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Safari Tim · 10-30-2006, 02:45 PM

OK guys,

I'm designing the plumbing system for the Ambassador.

I'm just looking for any tips or anything I may have missed.

I am going with PEX and Sea Tech fittings and valves.

-I need a cold external water inlet connection for the trailer. Any tips? I think they have built in check valves, is that right?

-I plan on putting a shut off valve at the toilet supply. Do I need shut off valves for the sinks and tub?

-I'm putting two low point drains with valves in for the water lines, one in the back and one in the front.

-I'm going to put a valve in the cold line to a check valve that will fill the fresh water tank. I don't plan on putting an external fresh water fill on the trailer.

Also should I bend the PEX at 90 degree angles when needed or should I use right angle fittings?

Let me know anything I missed or any cool tricks!

Thanks

Chuck · 10-30-2006, 03:20 PM

I'm confused:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Safari Tim

-...I need a cold external water inlet connection for the trailer.

...I don't plan on putting an external fresh water fill on the trailer.

you can put a very shallow bend in the pex...but only in a fairly wide sweep.

I dont' think you "neeeed" shut-offs for the other fixtures, but it would be handy, say, if something sprung a leak during an outing; you could shut off the offending fixture without shutting down the entire water system, thereby putting a rather large crimp in your weekend.

I'm not sure I understand your "inlet" questions, but I know of a couple of "boat-oriented" airstreamers who have rigged their supplies so that the onboard water tank fills from the standard water inlet, by means of some valving. But I don't think I'd want to sacrifice the standard 2" fill; In the past, I've had to add water to the tank with a bucket...that would be hard to do through the 1/2 ght inlet.

**azflycaster** · 10-30-2006, 03:28 PM

Tim-
Here are a few thoughts I have on your plan:

90 degrees can be done with pex, what is the radius of the curve. I put a 90 degree curve with about 2 feet of pipe and it's fine. This was behind the shower and I had plenty of room. When in doubt, use a fitting.

Filling from the water inlet does eliminate the filler outside, but does this mean pushing water backwards inside of the water pump? That can't be good...

How would you add water to the tank if you were boondocking and had a couple of 5 gallon jugs full of water?

Safari Tim · 10-30-2006, 04:04 PM

Thanks guys.

For one I'm just looking for a water inlet connection for the city water hose. I found this, but it looks kinda cheap.

I see what you mean about filling the fresh water tank via the 1/2" plumbing which would be slow. I don't know what I could use as a filler inlet. My trailer originally had the hose spicket input, which I'm not going to use.

I'm trying to add up all the tee's, elbows, valves, adapters, etc.. to place an order. The number of these fittings adds up quick!

HDS · 10-30-2006, 05:21 PM

You'll need a fitting if you want to make a sharp ninty degree turn. Aside from that, pex will bend to fit most anywhere. The Seatech fitting work pretty well. Good luck

uwe · 10-30-2006, 05:50 PM

Tim,

Your plan is generally sound, I think. I happened to use the flair-it fittings and liked the integrity and price a lot. The only tool needed for these is a banana shaped wrench to tighten the flair nuts. Cheap.
These fittings are slowly becoming a standard, I see them available in many RV repair facilities etc.
If you do a layout with your 12V water pump that allows the pump to be diverted on both the suction and discharge side, then you can make it suck water from a hose connected to the water inlet, and push it into your fresh water tank. All it takes is a few T's and shutoff valves. ( and remembering what to do when it's time to refill from an unusual source).
Or, if in doubt, a cheap second water pump can be used to do this chore.
I like your idea of not having a water fill door.
You might try and find a RV suppply near you, and peruse their shelves. I found a stainless city water inlet locally that looks and finctions quite well, with built in check valve.

uwe · 10-30-2006, 05:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Safari Tim

I'm trying to add up all the tee's, elbows, valves, adapters, etc.. to place an order. The number of these fittings adds up quick!

I bought my fittings from a source that would let me return what I did not need for a refund. I asked before I bought...no problem. ( I did have a time feoma of 3 month, if I remember correctly) It allowed me to buy extras, which turned out to be a life saver. Nothing like changes on the fly, and having plenty fittings.

markdoane · 10-30-2006, 07:04 PM

Tim,

I'm building an alcove into the side of my Tradewind, behind the water heater. It will have a lockable door. The alcove will have the freshwater inlet, the inlet for the tank flusher, a hose spigot, and controls for the tank flusher and macerator pump.

I made it deep enough to also hold a 25' coil of hose.

I wanted something lockable. I don't like the thought of some little devil sticking a piece of bubble gum in my water inlet. I also dont like the idea of having the water inlets way down in the banana wraps, I don't like getting on my hands and knees to hook up the water.

Anyway, this is as far as I got with it today. The picture doesn't show the door, but you get an idea of the dimensions.

Regarding Pex, you can buy corner braces for a couple of dollars that bend Pex to about a 4" radius. They also have a nice little screw slot, so they also function as a pipe hanger. That's shown in the second picture.

clancy_boy · 10-30-2006, 07:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Safari Tim

Thanks guys.

For one I'm just looking for a water inlet connection for the city water hose. I found this, but it looks kinda cheap.

I see what you mean about filling the fresh water tank via the 1/2" plumbing which would be slow. I don't know what I could use as a filler inlet. My trailer originally had the hose spicket input, which I'm not going to use.

I'm trying to add up all the tee's, elbows, valves, adapters, etc.. to place an order. The number of these fittings adds up quick!

I've seen this one at Camping World - your description is correct. I have seen better at West Marine for boating applications in stainless steel but I have no make or model for you. They exist - you will just have to search.

I'm with markdoane - use the pex radius bracket, this will allow you to secure the pex in the right location and curve and not let it move later, or pinch if you pull on it later. Not an expert in pex by any means, I have done home plumbing and would recommend securing the pex from movement where possible. I have seen some trailer jobs here where it looks like the pex is just loosely laid under the furniture. In time the piping may find an edge, rub and do damage down the line - better to know where it is at all times.

Safari Tim · 10-30-2006, 10:16 PM

Awesome info guys. Thanks as usual.

Don, your ideas never cease to amaze me! Great work.

I should have my order ready to go. Amazing how involved a plumbing system can get when you start writing it down! And this is just the suppy lines!!

Thanks again.

**azflycaster** · 10-30-2006, 11:54 PM

This a almost a 90 degree bend. The shot is under the rear sink, behind the shower. Not the easiest place to get to.

Safari Tim · 10-30-2006, 11:58 PM

Nice picture.

BTW I found an aluminum water inlet with built-in check valve on ebay.

I went ahead and got it. Nothing like drilling holes in the side of 46 year old aluminum!

**azflycaster** · 10-31-2006, 12:04 AM

The bent line runs to the inlet that the PO mounted on the outside skin of the trailer, works fine and has a built in check valve as well. If you notice the line on the right has a straight connector on it because of a plumbing error that was originally made. Make sure that you tap your city water into a cold water line, enough said.

Safari Tim · 10-31-2006, 12:13 AM

Thanks for the tip Richard :-)

davidlaxson · 11-12-2006, 05:38 PM

Tim, let me know how the plumbing goes. I've just started researcing on how to re-plumb my 1972 Ambassador . PEX piping seems the way to go. How many days did it take ?

David

Dano57 · 11-12-2006, 06:32 PM

Evening All,

We have just about finished completely re-plumbing our Excella with PEX. The mid-west distributer for Flair-It is in town and one of their folks told me that PEX was heat settable. What he said to do was to use a heat gun on the tubing and it would turn from a milky color to clear. Hold the pex into position until cool and it would retain that shape. We made some pretty impressive bends with it! We still need to install a new toilet so we haven't tried the system yet so I can't comment on our success but if it works it sure does make for some neat installs.

Also the PEX seems to retain heat for a while so we got a large bowl and put cold water in it to dip the tubing into to cool it quicker.

Dan

SmokelessJoe · 11-12-2006, 08:05 PM

[QUOTE=Safari Tim

-I'm going to put a valve in the cold line to a check valve that will fill the fresh water tank. I don't plan on putting an external fresh water fill on the trailer.

[/QUOTE]

Tim, can you explain how this is done? Thanks.

Sergei

Safari Tim · 11-12-2006, 09:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SmokelessJoe

Tim, can you explain how this is done? Thanks.

Sergei

Well, that's called me thinking outloud

I have not tried it yet. I'm still in the planing phase of my re-plumb job.

My thinking is that I will just have a valve from the cold water line connected to the fresh water tank input. When the trailer is connected to the standard city inlet and I turn the fill valve on, water would just fill the tank until it hits the vent tube and overflows.

If I add a check valve then water can only enter the tank through the fill line.

Just an idea. Not sure how/if it will work.

If I can find a cool external water fill for the trailer, I'd probably add it. But I'm still a ways off from that

urbanfood · 07-16-2007, 09:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by markdoane

I'm building an alcove into the side of my Tradewind, behind the water heater. It will have a lockable door. The alcove will have the freshwater inlet, the inlet for the tank flusher, a hose spigot, and controls for the tank flusher and macerator pump.

mark, do you have any pix of this setup. i like the idea of it and would like to somehoe incorporate it into my FC.