I'm drowning with this plumbing maze ... PLEASE HELP :)

[Minno]

Originally Posted by WILDRTEXAS

OK, another question when winterizing. Where are you putting the antifreeze (scary) and how are you blowing lines?

Some people blow the lines with compressed air and some don't. I did once, years ago, and decided it wasn’t worth the trouble. Granted, I have never winterized an airstream at all – so some will disagree with me on this.

I drain everything as much as possible, set the water heater bypass valves to bypass mode, and then use the winterizing pick-up on the pump in our SOB trailers to pump antifreeze throughout the system. The winterizing pick-up is a plastic (vinyl?) tube that connects into the inlet water line between the water tank and the pump. There are two valves. Close the one to the water tank and open the one to the pick-up tube. Stick the end of the tube into the gallon jug of antifreeze, and run the pump. I run antifreeze through all the water faucets, including the toilet and shower, until it comes out nice and pink. I usually go through 3 gallons of antifreeze. When done, I remove the tube from the jug, and run the pump to get most of the left over antifreeze out of the tube. Then I shut off the pump, close the valve to the pick-up tube, and open the valve to the water tank again. I open one faucet a bit to relieve the pressure, and then close it again for the winter. I pour a good amount of antifreeze into each drain, and fill up the toilet bowl. That way, the toilet seals stay wet all winter, even with the evaporation that’s going to occur. All together, I use 4 gallons of antifreeze. Never had any trouble with freezing and cracking pipes, even in our sub-zero Minnesota winters.

Basically, instead of blowing the lines, I pump an extra gallon of antifreeze through the system. A fair trade in my book.

Chris

[Minno]

Ah - see? Aage and I do winterizing completely differently!

The one time I blew the lines, I did not pump antifreeze through the system. Replaced the water pump head the following Spring - the seals had cracked. I attributed that to them drying out over the winter with no liquid in the system.

Basically, you need to find what works best you and go with it.

Chris

[DaveFL]

Originally Posted by Chuck

yeah, there's always more in there than ya might think. its a long, flat run of pipes from the galley to the bathroom, too. one drain point might not be enough.

Even here in Fl I have found water doesn't flow the same in cold weather, opened drain on roof solar panels and I could see they were emptying but with a hard freeze I developed a leak. Maybe I should use the blow air technique just to make sure

[1956Safari]

Can someone post a "modern" plumbing layout. I will be doing it in Pex but most of my concerns relate to fresh tank to pump to check valve, etc. I just want to be sure I leave room where needed, etc. Help is much appreciated.

[bobfowler]

I didn't use Pex, but here's part of my plumbing job. I'll try to get out in the trailer and shoot some more pix...



I made a manifold for under the bathroom sink. All valves are of the 1/4 turn ball variety. The 2 braided stainless steel supply lines that are hanging up in the air are for the bathroom sink. The pair that are running behind the plastic console feed the shower, and the pair running down to the floor go behind the shower pan and into the kitchen for the kitchen sink. What you can't see here are the master shut off valves (also ball) that connect the city water-in/system drain manifold I made that's in the bathroom closet. The lines from the manifold shown are all braided stainless steel right up to the fixture.

OK... I'm going to go shoot pix of the rest of the plumbing...

[bobfowler]

Here's the city water/system drain manifold, annotated for your viewing pleasure...

[Aage]

When you have a '56 AS, I'm going to guess that a '77 AS is "modern".

So, here's the plumbing layout from the Service Manual of a '77 model:

Oops, I just realized you're talking about the fresh water, this is drains. Oh well, you may want this later...

[InsideOut]

Originally Posted by 1956Safari

Can someone post a "modern" plumbing layout. I will be doing it in Pex but most of my concerns relate to fresh tank to pump to check valve, etc. I just want to be sure I leave room where needed, etc. Help is much appreciated.

The good thing with PEX & SharkBites is you can easily change out different lengths and "test-fit" things together and keep massaging the system until you get it right how you want it. It's really easy for DIY plumbers who don't always get it right the first time. Wanna know how I know? See pic below ~



Shari

[nairnchyz]

Hi WILDRTEXAS,

I believe you can purchase Blue and Red coloured pex. When I replaced the copper with pex in our '74 - 31' side bath our local hardware did not have pex in the two colours. I purchased 2 areosol cans of paint - 1 blue and 1 red and sprayed long lengths of pex before making any cuts. I found this helped a lot to have the coloured lines when you ran them in the trailer and attempted to make connections while standing on your head and balancing a flash light and crimping tool. Just a thought for you on your A/S.
Regarding Antifreeze - it is cheap vs. repairing / replacing plumbing.
Don't do away with shut offs under sinks, etc. Someday if you have trouble with a tap and cannot get replacement parts or a new fixture for a few days you can shut down the individual tap that is faulty and still run your pressure system to keep other taps, toilet, hot water tank, etc operational.
Just my 2 cents worth!!
Bob

[1956Safari]

Thanks Bob and Shari. You both are so neat! I hope mine comes out half as well. J

[InsideOut]

Jaime ~

Here's a bit more info on ours...hope this helps! I'm sure yours will come out great too!

Shari

[Melody Ranch]

Shari...where did you get the check valve in your system......what kind is it...etc., etc.