Anyone had much experience with plumbing in Motorhomes?

[Plucky]

As above really i'm looking at a motorhome for a friend.

He wants a kithcne sink, toilet and a shower. The motorhome is an old american one. Already has LPG storage tank so i'm going to stick a water heater in.

Bit stuck on ideas when it comes to waste disposal. It has two holding tanks underneath at the mo. Got old 3" pipe for the old toilet?!? One for the toilet and one for the sinks. This is old an knackered so need to renew this. Cant seem to find much online as fair as a new one goes. I guess i'd need some sort of macerator. If anyone can provide me an info on regs and any suppliers of said tanks that would be great.

Water supply is my next hurdle to tackle. He has a holding tank, I guess about 30 gallons which fits in a compartment at the back of the motorhome at low level. What sort of pump am I going to need for this. Bearing in mind I need to run a shower off this supply. Some form of negative head pump I guess? Are there specialist pumps out there for this job.

Anyone know if sanitaryware (mainly the toilet) is specially made for these units.

Thanks for taking the time to read this and all help is greatfully recieved. I am a fully qualified plumber but never had to tackle plumbing on something with wheels!!

 

[Plouasne]

Wait until you have to do central heating for pigs, and I do not mean the dis honourable MP's either

 

[Plucky]

Wait until you have to do central heating for pigs, and I do not mean the dis honourable MP's either

I am a little confused by your response

 

[Plouasne]

I am a little confused by your response

Just light hearted banter Re; your last paragraph, pigs are a pain to work with, chewing on the hoses, chewing on you, rubbing on a step ladder with you on the top, and a thousand head of pigs do make a noise especially when it comes to feeding time, only thing to keep 'em quite is to give them a dab of PVC cement

 

[Plucky]

Oh I see! Completely went over my head.

Anyone got any advice

 

[Plouasne]

Plucky,

I am not completely familiar with the UK regs now, but some thing at the back of my head says that the gas pressure for motor homes is not the same for as for buildings, also if its got to be passed by the UK motor licensing authorities, if they are any thing like the French it can be both a nightmare and a minefield have a look at magazines on the web like motorhome etc

 

[justlead1]

Hi. Boats and yacht are similar in approach. 12 volt pumps with pressure cut off and air vessel. Hook up connection with built in pressure reducing valve, WC with hand operated disposal / flushing. Possible 12 volt immersion heater for hot water. all sorts. There a boat chandler ASAP they seem to have a good range and support. Good Luck

 

[Plucky]

Hi. Boats and yacht are similar in approach. 12 volt pumps with pressure cut off and air vessel. Hook up connection with built in pressure reducing valve, WC with hand operated disposal / flushing. Possible 12 volt immersion heater for hot water. all sorts. There a boat chandler ASAP they seem to have a good range and support. Good Luck

Thanks for your comments,

When you say pump with an air vessel and pressure cut off is that just the same as a negative head pump? And what do you mean a built in pressure reducing valve?

I have 240volts available to power small things.

There a boat chandler ASAP they seem to have a good range and support ????

 

[justlead1]

Hi The site is ASAP Supplies Marine & Industrial Equipment and Spares - worldwide distribution. Example Hot pot being a calorifier can be heated via the van engine and 12 volt immersion heater and possibly 240 v. The pumps are self priming.The suction side with draw via a pipe below is level, a small expansion vessel is fitted down stream of the pump. When in operation the pump kick in when a tap is opened (Via a pressure switch integral to pump) the expansion vessel acts as a buffer so as to stop the pump starting at every drip of a tap. The hot pot works on the same principal as an unvented system, cold in from pump and out to hot water fitments. Hook up are an option for boats and mobile homes to connect to water and electrics on commercial site and marinas. This prevents batteries being drained. In order to prevent over pressurising of the system it is common practice to put a PRV on the water hook up inlet to the van. These can be purchased as a complete tidy unit ready to fit. Good Luck

 

[marleyco]

check out 'whale' pumps. they are a brand name of the pumps justlead1 is refering to. if your using a water heater then with the pump i have in mind( i forget the model) you wont nesseceraly need an expansion vessel. the pump does however work on negetive pressure and any leak will be a nuisance and drain battery. you get small pumps which go in line of the 15mm pipe that serves cold taps and water heater. some pumps are larger and can have the expansion vessel attached. we used to get 24v as this is for boats so unsure on range at 12v

 

[stevetheplumber]

go to the self build motor caravan club forum theres tons of info on there and if you exceed your visitors quotor its cheap to join
my small motor home uses a sureflow pump which is preasure switched and doesnt have a presure vessel this runs a small gas multi point which supplies sink and shower at about 12 l/min i know there are larger ones for bigger motorhomes