City water hookup

[honez]

Hi All,

I am new here and appreciate all the support. I bought a 74 Trade Wind a few weeks ago and am living in it till my family relocates to Texas. almost all the systems work except the water. The big pressure regulator in the rear leaks at all it's gaskets, and needs to be replaced. easy enough, if the compression fittings would loosen ( got some stitches in my hand attempting to remove). The water pump wont pump either. I was removing the pump and the 100 hose clamps the PO put in and noticed that if I ran a hose to the fitting that the pump went to (Brass 3/4 in.) with a in line pressure reducer I could use the water system. The check valve in the rear should prevent the pressure from causing leaks at the original pressure regulator. Any reason this wont work for a while till I get the main regulator working? I dont really want to use the water tank as it really looks nasty in the hoses that i removed.

Thanks Honez

[centennialman]

Hi Honez and congratulations on your new purchase!! Sorry to hear that the water system is not working for you. That can definitely be frustrating and be careful not to get those stitches wet with the dirty water from the pipes. You don't need an infection too.

It seems that your plan should work. Just watch, carefully, for any leaks that may develop. Sounds like it is a frail system at best.

Otherwise, you may want to get some good sized water jugs and use those for a while until you can get it all worked out.

You have joined a great community and will start to see more answers to your post.

Again.....welcome!!

[honez]

Thanks Steve,

I am doing the jug/bucket thing now, but running water wouldbe nice. My work has showers so that is not a problem. I dont want to do to much work as I plan to replace the floors after I'm done living in it then I'll do it right.

Thanks

Honez

[Kajtek1]

Some pictures would be helpful?
I just pulled the water regulator out of my project. There was safety valve right behind it, that I tested to be stuck above 150 psi, so without a hesitation I cut the copper tubing and yanked both of them out from the rotten floor.
My idea is to make short connection for garden hose and use garden hose mounted regulators. Don't count that your check valve will hold.
What does "The water pump wont pump either." means? Is it turning and not pumping? I bought new check valves for my 43-years old pump. Seems that proved design didn't change a lot and the new pumps are using the same parts.
For temporary repairs you can hook up regulated city supply to the inlet of the pump.

[honez]

Kajtec1,

On further investigation I don't think I have a anti backflow separate from the main regulator so the leak would persist just in reverse. I will have to get that apart somehow maybe desolder and rebuild. the only way to get access and put some muscle on the fittings is to remove the shower seat. any way here are some pics

[Kajtek1]

Wow! And I tough I had messy set up in my trailer
I see water regulator and safety valve behind the black pipe. I see the problem with access there. Without having 3-D pictures I can only guess the whole setup, but I would start with taking the black pipe out. You can cut off in convenient places and than use rubber couplers to reconnect it.
The water regulator has union on it. The big nut on left end needs to be turned ccw. Put one big wrench on regulator body in horizontal position and other on the nut going down at some angle. If you place them right, you can squeeze 2 wrenches by hands only and break the nut loose. Doing it this way will avoid potential knuckle damage. After disconnecting the union you should gain some slack to bring the corner flare fitting and disconnect it there.
Since safety valves are not required and yours is probably frozen like mine was, I would get rid of it. This way using hose regulators you might gain that space for carrying spare parts.
BTW flare fittings lost the popularity lately to compression fittings. I am planning to use compression fittings on my plumbing. I am good in soldering, but think what if you get into plumbing problem while camping? With some spare compression fittings you can rearrange whole plumbing with just couple of crescent wrenches and tubing cutter.
On edit I can't tell for sure the regulator union is on the left end. Take a close look and see which end has bigger hex. This is going to be union.

[honez]

I think I will remove and replace from the safety valve back. I am pretty good with soldering, just gotta be careful with the flame in that small space!!! I was thinking of just capping it off, and relocate the city water to the tank fill area. put in a two way valve and I could fill the tank or use city water at the same connection. Also the fresh water would be away from the Poo pipe!