More DIY Fun!

Along with the maintenance I had to do on the trailer bearings that I posted about here, I also had a valve connected to the hot water tank on the trailer that has been leaking for quite some time now. It's actually kind of interesting because every year the first time we fill the trailer it leaks like crazy, then after a while the pressure equalizes or something and it is fine for the rest of the season.

I finally got tired of dealing with it this season and I finally decided to do something about it. Of course, that meant I had to buy some new tools, but luckily it didn't cost me too much money. I got some close up photos of the old valve so I could do a more refined Google search for what I needed. In the past when I tried to find a new valve, I never knew the proper terms to use in my search to find what I needed. Things like "three way valve" or "trailer water heater valve" never really provided me the proper results.

Thankfully, after getting these macro shots I was able to put that info into Google and it turns out there are tons of valves like this available from various places, you just needed to know what to look for!

So I hopped on Amazon and picked up a new valve for something like $15 USD. I also grabbed a new PEX crimping tool from Amazon for around $30. It isn't the highest quality tool, but it gets the job done of the few number of times that I am hopefully going to use it. The other good thing is it had a PEX cutter included in it. PEX is pretty pliable to begin with, but having a dedicated cutter is nice.

In addition to that, I had to run to the local hardware store to pick up some PEX tubing since I didn't want to buy the 100 foot roll they had on Amazon. I also grabbed some extra 1/2" crimp rings just in case I needed more than what came with the crimping tool (turns out I didn't).

This is what I was looking at before I got started. The first thing I did was to measure the three pieces of PEX I was going to have to replace to also replace the valve. I took my 10 foot length that I bought from the local ACE Hardware and cut my three pieces.

I then set about removing the old valve and the old PEX tubing that I was going to be replacing. It actually turned out to be a bit harder than I thought it was going to be and I had to get some back up tools to get the job done.

More specifically @mrsbozz's hair dryer so I could warm up the tubing and get it pulled off the connections. I guess it is a good thing they fit so tight, but man it is kind of a pain getting them back off. I had to be really careful because I didn't want to have to replace the old connectors, just the tubing.

Eventually, I got everything off and it was time to put the new valve in. The main purpose of this valve is to bypass the hot water tank when you are winterizing the trailer. If you drain the hot water tank it isn't really necessary to put antifreeze in it. That would just be extra money in antifreeze that you really don't need to spend. That's why they have the bypass valve so you can skip all that waste.

After a few crimps, I had the new valve in place and I was ready to fill the fresh water tank to see if it was going to leak on me. Thankfully, it didn't and after about a week checking on it every day, I am happy to say that it still is not leaking. The water you see in the photo above is just from when I pulled the old tubing off. Overall, this was a very simple job and I am happy that I bought the proper tools to do it right. Working with PEX is actually quite easy with the right tools, and I wouldn't be afraid to do more of it in the future. Though it has very specific use cases, it's a lot more accessible than soldering copper joints together and stuff like that.

This only took me an hour or so in the morning, then I spent the rest of the day working in the yard. Later in the evening I fired up the Weber Kettle for some burgers, chicken, and macaroni and cheese. Check out the bubble on the edges of that cast iron! The burgers were jalapeno cheddar premade patties from our local butcher. They were fantastic and the jalapenos were on the hotter side of most jalapenos I have had.

After a long day of DIY, I spent a bit of time having a beer on our deck. We still have a few things we need to get out of storage and set up on the deck, but our oasis is coming together quite nicely!