A '63 for me! (many good ideas for your new to you Trailer)

[azflycaster]

My 75 TW has Pex with the flair-it fittings and I think they are great. I corrected a small error that a PO made when the Pex was installed and the only advise I have is, don't make any errors! Once you seat the pipe on the fitting, they do not come apart with out heat and pressure. If you dip the pipe in very hot water for a few seconds, it will slide right on to the fitting. If I had to do it myself the only thing I would do differently would be to use different colors for the hot and cold. If the PO had done that, he would not have attached the city water line to the hot water. I bought my fittings from http://www.pexconnection.com , yes they are a bit pricey. I also used a PVC pipe cutter. It worked great.

[fastrob]

Originally Posted by uwe

I am going to use 1/2in insulation covers for the hot water tubes, and where there is risk of chafing the tubing arounda corner etc.

At Home Depot there are lengths of plastic ribbed tubing available to protect pipes from damage. I have some over my oil tank line at home. I have seen different diameters.

R

[NorCal Bambi]

Originally Posted by uwe

I like the system with PEX tubing and Flair-it fittings a lot. A friend sugested CashAcme shark fittings, which apparently will work with pex or copper. I will have to take look and see what they're all about. I am, however, almost finished, and don't want to change fitting styles now. I guess the drawback might be that the Flair-It fittings seem sort of pricey.
Otherwise, a wonderful system.
I am going to use 1/2in insulation covers for the hot water tubes, and where there is risk of chafing the tubing arounda corner etc.

I don't understand about the insulation covers and the chafing. Could you include some pictures or further explanation?
thanks Don

[uwe]

Originally Posted by NorCal Bambi

I don't understand about the insulation covers and the chafing. Could you include some pictures or further explanation?
thanks Don

Don,
I do not have any pictures of the plumbing yet. But, it's easy to explain.
The insulation is the hollow lightweight foam tubing that you have certainly seen at HD or Lowes. Long foam sticks, like swimming noodels, hollow in the middle. It wraps around he pipe and insulates it from hot or cold.
In my case, I want to keep the hot water hot inside the tubing, even though it might not matter that much in the trailer. A secondary purpose for the insulation is rattle and chafing prevention.
The pump causes a vibration in the tubing, caused by the hammering of the water pressure. Where ever the tubing is near a wall, or laying against the inner skin, I want to dampen the contact spot by slipping in a small section of the foam insulation to keep things nice and quiet. I will add an accumulator to make it even quieter if necessary.
My installation also runs around quite a few corners and through walls. Whereever there is a tight bend or direct contact with a metal corner etc, I will install a pad to make sure the tubing does not rub through over time.

[cosmotini]

Uwe,

I love reading this post. Keep it up!

I found this link yesterday. They may help with pump vibration.

They have them for Aquajet and ShurFlo.

Last fall, when winterizing, I used the flexibile faucet connector hoses with the braided stainless covering from Lowes and the pump is still really loud. We don't use the pump much anyway as we always try to get full hookups, but I will eventually swap it out for something quieter.

Dennis

[cosmotini]

Shizzit!

The picture came from http://www.rvwaterfilterstore.com/Pumps.htm

Sorry.

Dennis

[uwe]

Dennis,
thanks for the link. I book marked it, so I can refer to it when needed.
I rebuild a PAR pump with pulsation chamber earlier during this project. I want to see ( or hear?) how that one works out before buying a new pump.
I like the idea of using on of their water filters.

[Wardinbb]

Hi Uwe, With regards to securing your pex lines, IMHO I agree that the water lines should be secured as I figure any sort of vibration may impact the connection. I don't have a PIC of the tubing clips I'm using but here is an Ebay supplier who has them. I believe they are a Canadian manufacturer http://cgi.ebay.com/1-2-PEX-TUBING-C...QQcmdZViewItem and I've used them to secure other items that feature a 5/8" OD. They secure with a screw. Also IMHO I saw the "quick-fit" fittings available for the pex system and went with the permanent copper crimp ring method. The best tool I could find is the Rostra and/or Sargent Soft Touch 9230 Ratchet Handle Tool coming in at a 11" long(Cat.No. 9232STR). If you can get the tool nose around the ring, you can clamp it permanent with this. As I'm really good at doing most things twice, I'm using the Easy Shear Fitting Recovery Tool, Cat. No. 7402 ES to remove the copper rings.

Ed

[uwe]

Plumbing, plumbing, more plumbing...
the sinks and shower are plumbed in. What's left to do are 2 vent lines, and the flex line for the toilet. Plus, the freshwater fill and vent hoses need to be re-installed.
I decided to toss the freshwater fill that I bought a while back in favor of a marine deck fill with a screw on cap. This means re-doing the freshwater fill hoses and vent lines.
But, here are a few pictures of the newly installed plumbing. Shown are the pump area with suction/discharge hoses, the galley sink business end, and the area under the vanity sink.

[uwe]

Our new bath/shower faucet. Set on wood panel that is covered with stainless sheetmetal to match the vanity top. the black line still needs to be removed - it's a Sharpie mark

[uwe]

My Darling spent her Monday off lining the cabinet shelves with non-slip shelf liner. She also went shopping for 4 of the canvas lined baskets. Those will hold loose clothing items like underwear and socks etc. She got a 5th one for under the vanity to keep toiletry items.

[uwe]

Here is a picture of the area under the tub, showing the P-trap.

[ankornuta]

Awesome pictures Uwe! I've been giving a lot of thought lately to plumbing so it's great to see what you've done.

[azflycaster]

The foam added to the lines, is it split so that it can be added later?

[uwe]

Originally Posted by ankornuta

Awesome pictures Uwe! I've been giving a lot of thought lately to plumbing so it's great to see what you've done.

Thanks,
the main concerns were getting the grey water from the tub into the tank, and making provisions for plumbing to run inside cabinetry as much as possible. The tub is low, the tank only an inch or two below it. Imanaged it by raising the tub only 3/4in. The picture shows the "shim". Creampuff helped me with plumbing the tub. The spa-flex hose is very stiff, but does make curves that are difficult to fab with PVC.
The only exposed plumbing is behind the toilet, where the lines cross over the black tank into the vanity. I could have avoided that by leaving more room behind the black tank. At the time, I wanted max capacity, so I missed the mark on conceiling the 2 water pipes. No I will have to make a curved soffit to hide them, once the toilet line is connected.

[uwe]

Originally Posted by azflycaster

The foam added to the lines, is it split so that it can be added later?

Yes, the foam is split, with adhesive on both seams. You can wrap it after the fact, easily.

[NorCal Bambi]

Uwe, thanks for the pictures on the plumbing. I will be starting that project next week. I will study your work before I begin.
Thanks again Don

[azflycaster]

Uwe, Let us know if the foam softens the pump noise....

[uwe]

Originally Posted by azflycaster

Uwe, Let us know if the foam softens the pump noise....

Interesting thought. I have several of the water lines run right underneath my bed. I guess I will cover teh cold water lines as well, to reduce pump noise. the actually have thicker type wrapping material, some of which I might use for the run that's underneath the bed. I would hate to have pump vibration under the bed whenever someone uses the water system at night.

[fastrob]

I would want to hear the pump when in use, not just when sleeping.

R