Community Forums

made2care · 01-20-2011, 09:42 AM

I am still in the process of drawing up some floorplans and am welcoming any ideas. Redneck express has sent me one which I am considering. He suggested placing all water pipes on roadside and fridge, storage on curbside with water tank up front. There are so many options and one has to keep in mind weight distribution. My axle is 6000# so no problems there. Am considering a tankless waterheater, hope those are reliable.
I would like a few more ideas if you can help. She is 24' x 8'.
Thank you for your ideas.
More pics coming soon

RedneckExpress · 01-20-2011, 12:16 PM

I'd stay away from the tankless water heaters if you plan to dry camp at all with the trailer.

I also recommended placing your waste tanks roughly center or slightly forwards of center over the axle, which also spreads the weight.

While you don't run out of hot water, it takes more water to get the hot water (Longer run time before hot water starts happening). Also, the more open the faucet, the cooler the water.

There was a fairly large debate on these on NATCOA FORUM, since lot of us do dry camping and the extra water consumption wasn't worth it.

Personally, I'd recommend a good 10 gallon Suburban Propane Dual Fuel Water heater (Can run on gas or electric or both at the same time) that's manually operated. You have more water temperature control with the manual unit, and it doesn't need battery power to operate.

I also recommend the Suburban unit, even though it needs an anode, because it has a higher BTU recovery rating than the Atwood units. Also, the Suburban unit requires a smaller hole be cut in the skin of the trailer than the atwood model.

made2care · 01-20-2011, 12:33 PM

Thanks for the suggestions. I have remodeled a few homes in my day but never this. Any further suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

RedneckExpress · 01-20-2011, 01:11 PM

Get yourself a good hole saw for cutting through steel/sheet metal, you'll need it for running the black pipe for your propane back bone (size it to fit 1/2" black pipe plus rubber grommet), as well as a tubing bender/flairing kit.

Most of your appliance propane lines will be copper (Can be bought in spools from home depot/lowes) that will be branching off from the black pipe main that your tanks and regulator are attached to.

Linerpro · 01-25-2011, 05:08 AM

My '47 has a toilet behind the axle on the curbside. There are no tanks, as this was designed for direct hookup, I guess. I like the reasoning for the dual fuel water heater, hadn't thought about that, proving the value of the forums. Another important consideration is batteries ( size, location ). I saw a picture where someone created outside storage access from the back of the trailer - definately on my must do list. I have travelled since I have bought my Manor and have checked out camping areas near natural attractions, I have been less than impressed with how tightly trailers/ RVs are crammed in - thinking dry camping/boondocking is the way to go and thus will outfit my trailer in that direction - which will include solar recharging.