r/v Jedi

Upgrade fresh water pump

With our choice to have a whole-house RO system, we also made the choice to always use the water from our water tank because that is where we store the water we produce. This means we always use the water-pump and the OEM installed pump is rather cheap and limited. I have been yodeling under the shower when the dishwasher draws water because the pump is only able to supply one faucet at a time. This is not good so we make it better.

Living on our boat for more than a decade now we already knew this and so ordered the new pump with the RO system and you may already have seen it in pictures I posted about the RO system. The reason that this blog post took so long is that it didn't work right yet. I finished the upgrade a couple of days ago.

It's easy to swap out pumps and modify the plumbing for the new pump, but I also wanted to change the mounting location away from the floor. We opted to remove the OEM filter that was on the wall because we have no need for it anymore. This allows us to mount the pump there, with the motor up and the pump-head down, so that any leaks or drippings in case we clean the strainer, can't get to the electric part. The first picture shows this. You can see that I just installed a small PEX bypass (the little blue piece above the pump) instead of the filter. This allowed me to do this without removing the white bulkhead which is a pain and would also allow me to tap into this if I wish. We got the optional strainer that directly connects to the pump and a "soft connector" hose. Here is the list of parts that can all be bought from the RV waterfilterstore and can be found on this page (click):

• Aquajet RV pump
• Soft loop for Aquajet (only need 1)
• AquaTec pump strainer

These pumps use quick-connect fittings and they come with two straight fittings to 1/2" NPT thread. The soft loop comes with a 90 degree elbow fitting. As you can see in the picture, the strainer is attached to the pump and the soft loop to the strainer. I modified the soft loop by replacing the hose clamp with a PEX crimp ring, shortening it and attaching a PEX swivel on the other end that connects to the water tank feed.
The left-over piece from the soft loop can be cut shorter and used to crimp two PEX swivels onto for the output loop. It connects to a check-valve just behind the white bulkhead, which can be reached with some patience and strong words :)

Right to the left of the pump you can see the Aquahot thermostat for the wet bay heating. I temporarily removed it and put it back in the same position after some tidying up of the temperature sensing bulb and copper line. I used a small clip to attach that bulb better too. There is a radiator behind the white wall which, together with this thermostat, is a separate zone for the heating system. I have it set to 4 degrees Celsius to keep everything from freezing.

This would be the story except for the electrical connection. The pump is simply hooked up just like the old one. The problem is that it didn't work as the pump would cut out sometimes. It works again after switching OFF and back ON. This was when I found out that there is no water-pump controller anymore (I had a 15A version at the ready for this): everything is handled by the new CAN-bus switch-panels and power modules. It obviously objected to the increased power draw from 7A to 10A and although I assume this is a programmed value, I didn't hack this network yet so can't change it.

Then I measured the voltage at the pump while it works: it dropped from 13.0V to 11.7V. Oh my, this indicates that the wiring is not up to the task either. This is how good plans go to h@ll just as you think it's finished. This really happened when taking a shower again and never happens when I am trying to make it happen with my meters connected :-o

Well, there is no easy solution to this; we need better wiring and I opted for a quick solution which can probably last for many years, but I'll modify it further in the future because it's not just quick but also dirty: I pulled a new feed from the house battery bank on the underside of the coach, instead of neatly through the ducts in the basement. It's just too wet and cold to empty the basement and do it better now.. yes I'm a wimp :)

I got some AWG12 size wiring in red and black which is the perfect size for this. But I needed more parts to make it complete:

• Fuse holder
• Hella weatherproof relay socket with pigtails
• Hella relays (two, of which one is a spare)

So, the fuse holder (I used a 15A fuse) connects to the positive stud in the battery bay where two other similar connections are already in place; then the red #12 wire down through the floor (there are openings just big enough). The black wire connects directly to the negative busbar beneath the positive stud and the wire goes down through the same hole. From here, we tie-wrapped the wires at the same points that our pimped-up blue LED strip ground effect lighting is tie-wrapped to. We followed that same path all the way to the wet bay where we enter it through an opening along the cold water drain pipe. We wrapped the wiring in electrical tape where it goes through holes to prevent chafing damage. When there was too much space between attachment points, we added some with these nifty self-adhesive clips.

I choose this relay because it is rated for the job and it is weatherproof. Hella is also a decent brand. I got the spare relay so my trust is not 100% :)

So here is how to connect it: the relay socket has 5 wires of which 2 are smaller diameter. These two connect to the original feed for the pump. Now, instead of the pump, they activate the relay. Then there is the new #12 black wire: crimp this to the pump negative wire. Then we have the #12 positive lead left. There are three #12 wires left on the relay socket. While operating the pump switch, use your multimeter on the resistance-beeper setting to find the two that connect together when the pump is switched on. One of these connects to the newly pulled #12 wire and the other to the red wire of the pump. Verify operation and all that needs to be done now is fasten and tidy up. On the 2nd picture above you can see that I used an existing screw to mount the relay to the wall, plus some of the self-adhesive clips to mount the wiring to with tie-wraps.

The test: a nice hot shower after the job is done without yodeling when I hear the toilet flush: yay!!! :)

Wet bay part 3: whole house RO system

This project was by far the biggest we did on the motorhome this year. I spent a lot of time researching this and then even more time finding the best way to implement it. The reasons for selecting this option are plentiful so let me list some: best filtration in existence, so safe for consumption, good (no) taste and all other filters can be eliminated; it removes all minerals so no more water spots, no buildup in water heater, kettle, coffee maker, shower stall, sinks, toilets, faucets etc.; we can take water from any reasonable source, like a creek, for consumption.

I received some messages from people who are also doing this or plan to do this very soon: by following this setup, you can easily save half the time we spent. It's still not easy because access to some parts is challenging and time consuming. Let me start with a picture of the finished installation:

As can be seen above, we decided to install this on the wet bay door. The big reasons for this are that it is as close to the connections needed as possible, plus, with the door open, all the filter housings are over the outside ground instead of inside the motorhome, so that any water spilled doesn't mess things up.
Another thing you can see here is a new water pressure pump which is mounted where the OEM filter housing used to be. I will discus that in a separate post. The reason for this pump is that we are now on water from the tank 100% of the time, as that is where we store the clean RO water we make.

First things first: the door is not strong enough for this. We reinforced it by adding rivets that attach the inner skin to the frame, plus we added a 24"x24" aluminum sheet of 0.1" thickness to spread the load. We installed rivets in a 5.5" grid except where the bracket attaches: here, we added rivets around that bracket attachment point. The bracket itself is also attached with rivets, as is all the plumbing. Click for the rivets, the tool and the aluminium sheet.
In the first picture you can see a PVC pipe behind the filters: this is also to reinforce/stabilize the unit, plus I use it as storage for the "sample tube".

The main components of this system were purchased as a kit from the RV Waterfilter Store. It is the Deluxe Package II. All the other components used came from either Home Depot or Lowe's Home Improvement except for the aluminum plate which came from Amazon. The 2nd picture shows the positioning. It is crucial that the black tank gate valve goes in between filter housings or else the door can't close! We taped a marker pen to the valve and closed the door to mark the spot, then positioned it so that the valve goes between the clear- and white filter housings. We then mounted both the aluminum reinforcement sheet and the bracket with filters and RO membrane with duct tape so that we could try it out before the permanent mounting.

The OEM plumbing has a 3-way valve which select between "city water" and "fill tank". The "fill tank" connection has a hose attached which connects to the fresh water tank, close to where it's dump valve is. This is where this system is inserted: it's input comes from the "fill tank" connection and it's output into the tank.

So, let me run you through how the system works: water from the garden hose passes the 3-way valve that is in the "fill tank" position. It arrives on the door via a flexible stainless steel reinforced connector. There it connects to a good quality brass valve which attaches with an elbow to a drop-ear fitting which is fastened to the door. You can see that it is mounted on an angle: I designed this attachment so as to enforce how the hose bends when the door closes, which is crucial.
From the drop-ear fitting, I run 1/2" PEX tubing to the pre-filter input on the left side. Here it goes through 3 filters: a 5 micron sediment filter, then a 1 micron sediment filter, then a carbon filter. The water that comes out is basically free from sediment and many chemicals including chlorine, which would damage the RO membrane. On the output of these three filters, we switch to 1/4" tubing. The adapter used comes with the RO kit. The tube connects to a AquaTec 8800 pump which also comes with the kit. The output from the pump connects to the input of the membrane which sits on top of the first three filters. The membrane is a cross-flow filter. Water runs through but at high pressure. This pressure forces H2O molecules through a spiral wound membrane. Everything bigger than a water molecule is rejected, as well as water molecules that just flushed through and didn't get a chance to attempt the membrane. This is the cross flow and what cleans the filter continuously. It exits the membrane but right there is a large restriction in the tubing (inserted into the tube before connecting it to the membrane; see the blue thinghy in the black tubing on the next picture; comes with the kit) which reduces the flow to a drizzle and increases pressure in the membrane housing. What comes through the restriction is transported away into the gray water tank. I added some quick connects to change that as this water is still plenty good to water plants and trees etc. so I can divert it if I want.
There are special saddle fittings to connect the 1/4" tubing to the 1.5" PVC pipe but I couldn't find them and just drilled a 1/4" hole under an angle, inserted the tubing with some silicone, then added plenty silicone around it and fixed the tubing in place with a heavy duty tie-wrap. You have to remove the metal panels at the ceiling of the wet bay to gain access to this pipe.

This leaves the product output which is pure water. I connected this to a T-fitting. The right side connects to a small valve and then on to the tank fill connection in the wet bay. The left side of the T also connects to a small valve and then just a length of tubing. This is the "sample" or "test" connection. I always test RO water before ading it to my tank because I could contaminate my tank when something is wrong. I test by smelling and tasting. When I don't trust it, or after changing filters, I also test it with a water quality TDS tester (click). My setup delivers 5ppm water which is very clean. The average drinking water in the USA is 350ppm!

Then there is the pump which needs a 24V AC power supply. The kit comes with a transformer that connects to a standard 110V outlet. The problem is that there are no outlets and we also want a switch to operate the pump. I put the transformer in the electrical bay which is just forward of the wet bay and routed the cable to the pump. Then I installed an outlet in the electrical bay, which is a project of it's own. I then found this nice "remote switch"  at the Lowe's store of which I mounted the switch in the wet bay right under the water pump switch. The switch is like this one on Amazon. This also requires the metal panels at the ceiling of the wet bay removed.

I still don't consider this project finished but it is 100% functional. I'll post some more on it as I work on details of it in the future. After making the first tank of clean water, we can now remove the OEM filter and replace the filter in the fridge with the by-pass plug :)

 

Network & Internet

The last time I wrote on this subject in my "The ultimate wifi for your motorhome" article, it got a lot of attention on the Tiffin forum and it still attracts readers daily. On the one hand, this made me delay this article a bit as it can be complex for those who aren't engineers, but on the other hand it makes it much easier this time because much has stayed the same in our new motorhome.

When I sold our previous motorhome, both the Cradlepoint router and the Apple TimeCapsule went with it. I still had another Cradlepoint router and bought the latest generation of the Apple Airport Extreme router because it has insane radios and antennas for rock solid connections in and around the motorhome and this is what we need.

The picture on the left shows the TV over the fireplace with a Sonos sound bar in front (another post coming up for that :) and tucked behind it in the corner is the Airport Extreme.
For readers who are new to this: the Apple Airport Extreme is not the cheapest but a very good wifi router that works with every computer, tablet, phone, Smart TV or other gadget that we can come up with. This new generation has antenna arrays that are second to none and it has simultaneous dual band routers for both 2.4GHz and 5GHz wifi. It also has an USB port that will play an important role in this configuration.

What the Airport Extreme does not do is provide connectivity to the Internet with a cellular modem, nor can it connect to a Jetpack / mifi or campground wifi (WAN over wifi function). This is the only reason for the second router aboard and that is a Cradlepoint MBR95:

It is mounted in the cabinet above the TV. In the standard setup it only has two cables connected: a DC power cable and an Ethernet cable. The Ethernet cable connects one of it's yellow LAN ports to the WAN port of the Airport Extreme.

Important is that the Airport Extreme is configured as Routing: None (Bridge Only). The new wizard detects this but make sure it is set that way. This makes the Airport Extreme an Access Point only, which is exactly what we want it to be.
The Cradlepoint is configured as full router but with the wifi access and wifi guest access disabled. I use the "wifi as WAN" function to connect to my new 4G Jetpack from Millenicom. This gives us 20-35Mbps speeds which is awesome.

I have little faith in the campground wifi where we are currently but the location of the cradlepoint in the slide-out is still fine to connect to surrounding wifi hotspots, plus we still have our secret weapon which is the Ubiquity Nanostation, which is explained in the previous post about this and connects to the WAN port of the Cradlepoint.

Then we're back at that USB port on the Airport Express. I put an USB extension cable in it and run that to the cabinet pictured above where it connects to an Amazon Basics 4-port hub with external power supply. There are 3 ports in use and they connect to three external hard disks. Each of those is a  HGST Travelstar 1TB 5,400rpm disk in a simple tool-free enclosure. These hard disks are the most durable I ever used for mobile purposes. I put these disks in my first mp3 car player when they were still sold under the IBM brand name and 30MB in size :) 

One of these holds all our music for distribution through the motorhome with the Sonos sound system. Then Josie and I each have our own disk which is used to make backups with Time Machine from our MacBooks. The extreme connect speeds of the Airport Express make these backups work very good. 

 

HAM radio & APRS

A lot of people think about short waves and big antennas but there's more to HAM radio than that. We keep short wave for the boat and only use the 2 meter and 70 centimeter bands with the motorhome.

Please note that you need to be a HAM radio amateur for this, which means you have to pass exams and hold valid certificates. Josie & I have our US General Class certificates since 2003 and our call signs are KI4CIR (Josie) and KI4CIS (Nick). For APRS tracking of the motorhome, we use the KI4CIS-9 call sign (so with a -9 suffix. We use a -7 suffix with the handhelds).

We use a fixed radio in the motorhome and each of us has a handheld transceiver (HT). All of them are equiped with GPS and TNC for digital communications and position tracking. The radio in the motorhome also acts as a Digipeater, linking our HT's to the APRS network when they are out of reach of other repeaters. The setup we use allows us to talk to each other and find each other and the motorhome with GPS precision. This comes handy when we're out in the wilderness with our cameras.
Also, our family and friends can track us via an APRS website. Our blogs show a small map with our position too, like on the left side of this post :)

All this requires some sophisticated equipment and we have been using Kenwood radios for 10 years now. For HT's, we use the Kenwood TH-D72A radios which have everything needed for APRS (incl. GPS) built in. The radio in the motorhome is the Kenwood TM-D710 for which we use a separate GPS module from Green Light Labs, but Kenwood just launched a new model which has everything needed for APRS internally and they call it the Kenwood TM-D710G (where the G stands for GPS I guess :)

Then we have a range of accessories for the handhelds: desktop quick chargers, soft cases with belt clips and external speaker-mikes. The base station needed some modification to make it compatibel with the RAM mounts that we standarize on, but it comes with it's own bracket too. We also use a programming cable so that we can program it from a computer instead of the display unit.

Then there is the antenna, which can go from very simple to very complicated. We went for the simplest of solutions with an $18.50 Opek VU-1512 antenna which is a direct replacement for the CB antenna that Tiffin supplies the Allegro Bus with. I re-used the spring on the primitive mount (don't dare to check VSWR :) and the coax cabling. This combination is shorter than the CB antenna that the coach came with.

Last but not least we need a power feed. I started my search by removing the center dash panel with the dials and quickly found a bundle of 4 wires with labels. My 12V power feed was there, plus two wires for a trailer brake & switch which I'll need for a later project.

From here the installation was quick and painless. There are logical positions for the main unit and microphone within reach of antenna and power cabling and the display unit does best near the windshield because it has a GPS receiver. Note the strain relief for the mike cord just before it attaches to the main unit. I used a rivet with a small cable clip so that it doesn't get ripped out so easily.

On medium power, the unit has no trouble reaching Digipeaters over 20 miles away so this setup is good for all but the most remote locations in North America. We'll get a better understanding of our range as we move away from the cities :)

Below the left side of the dashboard which is pretty full now but it's almost complete so we're good :)

More pictures here! 

Patio TV

Tiffin made some changes for the 2015 model's patio TV: you get a swing-out arm and you get a 40" Samsung smart LED TV instead of a fixed bracket and 42" LG TV. The swing-out arm is the upgrade part of this but it turned out that the LG TV did not survive travel-mode on this arm and broke in two pieces so they switched to the Samsung TV which is stronger. Samsung doesn't have a 42" TV, hence the switch to 40".

You can see the new swing-out mount in the picture above. It has a round magnet to lock it when you push it back inside the wall.

I was fully expecting to add a sound bar here but I was amazed at how much better the Samsung TV's speakers are and decided that they are good enough for now. If you watch sports games with larger groups or tailgating then the TV speakers will probably be overwhelmed, requiring a sound bar for more volume. We now use it mostly for some music or a news channel and it's fine.

This made the modifications needed here much easier and the only thing to do was to mount an IR emitter to control the TV over IR and clean up the other cabling. You can see the small wire in the lower left corner of the picture above. It is secured with gaffer's tape until it can be bundled with the HDMI and coax cables. The actual IR emitter is attached to the front of the TV:

I attach these so that they are secure but the IR remote control can still be used. This emitter is one of three channels of an iTach Flex adapter which in this case is mounted behind the fireplace. It also controls the big TV above the fireplace and an AppleTV.

These emitters allow the TV's to be controlled from RoomieRemote which is an iOS app running on our iPhone and iPads and control all our entertainment systems:

A cooktop for a Jedi :)

The induction cooktops that come with the higher end Tiffin coaches are okay to boil water and that's about it. They have so little control over power settings that they burn a steak and can't simmer at all. Perfect for weekend camping trip to boil an egg in the morning and have dinner out but a big fail for those who enjoy cooking their meals themselves.

We were so disgusted with the whole thing and the problems with finding better cooktops that fit the same cut-out that we ordered our coach without a cooktop and without the cut-out for the cooktop; only the 240V outlet underneath to connect it to was put in.

The first picture shows our galley with the nice cutting board. But there's a strange little control panel just above the dishwasher drawer :) The next picture reveals a rather small cooktop!

This is a professional grade CookTek MCD3000 single-hob 3,000W drop-in cooktop. It has 20 power levels plus thermostat mode for either degrees Fahrenheit or Celcius. It's only one hob (one burner) but will fit the big pots like we use for soups and stews. With 3,000W it has the power to very quickly bring water to a boil and to sear larger quantities of meat without the temperature dropping too quick. 

The next picture shows Dennis from Solid Surfaces Inc in Nashville cutting the opening for the cooktop which is sitting on the plastic in the foreground. The required cut-out is 13.125" x 13.125" (the cooktop itself is 13.75" square). I tested with a small pot with a 6" diameter bottom and can put it anywhere on the surface for it to work. The only thing that gets hot is the pot itself: the surrounding cooktop stays cool to the touch.

We centered the unit under the convection/microwave oven which is also the exhaust fan. Tiffin already provided for ventilation channels under the counter top, as well as the electrical outlet to plug it in.

The cooktop has an integrated display that shows power level, set temperature and measured temperature but the controls are on a remote panel that is to be installed on the front of the kitchen underneath the counter top, much like the controls for conventional gas cooktops. There isn't much room between the counter top and the dishwasher drawer, which was one of the problems that made the search for a suited cooktop difficult. I had first looked at a cooktop from Vollrath but their panel would not fit. We have a portable cooktop that is similar to this one but made by Vollrath to test these pro-grade units and liked it very much. It will now be used whenever we need a second burner or at the table (fondue!) or outdoors for that big pot of chili or gumbo! :)

We didn't buy the CookTek from Amazon for a change, but did get the Vollrath from there :) Here are the links:

• CookTek MCD3000 drop-in cooktop
• Vollrath 59500P portable cooktop
• Solid Surfaces Inc via HomeAdvisor

And then there's the final picture with the complete install. Note that there are more pictures in the photo gallery:

 

 

Tank level sensors

We had to take the panel on the passenger side of the wet bay off to gain access to the tank flush system and were a bit in shock over the mess we found there. Excess materials, a couple of spare wires, garbage and a tank level sensor hanging off the tank explaining why we lost the "tank half-full" indication on the aft toilet. My electronics-engineer-nerves cringed when I saw wires running over rough cuts of a steel frame, which would short out on it after a couple thousand miles driving for sure.

This had to be fixed without delay as you can only damage wire insulation once before it requires replacement! Also, the SeeLevel sensors showed edges coming off the tank and very vulnerable for moisture.

The picture on the left shows a typical Tiffin installation of a SeeLevel sensor. The tech solders the wires to the circuit board and then adds the duct tape so that they don't get ripped off. This is his only concern about that wiring. This is understandable because things like chafing only occur long after leaving the factory. But it is a major concern for us as owners! The wiring must be fastened so that it doesn't move and chafe.

The picture also shows that the right edge is coming off the tank. There is a ground strip on that side which is as important for this system to work as the line of smaller strips on the left. We need to remove the duct tape, clean everything with alcohol, press the sensors better to the tank so that the contact cement can grab hold and then seal the edges with high quality tape. Last but not least is securely mounting the wiring, which requires additional mounting points that need to be fastened to the tanks.

Here is the "after" picture. Note the mounts for the tie-wraps on the tank walls, as well as the tape on the steel frame and tank corners to protect the wiring. The tape used is 1" wide gaffer's tape.

There are more pictures in our photo gallery.

Black and gray water tank flush install & modifications

The Tiffin Allegro Bus comes with a black water tank flush system. It uses pressurized fresh water to flush the tank and this is a point of concern as there is a possibility that bacteria from the black tank can contaminate the fresh water supply, which would not be good. Governments make building codes to address the issue but that still leaves a bit of liability exposure for a manufacturer like Tiffin or the maker of the flush units themselves which in this case is Valterra with the No-Fuss Flush. This leads to strict compliance with code, to the level of nonsense imho.

Let's look at the wet bay as it comes OEM with a 2015 Allegro Bus:

On the right side, just above the hose reel, you can see the tank flush connection. You can attach a garden hose there, connect it to a faucet and flush the tank. When done, you take the hose off, some water will run out the connection, then you need to empty the hose and stow it away. This procedure grows old quickly and many motorhome owners customize this. Before going there, I want to look at what exactly is installed first.

To comply with code, an atmospheric vacuum breaker must be installed so that the tank contents can never siphon back into the water supply when water pressure falls away. This makes sense. However, the vent must be towards the tank and the vacuum breaker must be installed way higher than the tank to work right. This means it ends up inside the coach and if you vent the tank then you get nasty smells. This is where the code doesn't make sense: it is written with systems like garden sprinklers in mind, where it is fully effective and the right thing to do, but no owner wants a black tank smell inside their motorhome. So, what did they come up with? They added a check-valve between the vacuum breaker and the tank and vent the -input- side, i.e. the hose that comes from the inlet fitting in the wet bay. Even though they vent the wrong side, the vacuum breaker is installed so it complies with code, while the check-valve keeps the tank contents in the tank. They even made a special vacuum breaker for motorhomes that has the check-valve integrated, and made it from cheap plastic. Cheap plastic breaks so many owners get their coach interior sprayed instead of their tank. Not good.

I got to all this because I wanted to add a tank flush in the gray water tank. I order a Valterra No-Fuss Flush and when I receive it, I find that it has a check-valve integrated with it! It turns out that there are different versions and the retail version has that check-valve. I decided to eliminate the plumbing inside the coach with the vacuum breaker, use PEX tubing instead of hose and modify the original flush head to also have the check-valve. 

First is the flush for the gray tank; you can see the finished install in the picture on the left. After removing the basement panel on the passenger side, I cut a 1" hole in the top of the tank with a hole saw, sanded the area as well as the flange on the flush nozzle and then installed it with silicone sealant and three stainless steel screws. I then let the silicone cure overnight before continuing.
The retail version of the No-Fuss Flush has a garden hose connection so I put an adapter in to standard 1/2" NPT threads. Now it was a simple matter of installing the PEX tubing to the driver side of the wet bay and crimp a swivel elbow fitting on it that screws onto the 1/2" NPT thread. I will get to the hookup on the other side after showing the modification on the black tank flush;

 On the left is the original setup with an elbow and the hose and above the modified setup where I removed the elbow, then screwed a check-valve in and installed PEX tubing with another swivel elbow fitting. This makes it equivalent in function with the retail version of the flush.

 Now here is something to think about: these flush nozzles are supposed to be installed in the side of the tank and their flanges have a flattened area that is to face the top of the tank. The spray pattern is such that it does not spray anything to the top. I faced this towards the short end where the nozzle is installed so that my spray pattern covers to long sides of the tank, but Tiffin installed it the other way around so that they only spray the short end of the tank where it is installed and not the whole length of it down towards the drain!? I'm not saying it's better or worse than my orientation because I changed my mind several times already and decided to see how it works either way as it isn't too difficult to change it.

The only left is the hookups of the two new flush lines and much of that was already shown during previous wet bay posts so I'll keep it short: at the other end of the PEX tube runs I put an elbow and a short piece of tubing to go down so that it can be reached behind the hose reel. There I crimped some straight fittings to 1/2" NPT thread. To connect this to the valves I installed earlier, I use standard flexible hookup hoses with stainless steel reinforcement sleeves. Simple and durable. These valves are connected to the hose reel water feed so that we never need to connect a separate hose again. I can even flush with water from the fresh water tank. Below the picture where the two connections to the flush lines are just visible behind the reel. The original flush inlet is removed but the old hose with swivel fitting can still be seen through the hole. Now all that's left is omething to cover up the old holes :)

Passenger side basement faucet

We always wondered why this isn't standard so that we can easily clean things like the barbecue, chairs, table, patio, motorhome or the car. The new coach didn't have it either so now we had to add one ourselves.

Finding a good spot for the faucet isn't easy. You need it to be easily accessible to connect the hose and open/close it but it should not block the basement openings either. 

We finally decided on the Hydrahot (heating) bay right in front of the side-mounted central vacuum cleaner. Here it is easily accessed while the vacuum unit comes further from the wall and thus protects the faucet nicely and it is right next to the wet bay with an easy path for the plumbing.

Next is the actual installation. I could not find a faucet I like in either Home Depot or Lowe's so I ordered it on-line. You can get it here on Amazon for $8 including Prime 2-day shipping. This is a 1/4 turn brass faucet with a chromed brass ball valve and 1/2" hookup threads to mount it on the drop ear fitting, plus standard hose threads.

Next we need some PEX supplies; I used a bit of teflon tape, 1x drop ear fitting, 2x elbow, 1x T-fitting, 8 crimp rings and about 3' PEX tubing, all 1/2" diameter and 3x stainless screws for mounting it.

There is an inner skin for this bay which is mounted onto the steel bulkhead to the wet bay. Just drill and screw through both skins for mounting the drop ear fitting. Make sure you have enough room to screw the faucet onto the fitting later. Next is fitting and cutting the PEX pieces to get through the existing opening to the wet bay. On this side the wet bay does not have a door so you have to remove the side panel there. Tape the edges of the panel where you need to put the screwdriver so that the paint doesn't get damaged and prepare something to set it on right there as there is a hose attached for the water tank gravity fill. When you have it off, you need to take the hose of the gravity fill off. This is tough as they used some pipe dope. If you don't succeed then cut the hose very close to the tank. You can then remove the small piece later and there will hopefully be enough length left for fastening it again.

In the wet bay I found the hot and cold PEX lines that run to the aft bathroom so after closing off the water and opening the cold line drain valve in the wet bay, I cut the cold line and T-ed into that like pictured below. Piece of cake and perfectly functioning outdoor faucet :)

 

Vacuum cleaners

Our previous motorhome had a DirtDevil central vacuum which we didn't use often because we didn't like it so much and it is a lot of work to get the long hose out for a small job etc. We noticed a different brand central vacuum in the new coach but didn't pay much notice until we tackled the vacuum cleaner point on our list. We noticed the following:

• You now get an interVac central vacuum cleaner
• There is a dust pan in the galley that is connected to the central vacuum
• There is a connection point for the central vacuum in the basement

The interVac unit is a much better unit than the DirtDevil. The hose and attachments that come with it are all top class, with a telescoping tube and good brushes.

The dust pan is great: it sits in the wall just above the floor and when you move a lever, a slot opens and the central vacuum activates and you can throw/wipe anything in and it is gone. Us Europeans never saw this before and like it much.

That said, it is still a lot of work to get it out for small jobs so we were happy to get our Electrolux ErgoRapido (click it for a link) geeky vacuum out of storage and install the base station. There is a very good location in the aft walk-in closet with an outlet for the power connection in reach inside the cabinet with the main breaker panel. It sits out of the way behind the clothes and the breaker cabinet can still open. We guided the wiring to run behind the carpeting using a plastic spudger. The wall wart transformer is big but with a little door adjustment, the cabinet closes fully and all is good.

It has an 18V Lithium battery for a 30-minute run time, a rotating brush, a LED headlight and you can take the power-unit out and it is a small handheld vacuum! We saw an improved model at the Lowe's the other day which has an integrated knife to cut hairs off the brush and bought that model before in Europe and found that feature works great too. Our unit is now 2.5 years old and the battery is still good.

It doesn't use a bag and we clean it out in front of the dust pan of the central vacuum which makes that job a breeze! :)