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MCI 102-C3 coach to RV - Water System

Ah. I got it now. I kept thinking the roll of fabric needed to fit into the slotted cylinder. Other than the price and smallish dimensions, that's about what I'm after. Anything made for RV's is overpriced, of course. I'll compare it to widening the factory rail and adding on a slotted tube.
 
bigun said,

There is a RV salvage place in the Denver area where you might be able to acquire used stuff cheaper, but as you say the prices on RV related stuff is expensive. The awning on my class c blew apart years ago and I have never been able to replace it
 
True. Even better, my wife is friends with another sonographer up that way and her husband runs an RV salvage business. We're all friends on facecrack. I'll have to hit him up on this.
 
Drip rail section. It's all 1/8" thick. I suspect the RV rail is the same thickness.

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On the 17th of this month, one of our duck canvas tarps ship out. We will have waited a month for it. I needed one to roll up so that I can determine the diameter. This will be a three-in-one awing that I want to integrate into the gutter. Will be using stainless sheet for the gutters that I'll have Ecodynamics cut, bend and roll on their CNC equipment. I can't design it until I measure the tarp.

The three-in-one function (at least what I'm shooting for) will be the usual awing, a drop-down projector screen (because I saw somebody's idea for a sheet draped down their RV to watch movies at night and it was friggin' cool), and hopefully another track to pull them over the solar panels in the event of a hail storm. Why not?

Other than that, I'll be back to conduit fitting and floor prep tomorrow. Taking care of a few customer cars here and there.
 
While I wait, more ideas come to mind. Posting them here so that I can pull them up again later since stuff gets lost in the laundry or infinite interweb space.

I’m building several gray water gardens to utilize as much waste water as we can. I was just thinking that I should make the hallway garden multi-tier as the washer is capable of pumping its drain water up to 96”. All drain water will ultimately end up in a gray water tank, similar to all RV’s. I may add a small pump to the tank to run the water back up to each garden just for the opportunity to quench every plant when necessary without using fresh water.
 
Another idea that hit me moments ago (and won’t likely make any sense to anyone just yet). Tilted axis carousel drum for the composting toilet pit. Anything that drops in it changes the weight which will continue to rotate the contents.
 
aczlan said,
JNHEscher said:
Another idea that hit me moments ago (and won’t likely make any sense to anyone just yet). Titled axis carousel drum for the composting toilet pit. Anything that drops in it changes the weight which will continue to rotate the contents.​
Makes sense to me, no need to spread anything out...

Aaron Z
 
aczlan said:
JNHEscher said:
Another idea that hit me moments ago (and won’t likely make any sense to anyone just yet). Titled axis carousel drum for the composting toilet pit. Anything that drops in it changes the weight which will continue to rotate the contents.​
Makes sense to me, no need to spread anything out...

Aaron Z​
Glad somebody got it that quickly lol. It’s been good that we haven’t rushed our project like so many others have. The time has certainly allowed us to think things over very thoroughly. Measure twice, cut once.
 
Another post out of order. I'm second guessing the use of PEX in our bus. The chemical smell that has been coming off it in the water of most new houses is rather gnarly. Any ideas for alternatives? Hardline like copper tubing would be quite tricky. Food grade silicone tears too easily.
 
aczlan said,
JNHEscher said:
Another post out of order. I'm second guessing the use of PEX in our bus. The chemical smell that has been coming off it in the water of most new houses is rather gnarly. Any ideas for alternatives? Hardline like copper tubing would be quite tricky. Food grade silicone tears too easily.​
We have pex running to our upstairs bathroom (remodeled the bathroom and replaced come very brittle CPVC with pex) and to the laundry room (wife wanted the laundry on the main floor, not in the basement down some narrow and steep stairs and pex was the easiest way to run it).
We have not had any issues with any smells or flavors in the water.

Aaron Z
 
DMG said,
JNHEscher said:
Another post out of order. I'm second guessing the use of PEX in our bus. The chemical smell that has been coming off it in the water of most new houses is rather gnarly. Any ideas for alternatives? Hardline like copper tubing would be quite tricky. Food grade silicone tears too easily.​
The smell probably isn’t the pex. Pex is the best thing for your build. Nothing else will endure the flexing, rubbing and vibration like pex.
 
Been talking with my neighbor some more (we're on a shared well). Same builder and contractors, so same materials. He was dealing with the smell as well when he moved in last year and still does as we do. Our compared notes are a dead match to the descriptions of toluene that supposedly leaches from some PEX brands. Whether or not that is the actual case here, I don't know yet. Any time we're out of the house for a few days and try the water when we get home, the odor comes pouring out with the water instantly and flushes away within a minute or two. It smells like a paint vapor that would be highly flammable if concentrated enough. Either way, I need to peel back some insulation in our attic to see what brand we have and avoid the hell out of it. Looks like toluene can be easily detected by the olfactory senses before it reaches the allowed limit, but man it's strong.

Definitely want to use PEX in our bus. Just need to find the right brand(s). I researched this for quite a while last year. The pros and cons of PEX and that's when I came across the toluene statements. Fast forward to our time in the new house and we are getting some experience with materials that we do or don't want in the bus.
 
Java said:
Never had issues with Wirsbo pex here. Great stuff!

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk​
Thank you, Java. I've been asking what brands people have used and not one person has ever answered. I'm thinking people grab whatever is in the slots at the hardware store and never consider the brand.
 
Java said,
JNHEscher said:
Thank you, Java. I've been asking what brands people have used and not one person has ever answered. I'm thinking people grab whatever is in the slots at the hardware store and never consider the brand.​
I use it as it works with the expansion fittings (iirc pex-A) they are fantastic for making leak free connections easily. Brass or plastic fittings (elbows etc) are available as well. Used it on my truck! One spot we have freezes if it's really cold, and hasn't casued any issues yet.
 
aczlan said,
JNHEscher said:
Been talking with my neighbor some more (we're on a shared well). Same builder and contractors, so same materials. He was dealing with the smell as well when he moved in last year and still does as we do. Our compared notes are a dead match to the descriptions of toluene that supposedly leaches from some PEX brands. Whether or not that is the actual case here, I don't know yet. Any time we're out of the house for a few days and try the water when we get home, the odor comes pouring out with the water instantly and flushes away within a minute or two. It smells like a paint vapor that would be highly flammable if concentrated enough. Either way, I need to peel back some insulation in our attic to see what brand we have and avoid the hell out of it. Looks like toluene can be easily detected by the olfactory senses before it reaches the allowed limit, but man it's strong.

Definitely want to use PEX in our bus. Just need to find the right brand(s). I researched this for quite a while last year. The pros and cons of PEX and that's when I came across the toluene statements. Fast forward to our time in the new house and we are getting some experience with materials that we do or don't want in the bus.​
That stinks
yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7
. On a more serious note, I used Vanguard brand PEX pipe (purchased from Lowes).

Aaron Z
 
Java said:
I use it as it works with the expansion fittings (iirc pex-A) they are fantastic for making leak free connections easily. Brass or plastic fittings (elbows etc) are available as well. Used it on my truck! One spot we have freezes if it's really cold, and hasn't casued any issues yet.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk​
Indeed. It's an incredible product. If it weren't for PEX, the pipes in our attic that have frozen several times would have trashed the ceiling.
aczlan said:
That stinks
yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7
. On a more serious note, I used Vanguard brand PEX pipe (purchased from Lowes).

Aaron Z​
Ha. It does. Taking note of recommended brands. I had my own list going last year but have yet to delve into long-term experiences. And your bottom quote plays well into this lol. I'm a pretty firm believer that too much of anything can kill a person.
 
Slept on some ideas. I'm still designing gutters to run the length of the bus on either side to collect all that sky juice that we can as soon as the replacement tarp comes in. Lots of filtration. The potential holding tank arrangement has been rearranged a few times. Preferably, most of the capacity would be for rain water catchment as you have to take advantage of the weather wherever possible, and then the filtration process would take place to fill the clean tanks.

That front pit offers a 7" height, 32" width, and 51" length. Probably more after I tweak it. I thought some clean water pressure tanks could go in there, but there's not a whole lot available that fits that pit to max out the area. The total volume equates to around 40 gallons square, so maybe two thirds of that round. I'm thinking a Lexan tank built into the pit to catch the rain/snow and pressure tanks in the water bay (originally the fuel tank bay). I had at one point punched in the rough volume of the 2" PVC gutter piping and that came out to around 20 gallons. Although the size of our roof can collect about eight times the volume of a pit tank and gutter piping in a good Missouri summer storm, 60 gallons should be alright. The gutters will be plenty deep and possibly hold another 40-60 gallons.
 
Nothing much, but we got a sign of relief today. Our replacement awning tarp showed up. And it is the correct size. Kerry at Tarps Now was gracious enough to work with me on replacing the incorrect tarp they sent even though it was a mistake on both ends. I can bear down on designing the gutters once more.

I did get to scrub some grime out of the front pit with K1 today. Gotta spot blast a couple areas for weld prep. Other than that, we've been busy repairing a number of screw ups on our house that should have been covered under warranty and I've been on the verge of herniating the disc in back again for the last three weeks. Maybe Monday's chiro visit will get me going again.

I was sincerely hoping to use stainless to build the front pit. Because I intend to pressurize the tank that I plan to build within that area, I need to use plate to block off the bottom. Priced that out. No drops, so a full sheet of 1/4" is $1,100-$1,440. No can do. 3/16" was harder to locate. Couldn't find any 1/4" mild drops with enough material. Probably picking up a full sheet of 1/4" mild within the next week or so. Either renting the Uhaul utility trailer again or shelling our some scratch for a used trailer off CL.

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[486] said,

don't you have a pickup of some variety?
4x8 of hot rolled fits in just like a sheet of plywood

just giving you shit for probably owning a shortbox
 
[486 said:
;44465440]don't you have a pickup of some variety?
4x8 of hot rolled fits in just like a sheet of plywood

just giving you shit for probably owning a shortbox :blackfo2:​
No pickup. I only have a homemade trailer of a Toyota pickup that doesn't fit larger stuff. We've needed a large trailer numerous times and the cost of renting them has added up close to just buying one. Some day.
CarterKaft said:
1/4" plate is heavy as hell. I would think 11 gauge would be stout enough for most anything fully welded.​
I'll get a better picture of what I have going on. There's some square tube bracing in place already that the plate will go on top of. I plan to be able to put 85psi in a rectangle tank that will push against all walls of the front pit so I should be beefing the area up considering none of it is cylindrical. 3/16" was the thinnest I wanted to go with.
 
arse_sidewards said,

A couple 4x8 sheets of 1/4 fit on a car roof rack just fine as long as you tie them down properly to prevent sliding.

Short-bed trucks are absolutely useless for hauling anything more than furniture and appliances. The only reason I own my Ranger is because it fits down trails a fullsize won't. For actually doing thing I'd rather have an minivan and a shitty 4x8 trailer than anything with a less than 8ft bed.

If you're gonna make a rectangular box hold pressure you should probably drill a few holes through the middle of the sides, insert some steel rod and then weld it shut. That should help hold the sides in and keep it from bowing.
 
Back to it this morning. Stepped in the bus and got right to brainstorming the pit tank. Figured out a cleaner method to building the pit while making room for a larger tank. Ended up with a 49 gallon capacity.

Wife came out to help, so I handed her the sawzall and plasma. That took a load off my shoulders and we may team up again tomorrow. I should sick her on the welder, eh?

I just finished up grinding a heap of welded bracket off the front subframe so that I can slip in sections of the 1-1/2" tubing I picked up a week or two ago. I need to grab some sand for my spot blaster so I can clean up tight corners for welding. Hopefully tomorrow.

For this pressurized water tank, I'll need an expansion tank somewhere above it for air to compress into as the water fills the tank. One thing I love about heavy wall tubing is that you use the wasted internal space for a number of ideas. I punched in the numbers and each tube will hold 0.25 gallons. Might have six or seven tubes for the pit structure that I can interconnect to make the expansion tank. What I need to figure out is how much space a compressed volume of air takes up when expanded to atmospheric pressure. Ex: How many gallons of atmospheric pressure air would come from a 30 gallon tank at 150psi? This strikes me as a rather easy formula, yet I don't recall ever having used it and nothing is coming to mind.

Straightforwardly, I would like to figure out what size expansion tank I need to achieve around 80psi once the 49-gallon tank has filled to the maximum of 49 gallons. I'm sure this is something stupid easy that I can look up with the right keywords. I feel a brain fart holding up progress.
Edit: so, P1 x V1 = P2 x V2. 1psi in a 49 gallon tank squeezed up to 85psi would require a 0.58 gallon expansion tank, I'd say. Started with 1psi because 0 nullifies the equation. With that said, six or seven tubes at 0.25 gallons each won't be too small and I can precharge it.

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aczlan said,
JNHEscher said:
Straightforwardly, I would like to figure out what size expansion tank I need to achieve around 80psi once the 49-gallon tank has filled to the maximum of 49 gallons. I'm sure this is something stupid easy that I can look up with the right keywords. I feel a brain fart holding up progress.
Edit: so, P1 x V1 = P2 x V2. 1psi in a 49 gallon tank squeezed up to 85psi would require a 0.58 gallon expansion tank, I'd say. Started with 1psi because 0 nullifies the equation. With that said, six or seven tubes at 0.25 gallons each won't be too small and I can precharge it.​
You need to use PSIA (PSI Absolute), not PSIG (PSI Gauge) with that equation (per: https://www.scubatoys.com/education/boyle2.asp ).
14.7PSIA=0PSIG at sea level and 0PSIA=30" of mercury.

Per the calculator at: BOYLE'S LAW CALCULATOR you will need a 3.333 gallon tank if you want to fill a 49 gallon tank to 1 PSIG and have your pressure tank start at 80PSIG.

Aaron Z
 
aczlan said:
You need to use PSIA (PSI Absolute), not PSIG (PSI Gauge) with that equation (per: https://www.scubatoys.com/education/boyle2.asp ).
14.7PSIA=0PSIG at sea level and 0PSIA=30" of mercury.

Per the calculator at: BOYLE'S LAW CALCULATOR you will need a 3.333 gallon tank if you want to fill a 49 gallon tank to 1 PSIG and have your pressure tank start at 80PSIG.

Aaron Z​
Noted. So we're on the same page, I'm shooting for the water tank and expansion tank to start at 0 psi and end up at 80 psi once the water tank is filled. A better explanation would be that the water tank and expansion tank are connected via small air line, both begin with 0 psi and as the water tank fills up, the air inside it is displaced to the expansion tank to create pressure (hopefully around 80 psi). That's probably obvious, but it makes better sense. Works just like a bladder tank or well pressure tank, only with the holding and expansion tank being two separate vessels.

Edit: Kinda curious what your numbers were in the formula. Currently using a stainless tank with an internal volume of 52.6 gallons and an expansion tank with an internal volume of 9 gallons and an RO system maximum pressure of 85 psig, I'm at this -

psia1 x v1 = psia2 x v2
psia1 = 14.7 + 0 = 14.7
v1 = 52.6 + 9
v2 = 9
14.7 x 61.6 = 9 x psia2
905.82 = 9 x psia2
psia2 = 100.6

That gets me durn close the 99.7 psia I would need to see in the tanks when at max water holding volume of 52.6 gallons. At least that's what makes sense on paper right now.
 
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