Newbie Water regulator question

[gmferg]

The one you have should protect the plumbing in your TM. I've had one without the gauge for a while and became dissatisfied with the low flow through it, difficult to shower. I recently switched to a Watts and am happy with it so far. It allows much more flow and the pressure can be adjusted. Bottom line, if you are satisfied with the flow at your faucets, stick with the one you have.

Also see this thread: http://www.trailmanorowners.com/foru...?t=8500&page=3

You should be fine with the fixed one at 45 psi. One important thing is put it on the faucet end of your hose so you protect your hose as well.

I hate to contradict Rumbleweed, but I was told to connect the pressure regulator directly to the RV.

Otherwise the thought is that while you are off boating, the water in the hose heats up from the sun causing too much pressure in your RV, cracking the pipes inside. Also when folks walk or drive over the hose you get a shot of high pressure inside the RV.

Connecting the pressure regulator directly to the RV prevents this unpleasantness.

[countrygirl]

Cool links ...thanks! Ha! I have spent the last hour researching water pressure regulators ...tried to find one at 35 psi...finally found one. I also found one set at 30 psi. the www...is a great thing!


I think the blue plastic one I had from Walmart was rated for 35 but on line all the blue ones are made by Camco and are rated 40-50 psi.

I did find this link.......http://www.rvwaterfilterstore.com/ABPressure.htm which has some interesting stuff about flow and pressure. They MAINLY seem to deal with full timers in motor homes but I am sure the same principal applies to TMS.

I am also posting this link...cause I really like the way he cradles his water filter and may just copy it: http://www.dmbruss.com/zFullTimeLife...FreshWater.htm

Thanks for the responses to my response. Had I not posted I would not have had the opportunity to learn more stuff about this.

Originally Posted by LiveTicker

I hate to contradict Rumbleweed, but I was told to connect the pressure regulator directly to the RV.

Otherwise the thought is that while you are off boating, the water in the hose heats up from the sun causing too much pressure in your RV, cracking the pipes inside. Also when folks walk or drive over the hose you get a shot of high pressure inside the RV.

Connecting the pressure regulator directly to the RV prevents this unpleasantness.

Huh, I never thunk of that. I have always done as rumbleweed, but might have to rethink this. The water hose would be a lot easier to replace than the plumbing.

Now I'm back to agreeing with Rumbleweed who said:
"One important thing is put it on the faucet end of your hose so you protect your hose as well."

The idea of the garden hose heating up and causing excess pressure inside (post #13) came from the pop-up message boards when I had my very old Coleman & Starcraft pop-ups.

The old pop-up campers did NOT have PEX plumbing and a Water Heater.


After thinking about this today, it occurred to me that the water heater has a pressure relief valve that might eliminate overpressure in the TM.

A little research says that the Pressure relief valve opens when water temperature reaches 210F or water pressure reaches 150 pounds.
The burner Manual Reset will trip at 180F. [1]

The PEX plumbing Pressure Ratings are ... 100psi at 180F ... 160psi at 74F. [2]

If 100 feet of half inch tube holds about 0.92 gallons of water[2] - then your 25 foot hose holds about a quart of water.
Which means relative to the total volume of your TM plumbing and hot water tank the hose volume is minimal. (0.25/6= 4% ... even less if you include inside pipes).

As a contrast the old pop-up campers had about 4 feet of inside cheap plumbing. Which means a 25 foot hose held about 6 times the volume (625%) of the camper. So a solar heated hose or someone stepping on it could be a problem inside.

The TM plumbing is already built to withstand the increase in volume and pressure when the cold water in the 6 gallon tank is heated up and no faucets are open.


If you are worried or if your hose goes across a road, then just spend the $12 on a second water regulator connected directly to the TM.

.
[1] http://bryantrv.com/docs2/docs/operating/swinstall.pdf SW6DE Water heater manual
[2] http://www.pexuniverse.com/pex-tubing-technical-specs PEX Pressure Ratings Etc.
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A small accumulator tank will solve the problem.

[cochise]

We fast got tired of the drible of water from the shower head in our Elkmont 24. Than I heard about the “Oxygenics Body Spa RV Showerheads”. It sounded good so we got one. And it truly made a difference. It feels like the one at home and it is easy to handle. The original shower head had a shut off button in the handle. The Oxigenics has aring that one can twist to shut off the water (almost), there is still a dribble to wet the soap.
Here is a link: http://www.campingworld.com/shopping...owerheads/5006
We have found that while traveling it is best to take the shower head odd the holder on the wall and lay it in the tub, that goes for both the original and the new one. Also, I got tired of the hose kinking between the faucet and the wall because of the tight area. I got a barbed 90 degree angle and cut the shower head hose so that there was just about ¾” hose left on the piece that screws onto the faucet, dipped the hose in boiling water and pushed it onto the nylon angle and the long length onto the other end, and now the hose rises perfectly up to the head holder with no kinks.