My "over the summer" upgrade project is complete except for a new shower spray and hose.
Rusty remember my water leak at the GTG, well that motivated me to not just fix the leak (which was an on going thing) but to replace as much as I could.
So I pulled out a lot of pipes under the bathroom cabinet and under the one closet. I then went to the outside garage bay (where the water pump is located and ripped all those pipes out and started fresh. Before doing that, since that area had several small drip leaks, I went under the Barth and had noticed several rusted out areas to the bottom metal which inclosed the two fresh water tanks. I removed as much rust as possible and used "Ospro" to stop any further rust. I then used a rust stop primer and then a rust stop grey paint.
Went to a metal shop and had them make me a 9'9" long X 30"W with a 10" side aluminum sheet. With the help of my granson this was put into place with the use of some 55 rivets.

Now back to the garage bay, it to was cleaned up and repainted and a sheet of plastic was placed on top of the wood. I simplified the pipe lay out by raising the pump up. I used clear tubing for all the drain tubes below the water shut offs.
The reaason for this it is easy to see if there are insects or dirt in a drain.

A new bathroom faucet was installed and a new rubber seal for the toilet was also installed since it was removed for the upgraded plumbing.

I also cleaned and repainted the double compartment and the single compartment on the right hand side and put in new carpet the kind with the rubberized backing.

















Jim & Barb
1985 Barth Regency
35 foot 8.2 DD 225HP allison 4 speed

Good looking job Cap. Hope to see it and you at Hillsborough. BTW, Lenny and Judy are foing up to Myakka later this week and Suzie and I will probably go up for one night, or at least a day trip. Maybe you could join us.

Dan thanks for the invite.

Barb & I just might try to meet up for at least one day.

At present I am trying to stop a heavy drip from my black water waste valve. I put in a new one and had to take it back as it was defective. The replacement slowed down the drip but it has not stop it. I am going to take it apart again and try to buff up the seal. Just doesn't seem to be made as well as the original.

Jim & Barb

It's very easy for the gaskets to get cocked or pinched. I use dish detergent to hold them in place, and to lubricate the sufaces the gate valve contacts.

Manual or electric? We had electric and rebuilt and rehabed and did everything imaginable to stop the leakage until we finally gave up and put in a manual, which has never leaked a drop of nasty and works much better and faster than the hi tek junk.

In response to Rusty & Danny.

First of all before I started my plumbing project I flushed out the black water tank and then power srayed it with detergent. The tank is nice & clean.
I did this after pulling the toilet off.
I knew I would be working to install the new water line with it off ,even tho I had a piece of wood to cover up the hole.
Didn't feel like smelling or possibly dropping something down there.

Rusty I checked the gaskets when I reopened it up and they were still in place. It just feels like they are not pushing hard enough on the valve to make them seal off water. I made 2 rubber gaskets and will place one behind each side of the new caskets in hopes to create a little more pressure against the slide.

Dan it is a manual shut off.
I replace both the grey & black shut offs. They are both made by Valterra, however the 2" grey water shut off is much better made. The slide is completely enclosed while the 3" has a slight gap on each side of the slide and the gasket is suppose to press against it to seal it.

Anyway with the weather today I was unable to work on it, so I'll be at it tomorrow.
Don't know what day your going to Myakka- I may or may not make it due to this leak.

Jim

Suzie and I are going up Thursday afternoon just for the night, so we'll leave by 1 Friday. Site 64. Hope to see you for a visit.

Just an update on my leaky black water valve.

I made two caskets from some aviation orange rubber material I had and fitted them behind the new caskets. Re-installed them and re-installed the valve and HAPPY DAY ---- no leaks.
Tried it several times just to make sure nothing slipped and it hadn't. It seems a little tight to first pull it open , however it closes ok.

Jim

Looks like a great job Hope mine turns out as nice!!!!

Looking back at all those quick-fit connections, it must have cost you a fortune! I'm putting in a new shower valve and need 2 elbows and 2 reducers, found exactly what I needed, 36 bucks! For 4 simple fittings! To hook up a 16 dollar faucet! Still looking.

Dan,
Let's not go there- well OK it did cost more than I wanted but did get most of the connectors on a sale at my local ACE "is the place". They just happen to have a discount sale when I placed my order. The ouch factor came when I came up short on some connectors and shut off valves and had to pay fullll price--oh! that hurt.

I bet you will agree, they are easy to use and you don't have to glue or use clamps. The big plus is they are re-usable.

I think your $36 seem high to me for just four items.

Jim

Found the L and compression fitting setup I needed for the tub fixture. 9 bucks for everything. Got it all installed and found a couple tiny leaks in the system. Tightened up some fittings and got them stopped, but after Talledega I'll do something similar to what you did, and replace everything I can.

You can see where the plastic thing was leaking. Anybody know what that is?



New Fixture. Never had use for a bath spout so I eliminated it.



New showerhead and vinyl skin.

This looks like someone used incorrect fittings in the system. The brass fittings look like standard compression fittings and are not comparible with PEX tubing. The "T" should be PEX as well and your connections should use Sharkbite fittings that are specifically designed for plastic tubing. I suspect the leaks are around the threads because the connections are compressing the tubing walls to a point where they deform and the tighter they get the more they leak. Whatever tubing you use please make sure the fittings match or the leaks will eventually occur.

Thanks Tom. I suspected some "work" had been done on the system. Periodic checks never showed leaking until now, but all the brass to plastic can't be right. The fittings I used for the new shower valve were the cone compression style, with a special washer and plastic ring. The guy at the RV shop said they were the right ones for the tubing I have. I didn't tighten them down too hard and they didn't leak a drop. As I stated, they were a lot less than the Sharkbite type push ins. Still don't know what the plastic thing witht the rag under it is.

Dan,

Nice looking job on your shower walls and I like the idea about not having a tub spout. Just one more thing not to worry about.

As long as you have the shower hose why do you need the tub spout?

I don't know what that thing is on top of the rag.
Could it be some type of pressure regulator?

Jim