Bizarre Plumbing on Coachmen Clipper

[Chrisontheroad]

Hey all, recently we purchased a 2017 Clipper 17fq. Doing our prep for camping today we sanitized the water tank and lines and went on to dump the gray and black tanks and had a lot of trouble due to the drain pointing upwards working against gravity as opposed to horizontal or downward . I noticed that when we picked her up but I didn’t question it as I thought there was a reason for the angle it’s on, but now I don’t think that’s the case and it’s a strange mistake of some sort. Have any of you run into something like this before or know why it is set up this way? Thank you in advance.
Chris

[SeaDog]

welcome to the forum its a great place to get your questions answered. looks like it was done this way to provide clearance for the valve handles form the ground.

[DougW]

On some RV’s that connector will rotate, try to push it down to where you would like it to be for dumping, then you can rotate it up when connecting or disconnecting the hose to make it easier to grip and prevent drips.

[Chrisontheroad]

Thank you I can’t wait to learn about all things camper, and hoped contribute something along the way! I suppose it could be for blade valve handle clearance, but couldn’t the drain pipe still be oriented downwards with the handles set up the same way? Looks like 4 thru bolts on each side and the whole assembly can be re oriented downwards, I may go that route if possible. If anyone has experience working on the sewer system and valves I’d love to hear about it. I will try and orient the pipe down by hand first to see if it is a rotating model when I get her back from inspection today. The water that stays in the pipe from it pointing up is what bothers me because here in the northeast it’s already beginning to dip below freezing at night. Thanks again for the helpful responses.

[Larry-NC]

Originally Posted by Chrisontheroad

Thank you I can’t wait to learn about all things camper, and hoped contribute something along the way! I suppose it could be for blade valve handle clearance, but couldn’t the drain pipe still be oriented downwards with the handles set up the same way? Looks like 4 thru bolts on each side and the whole assembly can be re oriented downwards, I may go that route if possible. If anyone has experience working on the sewer system and valves I’d love to hear about it. I will try and orient the pipe down by hand first to see if it is a rotating model when I get her back from inspection today. The water that stays in the pipe from it pointing up is what bothers me because here in the northeast it’s already beginning to dip below freezing at night. Thanks again for the helpful responses.

It looks to me like the assemblers were careless when they bonded the flanges to the short pipes. I imagine they are bonded with ABS pipe cement and will NOT rotate.

As you suggest, you could:

• Remove the four bolts from the flanges on EACH SIDE
• Leave the valve handles in the SAME ORIENTATION as they are now
• Rotate the tee with the outlet downward 90 degrees.

As I see it, you are only looking at maybe a cup of liquid being retained now. I don't see it as a big deal, but if you are concerned, there's no harm in rotating the tee, and you can always put it back.

The seals on the valve slides are heavy rubber. They won't tear when you remove the tee, and they can be reused without issues. They usually stay in place, so you won't have any problem with reassembly.

[Tedmuff]

Originally Posted by Chrisontheroad

Hey all, recently we purchased a 2017 Clipper 17fq. Doing our prep for camping today we sanitized the water tank and lines and went on to dump the gray and black tanks and had a lot of trouble due to the drain pointing upwards working against gravity as opposed to horizontal or downward . I noticed that when we picked her up but I didn’t question it as I thought there was a reason for the angle it’s on, but now I don’t think that’s the case and it’s a strange mistake of some sort. Have any of you run into something like this before or know why it is set up this way? Thank you in advance.
Chris

I have a 17FQ, the valve will rotate down, it’s a little hard to move

[MR.M]

Originally Posted by Chrisontheroad

Thank you I can’t wait to learn about all things camper, and hoped contribute something along the way! I suppose it could be for blade valve handle clearance, but couldn’t the drain pipe still be oriented downwards with the handles set up the same way? Looks like 4 thru bolts on each side and the whole assembly can be re oriented downwards, I may go that route if possible. If anyone has experience working on the sewer system and valves I’d love to hear about it. I will try and orient the pipe down by hand first to see if it is a rotating model when I get her back from inspection today. The water that stays in the pipe from it pointing up is what bothers me because here in the northeast it’s already beginning to dip below freezing at night. Thanks again for the helpful responses.

you can rotate the center piece with the bonnet fitting down shouldn't even have to loosen the bolts to do it . it was a poor install as they have the handles pointing down which reduces your all ready low ground clearance . just bad quality control and people who install not caring .

[Chrisontheroad]

Originally Posted by Larry-NC

It looks to me like the assemblers were careless when they bonded the flanges to the short pipes. I imagine they are bonded with ABS pipe cement and will NOT rotate.

As you suggest, you could:

• Remove the four bolts from the flanges on EACH SIDE
• Leave the valve handles in the SAME ORIENTATION as they are now
• Rotate the tee with the outlet downward 90 degrees.

As I see it, you are only looking at maybe a cup of liquid being retained now. I don't see it as a big deal, but if you are concerned, there's no harm in rotating the tee, and you can always put it back.

The seals on the valve slides are heavy rubber. They won't tear when you remove the tee, and they can be reused without issues. They usually stay in place, so you won't have any problem with reassembly.

I really hope that isn’t the case but if it is, then thank you for letting me know the steps entailed in adjusting it, I will do exactly as you described if need be.

[Chrisontheroad]

Originally Posted by Tedmuff

I have a 17FQ, the valve will rotate down, it’s a little hard to move

Excellent news thank you and hope you’re enjoying your Clipper!

[Chrisontheroad]

Originally Posted by MR.M

you can rotate the center piece with the bonnet fitting down shouldn't even have to loosen the bolts to do it . it was a poor install as they have the handles pointing down which reduces your all ready low ground clearance . just bad quality control and people who install not caring .

I will give a go tomorrow when I get home from work, have to grease bearings and calibrate the new wdh before our maiden voyage this weekend. I agree poor install, I knew enough about campers before this purchase to know that the majority of them aren’t built to the best standards, all one can do is be as knowledgeable as possible and deal with things as they come. That’s what’s great about places like this. I’ll update tomorrow just to let everyone know what happened in the end!

[Chrisontheroad]

Update- The drain rotates! Problem solved by the helpful members here. Hopefully this thread will help new Coachman Clipper owners in the future that have the same confusion. Thank you all again!