water pressure feedback

[jch511]

Okay, this is one of those dumb questions. I see that you have the reservoirs (tanks) for the water, but when you open a faucet, or turn the shower on, what activates the pump to pump water from the reservoir/tank to the faucet or shower? I'm guessing the type of pump you get is activated by reduced water pressure, but I don't know because I haven't bought one yet (and don't yet know the best one to buy!).

Also, is there a down side (besides weight) of having a 100 gallon tank for clean water? I'm guessing you'd like to position it near the middle of the bus, if you can.

Thanks!
Jim

[Rucker]

Originally Posted by jch511

Okay, this is one of those dumb questions. I see that you have the reservoirs (tanks) for the water, but when you open a faucet, or turn the shower on, what activates the pump to pump water from the reservoir/tank to the faucet or shower? I'm guessing the type of pump you get is activated by reduced water pressure, but I don't know because I haven't bought one yet (and don't yet know the best one to buy!).

Also, is there a down side (besides weight) of having a 100 gallon tank for clean water? I'm guessing you'd like to position it near the middle of the bus, if you can.

Thanks!
Jim

Not a dumb question and you are right. Most of us use a Shurflo or equivalent pump that senses the water pressure in the lines, and only runs when the water pressure drops below about 40 psi.

[jch511]

Originally Posted by Rucker

Not a dumb question and you are right. Most of us use a Shurflo or equivalent pump that senses the water pressure in the lines, and only runs when the water pressure drops below about 40 psi.

Oh, man, thank you SO much! I can finally sleep tonight! .

[Rucker]

I think you'll need as much graywater storage as your freshwater storage, so it's best to think through how you will use the rig, and design the storage around that.

At a minimum I see a lot of folks with five or six gallon jugs, seems pretty skimpy but dirt cheap to set up.

My rig is designed for four days boondocking, so I have 40/40 fresh and gray.

And I don't want to start a whole debate on whether or not graywater dumping is legal. Just sayin' if you have ever been to a campsite (or road pullout, or parking lot) where someone has 'oops I accidentally kind of on purpose emptied my graywater tank' you know why it matters to design the rig so you're not one of those people.

[jch511]

THANKS! That is extremely helpful! And I'm a retired biologist, so I promise I won't be dropping stinky water anywhere I'm not supposed to!

I am remiss. I should catch up and post images of my project as I move along.

Thanks!

[ol trunt]

Ha! You're also remiss in not having filled out your profile. Who are you? What bus do you have? Whereabouts do you live? What does your bus look like etc?

Inquiring minds are desperate to know. Without this info it's hard to help you--not to mention sell you stuff and berate your progress (just kidding).

Jack

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by ol trunt

Ha! You're also remiss in not having filled out your profile. Who are you? What bus do you have? Whereabouts do you live? What does your bus look like etc?

Inquiring minds are desperate to know. Without this info it's hard to help you--not to mention sell you stuff and berate your progress (just kidding).

Jack

Brownie points if he has a Superior

[o1marc]

100 gallons of water weighs 800lb, or the equivalent of 6 students. Doesn't matter where you put it. If you're anal about it, think of what weight you could add to offset it, but it's really not an issue.

Go to the UserCP in the upper left to fill out your profile.

[Iceni John]

Or instead of one large water tank, use two smaller inter-connected tanks side-by-side. They will be easier to fit, and the bus will always be balanced side-to-side. To have enough water for several week's boondocking I have two 110-gallon tanks, and they don't change the bus's handling or steering at all.

To prevent water pumps from running excessively or hunting, water pressure accumulators will lessen the pressure changes while you use small amounts of water. I use a Watts 2-gallon accumulator that I keep at the same 45 PSI as my pumps' output pressure, and I can flush the loo without always making the pump run.

John

[jch511]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

Brownie points if he has a Superior

Hah! So I did register and uploaded some pictures of my bus, "The Jazz Buzz" last month, I think. Thank you for pointing that out!

Cheers,
Jim

[jch511]

Originally Posted by Iceni John

Or instead of one large water tank, use two smaller inter-connected tanks side-by-side. They will be easier to fit, and the bus will always be balanced side-to-side. To have enough water for several week's boondocking I have two 110-gallon tanks, and they don't change the bus's handling or steering at all.

To prevent water pumps from running excessively or hunting, water pressure accumulators will lessen the pressure changes while you use small amounts of water. I use a Watts 2-gallon accumulator that I keep at the same 45 PSI as my pumps' output pressure, and I can flush the loo without always making the pump run.

John

Thanks for that tip on the water pressure accumulator. I had no idea about those and still don't know how they work or what I have to do to make use of it. Do you happen to have a resource for reading up on that, per chance? Thanks! Jim

[jch511]

Originally Posted by jch511

Thanks for that tip on the water pressure accumulator. I had no idea about those and still don't know how they work or what I have to do to make use of it. Do you happen to have a resource for reading up on that, per chance? Thanks! Jim

Sorry about that--I found an answer rather quickly on a Web search. Duh.

Cheers,
Jim

[TheHubbardBus]

Originally Posted by o1marc

100 gallons of water weighs 800lb, or the equivalent of 6 students. Doesn't matter where you put it. If you're anal about it, think of what weight you could add to offset it, but it's really not an issue.

Can the suspension handle it? Sure. But that doesn't mean 800lbs of weight placed wherever couldn't have a detrimental impact on control / traction. As for offsetting, that's potentially problematic, since the amount of water you have onboard at any given time is not a static quantity.