Replacing Water lines in 31' 76 Sovereign

[76sovereign]

WELL. . .IF IT'S NOT ONE THING IT'S ANOTHER! We hear it all our lives and it's true! Just when you think you might get by with some minor repairs and a few remodeling ideas you find out you were suppose to suck antifreeze in the water lines before winter! DAMIT. . I'm a women, I'm new at this. .I am now kickin myself in the bahookus. I'm just SICK!

We have several splits in our copper lines and can only assume their are more in the bathroom area.

We have demo-d the AS back to the bathroom as we were going to leave it as is and not touch it during the remodel.

What do we do? Where do we begin? How is the best way to replace all the water lines with PEX. Will we have to remove the bathroom too or can we reach it from underneath?
WE NEED HELP! We need pictures HELP PLEASE!
I have searched for links but haven't been able to hit on what we need. Any help would be fantastic.

Kani

[Buttercup]

We got our trailer home and had the same thing, only ours burst from 13 years sitting in the desert.
CLICK HERE to see how we fixed it.

First of all, PEX is good stuff and resists bursting better than copper. It is easy to work with but I have to say that you are probably going to have to remove some stuff - perhaps a tub and whatever else gets in the way of you removing the old stuff. I also recommend that you use the crimp rings and fitting instead of the plastic ones like I used. I have had the plastic fittings vibrate loose before.

You may also have to think about replacing any fawcets that may have froze as well because they will likely leak. And finally, was your water heater at least drained??? I hope so because if not.... You get the picture. But that also is easy to replace.

[Lothlorian]

I have asked about replacing plumbing. I have not done it yet because I have not finished the floor. I ripped all my old copper out and I am going to replace it with pex pipe. There are some threads that have pictures that show you how to do it. I will post my thread and when you look at the very bottom you will see threads about plumbing from other forum members.

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f163...ing-38448.html

SIU Bound
Brian

[Zeppelinium]

I did my Sovereign with PEX.
http://www.airforums.com/forums/f443...ign-23313.html

On reflection, I'm totally happy using PEX and the ring clamp type fittings. However, I'm not totally happy with my design insofar as being freeze-immune. The inlet and a few inches of pipe for the pressure regulator are copper. I'm going to remedy that mistake this year.

On futher reflection (this could go on and on...) the best thing I did was move the city water inlet under the bath. This eliminated a long pipe run along the shell from the bedroom to mid-ship, then had to run under-floor to cross over to where all the water systems were installed--all on the other side of the trailer! Now I've only got a few inches of water system (the inlet) outside the living space and it only cost me a few feet longer hose for hookups.

Zep

[Darol Ingalls]

Some more things to consider! The hardest part of the job is removing the old copper tubing, but since you've already cleared out most of the interior, that may not be an issue. On the trailers I've done, I've tried to make draining as easy as possible by running all the PEX lines "downhill" from the faucets to the drain valve(s). To drain the system just open the drain valves and all faucets and gravity does the job. You still have to drain the water heater. That's easier to do in a shorter trailer where the runs are not so long, but you can arrange the system so you have a drain at the rear for the bath area and one near the kitchen or water pump for the rest of the system. The original pressure regulator (large brass thing, weighs a couple pounds) and the attatched check valve is a real hinderance for draining. I eliminate it by using a hose-end pressure regulator when connected to city water which protects both the hose and the trailer. Darol

[Zeppelinium]

Originally Posted by Darol Ingalls

... On the trailers I've done, I've tried to make draining as easy as possible by running all the PEX lines "downhill" from the faucets to the drain valve(s). To drain the system just open the drain valves and all faucets and gravity does the job. ...you can arrange the system so you have a drain at the rear for the bath area and one near the kitchen or water pump for the rest of the system.

The original pressure regulator (large brass thing, weighs a couple pounds) and the attatched check valve is a real hinderance for draining. I eliminate it by using a hose-end pressure regulator when connected to city water which protects both the hose and the trailer. Darol

Darol, your "downhill" advice is a first class idea, which I follow but forgot to mention.

I've pondered the external regulator and may have to adopt your advice on this. I don't have a check valve--I used a ball valve near the inlet, which allows full draining, but the regulator requires you to be able to drain on both sides of it. As you can tell, even with PEX I'm very leery of a freeze problem.

Zep

[76sovereign]

YOU SO ROCK! Thank you SOOOO much for the link to your site. It is just what we needed to look at and and read about! Very nice job on the AS and on the site/blog.

Thank you again

Kani and Jack
76sovereign

Originally Posted by Buttercup

We got our trailer home and had the same thing, only ours burst from 13 years sitting in the desert.
CLICK HERE to see how we fixed it.

First of all, PEX is good stuff and resists bursting better than copper. It is easy to work with but I have to say that you are probably going to have to remove some stuff - perhaps a tub and whatever else gets in the way of you removing the old stuff. I also recommend that you use the crimp rings and fitting instead of the plastic ones like I used. I have had the plastic fittings vibrate loose before.

You may also have to think about replacing any fawcets that may have froze as well because they will likely leak. And finally, was your water heater at least drained??? I hope so because if not.... You get the picture. But that also is easy to replace.

[76sovereign]

Excellent idea! Thank you so much!

Originally Posted by Zeppelinium

Darol, your "downhill" advice is a first class idea, which I follow but forgot to mention.

I've pondered the external regulator and may have to adopt your advice on this. I don't have a check valve--I used a ball valve near the inlet, which allows full draining, but the regulator requires you to be able to drain on both sides of it. As you can tell, even with PEX I'm very leery of a freeze problem.

Zep

[Darol Ingalls]

Zep, In addition to being hard to drain, the regulator is usually in the most difficult location to work on and in in an area of little or no heat. Even with the PEX, I am very careful to drain the system completely. Not interested in fixing it again! Darol