Small release valve threatens our first spring camping excursion

This is the first of a two-part series about the first camping trip of the year.

The instructions seemed straightforward: Turn off water supply; disconnect water supply line from water valve; press flush pedal to drain water from toilet; disconnect water line to vacuum breaker; press on top and bottom latches of water valve to release, then pull water valve out of housing. 

"Wow," I thought. "I can do it."

Knowing my lack of mechanical ability, my wife, Garnet, had her doubts. 

"Are you sure you don't want Bill McKinney to look at it?" she said.

"Look, it's as simple as changing a light bulb," I said. "I can do it, I'm telling ya." 

"Well, maybe, but changing a light bulb has four steps, remove fixture, unscrew old light bulb, install new light bulb and replace fixture," she said. "Changing the water valve has six steps just to remove the old valve. You had better get some help."

"Two, four or six steps, what's the difference?" I asked. "I can do it, trust me."

"I'm just tellin' ya," Garnet said and walked away.

This little drama began a few weeks ago as we were preparing for our first outing of the year in our 26-foot Hideout travel trailer. As careful as I was to place the trailer in hibernation last fall, enough water remained in the little water valve, which supplies water to the toilet, to cause it to freeze and crack.

This break was discovered when cleansing the water system this spring. The puddle of water on the floor, along with the dripping water valve, indicated we had a problem.

Air was used to remove all water from the lines last fall, with a little RV antifreeze placed in the sink traps. I didn't think about this little water valve having trapped water and needing to open the flush pedal to force the water out.

In years past, extra antifreeze was used throughout the water system to make sure every inch was flowing with the pink antifreeze. This required extra antifreeze, which some of my friends called excessive, but it insured a completely winterized water system.

Of course, last fall, with the use of an air compressor, I was confident the trailer was completely winterized. This year, and in the future, the antifreeze method will be used. My confidence will again be complete when the pink stuff is coming out of every water line.

But here we were, a day away from leaving on our first outing when I needed to break the news to Garnet. 

"We have a bit of a problem with the toilet," I said.

"OK, what did you do now?" she asked

"Why do you always figure a problem is my fault?" I countered.

"Because, a problem is usually caused by you, not always, but 90 percent of the time," she said.

"Well I certainly dispute your figure," I said. "90 percent is way too high. I've been keeping track and the correct figure is only 60 to 70 percent, let's say 65."

Garnet questioned our ability to make the trip after the problem was explained.

"Oh, we will be fine," I said. "I will install a stop-valve in the water line to the toilet. The only difference from normal is we will need to manually add water to the toilet."

"Mighty big plumbing words for you," Garnet said. 

"Trust me, I can do it," I said.

At this point the Internet was consulted to solve the problem. The toilet brand name is Dometic and a complete owner's manual was viewable. Toward the beginning a paragraph was devoted to the water valve being susceptible to winter damage.

I called the company headquarters in Ohio and explained the problem. The lady transferred me to a Seattle company who had the part in stock, which was ordered.

We left for Site 23 at Potholes State Park the next day, with stop-valve in place. Our stay was a good one, including visits with friends, trips home to feed cats and to check the mail. The water valve arrived the second day of our trip. 

"Look," I said to Garnet while holding up the box with the valve inside. "Now I can fix the toilet."

"We'll see," she said.

Next week: My plumbing expertise is tested.