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Old 06-13-2016, 10:18 AM   #1
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1993 25' Excella
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What is a Vacuum Breaker?

I have a leak where my shower hose connects to the main plumbing attached to the wall. Before the hose goes to the valve, there is an Alson's Vacuum Breaker and it is leaking. Do i really need this component or can I just connect the hose to the main valve? Here is a pic.: Thanks in advance.


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Old 06-13-2016, 11:30 AM   #2
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It prevents backflow into the water supply. I only know of the one on my city water inlet, not sure if there are others. You do need it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vacuum_breaker
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Old 06-13-2016, 11:35 AM   #3
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Hoses and such that are attached to a water line should have a vacuum (anti-siphon) breaker. This prevents water from back-flowing into the fresh water supply in the event that water pressure drops. It does this by allowing air into the water line, in this case, the shower hose, so it can't suck in dirty water.

Most of the parks I've been to have an anti-siphon on the spigot anyway. But it's still a good thing to have because even a small amount of dirty water can contaminate the water in your fresh water supply lines and make you sick.

If it were me, I'd remove the breaker, attach the hose, take a shower then go to the hardware store to get a replacement.
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Old 06-13-2016, 12:06 PM   #4
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They put a brraker on the shower hose as to keep (unlikely to happen) a submerged shower head from sucking wster back into the freshwater system. It would be.ok to omit the vacuum breaker if you promise not to tell the proper authorities! These little things crud up with minerals and tend to leak while in use anyway. Furthermore I feel one tends to.waste water while dry camping as every time you shut off the water, you loose the contents of the hose and that water cant be used as it just goes.down the drain.
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Old 06-13-2016, 12:55 PM   #5
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Thanks everyone! I am going to eliminate it in the shower. It really makes no sense to have it in there.
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Old 06-14-2016, 02:07 PM   #6
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If you change your mind, you can get a new vacuum breaker to replace your faulty one on Amazon for about $35. I replaced mine last fall and my shower works much better now. It was an easy fix.
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Old 06-15-2016, 07:05 AM   #7
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They defiantly help and I recommend you keep it in place . They don't cost that much ,I just picked up one at ace hardware couple months back for $10. Use Teflon tape or plumbers paste on the threads and should be trouble free for years.
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Old 06-15-2016, 07:13 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Akronguy View Post
Thanks everyone! I am going to eliminate it in the shower. It really makes no sense to have it in there.
It makes sense if you don't want to take a chance on contaminating your fresh water supply in the trailer. For short term, sure, remove it, but make a note to replace it. Like Nomad518 & Munchie say, your local hardware store or Amazon will have a replacement; cheap safety insurance.
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