Plumbing layout

[lornaschinske]

Doing the plumbing isn't that difficult if you understand the basics and then get straight what you want to do. Since we all have customized buses, it's hard to just say "do this" because that won't work for everyone.

Water, Water, Everywhere... is a good place to start. Has lots of pics and diagrams (and links to diagrams) of plumbing systems like this one under "Enhancements - Expansion Tanks"


Phred's Poop Sheets is a bookmark, save to multiple sources and print it out type thing. TONS of valuable information and funny too. I used a pile of paper to print it out. It's in it's own binder. READ IT!

Both sites cover more than just plumbing.

Don't forget to vent your tanks.

[lornaschinske]

Don't knock the RV toilets too much. They only use a couple of cups of water per flush. It's one of the few "RV" things that are done right. We have never lived in an area where there was plenty of competitive choices among RV parts suppliers. With an extensive background in construction, we can usually find and adapt "regular" construction stuff from the local Big Box lumber stores like Lowes/Home Depot and the ACE/TruValue type stores. And they are much easier to find than an RV store! You don't need to plumb in two water pumps but we used to have two extra pumps (original pump crapped out on us and the other extra pump was installed on the food cart while in TX). You really need to think about how you will use your bus and the future. We have been fulltiming since 2006 in a Class C. We've camped in tents and then a vintage hardsided Apache popup before buying the Class C. We've been in campgrounds, mostly public, since 1979 when we met... in a FL State Park. We've been in FL, GA, SC, NC, TN, NY, VA, AL, LA, MS, TX and finally NM. The bus will be our home. That requires a little consideration that you won't bother with if you were just weekending (like the dirty clothes storage). Based on the campgrounds we have stayed in, we know the little idiosyncrasies about public and private campground that tend to occur with surprising frequency. We have also done a bit of Wallydocking (parking overnight in a parking lot of a Sam's Club, Wal-Mart or Cracker Barrel among other places) and plan to incorporate a few things that will make that a bit more comfortable.