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Hot Water
- click on any image below to enlarge -
 
The trailer originally had only a rusted
out 110v heater under the galley sink (see above). The
Bosch tankless (on-demand)
1600P LPG hot water heater I
used to replace it is lightweight, requires no power, and
can run both a shower and a sink at the same time. Hot
water is able to get to the shower (farthest user) in 6
seconds. Such a heater is not officially approved for RV
use nowadays since it uses ambient air for combustion (like
the heaters of old). I dealt with this by enclosing the
heater in its own utility closet and ducting in external
air. Since the heater only runs when there is a demand
for hot water there is little actual LPG flame use. The
heater housing only requires a 1 inch clearance to any
combustible surfaces. The last picture show the color coded
Pex supply lines and the 1/2" copper gas supply line. Very
simple hook-up.
 
Most importantly, the Bosch requires no
big hole to be cut into the side of the trailer, instead
only a 4" hole through the roof for the vertical exhaust
vent. Standard gas vent fittings cap off the duct. A
standard aluminum roofing eave vent attached to a 3" gas
duct adjustable elbow provides combustion air - and took
care of an old nondescript previous owner installed hole.
The hot water heater utility closet
was closed out with a removable back wall to the
pantry, and for lighting (pizo-electric) and turning
the heater off and on, an access door was made from
formica and tracks made of aluminum J channel extrusion.
Water Supply Lines
 
It all starts with the water
inlet, a Perko marine type (all chrome). This
in turn connects to a double check valve just inside
the inner skin and then connects to the water supply
lines and over to the water tanks for pressure filling.
These check valves are used mainly in hydronics
installations. I like them owing to their durability
and ability to disassemble, even after installed,
for cleaning or repair.
 
(Left) The check
valve supplies the main trunk line forward to the
tanks (off to the right) and up to the kitchen
and water filter cold water lines, and then aft
(left) to the bath and hot water heater. (Right)
This shows the lines continuing behind the stove.
Continuing aft, the lines enter
the hot water closet and connect to the HW heater,
and then continue back into the bathroom, branching
off to go to the sink (lower), and aft under the hamper
cabinet...
 
...where they go up to the shower controls. Here
is where I also have the aft drain valves. All
points from the kitchen and aft drain downhill to this
point, including the hot water tank. To drain
the lines all I do is open these two lever valves,
accessible from under the cabinet floor bottom, and
they drain to daylight through the trailer floor. On
the right is the under sink lines in the lavatory sink
cabinet. A close-out panel will hide and protect the
lines.
PEX
Let me tell you a story about
PEX. I've sweat soldered copper pipe
fittings in all the houses I've worked on, but
I chose to use PEX this time owing to it being
lightweight, cheaper than copper pipe , easy to
snake through cabinets and curves, and the ability
to freeze without damage. It's
been used in houses for decades now. There
are 3 methods of securing the fittings. One
is Shark Bite slip-on connectors, another is
crimp clamps using an inexpensive tool, a similar
method is the commercial expansion and ring method
using an expensive commercial expander tool that
temporarily enlarges the pipe ID, and then its
memory shrinks it onto the barbed fitting.
The way the CashAcme Shark Bites are supposed to
work is the "shark
teeth" hold the
end face of the pipe up against a smooth sealing
surface, with an o-ring keeping the pipe aligned
and preventing water from seeping out. They are
expensive ($6 to$9 each). They
also don't work worth a hoot. I installed
them throughout the trailer per the instructions
(clean square ends, correct insertion depth), and
then when I pressurized the lines, I had water
dripping everywhere, over 80% of the connections
(above image). I
took apart each connection, one at a time,
reworked them, pressure checking each time. Some
I got to stop by swapping connectors, others by
relieving any preload on the lines with clamps,
some I never did stop seeping. Realizing that this
was way too important to chance, I ordered all
new clamp fittings and a clamp crimp
tool ($90) from PEX Supply. I then replaced all
the fittings that leaked, including those that
didn't that were easily accessible. This time the
1/2" connections were OK except all the 3/8" lines
leaked! Taking them back apart and replacing
the pipe or cutting it shorter, I put two clamps
on each end of those fittings. Finally I had everything
leak free, even after the old twist & shake
test.
What did I learn from all this?
1. PEX pipe is easy to work with.
2. Shark Bite fittings should only be used in repair
or access problem situations, and only with the Shark
Bite brand tubing.
3. Crimp clamp fittings work fine on 1/2" pipe, but
not 3/8".
4. I should have bought the more expensive $200 clamp
crimp tool, as the heads stay in alignment without
an additional hand.
5. There is a reason why the pros only use the expansion
and ring method for installation...
Would I do it again? Yes,
but only in 1/2" and with a more expensive
clamp crimp tool. Maybe even pay more for the
expansion and ring method.
 
This shows a fitting
barb and clamps crimped in place. The image
on the right shows the double clamping on a T fitting
I had to do with the 3/8" pipe. There is a
3/8" to 1/2" adapter in between it and
the valve, as there are no 3/8" to 1/2" pipe
thread adapters. Next time, no 3/8" pipe...
 
(Left) The cheapo ($80) crimp
tool, completed fitting and a clamp. The only way it would
work is if you had four hands (or a helper), two to operate
the tool handles, another to keep the heads aligned and
a fourth to hold the fitting, pipe and clamp in place.
(Right) The way the clamp and ring type connections work is the PEX pipe material
is deformed over the fitting barb ridges, creating a seal. That is probably
why the 3/8" didn't work well as the 1/2" did, as the clamps are much narrower.
It is a good idea to plan out
your installation and order all the fittings and a few
spares. All
the clamp type fittings you see here cost that same as
only 2 Shark Bite fittings. I recommend PEX
Supply.com .
Drains,
Vent & Waste (DWV)
 
As opposed to the water
supply lines, the drain and vent lines went smoothly.
Here we see the main vent stack to the roof with:
(top to bottom) the feeds from the kitchen, the shower
and waste water tank vents, and the drain to gray
water tank. Next image shows those same pipes, with
the addition of the shower drain teeing into the
drain and vent riser for the lav sink. Remember,
the fittings into the tanks are inboard of the chassis
rail, hence the odd routings into the tanks. Originally
the shower was going to be in the back of the bath
and the toilet in the front, but I swapped them around
once I laid out the plans on the floor. If I had
to do it again, I would have swapped locations of
the black and gray tanks, or left the original configuration
plan in place. I think this underlines the need to
have all your fixtures and appliances or real size
mock-ups before doing the below floor work and layout
designs.
 
Next two images: Moving
further aft we see the shower drain and extended
trap. In order to keep all the fittings above floor
and still create a gas vapor trap, I used an old
plumbers trick of creating a dog-leg trap. The
chrome EL connects direct to the shower pan drain
fitting. You
can also see the 2 water line drain valves as seen
from under the back shower wall bookcase.
 
First image shows the lav sink trap
that drops to the gray water tanks and tees into the
vertical lav vent line. Next image is the the forward
end of the drain system in the galley, teeing into
the double bowl sink and then passing behind the stove
on its way to the vent stack shown earlier.
Fixtures
 
(Left) The original lav faucet would
have cost more to repair the gaskets and rechrome it,
and did not have the aerator that helps cut down on
water consumption - something important when boondocking.
This shows how the LASCO replacement
handles were adapted using tubing as an adapter bushing
to replace the lever handles. The cross handles are
more period appropriate.
Finished lav sink installation just
waiting for the countertop cove molding to be installed.
The sink is the original one to the trailer, except
now you don't have to tuck your legs under it to sit
on the toilet. To the right is the undersink
closeout panel and shelf installed.
 
The kitchen sink. Sink was rescued
from another Airstream remodel with all new drain fittings,
and the new faucet is a LASCO bar unit designed to
be mounted on a wall, but installed here to the countertop
with chromed Street El's instead.
 
1/2"
Cove molding closes out the gap
between the countertop and wall and the Ogden
water filter installed.
 
The shower controls are original (these
I rebuilt and rechromed), along with all new heavy
chrome parts from the wall hose fitting out (LASCO
once again) . The valve fittings were rebuilt using
washers, gaskets and bonnets from the hardware store.
The Lasco shower curtain bar helps stabilize the
upper shower wall panel and the door opening. A
shutoff valve on the shower wand allows water conserving
showers.
Toilet
 
The Sealand
Traveler 500+ (low
profile version) china toilet. The raised pedestal
area covering the plumbing also brings the
shorter toilet up to proper throne height. Leftover
linoleum and more aluminum trim from VTS and H&K makes
it water resistant and easy to clean, plus
gives the bathroom a nice deco finish look.
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