Anyone know what this thing under the trailer is?

Photomom

Spotted this thing when looking under the trailer to see if water was coming out the drains. It is flexible rubber about two inches long and appears to have some sort of plug in the end (I did not pull it out.) It is about an inch or two from the cold water drain. There is nothing topside on the floor that matches up with this.

ChanW

I'm thinking it's the drain tube for the Alde glycol.

Michigan_Mike

No guts, no glory!   Unplug it and see what happens....  


Just kidding and agree with Chan and definitely would leave it be.  

ScottG

+1 for the Alde glycol drain. If you follow it back up through the floor of the trailer, you will see that it connects directly into the heavy rubber tubing that delivers heated glycol to the fin-tube "radiators" located under the benches.

Remove that plug only if you plan to replace the glycol in the Alde...

Photomom

I don't see anything on the top of the floor. Might the tubing run INSIDE the floor?

ChanW

Nope, not inside the floor. Floor's not that thick!

Tabaz

Michigan_Mike said:

No guts, no glory!   Unplug it and see what happens....  


Just kidding and agree with Chan and definitely would leave it be.

Now that l've stopped laughing, the floor is only an inch or so thick. There is no "crawl space" for tubing, etc.  there is however, much space between the black plastic protective sheet and the floor.

Tabaz

If no one else takes up the gauntlet, I will undertake a new endeavor - "Tubing for Newbies."  A photo-essay into the mysterious and wondrous realm of tubes that do not go gentle into that quiet good night.  All kidding aside, I'm hoping someone else can do this, because I really suck at anything to do with plumbing.     

ScottG

Photomom said:

I don't see anything on the top of the floor. Might the tubing run INSIDE the floor?

If you gently pull up on the heavy rubber tubing where it runs near the floor, you will find where the little tee splits off and passes directly down through the floor to the outside. There is no obvious coupling or other device that you will find just by looking at it.

Photomom

ScottG said:

Photomom said:

I don't see anything on the top of the floor. Might the tubing run INSIDE the floor?

If you gently pull up on the heavy rubber tubing where it runs near the floor, you will find where the little tee splits off and passes directly down through the floor to the outside. There is no obvious coupling or other device that you will find just by looking at it.

Ah, that's it!

ScottG

OutbackAZ said:

If no one else takes up the gauntlet, I will undertake a new endeavor - "Tubing for Newbies."  A photo-essay into the mysterious and wondrous realm of tubes that do not go gentle into that quiet good night.  All kidding aside, I'm hoping someone else can do this, because I really suck at anything to do with plumbing.     

I've dabbled with the idea of creating a schematic for the T@B's plumbing (much like Rick did a while back for the electrical system). I think if people had some sense of how the plumbing actually works, tasks like winterizing would be more intuitive and easier to troubleshoot.

However, feel free to beat me to it, if you like!  :-) 

Cyclonic

Michigan_Mike said:

No guts, no glory!   Unplug it and see what happens....  

marknjudy

Get someone to hold your beer first.

Michigan_Mike

ScottG said:

OutbackAZ said:

If no one else takes up the gauntlet, I will undertake a new endeavor - "Tubing for Newbies."  A photo-essay into the mysterious and wondrous realm of tubes that do not go gentle into that quiet good night.  All kidding aside, I'm hoping someone else can do this, because I really suck at anything to do with plumbing.     

I've dabbled with the idea of creating a schematic for the T@B's plumbing (much like Rick did a while back for the electrical system). I think if people had some sense of how the plumbing actually works, tasks like winterizing would be more intuitive and easier to troubleshoot.

However, feel free to beat me to it, if you like!  :-) 

This is very simplistic schematic of how things work but doesn't include the Alde drain or the freshwater/floor valves.

ericnliz

Thanks Mike!

marknjudy

Great schematic! This will be very helpful in troubleshooting.

ScottG

Ok, I didn't really think I'd ever get to this, but Old Man Winter has given me some time to kill between rounds of snow blowing.

Attached is a schematic of the plumbing in a 2015 T@B S. While I have tried to place things more or less where they occur relative to each other, as a schematic it is not drawn to scale or proper orientation. Note that I am neither a plumber nor a draftsman, and advice is worth what you pay for it! Comments and corrections are welcome.

Nomad

Nice schematic ScottG

dmerzbac

Thank you Michigan Mike and ScottG for schematics!  They definitely help me with understanding water/plumbing systems. Does anyone know if these are basically the same on the 2017 model? I will pick mine up 1/3.  Dave

ericnliz

ScottG, and Michigan_Mike,Thanks for the schematics!

ScottG

dmerzbac said:

Thank you Michigan Mike and ScottG for schematics!  They definitely help me with understanding water/plumbing systems. Does anyone know if these are basically the same on the 2017 model? I will pick mine up 1/3.  Dave

T@Bs built after 2015 have a mixing valve that tempers the extremely hot water coming out of the Alde. I didn't include it in my schematic, but here's a photo from an older thread (courtesy of Photomom, I think...). The mixing valve is at the top of the photo. An additional branch from the CW line passes through another check valve and enters the bottom of the mixing valve. The HW line passes through the mixing valve between the HW pressure relief and check valves.

(Note that this particular camper has additional hot and cold branches serving an optional outside shower.)

I'm not aware of any other major plumbing changes on later models--hopefully someone who has one will correct me if I'm wrong! 

 

dmerzbac

Thank you, ScottG! (and Photomom)

Homebodyatheart

Dmerzbac, 1/3 is almost here! Are you counting down the time? :-) Oh, and pictures would be appreciated, too. Lots of pictures...

JimEngel

OK, looking at the really helpful diagram from ScottG, it looks like in order to effectively blow out the system you need to disconnect the pump and block it because otherwise the air coming in the city water valve can just go out the fresh water tank vent, drain or fill.

These are nice units, but maintenance information is not there.

My dealer's approach to service is that the more inept and screwed up it is, the more repeat business they get.

That would be General RV in Illinois.

ScottG

Hmmm. There might be another check valve between the pump and the distribution lines. Hard to see down there, but I'll take another look/feel next time I'm out there.

However, from a practical perspective, I can tell you I've never had to block the pump when winterizing. Once I put the pressure to it, plenty of extra water comes out the CW and HW drains.

Photomom

dmerzbac said:

Thank you, ScottG! (and Photomom)

Yeah, that looks like my rat's nest all right. 

JimEngel

ScottG, let me tell you how much I appreciate your diagram, it is an enormous help.

My unit was new this year, so winterizing was a little bit concerning in it was hard to be confident that ALL of the water is out.

I put the air compressor on the city connection, kept the pressure down and did all sorts of combinations of pump on/off, closing all of the faucets and opening one at a time and so forth.
I hope we are good to go in the spring!

JimEngel

Also, assuming water can flow backwards through an unpowered pump, it looks like water from the city water connection would just fill up the tank and flow out through the fresh water filler/vent.
We have not used the city water as a water source, do those people who do find it also automatically fills up the tank?

Photomom

ScottG said:

dmerzbac said:

Thank you Michigan Mike and ScottG for schematics!  They definitely help me with understanding water/plumbing systems. Does anyone know if these are basically the same on the 2017 model? I will pick mine up 1/3.  Dave

T@Bs built after 2015 have a mixing valve that tempers the extremely hot water coming out of the Alde. I didn't include it in my schematic, but here's a photo from an older thread (courtesy of Photomom, I think...). The mixing valve is at the top of the photo. An additional branch from the CW line passes through another check valve and enters the bottom of the mixing valve. The HW line passes through the mixing valve between the HW pressure relief and check valves.

(Note that this particular camper has additional hot and cold branches serving an optional outside shower.)

I'm not aware of any other major plumbing changes on later models--hopefully someone who has one will correct me if I'm wrong! 

 

This is a late 2016 S Max with outdoor shower. I believe it was built to 2017 specs. I've been surprised to see the variations that occur during a model year. 

dmerzbac

Homebodyatheart said:

Dmerzbac, 1/3 is almost here! Are you counting down the time? :-) Oh, and pictures would be appreciated, too. Lots of pictures...

Homebodyatheart, my T@b has arrived in Huntsville! Merry Christmas to me! I will definitely send photos as soon as I take possession Jan. 3rd. (waiting until the busy holidays are over) I know you can't wait. It's way too exciting!

dmerzbac

Photomom said:

ScottG said:

dmerzbac said:

Thank you Michigan Mike and ScottG for schematics!  They definitely help me with understanding water/plumbing systems. Does anyone know if these are basically the same on the 2017 model? I will pick mine up 1/3.  Dave

T@Bs built after 2015 have a mixing valve that tempers the extremely hot water coming out of the Alde. I didn't include it in my schematic, but here's a photo from an older thread (courtesy of Photomom, I think...). The mixing valve is at the top of the photo. An additional branch from the CW line passes through another check valve and enters the bottom of the mixing valve. The HW line passes through the mixing valve between the HW pressure relief and check valves.

(Note that this particular camper has additional hot and cold branches serving an optional outside shower.)

I'm not aware of any other major plumbing changes on later models--hopefully someone who has one will correct me if I'm wrong! 

 

This is a late 2016 S Max with outdoor shower. I believe it was built to 2017 specs. I've been surprised to see the variations that occur during a model year. 

I will take photos and compare with yours when I pick up my camper Jan.3rd. I know it will have the updated refrigerator, but I'm interested to see if there are any other changes. I agree - there are constant variations.