Community Forums

DNVGolden · 03-14-2015, 03:36 PM

We just purchased a 34 foot 2003 Coachmen Mirada and it has the fresh water control panel in one of the bays. The owner's manual is very vague on how to use this system and leaves a lot to the imagination. Does anyone have this system that could offer step by step instructions with illustrations or pictures?? That would be very helpful. Thank you!

LouieL · 03-14-2015, 05:20 PM

On my 2001, there was an illustration on the valve unit itself showing the valve directions for fill, use, winterizing ect..

Waiter21 · 03-14-2015, 06:08 PM

I have a 2001 Mirada,

The panel is laid out OK, put the 5 valves into the positions shown to accomplish what you want to do. note the 4 little diagrams just above and below the center valve; FILL, USE, DRAIN, WINTERIZE

The one valve thats not on the panel is a water tank drain. (it is labeled correctly) water will drain underneath the coach. (lower right in the photo)

The port above the water tank drain is used to suction fill the tank (You use your coach water pump to suck liquid out of your container. This is not a standard hose fitting, Its more like the fitting you find to connect water supply to bathroom sink faucets. I made an adapter and 6 ft hose. I use this to suck a couple gallons into the tank when I winterize.

DNVGolden · 03-15-2015, 06:19 AM

Thanks for the replies. Should the areas that say "fill, use, drain & winterize" light up? Ours don't. We have managed to get water into the tank, but don't have anything going through the water heater. We can open the cold water faucets and get water, but nothing comes out of the faucet when turned to hot, and we have waited a long time.

Waiter21 · 03-15-2015, 06:50 AM

No, no lights. Those are just little diagrams that show what the valve positions need to be in to perform the particular function.

Take a look at the water valves on the water heater itself, they may be turned off for winterization.

My water heater is between the table bench seats and the shower. Pull out the two drawers and you should see it on the floor.

Mine has three valves, one shuts off cold in, one shuts off hot out, and the third bypasses the water heater.

The bypass makes it easy to winterize (thats the pink stuff in the water lines)

In the photo below, the cold in and hot out are turned on and allow flow thru the heater. The bypass is closed and will not allow flow.

If the water heater has been winterized, it may also have the drain plug pulled. You'll need to look outside, open up the water heater compartment. The plastic plug near the bottom of the water heater may be removed to drain it.

DNVGolden · 03-16-2015, 05:52 AM

Ah, the light dawns! Thank you so much Waiter21 for your excellent help. We appreciate it so very much!

Waiter21 · 03-16-2015, 06:06 AM

Those black valves on the water heater are very fragile. One of mine broke and leaked water everywhere. I think the flexing from unsecured tubes caused the break. I'll be posting an article on the valve fix later.

As an emergency repair, I simply cut the tube and inserted one of these "Shark Teeth" valves. I was then able to shut the water off and finish our trip.

Buy one of these valves (1/2 inch PEX) and keep it in your spare parts box. These just push onto the tube, no tools required. You'll hear people refer to these as "Shark Teeth" connectors, they have sharp little teeth that grip the tube. They use an O-ring to seal. These are re-usable, i.e., you can remove them after you make a repair. You need about 1 inch of tub exposed for these to push onto the tube.

These cost about $10 each, when you goto the store to buy that little fitting for your suction, buy one of these also.