Saturday, February 23, 2013

Bathroom floor

Jack Hudson dropped off these scraps of deck ceiling material, yellow heart pine. I am going to use it to finish the bathroom floor.

Filters and tanks: Plumbing plans

 http://www.sawyer.com/tech-water.html

This is one of the biological filters I want to install in the lines that run from the gutters, and also as a drinking water filter from the main tank. It is called a Sawyer Water Filter, and was first developed as a dialysis filter, and then adapted for back country enthusiasts. It has permanent filter elements and can be easily quick-released from the lines and back washed.. and it removes particles
, bacteria and cysts down to 0.1 & 0.02 micron filtration. This I use to filter my drinking water now, seeing as I haul it all on my bike, gotten from various spigots around town.. There is no telling. These are the filters:three sawyer filters for the rain water lines, and one for drinking water. www.business-connect.comone way in, one way outinside the filter. from www.usplastics.comthree washable part filters... stacks of rings, around a mesh cylinder, with a dense pad of slightly squishy plastic on top. They will filter for complete clarity. One I am going to pack with activated charcoal and use it for drinking water purification.

THE TANKS FINALLY ARRIVED!
I started out laying everything out like it will be, approximately. I still need to build the two accumulator tanks (see this link: http://www.modmyrv.com/2009/06/10/rv-diy-water-accumulator....except I am going to use copper instead of PVC.)
This is the kitchen set up, sans illustration. This is the main set-up, sans illustration and this is the main set up with everything explained!

Trimming out the basement

I am using corrugated plastic sheets from a sign shop to enclose the under side of the trailer. I have work to do building out the "basement". The four trays visible will hold the batteries for the solar system, forward of that is the area where the recess will be for the stabilizer jacks, and forward of that , closest to the nose, is where the kitchen plumbing will be installed. BTW: here is a link to a free book about how to design and build off grid?RV plumbing systems: www.rvst.org/RVIA_Textbooks/Plumbing_Systems.pdf
I got some sign board, corrugated plastic to install on the under-belly of the trailer.
  the extra material around the jack and the profile of the recess I need to build
cutting away the area to build the jack recess.

  I have built tents, one side of which has a vent in it to channel air to the battery compartment. As seen from the under-side.

Trimming the jack wells in metal, and of course, CAULK! A good girl's gotta love some caulk!Here is the tread plate that will be the final exterior facing of the jack wells.Before the kitchen sink tank and other plumbing can go in, the basement has to be insulated and the support grating installed.

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Home made accumulator tanks

This project come from this article I found online: 

Copper to build the accumulator tanks
 
 These will accomplish a number of useful functions. Essentially they are air filled tanks, and as water is pumped into them the pressure will build. They will help create a more smooth flow of water through the system, they will allow hot water from the on-demand heaters to accumulate so I get to use all of it and it will get good and hot, and they will decrease the cycle time for the pumps, (which are DC powered /which means they will generate power loss through the wiring to them) and there by use less power over-all.
Here are the valves I bought, like the directions said, at Advances Auto Parts for 5.9 a set. Threaded shaft, nuts and seals. Two things about these valves that bears mention is that they are made of steel, which reacts strongly with copper, so it will be important to get the rubber seals firmly in the holes drilled in the caps, and two, they have lead in them. Of course no one wants lead in their water. They will be sitting at the top of the tank, and a pocket of air will get compresses at the top as the tank fills with water, keeping the lead in the valves from coming in contact with the water.Mr. Rusk agreed to teach me how to sweat copper pipe together, so we set everything up and got started.

First step: pre-drilling the hole for the valves.It was easiest to put the pipe in the vice for sanding. Sand the two surfaces of the copper you want to join and then add a thin layer of flux to each clean and shiny surface. The heat the metal and when the temp is right to let the solder flow, feed it into the joint.
 First joint to make was the cap to the pipe, then I installed the valves.
 Here I am with my first joint.
 I used a wet towel wrapped around the finished joints to keep it cool while working on the joints at the other end of the tank. Also, wipe finished joints with a wet towel to keep them smooth and help cool them down after they have been soldered.

 The cap to the end of the pipe, the 3" - 1" reducer to the end of the pipe, and then the 1" - 1/2" reducer to finish x 4 tanks.


Thanks for your help Mr. Rusk!