Water valve leak

[northwinds13]

I've got a leak in a valve under the sink that goes to the hot water heater. It only leaks in the open position. I've done some plumbing repairs in the house, but not familiar working with Pex. Bought a shark bite valve but not sure about the best way to remove the old valve to install the new one. The red connector thingies are not something I've seen before or while looking on the net. It sure is a tight space under the sink. This is a 2001 Scamp, Layout 6. Any suggestions?

[kayaker51]

Originally Posted by northwinds13

I've got a leak in a valve under the sink that goes to the hot water heater. It only leaks in the open position. I've done some plumbing repairs in the house, but not familiar working with Pex. Bought a shark bite valve but not sure about the best way to remove the old valve to install the new one. The red connector thingies are not something I've seen before or while looking on the net. It sure is a tight space under the sink. This is a 2001 Scamp, Layout 6. Any suggestions?

Is it leaking from pex joint or valve? If valve tighten the nut on top, 1st easiest fix.

[Doug in Sacramento]

I recently worked with Pex for the first time when I installed a side access door on the side of our Scamp 16. I had to relocate the city water connection. You need two things to work with Pex; sufficient room and a good crimper. I removed the rear bench, which gave me room to work. I first bought an inexpensive crimper that requires vice grips to apply pressure. That didn’t work well (leaks) so I bought a full sized crimper, which worked very well.

I don’t know if it is possible to work with Pex in such a tight space. You might need to do some disassembly to gain sufficient access.

After working some with Pex, I’m now okay with it. It is actually pretty easy and inexpensive.

Good luck.

[northwinds13]

Originally Posted by kayaker51

Is it leaking from pex joint or valve? If valve tighten the nut on top, 1st easiest fix.

It appears to be leaking from the valve. The nut did not tighten further and actually leaks more when I just tried to tighten it again. I'd like to get that valve out of there and replace it, preferably in an easier place to get at it but stopping the leak is my first priority. The water tank is drained now.



Pex crimpers are on the way from amazon.

[northwinds13]

Originally Posted by Doug in Sacramento

I recently worked with Pex for the first time when I installed a side access door on the side of our Scamp 16. I had to relocate the city water connection. You need two things to work with Pex; sufficient room and a good crimper. I removed the rear bench, which gave me room to work. I first bought an inexpensive crimper that requires vice grips to apply pressure. That didn’t work well (leaks) so I bought a full sized crimper, which worked very well.

I don’t know if it is possible to work with Pex in such a tight space. You might need to do some disassembly to gain sufficient access.

After working some with Pex, I’m now okay with it. It is actually pretty easy and inexpensive.

Good luck.

The old valve was "done for." I'm the third owner and the nut showed signs of prior tightening. I used a pex cutter to cut the valve out on either side of the red crimps/sleeves. I should have the crimper by the weekend, along with crimps and some more pex tubing. I also made some room under the sink by temporarily unscrewing part of the support for the water heater and moving the support to the side. That allowed enough room for clean cuts and hopefully the install later. There's too much gap and not enough slack on the existing pex to simply push on the sharkbite fitting. I emptied the water tank and water heater before making the cut.

[Casita Greg]

From looking at the picture, I'm wondering why there's a valve even in that line. Your trailer's entire water system is small enough that you could just empty it if needed to replace any water component, including the sink faucet assembly. I assume that you already have a faucet up on the sink to shut off that water, right? If so, then why would you need another valve in the same line only several inches away? I'd just buy a chunk of PEX and replace the whole vertical run from the floor elbow all the way up to the sink faucet if it were me.

It may be easier to pull the faucet assembly and replace the PEX line on the sink faucet first, then snake the PEX down to where you could more easily hook it to the bottom fitting. You probably won't be able to get the PEX crimper in that tight space anyway. Just a thought.

[northwinds13]

Originally Posted by Casita Greg

From looking at the picture, I'm wondering why there's a valve even in that line. Your trailer's entire water system is small enough that you could just empty it if needed to replace any water component, including the sink faucet assembly. I assume that you already have a faucet up on the sink to shut off that water, right? If so, then why would you need another valve in the same line only several inches away? I'd just buy a chunk of PEX and replace the whole vertical run from the floor elbow all the way up to the sink faucet if it were me.

It may be easier to pull the faucet assembly and replace the PEX line on the sink faucet first, then snake the PEX down to where you could more easily hook it to the bottom fitting. You probably won't be able to get the PEX crimper in that tight space anyway. Just a thought.

That line runs from the water tank into the water heater, and there is also a bypass system that was installed after-market by the first owner. But now you have me thinking about a simple shark bite push-on connection at the first cut in that small space and running a chunk of pex to connect just before the water heater inlet, where there is more room to crimp. Does that make sense?

[Casita Greg]

Sounds like a good plan to me. No sense making it harder than it needs to be. It's probably what I'd do.

[Jann Todd]

Originally Posted by northwinds13

I've got a leak in a valve under the sink that goes to the hot water heater. It only leaks in the open position. I've done some plumbing repairs in the house, but not familiar working with Pex. Bought a shark bite valve but not sure about the best way to remove the old valve to install the new one. The red connector thingies are not something I've seen before or while looking on the net. It sure is a tight space under the sink. This is a 2001 Scamp, Layout 6. Any suggestions?

You don't need a crimper for the shark bite. It just slips over the pex pipe. It will move around but it seals. Weirdest thing we've ever used but the simplest. We've put them under our kitchen sink, bathroom sink and a man putting in our new toilet used one to replace the valve for it. You just need a good cutter, cut the old valve out, you'll need at least 2-3 inches of pipe under the cut so you can hold the pipe while you push the shark bite on, push on shark bite and you're done. There's no place for you to crimp.

[Jann Todd]

[QUOTE=Jann Todd;744573]You don't need a crimper for the shark bite. It just slips over the pex pipe. It will move around but it seals. Weirdest thing we've ever used but the simplest. We've put them under our kitchen sink, bathroom sink and a man putting in our new toilet used one to replace the valve for it. You just need a good cutter, cut the old valve out, you'll need at least 2-3 inches of pipe under the cut so you can hold the pipe while you push the shark bite on, push on shark bite and you're done. There's no place for you to crimp. You should be able to attach some kind of connection to the pex without crimping. Some pex uses some kind of tool that makes it swell, you push the 2 pieces together and let them sit. We just had a hot water heater put in our house and the plumber showed me how he does it. He said that crimping some pex voids the warranty.