Plumbing modification "update"(Added schematic)

[Hurricaner]

Hello all. I just found this forum and have made several mods to various system on my 2004 Challenger. I will try and post some info and pics in the next couple of weeks if people are interested. The first one was my mod to the plumbing system that allows the following options.

Use the city water connect to fill the water tank.
Use the antifreeze suction line to fill the water tank with the on board pump. Very handy for filling your tank from containers.
Enables you to get pump suction from the drain line or the suction line. This can be useful for getting those last few gallons out of the tank.
Allows you to drain the water tank from the pump suction side as well as the drain to improve the pitiful slow drain times.

I believe this mod will work on any Damon product that has the 65 gallon water tank mounted on top of the 45 gallon waste tanks with no water control panel, 2002(maybe earlier) to 2007.

This was all accomplished with 3 or 4 valves and a few hours work. Total cost is under 30 bucks even if you have to rent the crimping tool.

It's been a few years since I made the mod but I will get the info together if enough people are interested or even just a few.

Sam

[Hurricaner]

Hello all. I just found this forum and have made several mods to various system on my 2004 Challenger. I will try and post some info and pics in the next couple of weeks if people are interested. The first one was my mod to the plumbing system that allows the following options.

Use the city water connect to fill the water tank.
Use the antifreeze suction line to fill the water tank with the on board pump. Very handy for filling your tank from containers.
Enables you to get pump suction from the drain line or the suction line. This can be useful for getting those last few gallons out of the tank.
Allows you to drain the water tank from the pump suction side as well as the drain to improve the pitiful slow drain times.

I believe this mod will work on any Damon product that has the 65 gallon water tank mounted on top of the 45 gallon waste tanks with no water control panel, 2002(maybe earlier) to 2007.

This was all accomplished with 3 or 4 valves and a few hours work. Total cost is under 30 bucks even if you have to rent the crimping tool.

It's been a few years since I made the mod but I will get the info together if enough people are interested or even just a few.

Sam

[Chandler]

Hi Sam and welcome to the forum! What's great about a brand specific site is that modifications such as yours can be shared and duplicated..or even changed a bit to suit each person.
I know I speak for everyone when I say that I can't wait to see the pictures.
I have always thought about filling the tank while hooked up to city water. I know some manufacturers do it and some do not. I think it can't hurt if done right.

Thanks again, and Im looking forward to hearing more.

Chandler

[lionel_046]

Hello Sam,

Sounds like a mod I would be interested in seeing as well.

Harry

[Hurricaner]

Here is a link to some pics I just posted. I don't have time to do a write up now but I will get to it later. pics.. You can get the tank fill and the container fill with one valve from the pump outlet to the drain outlet.

Sam

[Hurricaner]

OK, here we go, the first picture is taken of the rear wall of the waste drain cabinet. The upper pipe is the pump discharge and water supply line. You can see the tee I installed and line feeding the expansion tank. Note that it is ballooned out, this is why you don't want to use hose on pressurized plumbing(I gotta fix that one of these days.

If you follow that line it feeds a tee that used to go to the low point drain. I installed another tee and two valves with a tee in between them. The line between, goes to the drain hose and the line connected to the other valve goes to the pump suction on the other side of the RV.(see the last picture).

You really only need the one valve to the drain line to do a tank fill, from city water or the winterizing hose from a container. The valve and line to the suction enable you to get suction from the drain line or the normal suction, which can be handy if you are little bit out of level and need to get every last bit of water. Of course with the ability to add water from a container I have rarely used this option and you usually have to chase some pressurized water through this line to get the air out so the pump doesn't cavitate.

Now for the big warning. Do not use the city water tank fill without opening the gravity fill cap. It is just not worth taking a chance on tank and floor damage; things can happen to distract you. The vent line might or might not be enough to prevent disaster. I will be happy to answer any questions about the install.

[prsmith]

Hurricaner!

Thanks for this info. I have a 2002 and wanted to some of these mods but just never got around to it.

I have to digest this a bit since I am not sure I understand exactly what you have done.

Perhaps a schematic might help this dense old guy out (I turned 66 yesterday and my brain became mush)

Again, thanks for sharing your project with us. This is what our Forum is all about.

[Hurricaner]

I had a schematic but it was the victim of multiple computer failures. If you look at the first picture it shows two valves with a tee between them, coming off the low point drain which is the pressurized cold water supply line. For now forget the second valve with the hose attached. So without this second valve if you open the first one, water will flow into the tank through the drain line. If you are connected to city water than that will flow into the tank. If you have your antifreeze suction line into a container and the valves set, the pump will pump the containers content into the tank. I will create another diagram one of these days.

Sam

[Hurricaner]

Here is a schematic of my Damon plumbing system. The items in blue are the changes I made, the rest is stock. V-4 is the tank fill valve and V-3 redirects the pump suction from normal to drain or both. If you close V-1 and open V-2 and V-4, you can use the antifreeze connection to fill the tank from containers. It will drain a 5 gallon container in under 2 minutes, much easier than trying to dump into the gravity fill.

Sam

[Redapple]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Hurricaner:

Here is a schematic of my Damon plumbing system. The items in blue are the changes I made, the rest is stock. V-4 is the tank fill valve and V-3 redirects the pump suction from normal to drain or both. If you close V-1 and open V-2 and V-4, you can use the antifreeze connection to fill the tank from containers. It will drain a 5 gallon container in under 2 minutes, much easier than trying to dump into the gravity fill.

Sam </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Sam,
Great stuff. I have been having a dilemma as to where to install my expansion/Accumulator tank, and you picture just says it all. I think that is the perfect place to put it. I just need one piece of information. The line you Tee'ed into, is that the top line that goes all the way to the other side of the coach&gt; It looks like that is it, and the hose has a large loop and goes to the top of the expansion tank. Is that the case? I would like to copy what you did (Thanks by the way), just want to make sure I tee into the correct supply line from the pump.

Bill

[Hurricaner]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">The line you Tee'ed into, is that the top line that goes all the way to the other side of the coach&gt; It looks like that is it, and the hose has a large loop and goes to the top of the expansion tank. Is that the case? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Yes. I have a few more pics but they have not cleared the dirty picture police.

Sam

[Hurricaner]

Here is an updated drawing that shows the expansion tank and a pic that identifies the new valves.



Sam

[Redapple]

Thank You. Is that a 2gal or 6gal tank?

Bill

[Hurricaner]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Thank You. Is that a 2gal or 6gal tank? </div></BLOCKQUOTE> It is a 2 gallon tank, I'm not sure you could get a 5 gallon through the door opening, but maybe.

Sam