2" in diameter before I called it off and replaced the hose. It undoubtedly wouldn't have lasted much longer before it burst.

A $6 water regulator can save a lot of aggravation.

Roger

[Dan Meyer]

IMHO, you don't need a pressure regulator.

I've installed a water pressure guage in my Scamp. When I fire up my water heater from cold, water pressure will rise to 150 lbs which is the setting of the relief valve on the water heater.

Having said that, I own a pressure regulator and use it to keep my water pressure around 40 to50 lbs. I'm not really certain why; as I've not seen a campground yet with water pressure over 90 lbs.

-- Dan Meyer

[geoff]

2Cents worth! As a newbie RVr I placed the regulator on the water intake on the RV instead of at the hose bib. The water pressure built during the night and the hose burst. I woke up to a series of words that were inventive in their sentence placement! There was water everywhere in the park! On top of that it had frozen and people were slipping and sliding! There was no love!! We left the park with our tails between our legs! YES - you need this!

[Neil W']

I have always used a regulator and after seeing a large 5th wheel with water pouring out under the door and no one home I started to shut the water off whenever I left for any length of time. At first I thought this was dumb but then realized that unlike a house system our trailers get a lot of shaking etc. on the road which through time can loosen fittings and cause problems. I have spoken with people who say they've gone for weeks with no problems, stopped for the night and when they hooked up to water had a leak.

One test I regularily do is when I shut the water off to go away for the day before I turn it on again when I get back I turn a tap on in the trailer. If there is no pressure I know there is some sort of leak. I have left the system in our motorhome presurized for days and it still held pressure.