There have been other threads about installing a new sink and faucet in our Interstates. However, I could not find a thread about installing a new sink in the lounge model without going to an exotic trap such as the Mcalpine. If there another thread that addresses this, I apologize to the author.
The issue is we have a microwave immediately under the sink. With the factory sink the Hepvo trap rests on top of the microwave. The Houzer sinks that people have been installing are about 2 inches deeper than the factory sink.
Long story short - you can install the Houzer sink. In fact when I was done the Hepvo trap no longer rests on the microwave. The factory sink comes with about a 3 inch extension between the sink drain and the Hepvo. First trick is to leave that out and connect the Hepvo directly to the drain. The second trick is to not use the strainer that comes with the Houzer. I bought a Glacier Bay strainer from Home Depot that was shorter.
I did have to buy an extension to move the Hepvo to the middle of the sink since the factory sink drain is closer to the back. I just got this from Home Depot. I did install a new Hepvo for no good reason.
While I was working on the sink, I also installed a Shurflo Accumulator Tank. This was an easy installation. It comes with a connector that hooks the tank directly to the pump. This tank also fits nicely next to the pump, under the bottom drawer. I have easy access to the tank to recharge it if necessary just by removing the drawer. Much less pump cycling and much quieter pump.
The following gives links, or details on what I used. Many of these ideas came from the other threads and I greatly thank those owners. I list them again here just to have a complete thread. I have also attached pictures of the sink installation and the accumulator tank.
I bought an accumulator tank but could not find a place to install it where I could be sure of being able to drain it during winterization. Can yours be drained while sitting on its side?
Nice install, I have been planning one too. Did the accumulator tank come with the short union to connect to the pump? Did you consider the silencer kit with the flex hoses? Great that the pump is now quieter, Thanks
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Rick & Paula LaMont
2022 Flying Cloud 25’ FBQ
WBCCI #7944
PASSIN-THRU - nice work. Looks like a great sink. Instead of accumulator, I installed a VSD water pump to replace the noisy original. No more pump noise.
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- - Mike
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2024 Airstream Interstate 19e AWD
Previous: 2013 Airstream Interstate 3500 Ext Lounge
2017 Interstate Grand Tour Ext
Gulf Breeze
, Florida
Join Date: Aug 2017
Posts: 141
Quote:
Originally Posted by Boxster1971
PASSIN-THRU - nice work. Looks like a great sink. Instead of accumulator, I installed a VSD water pump to replace the noisy original. No more pump noise.
Boxster1971 - Can you please provide the make and model of the pump you installed. I would love to get rid of my noisy pump. Thanks.
Boxster1971 - Can you please provide the make and model of the pump you installed. I would love to get rid of my noisy pump. Thanks.
Sure - it is a Flojet Sensor VSD Model R4515-743, 3.7GPM. It is much quieter than the original pump installed by Airstream. One of the best mods I have made to my Interstate LoungeEXT. The pump on my Interstate is located under the lower drawer in galley cabinet. I've attached photos of the fit checks I made while installing. I don't have a photo of the final install but you can get the idea. I'm also attaching a copy of the spec sheet for this water pump.
This is great. I purchased that special drain but would rather use a normal one. Thank you for sharing the right one to get that would clear the microwave.
Waking up this old thread to thank Passin Thru for the details on this mod and to ask a couple of questions:
(1) When I go to Home Depot and search for "Glacier Bay 1001 977 405", I get this item. Is that the same thing? Hard to be certain since they don't provide this part number on their website. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Glacier-...144421#overlay
(2) has anyone tried this on a newer-than-2013 AI Lounge? Ours is a 2016, and I think they may have changed microwaves since the 2013 model year, which might mean there's less room under the sink.
(3) Has anyone found a source for this other possible under-sink drain that others have used? On Amazon, it's now showing as "Currently unavailable. We don't know when or if this item will be back in stock." https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071VLD38W/ EDIT: after posting, I did find this so I guess I'll reach out to them to see whether there's anyplace I can buy one: https://mcalpineplumbing.com/traps/s...trap-70mm-high
Thanks!
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Rocinante Piccolo is our new-to-us 2016 Interstate Lounge 3500 EXT
(Named for John Steinbeck's camper from "Travels With Charley")
I am not going to be much help. We got rid of our Interstate last fall so I cannot check any of this for you. There are many other owners that have done this project so hopefully they will be of help.
Just a side note-
We went to an ORV trailer (Outdoors Manufacturing) to get better 4 season, boondocking camping ability. In the last 12 months we have covered over 18k miles with her with many nights in BLM boondocking spots and Forest Service campgrounds. The 70 gallon fresh, 40 gallon black and 40 gallon grey has also been nice. Not trying to start a new discussion.....
Ok, thanks anyway, happy travels! Perhaps others will have more to say.
BTW, for the thread: I've learned that McAlpine products are not sold here in the US at this time, and that at present none of their fittings work with with US plumbing anyway. So, definitely not going that route.
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Rocinante Piccolo is our new-to-us 2016 Interstate Lounge 3500 EXT
(Named for John Steinbeck's camper from "Travels With Charley")
Even so, we weren’t able to get the pitch we needed for the HEPVO in its original location. We ran PVC to the back of the sink cabinet and installed the HEPVO vertically.
We used the houzer sink. If you can find a similarly sized sink with a shallower bowl, the job would be much easier!
Interesting. So the stub on the bottom of the sink just sticks down into the new drain fitting and nothing is screwed onto it? And the drain fitting is held to the sink by the ~4" diameter flange that is screwed into the large diameter but short height drain fitting? Guess it works if the sink bottom is nearly flat out to ~ 2 1/2" (5" diameter) from the center of the drain.
The resurrection of this tread caused me to look again. Layout of my 2013 Lounge pump is different that of Passin Thru (anybody surprised?). My accumulator will not fit where his is and no obvious place to put it without a lot of replumbing. So looking at a pump that does not need an accumulator. Found two on Amazon that look the same:
Flojet 1202.1050 04406-143A Quad II Water Pump 'Quiet Quad' - 12V DC, 3.2 GPM,Black $99.25
or
Flojet 04406043A 3.3 GPM 35 PSI 115V Quiet Quad Water Pump System $186.26.
Neither of them appear to have the inlet filter.
Can't find the one suggested by Boxster1971:
Flojet Sensor VSD Model R4515-743
And the referenced valuervparts site is not working. Will try e-mailing them.
At this point I've seen several variations on this process. At least one person reported finding they already had a vertical hepvo in their sink's plumbing, behind the microwave, when they removed their sink. Several people have suggested the Glacier Bay strainer would do the trick under the Houzer bar sink, while others have said they didn't have the room. Several went with sink drain solutions that are no longer available, such as McAlpine and Liquid Accent, shown above. There are, as has been noted, other side shower drains that are of similar size, but they all seem to be more like 4" than 3.5" in diameter. As Titus pointed out, I don't yet understand how one attaches that larger diameter drain to the 3.5" opening in the Houzer sink.
On another tangent, I found a couple of possibly interesting marine sinks:
The first from Plastimo is only 6" deep instead of 7" and the 2" drain hole would fit existing low-profile marine sink drains, but I expect the sink diameter at 14.4" is likely too small for the existing hole. https://www.fisheriessupply.com/plas...s-sinks/p18374
Another marine sink option from Sandvik comes in at 14 3/16" sink diameter and 15 3/8" flange diameter, again possibly too small for the hole. It's 7" deep, but because it has a 2" drain hole that works with low-profile marine drains, the depth would probably be fine. https://www.scandvik.com/index.cfm?m...&productID=229
At some point I guess I'll probably have to commit to the project, knowing that I don't know enough to be sure what will work, by yanking out the existing sink. Then I could get a good look around inside the cabinet and start ordering various components and trying them until I find something that does the job...or I just give up and replace the current sink with a new one of the same kind, though I'd hate to do that.
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Rocinante Piccolo is our new-to-us 2016 Interstate Lounge 3500 EXT
(Named for John Steinbeck's camper from "Travels With Charley")
Just visited our van and confirmed we already have a vertical hepvo trap in the drain line. Measured things. The sink hole is about 15.5”, so neither of the two marine sinks I mentioned above would be of a large enough diameter to work. Total vertical space between the microwave and the top of the countertop is about 10”. Despite that, there’s only about 3/4” of space between the current drain line and the microwave. However, the metal threaded drain under the sink appears to be rather long, so there’s room for improvement in that regard. More thinking and measuring to come. As always, I welcome input from anyone who’s done already done this in their AI Lounge. [emoji41]
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Rocinante Piccolo is our new-to-us 2016 Interstate Lounge 3500 EXT
(Named for John Steinbeck's camper from "Travels With Charley")
I'm going to Home Despot in the next day or so to get an in-person look at sink strainers and side-discharge shower drains so I can actually get them in hand, compare them and think about what might fit between that 7" sink and the microwave. I have roughly 3" to play with, so whatever I find has to work in that limited space. Oh, and I probably need to ensure the length of pipe from the drain across the microwave and then on to the vertical drop isn't uphill, at least when the van is level. Many things to consider.
Oh, and it looks like the existing drain line is 1.5". I hope I have that right, and I guess time will tell.
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Rocinante Piccolo is our new-to-us 2016 Interstate Lounge 3500 EXT
(Named for John Steinbeck's camper from "Travels With Charley")
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