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Canuck53 · 02-07-2019, 06:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dutch Star Don

I finished up my water bay project today. I had already added the electric drain valve and put switches for the drain valve and SaniCon in the half bath. I haven't dumped from the wet bay since I bought the coach. It's all done from inside.

Today I added the final component, a new Flojet Variable speed 5.5 gpm water pump. I started to take out the old pump, which is a nightmare without removing the panel, so I left it. I cut the wires to the old pump, added spade connectors to it and the new pump. The hose fittings on the old pump quick connected to the new pump without any alterations.

I installed the new pump on the bay floor and now have a backup in place, should the new one have an issue. It takes about ten minutes to switch hoses and wires back to the old pump.

Attachment 234340

Attachment 234341

Do you place the electric valve horizontal or did you get some angle? Thanks

ftharrisiii · 02-07-2019, 08:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TWINCAMSAM

FTHARRIS-looking at your WS, do you use the filter canister to load the salt? Do you keep the empty canister in-line while in normal operation. I have a similar setup up and that’s what I do. However not road tested as yet and have come bugs to work out. Also I had to put the WS on the passenger side as I have slide trays in the thru bays.

I typically don’t travel with the filter canister connected. I only connect it when I do a regen. I store it along with filters, etc. under the bed upstairs in the coach. The rest of the time I simply connect the hoses together and coil them up. I made the hoses long enough so the “wet work” is done outside the coach.

Dutch Star Don · 02-07-2019, 08:31 PM

I placed the electric drain in the horizontal position....there is plenty of space.

Canuck53 · 02-07-2019, 09:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dutch Star Don

I placed the electric drain in the horizontal position....there is plenty of space.

Thanks

NealC · 02-08-2019, 08:29 AM

The reason the wet bay panel is so much (229) is it's 3rd party and of course marked up as Newmar does significantly. The back of my new panel has a label of who made it:

Positron Corporation – Dash Panels and Decorated Plastic Experts

I probably could have designed my own and used a company such as https://tapplastics.com as I've used for other projects and may still do so in either plastic or a an aluminum or stainless version. That's for much later, I'll start designing one but I know a lot of ideas will come to mind so I expect a lot of iterations. Access panel for water pump, possible roof mount of city water reel so it doesn't use the floor area up or collect dirt, etc. Tinker project for later.

Alex00 · 02-08-2019, 02:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NealC

The reason the wet bay panel is so much (229) is it's 3rd party and of course marked up as Newmar does significantly. The back of my new panel has a label of who made it:

Positron Corporation – Dash Panels and Decorated Plastic Experts

I probably could have designed my own and used a company such as https://tapplastics.com as I've used for other projects and may still do so in either plastic or a an aluminum or stainless version. That's for much later, I'll start designing one but I know a lot of ideas will come to mind so I expect a lot of iterations. Access panel for water pump, possible roof mount of city water reel so it doesn't use the floor area up or collect dirt, etc. Tinker project for later.

I see a CNC router table in your future. Imagine the things you could make between the 3D printer and the router.

NealC · 02-08-2019, 03:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alex00

I see a CNC router table in your future. Imagine the things you could make between the 3D printer and the router.

I’ve got a finished attic begging for attention!

NealC · 02-09-2019, 07:49 PM

The gray is now plumbed with 3 inch and the Drainmaster S2VT electric gates are in. Doug, the owner of Drainmaster has been readily available and even answered two emails promptly today coaching me through this process. Fantastic company and support. He advised starting with the black gate valve which is a drop in replacement then working back to the gray tank. They also made a great recommendation of using the levelers to tilt the coach towards the passenger side to keep the black tank ordeal to a minimum which it was. Still disgusting but minimal haha. I used the Drainmaster wye and a coupler Doug recommended and provided to give flexibility with the plumbing and make it easier when it comes time to replace the gaskets in the gate valves if they ever need to be replaced. The wye is a little different than the valterra so I needed an extension to get the 90 to go down the port. Good thing I had one and camco makes them in varying lengths.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B016V2JMBS

Now it's time for the electrical for both wet bay and inside coach switches. A master arm switch will also be installed so the system is only functional when the sewer hose is connected.

I installed the new seelevel strips on the wet bay side and hopefully that will improve the readings. I also removed and remounted the water pump putting an anti-vibration pad in between it and the wall to help reduce noise/vibration. It's been a very educational process getting intimately familiar with the wet bay area.

Canuck53 · 02-09-2019, 08:35 PM

Neal,

Great job! Now to put Humpty back together again!

A couple of quick questions. I see you have the dump valves straight up. Will the wet bay panel go back on? Were you going to place them on an angle but decided against it?

What fitting did you use to screw back up into the grey tank. You used a rubber coupling at the end of the grey. Is that the coupling that is sold on the Drainmaster web site?

Great job again and I would like to see it when Humpty is back together again.

NealC · 02-10-2019, 07:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Canuck53

Neal,

Great job! Now to put Humpty back together again!

A couple of quick questions. I see you have the dump valves straight up. Will the wet bay panel go back on? Were you going to place them on an angle but decided against it?

What fitting did you use to screw back up into the grey tank. You used a rubber coupling at the end of the grey. Is that the coupling that is sold on the Drainmaster web site?

Great job again and I would like to see it when Humpty is back together again.

1) The wet bay panel should be fine but these projects always come with surprises. I don't foresee any issues (that's the first problem) but I'll report back when I have more progress to share. I have to get the wiring run to a switch location in the coach. Still figuring out the best location for that.

2) The fitting is from Newmar, I ordered the plumbing they used from black to the gate. It's a male threaded fitting that goes into the female port on the bottom of the gray tank. Genius of them to make this easily removable. The tanks are very light, the black one actually slide left on me and caught me by surprise, it ended up being a good thing and something they may have designed in to help with the plumbing to get fittings to mate.

3) The coupling was bought from Drainmaster but it's the same as a Fernco coupler available from Lowes/Home Depot (and probably cheaper). Drainmaster has been outstanding and I just wanted to give them my business for anything needed in the project. Same applied to AMSolar when it was solar install time, great people, great company, they deserve the business.

Back to it once the temp gets above crazy cold around noon today.

Canuck53 · 02-10-2019, 11:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NealC

1) The wet bay panel should be fine but these projects always come with surprises. I don't foresee any issues (that's the first problem) but I'll report back when I have more progress to share. I have to get the wiring run to a switch location in the coach. Still figuring out the best location for that.

2) The fitting is from Newmar, I ordered the plumbing they used from black to the gate. It's a male threaded fitting that goes into the female port on the bottom of the gray tank. Genius of them to make this easily removable. The tanks are very light, the black one actually slide left on me and caught me by surprise, it ended up being a good thing and something they may have designed in to help with the plumbing to get fittings to mate.

3) The coupling was bought from Drainmaster but it's the same as a Fernco coupler available from Lowes/Home Depot (and probably cheaper). Drainmaster has been outstanding and I just wanted to give them my business for anything needed in the project. Same applied to AMSolar when it was solar install time, great people, great company, they deserve the business.

Back to it once the temp gets above crazy cold around noon today.

Thanks looking forward to the end results and performance.

NealC · 02-10-2019, 12:33 PM

Quick update from today’s work so far. I have 5 gal jugs for boondocking later this year for emergency water so I filled two up to test the gray tank and seelevel readings.

1) Gray tank plumbing is showing no leaks which is great! Drainmaster gates are also showing no leaks. Ready for the electrical part and then close up the bay.

2) I am absolutely amazed at the difference of the SeeLevel sensor strips on the wet bay side vs. pegboard side. I placed 3 new strips right next to the Newmar sensors on each tank and kept wire runs as short as possible, followed the Garnet instructions and the readings are dead on accurate. I tested at both 5 and 10 gals into gray, coach level. I then flushed the two toilets and immediately got a black tank reading. It has always been delayed in the past and highly inaccurate. Fresh is spot on but it and gray have typically been good.

3) The anti-vibration pads behind the REMCO AES water pump are a definite improvement. I even put one between the wet bay wall and the electrical bay wall to minimize vibration of the flimsy wall. I can barely hear the pump in the coach now, what a nice improvement there as well.

Working on another project next then back to running the dreaded wires to get the in house switches for sanicon black and gray.

While painful, these projects are so well worth it in not only improvements but the learning. Prior to owning an RV I never changed my oil in anything (now I do the GEN), never dealt with ABS piping and running new lines, and a ton of electrical from solar to LED lighting, etc. It’s been hard work but great lessons learned. Don’t be afraid to do things, with the great community here you CAN do it.

Canuck53 · 02-10-2019, 01:06 PM

Any thoughts on why the black tank is now responsive? Is it the shape and slop of the black tank? Are not the black and grey the same shape but slightly small?

What did you do different based on the SeeLevel instructions?

Your thoughts?

NealC · 02-10-2019, 01:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Canuck53

Any thoughts on why the black tank is now responsive? Is it the shape and slop of the black tank? Are not the black and grey the same shape but slightly small?

What did you do different based on the SeeLevel instructions?

Your thoughts?

The tanks are supposedly slanted towards the wet bay which makes sense as in my pics you can see the drains. Also Garnet says in the manual to make sure the sensor wires are pulled to the side and not be near the top of the sensor strips. I don’t think mine were an issue but this time I taped them off to the side to ensure separation. Finally just verifying the ground wire at the console shares the ground connection with the sensors as it was before. The shorter wire run by 8 feet will also help as apparently SeeLevel is sensitive to wire resistance.