Best 'Dry Camping' RV Mod evah!... simple!

[KyDan]

Nice mod.
A bit pricey and heavy for me but I can see the appeal.

I do not believe it will save battery enough to make a difference.
Yes a well pump or other AC motor has a large inrush of current at start.
A little DC pump motor not so much...

I am a very light sleeper and if our pump cycles on it's own it wakes me
even tho it only runs for a second. It wakes me every time.
I shut my pump off at night for this reason AND because my main
switches for pump, LP and Electric water heater, and some other stuff
are on a cabinet end that faces my bed and they are illuminated switches!
I shut them off at night to cut down on the glare!

I installed a small RV surge tank in my 1st trailer and was disappointed that
it made such a little difference.
I can see that a tank this size would be a lot better but I'll pass
due to cost and space limitations.
If I boondocked a lot it would be much higher on my list tho....

[markb422]

This is the one I used.
Water-Worker-2-Gal-Pressurized-Well-Tank-HT2B/202846475.
There is a 4 gal version that I wish I had room for. Maybe I will try to find room for another 2 gallon tank.
The blue Water Worker tanks are well tanks and are certified for potable water. They also have expansion tanks that are for hot water systems that are marked as nonpotable.

[rockfordroo]

Originally Posted by amblt

I have read all the posts and the above referenced blog, and I have the following comments:

If you purchase a bladder tank sold for a well based system, then it will be for potable water.

What he calls an Accumulator Tank, I call an Expansion Tank, which we had in a domestic hot water heating system. Its purpose was to maintain pressure in the system. Such a tank would not have to be certified potable. The lack of bladder made repressurising quite a process.

I agree with comments on nasty posts- if ya can't say nothin' nice, don't say nothin' at all.

Pumps can be noisy, and some people cannot get back to sleep once disturbed, so this may be a solution.

Cheers to all, and Merry Christmas

My parents house had an oil burner that provided both hot water for baseboard heat and also for sink/dishwasher/shower, etc. It had one expansion tank. So I would assume the tank was OK for "potable water" (I hope so - they lived there with that tank for 47 years. I'm guessing it's still there.)

Maybe I missed it, but I did not see ANY "nasty" posts on this thread. Just some folks pointing out issues they had with the mod. Unless your definition of "nasty" is anyone who doesn't agree with the OP. The moderators are usually pretty good at removing "nasty" remarks.

Of course, you might be thinking THIS post is nasty, since I'm in disagreement.

[DaGrinch]

Originally Posted by amblt

I have read all the posts and the above referenced blog, and I have the following comments:

If you purchase a bladder tank sold for a well based system, then it will be for potable water.

What he calls an Accumulator Tank, I call an Expansion Tank, which we had in a domestic hot water heating system. Its purpose was to maintain pressure in the system. Such a tank would not have to be certified potable. The lack of bladder made repressurising quite a process.

I agree with comments on nasty posts- if ya can't say nothin' nice, don't say nothin' at all.

Pumps can be noisy, and some people cannot get back to sleep once disturbed, so this may be a solution.

Cheers to all, and Merry Christmas

Where my parents come from, they call Coca-cola "pop". Where I live we call it "soda". Across the river, it is called "tonic".
I was with my son when he purchased the tank, because the Lowe's closest to me had one in stock and he didn't have to pay the price for a "marine" tank. He's a mechanical engineer who deals with this kind of stuff all the time. Whether he called it an accumulator or expansion, I'm sure what he has is for potable water. Believe me, he's too OCD not to have put the proper tank in his boat.
Sorry. Just felt the need to defend him since he's not here to defend himself. I just brought it up to illustrate and reinforce the OP's mod and how it works for other applications.
And, yes, Cheers to all and Merry Christmas.

[Skyliner]

Great mod and one I will make to my camper next Spring. I had to put an accumulator in my house plumbing last year when I installed a new hot water heater-building code now requires it.

Let me tell you it made a big difference in our home. Prior to accumulator, the water pressure would start out very high and then slowly decrease resulting in slower water flow than what started out. With the accumulator water pressure and corresponding water flow is even.

I do not like the pulsing that occurs with an RV water pump and I'm confident this mod will smooth out the water flow.

[FFred]

The use of an air tank will make the water flow more constant , and in "old days" would make the pumps last far longer.

The real boondockers 25+ miles out in the woods might be cautious of making the fresh water pump silent.

A leak in a water line might not be discovered until the water is Gone.

A LED wire in would notify the campers when a silent pump is operating.

[JohnF]

How does this work without a pressure switch like home tanks have? They are typically set for 30/50 or 40/60 pressure. The pump turns on at the lower pressure and off at the higher. I am guessing the RV pumps have this switch built into their heads?

[BamaBob]

Maybe not the best boondock mod eva but we ran across this gadget at the FROG Rally in Goshen and, as far as saving water in the shower, it sure works! Add this to your water tank/bladder and you are really saving water!


RV – Aqua View, Inc.


The unintended bonus feature of this mod is you can now fill your FWT from your shower! This is handy because your FWT tank level gauge is usually closer to the shower than the FWT fill point

[markb422]

Originally Posted by JohnF

How does this work without a pressure switch like home tanks have? They are typically set for 30/50 or 40/60 pressure. The pump turns on at the lower pressure and off at the higher. I am guessing the RV pumps have this switch built into their heads?

You are correct.

[youroo]

Originally Posted by JohnF

How does this work without a pressure switch like home tanks have? They are typically set for 30/50 or 40/60 pressure. The pump turns on at the lower pressure and off at the higher. I am guessing the RV pumps have this switch built into their heads?

Yes you adjust your "pressure tank/bladder tank" to the cutoff pressure of your RV water pump. Youroo! !

[johnbryanpeters]

Originally Posted by JohnF

How does this work without a pressure switch like home tanks have? They are typically set for 30/50 or 40/60 pressure. The pump turns on at the lower pressure and off at the higher. I am guessing the RV pumps have this switch built into their heads?

Yes, pressure control is built into the pump. My SHURflo is nominally 55 PSIG shut-off, 40 PSIG restart.

[markb422]

Originally Posted by BamaBob

Maybe not the best boondock mod eva but we ran across this gadget at the FROG Rally in Goshen and, as far as saving water in the shower, it sure works! Add this to your water tank/bladder and you are really saving water!


RV – Aqua View, Inc.


The unintended bonus feature of this mod is you can now fill your FWT from your shower! This is handy because your FWT tank level gauge is usually closer to the shower than the FWT fill point

Water recirculated from the hot water tank back to the fresh water tank?
Okay idea as long as you do not drink or cook with water from your fwt.
Still a lot of debate about it but this is one comment I found interesting.

“We have now discovered some PEX pipe brands leach 100 times more chemicals when exposed to hot water compared to the same brand exposed to cold water,” Whelton said via email. “Hot water would more likely contain higher levels of ETBE and other volatile chemicals.” What’s worse, he added, some PEX pipes exposed to hot water also released substances that microorganisms find very tasty, upping the risk of bacterial growth, and some leached chemicals that can react with chlorine to form potentially carcinogenic compounds."

We do drink and cook with water from the fwt. I think I will just continue to run the shower into a bucket until it gets warm then use it for doing dishes or flushing.

[NMWildcat]

Originally Posted by markb422

Water recirculated from the hot water tank back to the fresh water tank?
Okay idea as long as you do not drink or cook with water from your fwt.
Still a lot of debate about it but this is one comment I found interesting.

“We have now discovered some PEX pipe brands leach 100 times more chemicals when exposed to hot water compared to the same brand exposed to cold water,” Whelton said via email. “Hot water would more likely contain higher levels of ETBE and other volatile chemicals.” What’s worse, he added, some PEX pipes exposed to hot water also released substances that microorganisms find very tasty, upping the risk of bacterial growth, and some leached chemicals that can react with chlorine to form potentially carcinogenic compounds."

We do drink and cook with water from the fwt. I think I will just continue to run the shower into a bucket until it gets warm then use it for doing dishes or flushing.

So you replaced all the pex pipe on your hot water side?

[JohnF]

Originally Posted by markb422

Water recirculated from the hot water tank back to the fresh water tank?
Okay idea as long as you do not drink or cook with water from your fwt.
Still a lot of debate about it but this is one comment I found interesting.

“We have now discovered some PEX pipe brands leach 100 times more chemicals when exposed to hot water compared to the same brand exposed to cold water,” Whelton said via email. “Hot water would more likely contain higher levels of ETBE and other volatile chemicals.” What’s worse, he added, some PEX pipes exposed to hot water also released substances that microorganisms find very tasty, upping the risk of bacterial growth, and some leached chemicals that can react with chlorine to form potentially carcinogenic compounds."

We do drink and cook with water from the fwt. I think I will just continue to run the shower into a bucket until it gets warm then use it for doing dishes or flushing.

100 times .0000000001? Without numbers, this statement is useless information.

[BamaBob]

Originally Posted by markb422

Water recirculated from the hot water tank back to the fresh water tank?

*Cold* water recirculated from the hot water tank back to the fresh water tank -- you turn the watermiser off when the water temperature changes color on the heat indicator

And, of course, you fill your FWT with the handle set to cold

Originally Posted by markb422

Okay idea as long as you do not drink or cook with water from your fwt.
Still a lot of debate about it but this is one comment I found interesting.

“We have now discovered some PEX pipe brands leach 100 times more chemicals when exposed to hot water compared to the same brand exposed to cold water,” Whelton said via email. “Hot water would more likely contain higher levels of ETBE and other volatile chemicals.” What’s worse, he added, some PEX pipes exposed to hot water also released substances that microorganisms find very tasty, upping the risk of bacterial growth, and some leached chemicals that can react with chlorine to form potentially carcinogenic compounds."

We do drink and cook with water from the fwt. I think I will just continue to run the shower into a bucket until it gets warm then use it for doing dishes or flushing.

Since I am not putting hot water back into the FWT, the above would not apply.

Finally, we may be in a different situation that you: we have a tankless hot water heater.

Finally, Finally, we have a 3 stage water filter on our unit - any water going into our FWT (or our PEX Plumbing) has been filtered down to the .5 Micron level

[JohnF]

While protozoa such as Giardia and Cryptosporidium are about 5 microns in size, water filters miss bacteria such as Cholera, E. Coli, and Salmonella (0.2 – 0.5 microns) and viruses such as Hepatitis A, rotovirus and Norwalk virus (.004 microns).

[aceinspp]

Originally Posted by KyDan

Nice mod.
A bit pricey and heavy for me but I can see the appeal.

I do not believe it will save battery enough to make a difference.
Yes a well pump or other AC motor has a large inrush of current at start.
A little DC pump motor not so much...

I can see that a tank this size would be a lot better but I'll pass
due to cost and space limitations.
If I boondocked a lot it would be much higher on my list tho....

As my newer tt has a much more quieter water pump this is no longer an issue. Later RJD

[Top_Speed1]

My wife insisted that I not post anymore here due to the thick headed morons... well, I'm probably on more than 25 other forums, so I could care less about the negative idiots who are closed minded. yeah right!

I pointed out (to her) the many however who were being open minded and possibly could benefit like we have for many years of service w this. Then, I re-posted again the "other" benefits other than the pump noise (or lesser activity of it). But "some" still wanna poke at this as the 'only' benefit? huh? read and understand what you read please.

It's exactly like my neighbor who swears his gasoline powered pickup is better all-around for towing.... than my diesel. And trying to debate (w him) about torque and with someone who has no idea or understanding of what that means? useless, I just "let it go" like the hillbilly he is.

Again, I don't sell anything on this mod. In reading (or lack of) HTF did you comprehend this from my wording? I design websites on the side, so was my wording or phrasing too "perfect?" (which I clearly do not think it was as I typed it out kinda fast). Maybe I guess if you have a 7th grade education at best, If so I apologize. But the system has clearly failed you.

I also didn't "invent" this mod for RVing, and even though I've had it working now since/around the year 2004 (my first 5er, it was a Sunnybrook and I did this mod way back then on advice from a plumber friend). I loved it then, I still do now, and whatever you say sure the hell won't change my mind.
So if you don't like this, so what, look the other way and find your misery elsewhere.
Cheers

[DreiHunde]

Thanks for posting your mod and putting up with the naysayers! There are a lot of us that just like seeing/learning about others mods. I may not ever use it but it doesn't mean it's not a cool mod that obviously works for the person doing the mod!

Thanks again and remember....haters gonna hate

[NMWildcat]

Originally Posted by Top_Speed1

My wife insisted that I not post anymore here due to the thick headed morons... well, I'm probably on more than 25 other forums, so I could care less about the negative idiots who are closed minded. I loved it then, I still do now, and whatever you say sure the hell won't change my mind.

So if you don't like this, so what, look the other way and find misery elsewhere.
Cheers

You must be a lot of fun at parties! I really didn't see a lot of negativity on this thread. I saw several members discussing that the only confirmable benefit of this
mod is the pump noise being delayed. Most of us don't have the old pumps that surge, so scratch the even flow improvement. And the addition of a gallon or two of water while dry camping is trivial. The claim of less wear and tear, and battery savings is just plain incorrect. With that said, I am still of the mind that there is a cheaper, easier mod to quiet a noisy pump.

I'm glad you like your mod, and that it works for you. I think where you went astray was trying to convince the rest of us of the greatness of your mod with benefits that just don't exist.

If having folks disagree with you, or have an opinion different from you, bothers you both so much, perhaps a back and forth discussion forum is not the place for you to disseminate your knowledge.