Water Hose

tmmar · 09-06-2010, 09:55 AM

I have been bothered (as I am guessing many others as well) with low water pressure in the kitchen and shower. I switched to an Oxygenics shower head which helped a lot and removed the restricter from the kitchen faucet (which did nothing).

My question is that I currently have a 1/2" water hose. Would a 5/8" hose make any difference or would I just be wasting money?

Mr. Black · 09-06-2010, 10:04 AM

What are you using for a regulator outside the motorhome?

tmmar · 09-06-2010, 10:07 AM

Standard, pre-set brass regulator. Was thinking of getting an adjustable regulator also.

Mr. Black · 09-06-2010, 10:11 AM

I am trying to find you the link I used to fix this common problem.

In a nutshell, I made a home made manifold that has two of those standard brass hose regulators in it. In parallel of course. Double the flow volume but still the same pressure regulation. Some guys even run three. Tested, these home made regulators beat out some of the most expensive whole house regulators bought at the home stores in this article that I read, but cannot find lol.

I was amazed at the difference. Only downside is now the gray tank will fill up super fast if you take full showers.

I get a few people that will walk up and ask me what the heck that is hooked to our camper.

Mr. Black · 09-06-2010, 10:18 AM

tmmar check this link out. Like I said, it worked for us.

Water Pressure Regulators for an RV

Forgot to mention this is also flowing though a Dupont whole house filter which also has an affect on flow rate. This is also through 1/2" hose I believe. As to your original question, I don't know if you would notice a difference going to 5/8s or not.

tmmar · 09-06-2010, 10:31 AM

Steve,
As I understand it, you have a single feed going into a manifold that has 2 regulators in parallel and back into a single feed to the camper. Is this correct? If so, I don't see how this would increase the pressure in the coach. Maybe I am incorrect with my assumption. If you have a diagram or picture of the setup, that would be helpful.
Thanks,
Tom

Mr. Black · 09-06-2010, 10:35 AM

You are correct. Single in from the source to a, Y manifold, to 2 marshall brass regulators, Y maniflold back to 1 and into the camper.

Let me ask you this, do you have a pressure problem or a flow problem? There is a big difference. I run multiple pressure gauges in our camper, one before the filter and one after. The regulators keep a running pressure of about 45 PSI. You aren't going to get anymore pressure.

I am pretty sure what you are saying is that your are lacking flow?

tmmar · 09-06-2010, 10:51 AM

Steve,
Don't pressure and flow rate go hand in hand? Wouldn't higher pressure produce a greater flow?
Tom

Mr. Black · 09-06-2010, 11:02 AM

Yes Tom, but you are regulating your pressure to no more than 50 PSI. To protect your plumbing of course. So if you are at 50 PSI in the camper that is all you get.

Hypothetically speaking you could put 200 psi at the hose bib and if your regulator is doing it's job you would still be complaining of a lack of flow in the camper.

So, your objective is to find the restrictions in the system and open them up to improve flow. Gallons Per Minute. The biggest restriction is pressure regulators. When you add a bigger diameter regulator and or two smaller ones you just added more flow.

Take a cup of water and try drinking it through a straw. Then take two straws and take a drink. You will notice a difference in flow. but you applied the same amount of suction to the straws.

The bottom line is, you shouldn't have any control of pressure unless you choose not to run a regulator. Bad idea, ask me how I know lol. Or your water source has a pressure problem and you are saying you only have like 20 psi of pressure.

Hope I am not confusing you as it is hard for me to describe this kind of stuff in words.

tmmar · 09-06-2010, 11:10 AM

Steve,
No- not confusing at all. I will definitely get the parts needed to build a manifold and give it a try.
Thanks for the info.
Tom

Mr. Black · 09-06-2010, 11:22 AM

It was one of those deals where we had always complained about lack of flow in the shower and kitchen. I was doing some google searching about it one day and was planning on buying a 3/4 inch whole house regulator until I found that article I posted above.

I had 4 RV water hoses and 3 brass marshall regulators all accumulated from trailer purchases over the years. So I figured what the heck. Cost was about 25 bucks down at the hardware store. Sacrificed one of our hoses to build this rig. It took like 6 hose ends both male and female. Two Y manifolds and some hose clamps. If you try it, make sure both the regulators are both going in the proper direction or won't work.

I'll try and get a picture of it on wednesday evening. Like I said, the proof in it for me was not only the visible difference in the showerhead but also how quickly the gray tank filled up, and our gray tank is huge.

NWJeeper · 09-06-2010, 11:56 AM

I also noticed lower pressure than we have had in other RVs. I figured out the on board water filter does a good job of lowering the pressure so I stopped using a pressure regulator on our city water inlet. Works much better without it.

Mr. Black · 09-06-2010, 12:04 PM

Be carefull doing that Ed. It may catch up to you.

Earlier in this thread when I said ask me how I know. lol We had been runing without a regulator to fight the whole house filter. Ended up splitting the filter housing in half over in Moses Lake last year. Thank goodness I was sitting there or it would have completely flooded the basement.

A filter is not a pressure regulator. It will choke flow but not restrict pressure.

Mr. Black · 09-06-2010, 12:19 PM

Some more good reading on pressure vs flow and restrictions.

RV Water Filter Store: Information About Flow & Pressure

DAISY BOYKIN · 09-06-2010, 03:04 PM

Was in Naples in FEB, two motor homes, one next door and one across the street had "LOW WATER PRESSURE" and a meter on the water input showed 65# water pressure. The fellow next door called a mobile RV service company to come out and check what was wrong. The repairman as soon as he saw the water pressure at 65#, he said your built in "BACK FLOW PREVENTOR" is bad. Replaced the back flow valve in both RV's, presto both RVs had more water pressure that they knew what to do with.
Repairman said that a bad bunch of "BACK FLOW PREVENTORS" were installed in hundreds of RV's at the factory.

google: RV backflow preventor-- do it your self repair!

Have you checked your "BACK FLOW PREVENTOR" lately?

Mr. Black · 09-06-2010, 03:30 PM

All you have to do is turn your water pump on with no city water hooked up and no cap on the city water connection. If it builds pressure then essentially your backflow valve is working just fine. If it pumps water out the city water hookup then you have a problem.

NWJeeper · 09-06-2010, 03:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Black

Be careful doing that Ed. It may catch up to you.

If you look at the stats for the Shurflo 5.7 Smart Sensor pump which is installed in many of the more expensive RVs and for which we switched to because of the low pressure of our stock pump, the pressure rating on it is 65psi. RV PEX tubing and fittings are rated for 100psi and up to 180 degrees temperature. I am not too worried about finding a park that will have over 65psi pressure.

For some reason there has been a myth propagated throughout the RV community that you can't exceed 45psi no way no how or you will blow your lines apart. This simply isn't true. I expect it is because most of the pumps used in RVs are 45psi output. The reason they are so common is they are cheap for the manufacturer to buy not because the water system can't handle higher pressure.

Mr. Black · 09-06-2010, 03:53 PM

I couldn't agree more.

But and it's a chance of a but, there are always pex joints that are loose or not put together right. My advice to those who go regulatorless is to check your system yourself before you end up with a flooded camper.

NWJeeper · 09-06-2010, 03:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Black

I couldn't agree more.

But and it's a chance of a but, there are always pex joints that are loose or not put together right. My advice to those who go regulatorless is to check your system yourself before you end up with a flooded camper.

This is true but then loose joints can also leak at 25psi too as I have had them leak when we did use a regulator.

Moral is don't think that the regulator is going to protect you, any RVr should check their plumbing connections under their sinks, behind the toilet and the showers to make sure they haven't loosened up.

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